The Musician of Scotland

          Once upon a time in the land of Scotland there lived a musician named Donald. The instrument he played was the bagpipes and he played them wherever he went. Donald played his bagpipes on the streets, at parties and at banquets. Anyone, who listened to him playing, loved it when Donald played his bagpipes. His music was so well played, they would beg for more.

          One day Donald was riding his horse to the castle near Loch Ness Lake. The king of Scotland was holding a banquet at the castle and had asked Donald to play his bagpipes there. When they reached the Loch Ness Lake Donald stopped to examine it. Loch Ness Lake was the biggest, clearest, beautiful lake that Donald had ever seen. He wanted to stay and look at it for longer, but he had to get to the banquet.

          Donald was just about to leave when he heard a funny noise. It sounded like a groaning, moaning wailing sort of noise. To find out what the noise was about Donald followed it. The noise seemed to be coming from an open cave that stood next to the loch. The cave was really wide and dark; it made Donald feel very nervous. Part of him wanted to leave, but he wanted to find out who or what was making the noise.

          Donald went inside the cave. He didn’t exactly see anybody inside the caves, only sand and rocks. “Is there anybody in here?” he whispered. Then there came a soft growl coming from behind some rocks. Donald slowly and quietly walked towards the rocks. Then, after taking a peek behind the rocks, he found what was making the noise.

          Donald couldn’t believe his eyes! Lying on a pile of sand all stretched out was the legendary loch ness monster. It had a greyish blue colour skin, lots of wrinkles and had big eyes. The reason why it was groaning, moaning and wailing was because it was hurt. There was a fisherman’s harpoon in its back and it hurt the monster very much.

          Donald couldn’t leave the loch ness monster in pain like that, so he decided to help. First he went outside the cave and got some things out of the sack his horse was carrying. He took out a big bottle of water and picked up his bagpipes. Then Donald went back inside the cave to the loch ness monster. The monster was still in pain and was wailing a lot. Donald played a long low note on his bagpipes; he thought that would calm it down. To Donald’s surprise the monster stopped wailing and listened to the music; it seemed to like the bagpipes. Next Donald put down the bagpipes, picked up his bottle of water and climbed onto the monsters back. The harpoon wasn’t completely stuck in the monsters back, but it did look like it would be a bit tricky to pull out. First Donald placed his jacket around the harpoon, to have a good grip on the harpoon. Then with one mighty pull Donald took out the harpoon. The loch ness monster didn’t like that; having a sharp harpoon pulled out its back really did hurt. Next Donald poured water onto the cut to clean it.

          The loch ness monster was grateful and nuzzled Donald. “You’re welcome” said Donald, stroking its head. Donald wanted to stay a bit longer, but he suddenly remembered he had a banquet to get to. He explained to the loch ness monster that he had to leave now. The loch ness monster understood, and then let out a low growl; this meant that if Donald needed its help he should play a low note on the bagpipes and it will be right there. Donald understood, said goodbye to the monster then went right on his way to the castle.

          Donald was just in time when he finally reached the castle, the banquet was about to start. All the guests were dukes, lords and princes. The banquet was a great success; all the guests were enjoying the food laid out for them and enjoying the music being played, especially Donald’s music. His bagpipes were very popular with the guests. Everyone was having a good time except Princess Marian of Scotland.

          Princess Marian of Scotland was the most beautiful and kindest girl in all of Scotland. The reason why she was not feeling happy was because this banquet was to help her find a husband. No man at the banquet had captured her heart except Donald. When Princess Marian saw Donald for the first time, she described him as very handsome and when she heard his music for the first time, it poured a very happy feeling in her heart. She was going to pick Donald for a husband.

          After the dancing was finished King Duncan of Scotland stood up from his throne to give a speech. King Duncan of Scotland was the most greedy, selfish and unfair ruler ever. The reason he held this banquet was to marry his daughter off to a rich man for the family’s wealth. The king only cared about money; he didn’t even care about his own daughter or how she felt.

          “I am very happy that all of you have arrived here tonight,” the king said “now as you all know my daughter the lovely Princess Marian will choose someone tonight to become her husband. So my daughter, have you made a choice?” The king had a look of persuasion on his face; he wanted his daughter to pick a husband right now.

