BY SOPHIA FULLMER
y Perfectly Unrecognizable
y There was a little princess that
lived in a castle on the shores of Dan marrow. She grew up in this castle all her life and was happy and content to stay in it. The castle was splendid and miraculous. It had marble floors, silver bells on every hall lamp and door, tables glistening with silver foods that were heavenly silver, to the taste buds, music filled every hall, and magic hung in the air.
y Although g her life was wonderful,,
she did not have everything that a girl needed. She did not know how she knew she was missing something or what it was, was but she knew that there was something she truly longed for. Alicia just g on it. couldn’t put her finger
y So, Alicia made a list of what she did have in
her life. life y 1. she has parents that love her dearly. y 2. She has a palace to live in. y 3. She has delicious food. y 4. She is well looked after. y 5. She has things like toys and furniture, (including her soft cozy bed). y 6. She exercised everyday and ate a good amount of both fruits and vegetables every day. She had to think for a long time, time when she started writing the list of the things she didn’t have at the moment.
y Besides a few
toys and books, she couldn’t think of anything. She paced back and forth on her vast bedroom floor.
y When she looked out her window, seeing a couple of
servant girls casually walking on the castle grounds, grounds laughing and joking around, it came to her. What Alicia had been missing was a friend. Throughout her life so far in the castle, Alicia had played by herself Her only companions were her family and herself. the adult workers in the palace. They were great to talk to, but not the same as a friend her own age would be. She sighed, finding a friend would not be easy Alicia knew that there were some children easy. around her age that worked as servants, but they weren’t very educated and were always busy. It would be hard to have a conversation. The only place to find a good friend, would be to go outside. outside
y She shuddered at the thought of
leaving her safe and wonderful home. She tried to talk herself out of it by saying things like, how bad did she really need friends anyway or I have everything else I could ever want and need in this very castle. She tried to talk herself out of it, but the more she thought about it, it the more she was certain that she had to leave. Once she was certain she had to do something, Alicia became determined and as ready as she would ever be. So at dinner she was going to have to prepare herself to ask for her parents permission to go outside of the castle walls, using her well thought out plan.
y Alicia decided that the best way y to make real friends,
was to hide in plain sight. Meaning she would disguise herself as someone who worked at the palace and go meet people without them knowing at all who she really people p she met liked her for who she was, was. If the p without h k knowing that h she h was royalty, l than h they h may be b the friends she was looking for all along. As for a disguise, it would have to be from a worker that wasn’t very high g ranked, but still working g at the palace. It would ld be b a whole h l lot l easier for f her h iff she h didn’t d d ’ have h to make stuff up about her life. An animal trainer, there were a lot of them and they were some of the lowest in rank. So before dinner Alicia went down to the laundry and d cleaning l center and d took k a used d outfit f from f the h locker of a servant. She felt bad at first for taking it, but she needed it more than they did at the moment.
y The outfit she had taken, and was now wearing under her dress,
was a blue long sleeved shirt made of itchy wool and a light green skirt made of the same itchy wool. The blue shirt was full of hairs, which would make the itchy shirt even more uncomfortable. The green skirt came with a large brown belt g g to make the skirt veryy attached to the fabric,, which was going uncomfortable. Alicia was having some doubt to whether she could actually pull this off. She sighed and commented on the discomfort of the too small shoes, that came with the outfit, but knew she had to do it. The next step to pulling this off was to change the look of her well known face face. Her face was always on posters, postage stamps, and magazines. Since she couldn’t do anything really about the way her face looked, she decided it would be best to change the way her hair looked. So, she p her well groomed g hair and cut some of it up, p, (this ( messed up was so her hair could look ratty and less full as it is always seen). She put on a cloak as black as night and turned to stare at herself in the mirror. She could hardly recognize herself.
y Now that she had a disguise she had to test it
out. She Sh went to dinner di i her in h disguise. di i Th The disguise worked, no one recognized her. Sadly the disguise worked a bit too well. Twice she was ordered to go clean out the stables and worst of all her parents didn’t believe Alicia when she tried to tell them her plan and that it was her, her (their daughter and princess). princess) Not only did her own parents not recognize her, but they fired her and sent the guards to throw her out palace Theyy said,, before the g guards of the p came, that their daughter was never unhappy and would never wear such clothes.
y On Alicia’s first night on the streets, she was terrified, hungry, and had
nowhere h to go. It I wasn’t ’ until il the h next day d that h she h found f d out that h to get by, you needed to work to get money. Sadly when she was putting together her disguise she hadn’t been thinking of money, so she had none at the moment. moment For a while Alicia walked around the stores trying to find some sort of job she could do. She saw a hair salon and went in, but they just sent her out after a brief conversation. They said that they didn’tt need any more employees at the moment and that little girls at didn my age don’t work at salons.
y Finally
at almost 3:00 in the afternoon she found someone who afternoon, would have her as an employee. It was a bakery on a very busy street by the lake. A girl about her age was working on a strawberry tart in the bakery’s small kitchen. She had blond hair with streaks of brown, blue eyes, a long nose, and her face and hands were dusted with flour. The girls uniform was a brown shirt and a lighter brown skirt, with a light green belt that had yellow flowers.
y The girl said, “hi…are you a new employee?” Alicia
said shyly, “yes...I was sent to get a uniform and start work”. She told Alicia that her name was Shanna and went to the cabinet to get her a uniform. Alicia’s uniform was the same with the exception of having an apron instead of a belt. “Is this your first time, cause you look a little nervous”, Shanna asked. “first time at what?” Alicia was confused at what she meant b first by fi time i and d if she h meant work k how h should h ld she h answer. “first time working”, Shanna said. “Um…..no, I used to work in the palace as an animal trainer”, Alicia said. “Ok well for todayy all yyou need to do is make two batches of blueberry muffins and this the lemon upside down cake to this address”, she said as she handed Alicia a white box, that had an address written on the lid
y Alicia’s first day started out good. Shanna helped her
make the muffins, muffins it was Alicia Alicia’ss first time baking anything, and Shanna was very nice and was into a lot of the same things she was into. They both liked riding horses, the theater, and both liked baking, (Alicia thought that baking was actually very fun even if it was a bit messy). Though, Alicia new that this good day would not last, she still would have to sleep on a cold stone bench. bench Surprisingly at the end of the day, Shanna asked if Alicia had a place to stay. When Alicia said that she didn’t, Shanna told her that she could stay at her house for the time being.
