Since I'm still stuck on fairytales (honestly, when am I ever not stuck on fairytales?), I decided to share a little snippet from my own version of "The Princess and the Pea" that I wrote several years ago. Despite the fact that I wrote it when I was around fourteen and haven't edited it since, I still quite like it! Here's part of it:
For the first half of the ball, Frank had hovered by the refreshment table, making awkward small talk with dozens of people and succeeding in his one and only goal of the evening: not setting foot on the dance floor. But when he saw his mother making a beeline across the room for him, his relative security ebbed away.
“Frank, what are you doing over here?” she demanded. “Aren’t you going to dance?”
“Mother, I’ll probably end up stepping on someone’s toes or falling down or . . .”
“Nonsense! You’ve had dancing lessons, haven’t you? I’ve just been talking with two beautiful girls, and I think they’re coming over to dance with you soon!” The Queen winked at him and bustled into the crowd again, never happier.
Frank stared after her helplessly.
He saw two girls coming purposefully towards the refreshment table, smiling foolishly. One lifted her arm and flapped her hand limply at him, and they giggled together. It seemed to be the best rendition of a wave that she could manage. True princesses were supposed to be fine, according to his mother. So fine that they lacked the proper wrist strength to wave? He must do something! He would not . . . he could not dance! Throwing a quick glance around the room, he saw that no one was watching him. The girls were chattering to each other, everyone else was otherwise occupied. He dove under the table, hearing the china rattling bemusedly. He heard a stitch somewhere in his suit pop. Holding his breath, he listened as the two girls stopped a mere foot from the table and began to talk.
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