          “Yes father I have chosen who I’d like to marry” said Princess Marian, with a smile on her face, “I choose the musician known as Donald to become my husband”.

          Everyone gasped! A princess choosing a musician for a husband was a great surprise. Donald was happy with her choice; he was in love with Princess Marian too. Princess Marian and Donald walked up to each other and held each other’s hands with a look of love in their eyes.

          “This is unacceptable!” shouted King Duncan “I forbid my daughter and this musician to be together”.

          “Father I choose this musician and no one else!” Princess Marian shouted back.

          “If it has come to this, then musician I challenge you to a fight” said King Duncan “tomorrow at dawn you and I will have a sword duel. If you will defeat me you will marry my daughter and become the new king of Scotland. But if you lose I will banish you from Scotland forever”.

          “I accept your challenge your majesty” said Donald, he didn’t want anything to stand in his way of marrying Princess Marian.

          That night Donald and Princess Marian spent the evening together outside in the castle grounds. Princess Marian was worried about Donald; her father was an unfair man, always cheating and going back on his word. She gave Donald a warning about her father.

          “Don’t worry my lady” said Donald “I have a friend who will help me if your father does do anything”.

          “Who is this friend of yours?” asked Princess Marian.

          “A special friend” replied Donald “once this is over I’ll introduce you to him”.

          Princess Marian was still worried about what would happen tomorrow, but Donald embraced her and told her over and over again that everything would be all right.

          When the dawn came King Duncan and Donald were at the Loch Ness Lake; King Duncan insisted of having the duel there.

          “This is your last warning musician!” shouted King Duncan “give up on marrying my daughter or else!”

          “My wish is to marry your daughter” said Donald.

          “Then it is time to fight!” yelled King Duncan.

          After King Duncan finished yelling ten soldiers came out from behind the trees. This was why Princess Marian had warned Donald. King Duncan was cheating by having ten of his strongest soldiers to fight Donald with him.

          “Do you surrender now?” said King Duncan, with an evil smile on his face.

          “No your majesty I do not!” yelled Donald “besides I knew you were a cheat, so I brought help with me”.

          Donald had his bagpipes strapped to his back. He played a long low note on them. Then the Loch Ness monster, that Donald helped yesterday, appeared in the lake. King Duncan and his soldiers could not believe what they saw.

          “King Duncan I am not going to allow you to rule over Scotland with your dishonesty and selfishness anymore” said Donald “Loch Ness monster get rid of this evil king and his soldiers”.

          The Loch Ness monster wrapped its tail around both King Duncan and his soldiers and held them up in the air. Then with a mighty swing of its tail, the loch ness monster threw the evil king and his soldiers far, far away. They were never seen again.

          Meanwhile back at the castle on the loch, Princess Marian was standing outside the castle gates, hoping and praying that Donald would come back alive. Suddenly she saw Donald coming towards her, holding her father’s crown in his hands. With much relief that Donald was alive, Princess Marian ran into Donald’s arms. Donald explained to Princess Marian that her father had left Scotland in disgrace. Princess Marian understood; she always had a feeling that her father’s dishonesty and meanness would get the better of him one day.

          Sometime later Donald and Princess Marian got married and became the new King and Queen of Scotland. The people of Scotland loved their new king and queen and Scotland lived in peace for a very long time.

          Donald introduced his wife, Princess Marian, to the Loch Ness monster and they immediately became friends. Donald and Princess Marian decided to keep their friendship with the Loch Ness monster a secret from everyone else, just in case revealing the Loch Ness monster would mean trouble for it.

The Four Nymphs of the Seasons

          In Greece there is a story that the four seasons of the year are created by four magical nymphs. They say that they are a family but no one knows the real truth. No one even knows what the four nymphs of the seasons look like. Nor has anyone met them, except one little girl.

          This little girl was named Helena and she lived deep in the countryside with her stepmother and stepsister Vanessa. Helena’s real mother died when she was only a baby and her father remarried sometime after her death. Four years later though Helena’s father died too. Helena’s stepmother and stepsister was the only family she had left, even though they weren’t her real family.

          Helena was a good little girl and did whatever she could to help around the house but her kindness was never appreciated. Her stepmother and stepsister were very lazy and very unkind. They made Helena do all the housework without ever lifting a finger to help. But Helena never complained and did whatever she was told to do. Although sometimes she wished she received love from her stepfamily, she never got any.

