I'm a simple girl. None more, none less. I look like a girl, I have
all the correct features. My hair does down to about my knees and I'm not
afraid to get a little dirty. I'm a girl, what more can I say? Oh yeah…I'm
cursed. That's one thing I tend to forget. But how can I forget it when I
live alone by a lake in constant watch of an evil lord. My friends are the
birds, the fish, and anything else that roams the land. For I am animal,
aren't all humans? But I'm a different being. For I am half. But not like a
hybrid would be both. I'm not half girl, half fish or horse. I'm both at
the same time. But when the moon shines, I must enter the lake, to return
to my true, and nightly form. By night I'm woman, and live like I should.
But by day I am deer, unpretentious and meek. Only one thing stands in my
way. If I do not make it to the water by the first ray of moonshine over
the horizon, I will die. That's why I only leave for food. For food and
maybe for exercise, or comfort. Just to stretch my legs. I wasn't always
like this. That is part of my story. I was once a princess, pretty in pink.
I was clean cut, fresh, and I have to admit I had a little bit of an
attitude. I was forced into everything. Tea parties, meetings with other
kings and queens. But all I had was my father, for my mother passed away
when she gave birth to me. But she named me Misty, after the morn on which
I was born. Foggy, brisk, but pleasantly sweet when the air met your lungs.
They said I'd be radiant! The court adored me. But I grew up to none other
then a geek. A red-head freckled freak. My freckles eventually faded and my
hair isn't as frizzy. But before then, when I was about six years old was
when I decided I wanted to change. For that day I went to the market with
one of the servants to pick up some vegetables.
"Come along little princess!" The servant would say as he dragged my hand through the thick crowds of the streets.
I was young and naïve, careless in fact. "Wait!" I would scream as I always dropped the doll I carried almost everywhere when I was that age. He listened to me at a maximum of twice. The other times, when I finally had wrenched free of his hand, he'd just keep on walking. I'd have to run to keep up. The next time I dropped my doll, he wouldn't let me go. It lay on the streets, and I was just waiting for a goat to come by and eat it.
I cried and the servant didn't seem to care. Boy, would he hear from my father once we got home. But suddenly, I feel a tap on my shoulder.
"Here." Came a little boy's voice. "You dropped your dolly."
I look at the face of a prince I've met only three times before. His family and mine were very close. "Thank you." I reply and take my doll back. I never knew his name, but I always remembered him for his pitch black hair.
I lost my liking for that boy after some time. Every time they'd visit our castle he'd bring his block-head friend along with him and tease me. Maybe it was just something boys did. Little dorky red-head, woke up on the wrong side of the bed! They'd always chant that whenever I was in their site. I learned to ignore it, I just stayed in my room. I watched them from my window build forts in the near by trees. The butlers would chase them across the yard for pulling up his tulips. Boys, I mutter under my breath. But that boy never left my mind. His smile was imbedded in my brain, and it will never be forgotten. I wouldn't be aloud to forget him. For he was staying unusually long this time. Him and his mother usually only stayed for about two weeks. But it was past a month now. I was about to get the shock of my life. Something that wouldn't let me forget.
"What?" I actually don't sound as shocked as I was. "You've got to be kidding Me." My voice was dull and annoyed, it was quite obvious. This was not happening.
"No, I'm not kidding, Misty." My father replies. He sits down and cleans a smudge off of one of the wine glasses that sits on the dinner table.
I laugh slightly. "Then…you joke of course?"
"No joke." He still says. I should brake the wine glass over his head!
"Why…" I choke. I'm just so full of shock, anger, rile, and disbelief. "You didn't even consult me on the subject!? Why not, father! You should have asked me about it first! Am I not my own woman?"
"Yes, dear, you are very independent." My father answers. "But I am still your father, and have my say."
"But I have a say in this too! It's my life, you can't just go change it like that." I snap my fingers.
"Misty, please. He's a nice man." My father protests.
"Boy you mean!" I shout in his face.
"Misty! Sit down." He bellows and I sit.
