© 2017 TiaJuana Rountree All rights reserved under the international copy-right law. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the express, written permission of the author or the publisher. The exception is reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review. Christian Living Books, Inc. P. O. Box 7584 Largo, MD 20792 christianlivingbooks.com We bring your dreams to fruition. ISBN Paperback 9781562292485 ISBN eBook 9781562292492 Scripture marked “NKJV” is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1
“Call Me Princess Stephanie”
Chapter 2
“I’m Not a Cook!”
Chapter 3
“I Have a Present for You”
Chapter 4
“My Eyes Are Wide Shut!”
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ots of little girls would love to be a princess. Stephanie Starks is no exception. For as long as she could remember, all Stephanie wanted to be was a princess. On her eighth birthday, her mother and father took her to see a live stage performance of Cinderella. We all know the story of Cinderella. She lived with an evil stepmother and two
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ugly stepsisters. They made Cinderella do all the chores around the house and never allowed her to go anywhere or do anything fun. But her fairy godmother saved the day and made lots of magical things happen. She made it possible for Cinderella’s raggedy dress and plain shoes to magically turn into a beautiful ball gown and glass slippers that were tailor-made for her. She rode to the royal castle in a horse-drawn carriage made from a pumpkin and mice. She danced and fell in love with the handsome prince, who was looking for a wife. But at midnight, everything was to change back to its original state, so Cinderella ran o, with no explanation, leaving 8
behind one glass slipper. The prince used that slipper to find Cinderella, his true love, and they lived happily ever after. “Oh, my,” said Stephanie. “I want to be a princess just like Cinderella. Daddy, can I be a princess too?” “You are already my princess, sweetheart,” answered her daddy. “I am?” Stephanie looked at her mother and asked, “Am I your princess too, Mommy?” “You certainly are, baby.” Stephanie had the biggest smile on her face. “Well, okay, then,” said Stephanie. “From now on, call me Princess Stephanie. All I need now is a princess tiara, a lovely ball gown, some glass slippers, a pumpkin carriage, a 9
castle . . .” “Wait, wait a minute. Slow down, young lady,” said her daddy. “The Cinderella story is a fairy tale. It’s makebelieve. Those magical things in the play don’t happen in real life.” “But Daddy, I already have a godmother. Can’t GodMommy Gloria be my fairy godmother? She always brings me lots of toys and pretty dresses. I just need to ask her to turn me into a real princess.” Her daddy shook his head. “That’s what I’m trying to tell you, sweetheart,” he said. “GodMommy Gloria cannot turn you into a princess like Cinderella. She doesn’t know how to do magic. She doesn’t have a magic wand, and even if she did, she couldn’t wave it to wipe away that little 10
tear that’s bubbling in your eye right now.” Poor Stephanie. She just didn’t understand. “But you said I was your princess,” she cried. “You are, baby,” said her daddy. Her mommy added, “And you always will be. When we 11
call you our little princess, that’s just another way of letting you know how precious you are to us. Everything we have is yours, sweetheart, and we don’t need any magic to do that.” Her daddy tried to console her: “Please don’t cry, little princess. Daddy and Mommy love you so much. You mean the world to us.” “And you and Mommy mean the world to me, Daddy.” Stephanie stopped crying. At the end of the play, Stephanie was beginning to feel very sleepy. Shortly after fastening her seatbelt in the backseat of her parents’ car, Stephanie fell asleep. When they arrived home, her daddy carried her to her bedroom, and her mommy got her ready for bed. 12
She put Stephanie’s favorite princess nightgown on her, gently tucked her in bed, and kissed her good night. It wasn’t long before Stephanie was in a deep sleep. The next thing she knew, she was waking up in a dark corner of a smelly garage that had an old red Cadillac convertible parked in it. “What am I doing here?” she asked herself. “I am Princess Stephanie. A princess would never be sleeping in a dirty old smelly garage like this.” Suddenly, the garage door opened automatically, and in walked an old woman with a cane. She was dressed in fine clothes, like she was going out to a fancy banquet or something. 13
“Well, well, well,” said the old woman. “It’s about time you woke up into my world. Who do you think you are, a little princess or something? Oh, wait, I remember now – Princess Stephanie. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, haaa! I heard what you said to your parents at the theater: ‘Call me Princess Stephanie!’ You see, I was sitting right behind you in the theater last night. I sprinkled a little Fairy Tale Princess Dream Dust on you. That way, I could make sure you would pay me a visit when you fell fast asleep. “Oh, how rude of me! Let me introduce myself. My name is Queen Big Mama. I am the ‘Dream Queen.’ I catch little girls like you, whose desire it 14