          One day, in the middle of winter, it was Vanessa’s birthday and a big party was planned. Of course Helena had to get everything ready for the party, while Vanessa and her mother made themselves look pretty. Soon Vanessa’s party guests had arrived. They were all children her age from the village and brought many wonderful gifts. But after presenting their gifts to Vanessa they all gathered round and began to talk to Helena. Helena was popular with everyone in the village because of her good nature while Vanessa was unpopular because of her bad nature.

          Vanessa was very jealous of Helena getting all the attention and complained to her mother. The stepmother didn’t like Helena being more popular than her own daughter either.

          “Don’t worry darling” she said “I think I know how we can get rid of Helena”. She called Helena over. “Helena I want you to go into the forest and pick poppies, peaches and apples for your sister’s birthday”.

          “But there aren’t any poppies, peaches or apples growing in the middle of winter mother” said Helena.

          “No excuses young lady!” shouted the stepmother “until you find poppies, peaches and apples you are not to come back into this house”. The stepmother knew that poppies, peaches and apples didn’t grow in winter; this was her wicked plan of getting rid of Helena.

          So Helena was sent out into the cold harsh winter, with three baskets, to search for poppies, peaches and apples for her sister. Helena searched and searched, but she could not find any poppies, peaches or apples anywhere. It was a cruel thing to do; sending a child out into the cold to find something that wasn’t there. At last Helena gave up and collapsed in the snow. It was useless to continue searching. All she could do now was cry and think of home.

          Suddenly Helena saw a cottage, with lights on and smoke coming from the chimney. Helena realized that someone was living there. With her remaining strength Helena walked up to the cottage and knocked on the door.

          “Who’s there?” said a male voice from behind a door.

          “Please excuse me” said Helena, feeling a bit scared, “but can I please sit by your fireplace for a while till I warm up?”

          “Of course come on in” said the male voice.

          When Helena opened the door a big surprise waited for her. The people living in the cottage weren’t people; they were the four nymphs of the seasons. The stories about the four season nymphs being a family were true. The winter nymph looked like an old man, with white hair and white beard like snow. He was the father. The summer nymph looked like a beautiful woman, with hair as golden as the sun. She was the mother. The autumn nymph looked like a teenage boy, with hair as brown as mud. He was the son. The spring nymph looked like a little girl around Helena’s age, with hair as green as grass. She was the daughter.

          “Do excuse me for bothering you” said Helena.

          “It is no problem dear” said the winter nymph “but what is a little girl like you doing out in this cold weather?”

          Helena told them that her stepmother had sent her out to pick poppies, peaches and apples for her sister. “I know I will never find them in winter” she said “but my stepmother said that I’m not allowed to go home till I find them”.

          After listening to her story the four nymphs agreed to help her, but Helena had to do three tasks for them first. Helena agreed to do whatever she was told to do. The first task was to clean the whole cottage; the floors and windows weren’t clean and there was dust everywhere. Helena did this with no trouble at all; she was used to cleaning a whole cottage by herself. The second task was to get the four nymphs special clothes ready. Winter wore a white suit with a white cape, summer wore a long golden yellow gown, autumn wore a brown shirt and brown trousers and spring wore a short green dress. Helena gave them a quick iron and sorted them out neatly. The third and final task was to polish their magic staffs and wands. Winter had a long white staff, summer had a long yellow staff, autumn had a short brown wand and spring had a short green wand. Helena polished them till they shone.

          When Helena had finished her tasks the four nymphs were pleased and grateful for all her hard work. Next they told Helena to grab her baskets and wait outside for them. Helena did just that and then the four nymphs came out, carrying their staffs and wands. Spring, summer and autumn waved their staffs and wands together and in a blink of an eye the forest changed. The forest was now like a mix of three seasons together. One part was spring; another part was summer and another part autumn. The spring section had beautiful red poppies; the summer sections had big ripe juicy peaches and the autumn part had ripe fresh apples. Helena gathered many poppies, peaches and apples until her baskets were full. Then winter gave her a bag, told her to open her bag out and stand still. Then he waved his staff and suddenly silver coins were falling into her bag. All these gifts were thank you gifts to Helena for all the work she had done for the four nymphs.   Helena thanked them with all her heart, bid farewell to the four nymphs and headed straight for home.