If you haven't caught the drift already, I'll make it a little easier for you to understand. Apparently, my father and the other queen have set up an arrangement. I was to be married within four months to that brat of a boy prince who just happened to pick up my pathetic doll! I was engaged, to put it in short. I will not be Misty Waterflower anymore, I will simply be Misty Block-Head. Of course that wasn't his real last name, but it suites him better then his real one. That prince. Sheesh! Me? His bride? I don't think so! But my father wasn't getting the point as quickly as I hoped he would.
"Father, please gratify this one request I have!" I ask sweetly. "I don't want to marry Ash!"
"Misty, you hardly know him!" My father waves off my demand. "That is why Queen Delia and I have set this up as a four month engagement. You'll have plenty of time to rendezvous and get acquainted. After all that time, you will find him nothing other then charming, I assure you."
"You only assure the fact that I will remain miserable for the rest of my life!" I reply with mock smile.
"Misty…"
"Please." I stand up. "The matter is closed on my part and I don't intend to open it very soon!"
I trample off to my room not letting another word from my father's throat enter my ears. Why couldn't my father just marry that stupid queen, then he'd be happy. But wait, that would make Ash my step-brother. That would be worse, never mind. Plus, I don't want my father to replace mother. I never even knew her, but still I feel so attached. I return to my room, finally, and sit down by my window. I open it to get some fresh air in the room. The canopy over my bed sways from the gentle breeze and I sit down and start to work on my needle-point. My peace and solitude are interrupted quite quickly by yells of a very immature sixteen year-old and his block- headed friend from the yard. I set my needle-point down and walk over the window and lean my head out so they will hear my loud and clear.
I clear my throat considerably loud and they stop shouting at once and look up at me.
"Hey, Ash, it's your bride." His idiotic friend reports.
I smile for a milli-second, but then return to my much more comfortable scowl. "SHUT UP!" I roar at them. "Can't a girl get some privacy around here without two little imbeciles ruining the whole moment? I don't want to hear you little shenanigans about pirates and Robin Hood! I just want to stay away from you as much as possible. And when I say that I also mean not hearing a single word come out of your mouths. I hope I've made myself clear. Have a very nice day."
I close my window and return to my work. Hopefully that would have quieted them down. But I can already hear my father walking up the steps to yell at me for 'using such profane language'. Ha, like I care? If you were thinking yes, then I'd ask you to change you mind. For the answer is: NO! I am going to do everything I can to get out of this marriage even if it is over my dead body. I was so deep in thought I forgot what I was doing and pricked myself with the needle. Stupid me.
"Open this door right now!" My father knocks. That was his definition of a warm welcome.
"Coming father." I smile nastily and go to open the door.
Days pass and those days slowly turn into weeks. The weeks develop into months and before I know it, two months had already flown by. I am that much closer to being Mrs. Block-Head. Almost every afternoon now I am forced to have tea with Queen Delia. It gets worse as the days go on. Not only because she talks about practically the same thing every single time, but also because it is getting vaguely hotter every day.
"May I say, Misty, that that emerald dress looks wonderful on you." Queen Delia comments. "It matches her eyes beautifully and your hair sets it aflame! Exquisite choice, I must admit that."
"Thank you." I whisper dully. That is why most baronesses and queens don't return to our castle for second visits. They say I am too much of a tom- boy. I don't know proper manners, or maybe they just don't like me.
"How was your morning? Did you sleep well?" Queen Delia asks as she spoons in about four lumps of sugar.
"It was okay." I say, tucking some hair behind my ear. "I slept pretty good too."
"That's nice." She smiles. "May I ask you, Misty, how my son got a black eye?"
I try not to laugh. "Sue isn't too terribly fond of him."
"Sue? Who's she?" Queen Delia almost spills her tea.
"My horse." Of course that was a lie. My horse's name was Cornmeal. Sue was my fist.
