Fairy Ross, Princess Pye, and the Mermaid Rings
by Sonal Merchant
In the kingdom of Ethel there lived a young fairy called Ross. She was appointed by the King of Ethel as the ‘assistant chief fairy’ of the palace garden, an honor revered by all of her race. Being the responsible fairy that she was, she tended the royal palace garden with much care under the guidance of her supervisor, Fairy Sam.
The King and Queen of Ethel had no children of their own. So the palace missed the sounds of children’s laughter and their playful pranks. This made the Queen sad and she wished she would have a son or a daughter who would make the palace a much delightful place to live in.
“Why don’t you have Princess Pye come over and stay with us?” Suggested the King one day.
“Princess Pye? You mean your uncle’s second cousin’s third granddaughter?” Asked the Queen.
“Hmm..”, mused the confused King, “well in short I meant the youngest Princess from Nephrasia”, added he as a matter of fact.
“Oh what a darling is she...yes, yes...I’d love her to come. Will she?” Asked the Queen excitedly unable to contain her mirth.
“A word of warning though”, added the King hesitatingly, “I’ve heard she’s quite a mischief maker.”
“The more mischief the better”, said the Queen, “It gets so lonely and quiet in the palace at times. I would really love some company.”
“As you wish. I will dispatch my messenger to Nephrasia today”, said the King.
The Queen was so rejoiced that she hugged him happily saying, “Oh what a thoughtful husband you are. Thank you so much!”
So in no time was the message sent and in no time came the carriage from Nephrasia with the much awaited princess. But the party was a trio for along the princess came her companions Ray and Sue.
“What a bright day it is in Ethel today!” Remarked Ray, the tall one, as she got off the carriage.
“Ah, the sun is too scorching for me”, added Sue, the short one, as she followed Ray.
“Just nice for me”, remarked Princess Pye with a smile. “I love the sun of Ethel”, she said as she stepped down the royal carriage. She saw the King and Queen waiting for her at the entrance of the palace. “Uncle! Aunty! So nice to see you”, she said as she ran into their arms.
“You are welcome to stay with us as long as you like”, said the Queen to her darling, overwhelming her with numerous kisses on her cheek.
“Oh Aunty, I love you so much”, said Princess Pye tightly hugging her Aunt and winking at the same time to her Uncle. Her Uncle approvingly winked back.
So the party went inside the palace and entered the court hall where the royal Council waited to greet the guests. The King, Queen, Princess Pye and her friends marched slowly towards the throne but the Queen couldn’t help but notice a smile lit in the eyes of all. She really wondered why. And when she turned to face the Council, there was uncontrolled laughter in the air. The Queen looked questioningly to her husband andwas shocked by what her husband told her. Behold, there was a note stuck behind her which read ‘I am a MEAN AUNT. Kick me!’
“Ah! My dearie! How could you?” She asked Princess Pye but all the more hugged her tightly and wouldn’t leave her until threatened by Princess Pye,
“Do you want another note stuck behind you?” Having said that, she was immediately released from her Aunt’s arms.
And so forth the days at the royal palace proceeded with much laughter and fun unlike the usual dull days. There was not a single soul left in the palace who had not experienced a prank played by the trio within the first week of their stay. And now every object touched in the palace was touched with caution and care lest there should be a prank hidden inside. Every corridor taken, every door opened, every step taken was taken with caution and care lest there be a prank planted on it.
Well the truth was that the Queen had no idea her little Princess Pye was such a mischief monger and now she was beginning to feel that the palace was better without her than with her. But she did all she could to be a good hostess and kept her cool at all times. Well she waited for the day when Princess Pye would give up her pranks because she did love and enjoy the company but she absolutely hated their pranks. Her sentiments were echoed by the rest of the party at the palace.
“Oh! It is getting so boring now”, grumbled Ray and Sue one day, “People don’t seem to be falling for our pranks anymore.”
“There aren’t careless to step on my booby traps any longer”, complained Ray.
“Yesterday I offered nectar syrup to the courtiers and they refused”, complained Sue, “How could they know I’d spiked it with bitter gourd?”
“Its not fun at all...No one seems to believe our innocent faces anymore”, muttered Princess Pye sadly looking outside the window for a breath of fresh air. And her eyes lit up with mischief as she recognized her next untested would-be victim. For she saw Fairy Ross fluttering in the garden and singing a song to the flowers.
“Cheer up, it shall be fun now! Come on girls, lets go try her!” Said the excited Princess Pye pointing her finger towards Fairy Ross to her even more excited friends.
***
“Help me, someone please help me”, cried Sue at the bank of the lake so that she was within hearing range of Fairy Ross. She put on her most innocent face and some cucumber juice on her cheeks for tears. “Waaaahhh! Mom will be so angry with me!”, She pretended to cry.
Fairy Ross, who was busy singing to her dear daffodils and roses, was distracted by the sound nearby.
“What is that noise?” Asked the roses in unison.
“Sounds like a maiden’s voice! How unusual!” Said the daffodils.