          Back at Helena’s home Vanessa and her mother were feeling glad to be finally rid of Helena. Suddenly Helena came through the door, with her baskets of poppies, peaches and apples. Vanessa and her mother were surprised that Helena actually found them in winter. They were even more surprised when Helena showed them the bag of silver coins and asked Helena where she got them from. Helena told them of her encounter with the four nymphs of the seasons and that the poppies, peaches, apples and silver coins were gifts from them.  

          Vanessa couldn’t believe that Helena had such luck and wanted silver coins too. The stepmother wanted the same gifts too. Before anyone could stop them they were out in the snowy forest. They searched and searched for the four nymph’s cottage, but couldn’t find it anywhere. The four nymphs had disappeared along with their cottage after Helena left them. After searching for a long time, Vanessa and her mother had gone too far from home and couldn’t remember the way back. Greed had run away with them and they both froze to death in the wintery forest.

          Of course Helena was saddened to be left all alone once again but the cold winter soon melted away into the warmth of spring. By that time Helena was adopted; this time by a kind and loving family. This family had a son and daughter of their own and they became best friends with Helena. Helena grew up with love from her new family for the rest of her life.

Rose and Lily

          Once upon a time there were twin sisters named Rose and Lily. They lived with their mother in a house by the forest. The mother named her daughters Rose and Lily after the roses and lilies she grew in her garden. She loved roses and lilies as much as she loved her two daughters.

          Rose and Lily were both beautiful and kind girls and loved their home in the forest. Lily loved to spend time in the forest. She enjoyed all the wild flowers that grew and looking at all the animals who lived there. The forest was a real peaceful paradise to her. Rose loved the forest too, but she was more of a staying at home person.

          Lily was happy living in the forest, but sometimes she felt a little bit lonely. In the forest Lily would always see an animal with its mate. That was why Lily felt a bit lonely: she wanted a husband. Rose wanted a husband too. The girls did love living with their mother in the forest, but they wanted a special person by their side, someone to share their lives with forever. Their mother understood; her late husband, Rose and Lily’s father, was important to her till the day he died.

          One summer day Lily was picking berries for dinner when she saw a white horse coming towards her. On the white horse sat a handsome young man. Lily was surprised to see a handsome young man in the forest. People didn’t often visit the forest.

          “Pardon me miss” the man said “but have you seen a man that looks just like me? He’s my twin brother and he disappeared in this forest last winter”.

          “I’m sorry sir” said Lily “but you’re the only man I’ve seen in this forest so far”.

          “Oh well thanks anyway” the man said “if you do see him tell him that I’m looking for him”.

          “Of course sir” said Lily. In a second the man left.

          At dinner Lily told Rose and her mother all about her meeting with the young man.

          “I see, so the young man is looking for his missing twin brother is he?” the mother asked.

          “Yes,” answered Lily “and I haven’t seen him either and I go into the forest everyday”.

          “Oh I hope that he finds his twin brother soon” said Rose.

          Next morning Rose and Lily were out in the forest collecting firewood. They were about to go home, when they both heard a giggling noise coming from behind a bush. Behind the bush was a male pixie dressed in dark purple clothing. Lily didn’t like pixies. Pixies loved to play tricks on people and Lily didn’t like their tricks.

          Rose and Lily were just about to leave when Lily noticed that the pixie was wearing jewels. It was strange that a pixie would have jewels because pixies usually had pixie dust or wands on them, but not jewels. Lily did find it strange but decided not to worry any longer and went home with Rose instead.

          “There’s something about that pixie that I don’t like” Lily said to Rose “a pixie with jewels doesn’t sound right”.

          “I feel the same thing too Lily” said Rose.

          That afternoon Lily was collecting water from a stream when the young man she met yesterday came up to her.

          “Nice to see you again miss” he said.

          “You too sir” said Lily “have you found your brother yet?”

          “No I haven’t” the young man said “and I’ve searched everywhere in this forest for him”.

          “What was your brother doing here in the forest exactly?” asked Lily.

          The young man explained to Lily that last winter his family’s treasure was stolen by someone. His twin brother went off by himself to search for it.