Sue stood for Stuck Up Exterminator. It killed people that were big headed. Or in this case, pig headed. Ash was trying to give me the sweet talk treatment and he got his reply all right. I told him that he could meet my maid, Sue. He sounded delighted. Probably so he could hit on her and not get married to me. But that was what I planned anyways. But he found himself face to face with her earlier then he had most likely expected. He took it hook, line and sinker. I gave him the sweet face, the pouty lips. I even batted my eyes. It made me sick to my stomach to see that look on his face. It was like it was going to try to suck my own in. That kid ain't touching my lips. Not if I can help it. And I always have Sue for back up. But…then there was that look. It wasn't like the one he gave me the time he met Sue. I'm getting to that part, don't worry. I'm taking my time, because I have plenty of it. Three months were down and only one more to go. My father and Queen Delia had finally met an agreement that fits my wants. Ash and I would have to meet at this grand ball and spend the whole night with each other. Trust me, I don't plan on having fun. I plan on making it a personal nightmare for him. I know there are better things I could be doing with my time. But I have no choice in this. It's either take it or leave it. And if I left it, that would mean I'd walk down the aisle first thing on the morning of the first.
"Oh, aren't you excited?" My father asks as the seamstress works on my ball dress.
"I'm more devastated then excited. How can thirty days go by that quickly? I mean, someone must have bewitched my calendar because I could have sworn I had an extra free day in there. I lost it in a flash, Father." I reply.
"Oh, the ball will be spectacular, Misty! I assure you." My father smiles.
"You assure a lot of things, Father. Maybe I don't want those promises. Oh, you'll find him nothing other then charming, I assure you." I mock. "I find him something other then charming alright! I find him repulsive!"
"Misty, please." My father sighs. "Just because you gave him a black eye doesn't mean…" He stopped because I chuckled over the memory. Oh, the look on his face! That was priceless! "Misty, just don't burn the house down."
"Okay, father, okay." I go to leave.
"Or spike the punch."
"Okay, father, okay."
"Or give Ash another black eye."
"Okay, father, okay."
"Or…"
"What am I supposed to do then? Sit around and knit?" I ask sarcastically.
"Misty, just don't make the guests think you were raised by wolves." My father rests his hand on my shoulder.
"Okay, father, okay." I meant it this time.
"Now, I believe Ash is waiting for you out there." My father reminds me.
I moan. "Alright. I'm going." I enter the ball room and all eyes turn to me.
I hate so much attention, yet I bask in it for the moment. Ash is standing on the other side of the hall and he still has a small rim of black and blue around his eye. I snicker and walk forward. This is going to be the sweetest nightmare I've ever created for someone. Should I trip him into the hors d'oeuvre table while we are dancing? No, too messy. My brain wasn't working right, I couldn't think of anything else that would put him through mortal heck. We finally meet at the center, but our eyes don't.
Ash stammers. "You…look nice." Wow, he actually said it in a way I would to a countess! Dull and annoyed!
"Thank you." I reply in the same tone.
He suddenly puts his arm around my waist and takes my other hand in his. He starts to dance with me. I go along with it. I've had some lessons over the months just because my father requested them. I've requested lots of things, but never got them. Like those little mini shrimp for an appetizer. I don't see any on the table, so I was probably ignored once again. As we make a round for the hors d'oeuvre table, I don't have the heart to trip him. Darn it all!
"I'm…" I start unexpectedly. "Sorry about the eye."
"Oh," He laughs a little. "That's okay, really." That's when he gave me that look. It was almost the same thing as when he did before I punched him out. But this time, there was a different glint in his eye. A glint which I enjoyed pretty much, as a matter of fact. It made his face look so much more handsome and sweet. Whoa, what was this? I feel my cheeks burn pink. I've never blushed in my life and here I am standing before a boorish prince and my pores open freely!
I stop dancing as well as he. "What's the matter?" He asks.
"Nothing." I reply in a whisper. "This may sound odd, but I feel I know you better now then I ever have before." What were these words coming out of my mouth? Maybe it was one of those 'love at first sight' deals except this one was delayed. Quite a big delay if you ask me.
He then turns to face his mother. "Announce the engagement."
Oh my gosh. I actually smiled at that. This can't be happening! But did I want it to happen? I don't know! So, we continue to dance. "Ash, why do you want to marry me?"
He laughs as though I were an imbecile. "Well, I mean…look at you! You're beautiful."
I hear a record stop in the back of my brain. "What?" I ask dully.
