THE MAGIC CASTLE

by D. E. Anderson

Once upon a time in a land far, far away,
There was a magic castle in a kingdom by the bay.
This was a time long ago, in the days of Robin Hood.
And in this magic castle lived King David the Good.

King David was a kindly king, beloved by all the peasants.
He gave them order, justice, peace, and, on their birthdays, presents.
He ruled with heart and wisdom and threw parties that were fancy,
Where people came to sing and dance and chat with fair Queen Nancy.

But even more loved by the peasants than these royal two,
Were the Princess Ashley and her sister, Princess Sue.
Ashley was born one August and her sister one December,
And there were no fairer princesses that anyone could remember.

They would run around the castle and color pictures on the floor
And they'd say hello to anyone who came inside the door.
They would play out in the garden, and invent their princess games,
And greet the royal gardeners. The girls knew them all by name.

They loved to sing and dance among the daisies, mums, and roses.
They'd sniff at all the flowers 'till the smells filled up their noses.
Sometimes they'd camp out at night. Those two could be a tentful.
The girls were happy as could be, though their lives were uneventful.

Until one morning when Ashley woke up in her royal bunk,
And climbed over her dolls and blocks and books and toys and junk.
She climbed down the royal ladder and looked out across the land,
But then looked down and saw something she couldn't understand.

A girl was in the garden in those early morning hours,
Too early for the gardeners to be there tending flowers.
Besides, she knew the gardeners, and this girl wasn't one,
But there she was, among the flowers in the morning sun.

She wondered who this girl was out in the royal garden,
So Ashley called out to her, saying, "I beg your pardon!"
The girl then shrieked and shivered, for she was full of fright.
She crawled under a rose bush, and disappeared from sight.

Ashley decided to tell her sister what she'd seen going on,
But when she lifted up the covers, Princess Sue was gone!
At first she wasn't worried that her sister wasn't there.
She was probably watching 'Barney', or throwing her dolly down the stairs.

So Princess Ashley searched the castle, towers to the ground,
But then she knew one thing. Princess Sue was not around!
Maybe she was out in back, playing in the garden.
Then she remembered that young girl to whom she said "I beg your pardon!"

Maybe she had seen her sister, and would know where to find her.
Then Ashley would say, "thank you", for there was no one who was kinder.
So Ashley looked around the garden, where the girl had disappeared.
But the young girl wasn't hiding there, and Ashley said, "that's weird!"

She needed to find this girl and she knew not what to do.
And then she heard a voice, it was the voice of Princess Sue!
Ashley turned around and looked through the flowers behind her.
But even though she heard her sister, Ashley couldn't find her!

Ashley said, "I cannot see her, though her voice I hear.
Maybe I should close my eyes, and find her with my ears."
And so Ashley did just that. She used her ears for guiding,
So she could find out where it was that Princess Sue was hiding.

She crawled through the dirt and flowers, getting mud on all her clothes.
Then she heard Sue in front of her, reached out, and grabbed...a rose!
She said, "I know I heard Sue there. How could I have missed her?"
Then the rose spoke to her in the voice of her younger sister.

The rose said, "help me, Sissy, for I think I am a flower!
That little girl has changed me, using her evil power."
Ashley said, "I hear you, Sue. I'd help you if I could,
But first I have to find that girl who isn't up to any good!"

Ashley had to do something, and do it right away!
For if the King and Queen found out, oh, what would they say!
For Princess Sue was beautiful as any flower in the world,
But she shouldn't be a flower. She should be a little girl!

Ashley found the bush where she'd seen the girl cower,
And figured maybe that witch turned herself into a flower.
But there were so many roses that she couldn't make a guess.
She yelled, "Okay, which one of you did that to the Princess?!

"You'd better tell me right away or else I might get violent!
Which one of you is really a witch?!" The rose bush remained silent.
It was so very important that she get the bush to tell.
She had to find a way to break her little sister's spell.

Now, Ashley was a smart princess, wise beyond her years,
So she went to the garden shed, and got the pruning shears.
She ran back to the rose bush with a cackle and a laugh,
And said, "If none of you will tell me, then I'll cut you all in half!"

Now, Ashley was a kind Princess, as everybody knows,
And she'd never be so heartless as to harm a pretty rose.
But still she laughed just like that troll in 'Three Billy Goats Gruff',
Trying to get that witch to talk, by trying to play a bluff.

It worked! It worked! One rose called out, "Please don't cut me in two!
I'm the one who did that nasty thing to Princess Sue!
I'm not a witch! Don't cut me up! Oh, please put down those shears!
For I was once a Princess, too! I've been a rose for many years!"

As the rose told its story, Ashley put the shears away.
The rose had been a Princess at the kingdom by the bay.
This had been a hundred years ago, when the kingdom was brand new,
Long before the birth of Princess Ashley and Princess Sue.