          “Did anyone see who it was that took it?” asked Lily.

          “No, no one saw anything or anyone” the man answered “but we did find something”. He took out a piece of dark purple material from his pocket. “The thief left this behind”.

          When Lily saw the piece of material she suddenly remembered something. The pixie in dark purple clothes she saw this morning had a hole in his shirt and had jewels with him. ‘I wonder if it was him who stole the treasure’ she thought. She told the man all about the pixie.

          “Since you just said this pixie had a hole in his dark purple shirt and was carrying jewels,” he said “it just might be the thief my brother looking for. Where is this pixie now?”

          “Last time I saw the pixie it was in the forest behind a bush” answered Lily “but I’m not sure if he is still there now”.

          “Then we better go look for the pixie now” the man said.

          So Lily and the young man went into the forest to search for the pixie. On the way they met Rose. Lily introduced her twin sister to the young man and asked Rose if she had seen the pixie in dark purple clothes they had seen that morning.

          “Actually I have” said Rose “I saw it near a tree stump and I saw it carrying jewels again. What’s going on?”

          “My family’s treasure was stolen last year and I think that pixie was the one who took it” the young man said “come with us”.

          Rose lead Lily and the young man to where she saw the pixie. He was standing next to a hollowed out tree stump and was putting a bag of jewels into it. Rose, Lily and the young man watched the pixie very carefully from behind a bush. There was no doubt about it; this pixie was the one who stole the young man’s treasure. What caught Lily’s eye was a statue standing next to the stump. The statue looked exactly like her friend.

          “Sir that statue looks like you” she whispered, pointing to the statue.

          “I agree” the young man whispered “I’m not sure about this, but I think that statue is my twin brother”.

          “Since pixies have magical powers” whispered Rose “the pixie must have turned your brother into that statue”.

          The young man was not happy and took out his sword. He was going to fight the pixie.

          “If you’re going to fight it” said Lily “do be careful, that pixie might be dangerous”.

          The young man jumped out from behind the bush. “Hold it right there!” he shouted “you stole my family’s treasure and I have come to take it back!”

          “Ha! Ha! Ha!” laughed the pixie “I don’t give back anything that I’ve stolen”.

          The pixie began to throw pixie dust at the young man, while the young man kept on dodging it. He knew that the pixie dust would turn him into stone like his brother. Rose and Lily were worried. How could they do something to stop the pixie? Then Lily had an idea; she picked up a small stone and threw it at the pixie. That made the pixie very angry; pixies hate having things thrown at them. Because the pixie was distracted by Rose and Lily, this gave the young man a chance to attack the pixie. He ran quickly to the pixie and struck him with his sword. The pixie turned to dust when the sword struck it.

          After the pixie turned to dust the statue by the stump began glowing. Then in a flash of light the statue turned into a human. It was the young man’s lost twin brother!

          “Richard!” shouted the young man “I looked for you everywhere”. The twin brothers embraced each other.

          “I’m sorry for worrying you so much Phillip” said Richard “last year when I went to search for our family’s stolen treasure, I found out that a pixie had taken it. But that pixie found out and turned me into a statue. Now I am free thanks to you”.

          Phillip introduced his brother to Rose and Lily and explained to him that they were the ones who helped him.

          “I am grateful to you Rose and Lily” said Richard, bowing to them, “you have both helped and saved the king’s twin sons”.

          Rose and Lily couldn’t believe what they just heard. Richard and Phillip were actually princes of a kingdom, which was quite far from the forest.

          “We are so sorry your highnesses” said Rose and Lily together “we didn’t know”.

          “There is really no need to apologize” said Prince Phillip “it’s my fault for not telling you that earlier”. Prince Phillip took Lily’s hand. “Lily ever since I met you yesterday I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Would you become my wife?”

          Lily accepted the proposal immediately. Then Prince Richard asked Rose to become his wife; he had fallen in love with her. Rose accepted that proposal as well.

          Before the summer ended Rose and Lily were married to Prince Richard and Prince Phillip and became princesses. Rose and Lily’s mother was happy for her two daughters and moved into the castle with them. She planted her roses and lilies in the castle gardens and beautiful roses and lilies grew every year. Rose and Lily were happy; they had finally found someone special to be at their side always.