is to be so-called ‘fairy tale princesses.’ I had to bring you into my dream world so you could WAKE UP and realize your life is not a fairy tale. You – he-he-heee! – Princess Stephanie, are my servant girl. You work for me for free. So, here’s what I want you to do right now: You will wash my car and polish it until you can see your pretty little face in it. Then, when you’re done, I will suddenly make you appear in the backyard, where you will plant flowers for me in my beautiful garden. I just love flowers.” Princess Stephanie started to ask the old woman a question, but Queen Big Mama held up her hand and said, “Don’t you speak a word. If I don’t 15
give you permission to speak, you’d better not speak. Is that understood?” Princess Stephanie almost said yes, but she nodded instead. Queen Big Mama turned the light on in the garage; handed Princess Stephanie a bucket of water, a sponge, and some liquid soap; and told her to get to work. Then Queen Big Mama walked out of the garage and, using her remote, closed the door behind her. “Oh my goodness!” said Princess Stephanie. “What have I gotten myself into?” Princess Stephanie looked all around the garage, noticing the various gadgets, tools, car tires, and containers of nails, nuts, and bolts. This is truly no 16
place for a princess, thought Princess Stephanie. I’ve got to wake up. But for some reason, I feel like I’m under some kind of spell or something. Princess Stephanie did what Queen Big Mama instructed her to do. She washed and polished the red Cadillac until she could see her face in it. Then, before she knew it, she was out of the garage and on her knees in the garden, planting flowers. After all, that’s how dreams go, you know. You start out in one place, and then you end up someplace else, and you find yourself wondering how you got there. While planting flowers, Princess Stephanie noticed that she wasn’t the 17
only one working in the garden. She saw five other little girls planting flowers. Princess Stephanie started whispering to the girl closest to her. “Hello! My name is Princess Stephanie. What’s yours?” The other girl seemed to ignore her and kept working. “Hey!” Princess Stephanie said louder. “Can’t you hear me?” There was no answer. “What’s the matter with you – cat got your tongue? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!” She abruptly stopped laughing and cleared her throat. Still, there was no response from the girl. Princess Stephanie tried to reach over and touch the girl on her shoulder, but a soundproof, unbreakable glass shield separated them. No wonder the 18
girl couldn’t hear her. None of the other girls could be distracted from their work because they all were trapped in their own little dream garden space, doing the very same thing Princess Stephanie was doing: planting flowers and looking like poor little lonely servant girls, though they were all wearing tiaras.
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There must be some way to get their attention, thought Princess Stephanie. But as hard as she tried, nothing seemed to work. She screamed and banged on the glass shield with all of her might, but those girls never even knew Princess Stephanie was there… or so she thought. What do you think you’re doing?” snickered Queen Big Mama, who suddenly appeared in the garden. “I captured those silly little girls the same way I captured you! Not all at once or in the same place, however. You see, they too were dreaming of being fairy tale princesses. Allow me to introduce you to Princess Deseray, and over here we have Princess Cheyenne, and Princess 20
Kenae, and Princess Aubrielle, and Princess Myleah. There are six of you so far, and you’re all stuck in my Princess Dream World. You’ll get a chance to meet them all at dinnertime. I’ve got over a million children stashed away in various secret dream worlds. I’ve just started my Princess Dream World. It’s the craze, you know. Um-hum, I even have some little boys who dream of being superheroes! Ha, ha, ha, haaaa! Whew! It’s a lot of work, but I LOVE my job! I can’t get over just how many ridiculous little children there are in the world who believe they can be fairy tale characters. Listen to me, child. They don’t exist; they are not real. Didn’t you 21
hear what your own daddy said to you? That’s why I sprinkle Fairy Tale Princess Dream Dust on every little girl who wants to be a fairy tale princess, and I make them all dream of the REAL world of hard work and labor. How do you like it so far?” Princess Stephanie started to cry. “I don’t like it at all,” she said. “Someday my prince will come and rescue me from all of this.” Queen Big Mama laughed. “Ha, ha, ha, ha! You think so? You are so funny. I hate to burst your bubble, honey. But no prince will be visiting you in this dream. You ain’t even gonna see your mama! Remember, you are in my dream 22
world now. So get back to work! I’ll let you know when it’s time to come in and prepare dinner for me and your fairy tale princess girlfriends. Tah, taaah, darlings!” And with that, Queen Big Mama disappeared. Poor Princess Stephanie. She was so sad and lonely. She had become a slave, stuck in that horrible dream world of hard work and labor, with no parents or friends with whom to talk or laugh. She could see that the other little girls in the garden were just as sad and lonely as she was. Princess Stephanie kept thinking to herself, There’s got to be a way to get out of this dream world. But how can I do it? 23