"You're…you're beautiful."
"I heard you." I reply and get free from his grasp. "But you want to marry me just because I'm pretty in pink. Then, this is no deal, buster."
I slowly back up and run out of the ball room. I don't care about packing, I'm getting out of here. I'm leaving and never coming back. Never to see that looser, Ash's, face. Never to see my Father so he can lecture me on how I embarrass the family. No more of that. I'm taking a stand. My life is going to be lived the way I wanted it to. That's final. You hear me? You hear me world!? I hate you! I hate all of you! And it's time I made myself clear. It's time I get even with you. I've tried to act like a decent Princess, but apparently I wasn't good enough. I'll show you what a princess can do. I may look pretty in pink, but if you ever see me in those colors again, you better watch out! For they are my warrior colors.
"Come along little princess!" The servant would say as he dragged my hand through the thick crowds of the streets.
I was young and naïve, careless in fact. "Wait!" I would scream as I always dropped the doll I carried almost everywhere when I was that age. He listened to me at a maximum of twice. The other times, when I finally had wrenched free of his hand, he'd just keep on walking. I'd have to run to keep up. The next time I dropped my doll, he wouldn't let me go. It lay on the streets, and I was just waiting for a goat to come by and eat it.
I cried and the servant didn't seem to care. Boy, would he hear from my father once we got home. But suddenly, I feel a tap on my shoulder.
"Here." Came a little boy's voice. "You dropped your dolly."
I look at the face of a prince I've met only three times before. His family and mine were very close. "Thank you." I reply and take my doll back. I never knew his name, but I always remembered him for his pitch black hair.
I lost my liking for that boy after some time. Every time they'd visit our castle he'd bring his block-head friend along with him and tease me. Maybe it was just something boys did. Little dorky red-head, woke up on the wrong side of the bed! They'd always chant that whenever I was in their site. I learned to ignore it, I just stayed in my room. I watched them from my window build forts in the near by trees. The butlers would chase them across the yard for pulling up his tulips. Boys, I mutter under my breath. But that boy never left my mind. His smile was imbedded in my brain, and it will never be forgotten. I wouldn't be aloud to forget him. For he was staying unusually long this time. Him and his mother usually only stayed for about two weeks. But it was past a month now. I was about to get the shock of my life. Something that wouldn't let me forget.
"What?" I actually don't sound as shocked as I was. "You've got to be kidding Me." My voice was dull and annoyed, it was quite obvious. This was not happening.
"No, I'm not kidding, Misty." My father replies. He sits down and cleans a smudge off of one of the wine glasses that sits on the dinner table.
I laugh slightly. "Then…you joke of course?"
"No joke." He still says. I should brake the wine glass over his head!
"Why…" I choke. I'm just so full of shock, anger, rile, and disbelief. "You didn't even consult me on the subject!? Why not, father! You should have asked me about it first! Am I not my own woman?"
"Yes, dear, you are very independent." My father answers. "But I am still your father, and have my say."
"But I have a say in this too! It's my life, you can't just go change it like that." I snap my fingers.
"Misty, please. He's a nice man." My father protests.
"Boy you mean!" I shout in his face.
"Misty! Sit down." He bellows and I sit.
If you haven't caught the drift already, I'll make it a little easier for you to understand. Apparently, my father and the other queen have set up an arrangement. I was to be married within four months to that brat of a boy prince who just happened to pick up my pathetic doll! I was engaged, to put it in short. I will not be Misty Waterflower anymore, I will simply be Misty Block-Head. Of course that wasn't his real last name, but it suites him better then his real one. That prince. Sheesh! Me? His bride? I don't think so! But my father wasn't getting the point as quickly as I hoped he would.
"Father, please gratify this one request I have!" I ask sweetly. "I don't want to marry Ash!"
"Misty, you hardly know him!" My father waves off my demand. "That is why Queen Delia and I have set this up as a four month engagement. You'll have plenty of time to rendezvous and get acquainted. After all that time, you will find him nothing other then charming, I assure you."
"You only assure the fact that I will remain miserable for the rest of my life!" I reply with mock smile.