Edward and Jane

          Once upon a time a twelve year old boy named Edward was standing beside a tombstone. It was his mother’s tombstone. She died a few years ago and Edward visited her grave whenever he wanted to. Edward felt lonely without his mother around. His father was always out on business and hardly ever spent time with his own son. Edward had a nurse to look after him, but she couldn’t take his mother’s place. Edward missed his mother terribly, he began to cry.

          “What’s wrong” said a voice behind him. The voice belonged to a girl about his age carrying a bunch of wild flowers.

          “Nothing really” said Edward, wiping his tears away, “just visiting my mother’s grave”.

          “My mother is dead too and I’ve picked these flowers for her grave”. She handed some of her flowers to Edward. “Here put these on your mother’s grave”.

          “Thank you” said Edward and took the flowers from her. “My name is Edward, what’s yours?”

          “My name is Jane” the girl answered.

          Jane asked Edward if he wanted to play with her for a while, but Edward said that he had to go home now. Jane understood she promised her father she wouldn’t be long. They quickly said goodbye to each other and went their separate ways for home.

          When Edward got home he told his nanny about Jane. His nanny was happy that Edward had found someone his age to talk to because Edward had never spoken to anyone his age before. Edward asked his nanny if he could meet with Jane again tomorrow. His nanny agreed; Edward had never made friends with anyone and now his chance to make a friend came.

          The next morning Edward went to the cemetery again, hoping that Jane would be there again. It wasn’t far from his house to the cemetery so he just ran there. Jane was there and was happy to see Edward again.

          “Nice seeing you again Edward” said Jane “my father and I are about to go on a walk. Would you like to join us?” Edward accepted the offer.

          Jane brought Edward to her house. Jane lived in a little white church, with a little bell tower.

          “My father is a clergyman and he runs that church” Jane explained to Edward.

          She introduced him to her father and then they both set out on their walk. They walked through a little wood filled with lots of trees, a little stream and plenty of wild flowers. Edward was having a wonderful time. He felt happy being with Jane and her father; Edward had always felt lonely with his mother dead and his father always out on business. But now he had found a friend at last and didn’t feel lonely anymore.

          While admiring the wild flowers Jane heard someone playing a tambourine. She went to investigate. Then she found some gypsies in a field.

          “Father, Edward look here” shouted Jane “it’s the gypsies who put on performances”.

          Jane asked her father if she could go watch them for a while. Jane’s father agreed and gave her a penny. He asked Edward if he wanted to watch them too. Edward wasn’t sure if he wanted to meet the gypsies. His nanny had told him once that gypsies steal from people. But Jane’s father reassured him that these gypsies were nice people, so Edward agreed to join in.

          The performances the gypsies were putting on were marvellous. There were jugglers, musicians and dancers and those doing acts with fire or knives. There was also a fortune teller. The fortune teller sat at a table with a crystal ball and items in front of her. She had charms for good luck and for happiness; she even had charms to protect you from bad dreams.

          Edward and Jane ran over to the fortune teller; they wanted their fortunes told.

         “You two want your fortunes told, yes?” the fortune teller asked.

          “Yes please” said Edward and Jane together.

          The fortune teller looked into the crystal ball. “Ah” she said, looking amazed. “I sense you two have a friendship bond that is strong. So strong it will never break even when you’re apart from each other. I now sense a separation will come your way soon, but it will not break your bond towards each other. Now I sense that in the future your friendship bond will turn into the bond of love.” She picked up two rings from her table. They were both golden with a blue stone; they were a pair. “These rings are rings of love; as long as you have these you will never forget your bond towards each other”.

          Edward and Jane gave their pennies to the fortune teller and took the rings from her. They said thank you and walked away from her. Jane tried on her ring, but it was too big for any of her fingers. Edward’s ring didn’t fit on any of his fingers either.

          “Never mind” said Edward “the rings will probably fit when we have grown up a little”. Jane agreed with him.

          By the time Jane and Edward had finished watching the gypsies it was now the afternoon. Jane’s father told them that it was now time to go home. Edward thanked Jane and her father for a wonderful time and ran for home, promising Jane he would visit her again tomorrow. This day was the best day of Edward’s life; he hoped that he would have happy days with Jane every day.