The flower's name was Princess Anne, and when she was just thirteen,
She went to go pick flowers for her mother, who'd been queen.
She went out with her basket to the woods down to the south,
Where, in her travels, she came to an old, decrepit house.

She should have done as her heart told and turned away and fled,
But then she saw, along the house, a rose of fiery red.
A rose as beautiful as any rose she'd ever found.
She walked up to the spooky house and plucked it from the ground.

Then the doors flew open and a haggard voice yelled, "Crook!
I'll make you pay in every way for that rose of mine you took!"
Anne said, "Ma'am, I'm sorry, I'd like my mistake corrected,
So here, I'd like to give you every flower that I've collected."

Then she held out her basket, and she let the woman take it.
But then the woman threw it to the ground where she did break it.
"Your flowers aren't as nice as mine," the witch named Esmarelda said.
"But you're a pretty girl, my dear, so I'll take you instead!"

The witch turned Anne into a rose, and Anne cried in dismay.
"Oh please, oh please, please let me go! I'll do anything you say!"
The witch said, "If you can find a girl with so fair a face,
Then I will let you go free, and she can take your place."

Esmarelda brought Anne home to the kingdom by the bay.
She put Anne in a rose bush, where she would have to stay.
Anne loved the children of the kingdom and promised she would never
Make another take her place. She'd stay a rose forever.

That day that she became a rose was a hundred years before,
And watching the girls play each day, she could stand it no more.
That morning she decided her days as a rose were through.
In jealousy and envy, she passed the curse to Princess Sue.

When Ashley called out to her, she'd been Princess Anne,
But when she lept into the bush, she became a rose again.
Somehow Esmarelda's curse had trapped both Anne and Sue.
Now it was up to Ashley to figure out what to do.

At this point, the story stops. I must put it aside.
What will happen next is one thing I cannot decide.
For how to save her sister she must decide on her own.
I can't tell her what to do. That's up to her alone.

And so last night at story time I read Ashley this tale.
And she told me what she must do if she wants to prevail.
She reminded me that this castle in the kingdom by the bay,
Is a magic castle, so its magic can save the day!

And so the story can resume because Princess Ashley knows,
What can be done to save her little sister (who's a rose)
She'll do what it takes to use the magic castle's powers,
So she can save both Princess Sue and Anne ('cause now they're flowers)

The only problem was that Ashley never used the magic,
But if she couldn't save them, then this story would be tragic!
She won't let that happen, for she's full of perseverance!
If she doesn't know the magic, she'll just ask her parents.

The King and Queen were sleeping in the royal waterbed,
So Ashley had to wake them up, and this is what she said:
"Mommy? Daddy? I don't mean to give you guys a hassle,
But could you show me how to work the magic in the castle?"

When they asked her why she had to know, she told them the whole story.
When they heard that Sue was now a rose, they both began to worry.
They knew this wasn't just a trick to get them out of bed.
'Cause Princess Ashley never lied, they believed all that she said.

Besides, they'd heard of Princess Anne who'd been gone a hundred years.
They knew of that long-ago day, that brought the land to tears.
They had Ashley show them Sue and Anne who were now flowers.
And King David said, "I'll try to use the castle's powers!"

King David never used magic. In its ways he wasn't handy.
But he knew a great sorcerer whose name was Wizard Andy.
Wizary Andy had a lab up in the highest tower,
And if anyone could break the spell, then Andy had the power.

This was a long time ago, before the elevator,
So to get up to the lab, they had to take the escalator.
They rode the moving staircase to the tower way up high.
They asked Andy if he could help. The wizard said, "I'll try."

He looked for the cure in a book called 'How to Break a Curse',
A book that, like this story, was written all in verse.
This book was written years before, preceding the dark ages,
But Wizard Andy knew the book and quickly found the pages.

It said, 'The spells of wicked witches are the worst in every way.
They're even stronger than the magic of the castle by the bay.
There's just one person with the power, but you don't want to face it.
The only one who can break the curse is the very witch who placed it.

'There are just three ways to get a witch to lift one of her curses,
And these three ways will be described in the next few verses.
The first way is to ask the witch to lift the curse she placed,
But chances are that mean old witch will just laugh in your face.

'The second is to trick the witch into lifting the curse.
But chances are that mean old witch will only trick you worse.
The last way is to make a bet, but that's a scary thing to do.
If you win, she'll lift the curse, but if she wins, she'll curse you!'

Now, Wizard Andy knew this witch who lived down to the south.
Yes, all these years she'd been alive in that old, decrepit house.
He decided to get her to change those girls back from flowers,
But first he put a spell on them to save them from her powers.

So Andy took the King and Queen and Princess to the shack.
He asked Esmarelda to change the princesses back.
But that mean witch did exactly what the book had said.
She laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and shut the door instead.