"Misty…"
"Please." I stand up. "The matter is closed on my part and I don't intend to open it very soon!"
I trample off to my room not letting another word from my father's throat enter my ears. Why couldn't my father just marry that stupid queen, then he'd be happy. But wait, that would make Ash my step-brother. That would be worse, never mind. Plus, I don't want my father to replace mother. I never even knew her, but still I feel so attached. I return to my room, finally, and sit down by my window. I open it to get some fresh air in the room. The canopy over my bed sways from the gentle breeze and I sit down and start to work on my needle-point. My peace and solitude are interrupted quite quickly by yells of a very immature sixteen year-old and his block- headed friend from the yard. I set my needle-point down and walk over the window and lean my head out so they will hear my loud and clear.
I clear my throat considerably loud and they stop shouting at once and look up at me.
"Hey, Ash, it's your bride." His idiotic friend reports.
I smile for a milli-second, but then return to my much more comfortable scowl. "SHUT UP!" I roar at them. "Can't a girl get some privacy around here without two little imbeciles ruining the whole moment? I don't want to hear you little shenanigans about pirates and Robin Hood! I just want to stay away from you as much as possible. And when I say that I also mean not hearing a single word come out of your mouths. I hope I've made myself clear. Have a very nice day."
I close my window and return to my work. Hopefully that would have quieted them down. But I can already hear my father walking up the steps to yell at me for 'using such profane language'. Ha, like I care? If you were thinking yes, then I'd ask you to change you mind. For the answer is: NO! I am going to do everything I can to get out of this marriage even if it is over my dead body. I was so deep in thought I forgot what I was doing and pricked myself with the needle. Stupid me.
"Open this door right now!" My father knocks. That was his definition of a warm welcome.
"Coming father." I smile nastily and go to open the door.
Days pass and those days slowly turn into weeks. The weeks develop into months and before I know it, two months had already flown by. I am that much closer to being Mrs. Block-Head. Almost every afternoon now I am forced to have tea with Queen Delia. It gets worse as the days go on. Not only because she talks about practically the same thing every single time, but also because it is getting vaguely hotter every day.
"May I say, Misty, that that emerald dress looks wonderful on you." Queen Delia comments. "It matches her eyes beautifully and your hair sets it aflame! Exquisite choice, I must admit that."
"Thank you." I whisper dully. That is why most baronesses and queens don't return to our castle for second visits. They say I am too much of a tom- boy. I don't know proper manners, or maybe they just don't like me.
"How was your morning? Did you sleep well?" Queen Delia asks as she spoons in about four lumps of sugar.
"It was okay." I say, tucking some hair behind my ear. "I slept pretty good too."
"That's nice." She smiles. "May I ask you, Misty, how my son got a black eye?"
I try not to laugh. "Sue isn't too terribly fond of him."
"Sue? Who's she?" Queen Delia almost spills her tea.
"My horse." Of course that was a lie. My horse's name was Cornmeal. Sue was my fist.
Sue stood for Stuck Up Exterminator. It killed people that were big headed. Or in this case, pig headed. Ash was trying to give me the sweet talk treatment and he got his reply all right. I told him that he could meet my maid, Sue. He sounded delighted. Probably so he could hit on her and not get married to me. But that was what I planned anyways. But he found himself face to face with her earlier then he had most likely expected. He took it hook, line and sinker. I gave him the sweet face, the pouty lips. I even batted my eyes. It made me sick to my stomach to see that look on his face. It was like it was going to try to suck my own in. That kid ain't touching my lips. Not if I can help it. And I always have Sue for back up. But…then there was that look. It wasn't like the one he gave me the time he met Sue. I'm getting to that part, don't worry. I'm taking my time, because I have plenty of it. Three months were down and only one more to go. My father and Queen Delia had finally met an agreement that fits my wants. Ash and I would have to meet at this grand ball and spend the whole night with each other. Trust me, I don't plan on having fun. I plan on making it a personal nightmare for him. I know there are better things I could be doing with my time. But I have no choice in this. It's either take it or leave it. And if I left it, that would mean I'd walk down the aisle first thing on the morning of the first.