          But the next day Edward visited Jane with a sad look and sad news. He told Jane that his Father said to him that they were moving to a different town. This hurt Edward very much; Jane was the best friend he ever had and now he was leaving her. Jane felt upset too; she didn’t want Edward to leave either. Edward pulled Jane into a hug and promised her that he would return to her one day. Then he took out the ring that the gypsy fortune teller gave him.

          “I will wear this ring always to let you know that I have returned” he said, putting the ring on his fourth right hand finger. It still didn’t fit him but he did not care.

          “I will wear my ring too” said Jane taking out her ring. She placed it on her fourth right hand finger; it was still too big for her. “And I will always wait for you to return”.

          With tears in their eyes Edward and Jane hugged each other one last time and said goodbye to each other. Edward had to rush back home quickly. While Jane watched him run home; she prayed and wished that Edward would come back soon.

          Ten years went by; Jane grew into a very beautiful young lady. Many men had asked for her hand in marriage but she refused. She was waiting for Edward to return. This sometimes made her father worry about her; he understood that she promised Edward that she would wait for him, but they hadn’t heard from him for ten years. Jane’s father was worried if Edward had forgotten the promise. Jane believed that Edward had not forgotten the promise because of the ring he took with him. Jane had kept her ring on her finger ever since Edward left and had not taken it off once while she was growing up. The ring fitted her finger perfectly now.

          One day Jane got a letter; it was an invitation to a place called Mangiast Hall. The master of Mangiast Hall wanted to meet and talk to her this afternoon.

          “I do hope this master of Mangiast Hall doesn’t ask for my hand in marriage” Jane said to her father.

          “He may not Jane” said her father “but if he does, don’t say anything that will make him really angry. Break it to him gently”.

          “I understand Father” Jane replied.

          That afternoon Jane visited Mangiast Hall. Mangiast Hall was the biggest place Jane had ever been to. She was still nervous about meeting the master. What was confusing the most was that she had no idea who he was. The master of Mangiast Hall didn’t put his real name down on the letter he sent her. Jane introduced herself to the butler and the butler led her to the study where the master was waiting for her.

          The master seemed to be a fine gentleman of society and looked very kind and polite.

          “I welcome you to my home miss Jane” he said bowing to her.

          “I thank you for inviting me sir” Jane replied.

          “I invited you here because I have something to ask you,” the master said “you see it is now time for me to find a wife. And I was wondering if you would like to become my wife”.

          Jane was not surprised that the master would ask her for her hand in marriage. She took a big breath and gave him her answer. “I’m sorry sir, but the truth is I have no plans of marrying anyone. I’m waiting for someone important to me to return”. Jane told the master everything about her childhood friend Edward and about the promise of waiting for him till he returned. The master listened to every word Jane said and smiled at her.

          “This boy Edward you speak of,” the master said “did he leave you any parting gift?”

          “Yes sir he left me this ring I wear on my fourth right hand finger” Jane answered.

          When Jane revealed her ring to the master the blue stone began to glow. Jane couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Then a glow came from the master’s right hand. His right hand revealed the ring he was wearing. Jane saw that their rings were an exact pair. Then she realized something. The master of Mangiast Hall was really Edward!

          “I’m sorry that it took me ten years to return to you Jane” said Edward “but I am now free to stay with you this time”.

          With tears of happiness running down her cheeks Jane ran into Edwards arms. “I always knew that you would return Edward” she sobbed.

          “Now that everything is revealed and I will no longer leave you again” said Edward “I ask you again, would you become my wife?” This time Jane changed her answer to yes.

          “That fortune teller who gave us the matching rings was right” said Jane “our friendship did turn into love”. Edward agreed.

          Edward and Jane’s wedding day was the happiest day of their lives. Jane was happy that Edward was going to be with her forever and never leave her again. Edward was happy that the best and only friend he ever had was now his wife. Now nothing or no one was going to separate them ever again.

The Snake Girl

          Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom, there lived a king, who had three daughters and a son. His wife the queen had died several years ago and his four children were all he had for comfort. His daughters the princesses were older than their young brother the prince and had gotten married to fine young princes. They now lived with their husbands in different kingdoms. There was only the prince living with his father now. The prince hadn’t gotten married yet and that worried his father. The prince was still a young man but his father wanted him to get married. The reason for that was because the king was getting old and had to give his crown to his son soon. He also wanted a queen to be by his son’s side when he became king. This made the prince really fed up. He had no objections to getting married, but he hadn’t fallen in love with any girl yet. The prince wanted to marry for love like his father did when he married his mother the late queen.

