1: THE PRINCE
Once upon a time in a faraway land there lived a handsome prince called Nick. The prince was good and kind and brave. He slew dragons and protected his small kingdom from evil hags and hideous ogres. The people of the kingdom loved him very much and they were happy, but the prince wasn’t.
He was lonely. He had no one to love. He had no wife.
His parents called all of the girls in the kingdom to the castle but the prince still could not find a wife. Not one of the girls seemed right for him. Then one day, he heard about the beautiful princess Brianna who lived in an enchanted castle. Long ago, a wizard had placed a spell on her and until a prince came to save her, she must remain in her castle surrounded by thorns and guarded by a fire breathing dragon and an evil sorcerer.
The prince could not stop thinking about Brianna and he knew that she would make the perfect bride for him. So one day, he bid his parents farewell and embarked upon a long and dangerous journey to find the princess Brianna.
**************************
Nick rode his noble stallion along the hot, dusty track. He had been travelling for several days now, but it was still a long way to princess Brianna’s castle. He dreamily hummed a romantic tune to himself as he imagined his bride to be. In his heart he knew that she would be beautiful beyond belief.
The day passed by uneventfully, but as darkness approached, he came to a vast forest. Nick shifted uneasily in his saddle. The forest was thick and could be full of dangers at night. He wondered if he should rest here, on the outskirts of the forest, for the night and then continue his journey by daylight tomorrow. But the lovely image he had created of princess Brianna came to his mind. Waiting would mean it would take longer to reach her.
He urged his stallion forward.
The forest was an eerie place. The moonlight danced about the forest and seemed to make the shadows come alive. On top of that, Nick could hear the cracking of twigs and rustling of the leaves. The tall trees loomed above him and swayed in the wind, casting even more ghastly shadows.
Then the voices began.
At first Nick thought that it was his own over active imagination.
“Ooh, isn’t he a lovely?”
“Very handsome.”
“My, what a dashing young man!”
Soon though, he became certain that it was real voices. He came to a halt.
“Who goes there?” he asked, nervously.
“Ooh! Ssh! Ssh! He can hear us!”
“What a heavenly voice!”
“Shush!”
He peered into the gloom. The only thing he could see were trees.
“Show yourselves!” he said, reaching for his sword.
“It’s alright, fruitcake!”
“No need to be so jumpy!”
“We won’t hurt you!”
Nick turned his head but still he could see no one. But wait, was that a face on a tree? The grooves seemed to form eyes, a nose and a big pair of lips… it was the same for the two trees beside it.
“That’s right sweetheart! Over here!” the middle tree said.
“Y-you’re a, a, you’re a tree!” Nick said, staring in horror at the three horse chestnut trees before him. He could see the grooves on the three trees shifting as the trees changed their expressions. One of them lent a branch over and stroked Nick’s face with a bunch of leaves.
“Ooh, you’re a real darling! We could do with a big, strong man like you in the forest!”
The second tree also reached out for Nick.
“Come here and give us a kiss!” the tree crooned, wrapping a vine about him.
“Aaargh!!!” Nick screamed, “Get off of me!” he grabbed his sword and began hacking madly at the vines and branches that entangled him.
“Ow! You nasty little worm!”
“And we thought you were so nice!”
“Let’s get him, girls!”
Suddenly, the three trees began to hurl spiky horse chestnuts at poor Nick. His noble stallion reared up neighing and flung Nick from it’s back before galloping off through the forest.
Nick groaned as he hit the ground heavily. Then horse chestnuts began raining down upon him. One of them smacked him straight on the nose while another got him on the forehead.
“Go on, get him!” one of the trees screeched.
Realising that he couldn’t stay where he was, he stumbled to his feet. Another horse chestnut hit him on the butt.
Nick ran as fast as he could away from the angry trees. Soon he emerged from the forest but he couldn’t see his noble stallion anywhere.
How was he going to reach his beloved princess Brianna now?
****************************