. Her house was actually right above the bakery, it turns out her father owned the bakery. It was a small, but comfortable house with three rooms. Alicia ate with Shanna’s family and her two dogs, Muttley and Snowball. Alicia now had a shelter, good food, and maybe even her first friend.
y On Alicia’s second week on the streets,, while Shanna
and Alicia were walking the dogs, Shanna saw a poster asking for a reward for the missing princess Alicia. “Wow the princess has the same name as you”, she said showing Alicia the poster. poster Thankfully, Thankfully the photo given was a little blurry, but Alicia was a little surprised that she was still undiscovered as the missing princess. “What would you do with money if you did find the runaway princess” Alicia asked suspiciously. What would her new friend do if she new that her friend was worth 500,000 dollars. “I know that all that money would be useful, useful but I just couldn couldn’tt take the reward.” “My dad says that doing the right thing should be its own reward”, she said proudly. “So you wouldn’t take it”, I said excitedly. “No, like I said it wouldn’t be right”, she said.
y This was the moment, she thought to herself. “Shanna what if I could
tell ll you where h the h princess i i ” she is”, h asked k d keeping k i her h voice i down, d so as not to be overheard. “What do you mean?”, she asked suspiciously. Alicia whispered in Shanna’s ear and told her who she really was and how she left the castle. castle Shanna gasped and tripped on a tree root as Muttley started chasing a squirrel. Shanna yelled, “Muttley! Stop!” Snow ball was pulling Alicia towards the commotion and sooner than she thought possible they were both tangled up, there leashes were knotted up and the dogs were still yapping and running about. Shanna and Alicia struggled to get untangled and calm the dogs down.
y When they finally did, Shanna stared at Alicia for several long minutes.
She kept opening her mouth as if to speak and closing it as if she had changed her mind. Finally Shanna spoke, “So why did you runaway……Alicia”. She was relieved Shanna hadn’t said princess or your highness. Alicia told Shanna all about her palace life, how it was wonderful, d f l but b also l sometimes i very lonely l l and d how h she h realized li d that h she h needed a friend. When Alicia finished her story Shanna smiled and said, “I get why you did leave, but why didn’t you just ask your parent or let them know”. “I tried,, remember I was g going g to show them that I was p prepared p and that my plan could work and ask them then”, Alicia said. “But they didn’t recognize you like you hoped they would”, Shanna finished. “You know they have been looking for you all through these two weeks, in fact the posters were ere up the day da I met you ou”, Shanna said before continuing, continuing “II just wanted to show you because I thought the princess looked like you”, she finished with a laugh.
y “Really Really….II should probably get back then then”, Alicia
said with a sigh. Alicia hadn’t seen the posters, since she had been in the bakery most of the time or just wasn wasn’tt paying attention. Now that she knew, Alicia felt guilty and home sick. “How do we get the king and Queen to recognize you this time?” “Easyy I’ll jjust p put on myy crown, myy p purple p silk dress, and fix my hair a bit and they shouldn’t have too much trouble recognizing me”, Alicia said. “You still have them with you?”, Shanna asked. “My dress was under the castle uniform and my crown was tucked into my oversized belt”, Alicia said proudly.
y Later that night the girls arrived at the
castle, wearing their best clothes. Alicia wearing her dress and crown, and Shanna wearing her best dress and shoes. Shanna and Alicia told the king and Queen all that had happened and at the end of their story the king and queen looked very shocked. “Have you really been lonely”, the king asked with a very concerned expression. The queen was crying i she h hadn’t h d ’ thought h h about b a social i l life for her daughter other than having some royal families come for dinner once a yea year aand d was as horrified o ed that a sshee had ad actually thrown her own daughter out of the castle. They both apologized and thanked Shanna for helping Alicia and b i i her bringing h back b k safely. f l
y . Just as Shanna had said, Shanna didn’t take the reward when she was
offered it. But before Shanna could say why, Alicia interrupted saying, “Actually there is a different award that we both think would be better in terms of the situation.” “Our baker is about to retire, perhaps Shanna’s dad who is an excellent baker, could take his place as the palace baker”, Alicia said. The queen and King thought this was an excellent idea if Shanna’ss father agreed to take the job. Shanna job Shanna new her father would say yes. “My father would be honored to take the job”, Shanna said excitedly.
y Five years later Alicia made a list in bed of all the things she has. y 1. she has parents that love her dearly. y 2. She has a palace to live in. y 3. She has still delicious food. y 4. She is well looked after. y 5. She has things like toys and furniture, (including her soft cozy bed). y 6. She h exercised d everyday d and d ate a good d amount off both b h fruits f and d
vegetables every day. y 7. She has a best friend named Shanna, who was fun to talk too, liked
baking, lived in the castle, like horses as much as she did, and was also well educated. y 8. She was also going to become Queen in five days.