          One day the prince was riding his horse into the forest. The forest was the prince’s favourite place to go to for some peace and quiet and to get away from his troubles. What he didn’t know was that trouble was heading straight to him. A black wolf that lived in the forest was hunting for food and had seen the prince. It crept out of the bushes. The prince saw the wolf and grabbed his sword to defend himself. The wolf was just about to pounce on the prince when it suddenly let out a howl. An adder snake had bitten it on the back left leg and the wolf was now limping from the snake’s poisonous fangs. This gave the prince a chance to kill the wolf with his sword. After the wolf died the prince looked at the adder snake that saved his life. The adder snake was green with brown patterns and brown eyes. The prince was about to thank the snake for saving his life but it slithered away into the bushes.

          That evening at dinner the prince told his father all about what happened in the forest.

          “It’s rather unusual for an adder snake to save someone’s life” said the king “but it’s a good thing that it bit the wolf before the wolf bit you”.

          “I agree father” said the prince “I was going to thank it for saving me but it slithered away”.

          “Snakes get frightened easily by humans my son” said the king “but maybe you may see the snake again soon”.

          Suddenly there was a loud scream coming from the hallway. The king and prince ran to see what had happened. In the hallway there was an adder snake slithering across the floor and it was scaring the servants. When the prince saw the snake he recognized it at once. It was the same snake that saved his life from the wolf in the forest. The king was about to ask someone to destroy the snake when the prince stopped him. He walked over to the snake and picked it up with his hands.

          “Father this is the adder snake that saved me from the wolf” he said “and if you please I will like to keep this snake at my side”.

          The king was surprised that his son wanted to keep a snake for a pet, but since it saved his son’s life he agreed.

          “But don’t let it go scaring anyone” he said “or let it slither around the castle alone and make sure that it won’t bite anyone”.

          From that day on the prince kept the adder snake with him at all times. The adder snake would coil itself round on one of the prince’s arms and not let go. Wherever the prince went he had the adder snake with him for company. The servants were frightened of the adder snake whenever they saw it, but the prince just kept it with him and didn’t care. He was attached to the adder snake like a child attached to his favourite toy.

          One evening the prince was sitting in his room, sighing a lot. The adder snake didn’t know what was wrong and slithered to him. The prince saw the adder snake coming towards him and picked it up.

          “I’m sorry if I’m worrying you with all my sighing” he said, stroking the snake’s head “it’s just I have problems on my mind. The truth is my father wants me to get married but I haven’t found the right girl to marry yet. I want to marry for love not for status. Ah adder snake I wish I was a snake so I could have you as my mate. You always listen to what I have to say and you give me great company. I adore you”. He kissed the adder snake on the head.

          Suddenly a glow of light surrounded the snake, then it magically transformed into a human girl. The prince was speechless at what just happened and he was amazed by her beauty. The girl had brown hair and brown eyes and was wearing a green dress.

          “Who are you dear beautiful lady?” the prince asked.

          “My name is Hannah your highness” the girl answered.

          Hannah explained to the prince that some time ago she was turned into an adder snake by an evil witch because she was more beautiful than her. She then said that the spell could only be broken if she found someone who would love her as she was.

          “I’m sorry that I could not tell you as I couldn’t speak when I was an adder snake”.

          “It’s all right” said the prince “since you are a human girl I can have you as my mate, actually as my queen”. He kissed her.

          The prince and Hannah ran to the throne room and told the king what had happened. The king was speechless after hearing that the adder snake was really a beautiful girl, and was more surprised about her being under an evil spell. The prince asked his father if he could marry Hannah. The king agreed and embraced them both.

          A few days later their wedding was celebrated. The prince’s father was relieved that his son had finally gotten married. The prince’s sisters were at the wedding too and were happy that their younger brother had finally found true love. The king then gave his crown to his son and gave his late wife’s tiara to Hannah. Hannah and the prince were now the new king and queen of the kingdom and ruled their kingdom in love and happiness for the rest of their lives.