"Oh, aren't you excited?" My father asks as the seamstress works on my ball dress.
"I'm more devastated then excited. How can thirty days go by that quickly? I mean, someone must have bewitched my calendar because I could have sworn I had an extra free day in there. I lost it in a flash, Father." I reply.
"Oh, the ball will be spectacular, Misty! I assure you." My father smiles.
"You assure a lot of things, Father. Maybe I don't want those promises. Oh, you'll find him nothing other then charming, I assure you." I mock. "I find him something other then charming alright! I find him repulsive!"
"Misty, please." My father sighs. "Just because you gave him a black eye doesn't mean…" He stopped because I chuckled over the memory. Oh, the look on his face! That was priceless! "Misty, just don't burn the house down."
"Okay, father, okay." I go to leave.
"Or spike the punch."
"Okay, father, okay."
"Or give Ash another black eye."
"Okay, father, okay."
"Or…"
"What am I supposed to do then? Sit around and knit?" I ask sarcastically.
"Misty, just don't make the guests think you were raised by wolves." My father rests his hand on my shoulder.
"Okay, father, okay." I meant it this time.
"Now, I believe Ash is waiting for you out there." My father reminds me.
I moan. "Alright. I'm going." I enter the ball room and all eyes turn to me.
I hate so much attention, yet I bask in it for the moment. Ash is standing on the other side of the hall and he still has a small rim of black and blue around his eye. I snicker and walk forward. This is going to be the sweetest nightmare I've ever created for someone. Should I trip him into the hors d'oeuvre table while we are dancing? No, too messy. My brain wasn't working right, I couldn't think of anything else that would put him through mortal heck. We finally meet at the center, but our eyes don't.
Ash stammers. "You…look nice." Wow, he actually said it in a way I would to a countess! Dull and annoyed!
"Thank you." I reply in the same tone.
He suddenly puts his arm around my waist and takes my other hand in his. He starts to dance with me. I go along with it. I've had some lessons over the months just because my father requested them. I've requested lots of things, but never got them. Like those little mini shrimp for an appetizer. I don't see any on the table, so I was probably ignored once again. As we make a round for the hors d'oeuvre table, I don't have the heart to trip him. Darn it all!
"I'm…" I start unexpectedly. "Sorry about the eye."
"Oh," He laughs a little. "That's okay, really." That's when he gave me that look. It was almost the same thing as when he did before I punched him out. But this time, there was a different glint in his eye. A glint which I enjoyed pretty much, as a matter of fact. It made his face look so much more handsome and sweet. Whoa, what was this? I feel my cheeks burn pink. I've never blushed in my life and here I am standing before a boorish prince and my pores open freely!
I stop dancing as well as he. "What's the matter?" He asks.
"Nothing." I reply in a whisper. "This may sound odd, but I feel I know you better now then I ever have before." What were these words coming out of my mouth? Maybe it was one of those 'love at first sight' deals except this one was delayed. Quite a big delay if you ask me.
He then turns to face his mother. "Announce the engagement."
Oh my gosh. I actually smiled at that. This can't be happening! But did I want it to happen? I don't know! So, we continue to dance. "Ash, why do you want to marry me?"
He laughs as though I were an imbecile. "Well, I mean…look at you! You're beautiful."
I hear a record stop in the back of my brain. "What?" I ask dully.
"You're…you're beautiful."
"I heard you." I reply and get free from his grasp. "But you want to marry me just because I'm pretty in pink. Then, this is no deal, buster."
I slowly back up and run out of the ball room. I don't care about packing, I'm getting out of here. I'm leaving and never coming back. Never to see that looser, Ash's, face. Never to see my Father so he can lecture me on how I embarrass the family. No more of that. I'm taking a stand. My life is going to be lived the way I wanted it to. That's final. You hear me? You hear me world!? I hate you! I hate all of you! And it's time I made myself clear. It's time I get even with you. I've tried to act like a decent Princess, but apparently I wasn't good enough. I'll show you what a princess can do. I may look pretty in pink, but if you ever see me in those colors again, you better watch out! For they are my warrior colors.