“I do see some maidens in the bushes near the lake ” said the tall tree nearby.
“Watch out. Rumor says the palace is host to master pranksters” warned another tree nearby.
“I must go see the matter”, said Ross to her flowers and the trees “Someone may be in trouble”.
So off she went concerned for a soft hearted fairy she was and she could not see anyone sad.
“Waaahhhh!” Cried Sue even more loudly when she saw Fairy Ross fluttering towards her. “Mom will be so angry with me!”
“What is the matter?” Ross asked her.
“I dropped my mom’s ring in the lake. What am I going to tell her? She will punish me severely. Waaaahh”,she cried even more.
“Do not cry. Let me see if I can find it.” And Fairy Ross bent towards the water hoping to could catch a glimmer of the ring.
“Ready?” Sue gestured to Ray and Princess Pye who were hiding in the bushes behind. And so they came speedingly and pushed Ross into the murky water till Ross was completely drenched with mud and water.
“Oh excuse me, didn’t notice you”, remarked Princess Pye casually. “We were just taking a stroll down the bank.”
Fairy Ross sat confused in the murky waters. She was wet from head to toe. Her wings were so wet that she couldn’t open them. A toad sat on her shoulder. Another on her head. The three girls were so amused at the comic scene that it was difficult to keep a straight face.
But instead of being angry with them for drenching her, Ross looked happily at the spot where she had fallen and rejoiced, “Here is your ring! I do see it now!”
“Huh?” The trio were surprised cause they had lost no ring.
But Ross pulled out such a beautiful ring from the murky waters that the three stood transfixed. Its stone was deep purple in color and it glimmered in the evening sun.
“Oh there are two more”, she said, pulling out two equally beautiful rings from the lake. One was sea green. The other was bright orange.
“Maybe these are mermaid rings”, whispered Pye to her friends, “Lets take them and see what fortune they bring us.”
“Good idea”, agreed her friends.
So Sue said, “Thank you so much kind fairy. Wouldn’t have found them without your help.”
“Most pleased to be of help to you. Good luck”, she said as she shook off the water and mud from her gown and made her way back to her roses and daffodils.
***
“What good luck!”, Remarked the three friends excitedly, “We have found mermaid rings!”
“I will keep the purple one”, insisted Princess Pye.
“Me the green one”, said Ray.
“Guess I’ll take the orange one”, said Sue having left with no choice.
And they wore their respective rings and walked back towards the palace happily chitchatting and admiring each other’s rings. It was time for the evening speech by the King so the three girls marched straight to the court hall.
The moment they entered inside, they felt a weird feeling. Princess Pye felt itchy in her ears. Ray felt her nose was getting sloppy while Sue couldn’t stop scratching her chin.
And behold, the next moment Princess Pye’s ears elongated so that she looked like an elf. Ray’s nose grew a foot long just like Pinocchio’s. And Sue developed a long beard just like Ali Baba from Arabian Nights.
The court burst out with such lighthearted laughter on seeing the marvelous spectacle that even the King and Queen couldn’t help but give in to the thunderous laughter. For it was indeed nice to have a comedy act before the commencement of the royal speech.
“Arrrgh!! What happened to my ears?” Cried Princess Pye.
“My nose is just so long!” Cried Ray.
“What have I got a beard for? I ain’t no boy!” Grumbled Sue.
“We must remove these rings!” Told Princess Pye to her friends, “They are no good!”
The trio tried to pull the rings from their fingers. But it seemed the rings didn’t want to leave them. They were just too tight to pull out.
“What a remarkable entertainment for this evening! We must thank our little girls for putting on a wonderful show!” Declared the King and the audience applauded heartily.
“Gee, thanks”, remarked the girls to the audience. “But we did not plan to put on a show. We don’t know how this happened.”
“Its probably because of these mermaid rings we wore. And now they won’t come out”, informed Princess Pye to the King and Queen.
“Mermaid rings?”, Gasped the Queen, “Where did you get them?”
“From the lake by the garden”, informed Sue.
“Who gave them to you?”, Asked the King.
“It was me Your Highness”, said Fairy Ross from the crowd.
“And the rings are mine”, said Fairy Sam.
And then the crowd understood what had happened. For the trick was played on the pranksters themselves by the fairies Sam and Ross. And the trio had fallen prey to their own plan.
And so the crowd applauded once again but this time for the fairies of their land.
“We’re sorry”, said the three, “No more pranks will Ethel see from us.”
The crowd heaved a sigh of relief. For they really loved the girls but their pranks had been really getting on their nerves.
“We love you three more than ever!” The crowd echoed.
“We love you too”, winked Princess Pye. “Now what about these ears I have grown?”
“And this long nose that will not stop itching?”, Mumbled Ray.
“And this beard which makes me look like a thief?”, Grumbled Sue.
Everyone laughed heartily.
“Should you break your promise these will come back again to haunt you. But for now you can remove your rings and they will be gone”, assured Fairy Ross.
So they tried to remove the rings once again but this time they came off very easily. And the rings were happily given back to Fairy Sam.