Then Andy said that maybe Esmarelda could be trick-ed.
He promised he would try his best although the witch was wicked.
And so the great sorcerer knocked on the witch's door.
She opened it, still laughing from what they'd said before.

He said, "changing girls to flowers can be done by any witch in the world,
But it takes a truly great witch to change a flower into a girl."
She said, "I'm the greatest witch! And I can prove it, too!
Just to show you, I'll turn that flower back to Princess Sue!"

Wizard Andy, Princess Ashley, and the Queen and King
Flew back to the garden to see what the Wizard's trick would bring.
And there the group saw Princess Sue by the garden gate.
They all ran up to hug her, but then Princess Sue said, "Wait!"

Then Sue turned into the witch before their very eyes.
The little girl they thought was Sue was Esmarelda in disguise!
That ancient book had been right about trying a trick to lift the curse.
They thought that they had tricked the witch, but she had tricked them worse.

Esmarelda said, "You forget. I've read that old book, too.
So would you like to make a bet for Princess Anne and Princess Sue?"
Wizard Andy said, "you're good at changing girls to flowers.
But I'll bet between us two, I have the greater powers.

"And if I do, then you'll make Anne and Sue how they should be,
But if I don't, then you win, and you can make a flower of me."
The witch said, "I will take your bet on who has greater power,
But I don't think you would make a very pretty flower."

Queen Nancy said, "Take me instead, for people say I'm fair."
Esmarelda said, "Indeed you are, but I do not care.
I already have a third in mind to join both Anne and Sue."
She looked at Princess Ashley, saying, "I have chosen you!"

King David said, "The bet's forbidden by me and the Queen Mother.
You've already got one daughter. We won't let you have the other."
Andy said, "Well, if she wins, you'll lose them both, it's true.
But if you refuse to take the bet, you'll never again see Sue."

Still they could not condone the bet, for that would not be right.
It was up to Ashley whether the Witch and Wizard fight.
Ashley didn't want to see her sister stay a rose forever,
So she agreed because she knew that Wizard Andy was clever.

So with Ashley's permission, the contest would begin.
The future of the princesses depended on who would win.
The two would take turns doing tricks of any type they choose.
Whoever couldn't match the trick would be the one to lose.

The wizard let the witch go first and she took off her hat.
She reached inside and then pulled out a mangly, one-eyed rat.
This was one trick Wizard Andy could do just as well.
He said, "Mangly, one-eyed rats are easy, if you know the spell."

Wizard Andy's turn was next. He said, "Mimble-mamble-mog!"
Those three secret words then turned a rock into a frog.
Esmarelda said, "that's easy," and those words she repeated.
She made a friend for Andy's frog. She would not be defeated.

The witch's next trick was to turn her frog to stone again.
Andy didn't want to do the same, but couldn't let her win.
As they took turns back and forth, the minutes turned to hours,
Still neither one could find a trick beyond the other's powers.

When Wizard Andy made a kitty, hers was just as hairy.
When Esmarelda made a demon, his was just as scary.
When Wizard Andy made a house, hers was just as spiffy.
When Esmarelda made a skunk, his was just as whiffy.

The contest, it went on and on, and after 'bout a week,
The witch and wizard were so tired, they could hardly speak.
The witch said, "Wizard, it's a draw. We must have equal powers.
So Princess Ashley stays a Princess, and Sue and Anne stay flowers."

Then Ashley said, "I won't let you leave them in the flowerbed!
If you can't defeat the Wizard, then I'll fight you instead!"
The King and Queen and Wizard said, "No, Ashley, you can't!
For if a wizard can't defeat her, you don't stand a chance!"

But the witch said, "it's too late! She said she'd fight with me!
Now, instead of two princesses, I shall have all three!
For when I win, I'll turn that girl into a flower, too.
I'll put her in the garden with Princess Anne and Princess Sue!

"Now, every princess in the land will be among the flowers!
And I will show that I'm the one who has the greatest powers!
Oh, this is going to be fun! I'll prove that I'm the worst!
But since I'm such a good sport, I'll let Ashley go first."

Now, Ashley hadn't planned on this. It wasn't going well.
What kind of magic could she do to break the witch's spell?
Time was quickly running out.  She knew not what to do.
So she went into the garden and she knelt by Princess Sue.

She said, "I love you, little sister, for I know your heart is good.
And I'd gladly trade places with you if I only could.
I'd be a flower for all eternity if you could be yourself once more,
And run around the castle and color pictures on the floor."

Then Ashley said to the witch, "That's one thing you can't do.
You could never say the words I said to Princess Sue.
You may have great magic, among the greatest in the land.
But the power of love is one thing you could never understand."

The witch then scowled in anger for she knew she'd been defeated.
She hopped onto her broomstick and she silently retreated.
Princess Anne and Princess Sue were walking hand-in-hand.
They came out from the garden. They were little girls again!

Now, the castle in this story really did have magic powers,
For it was full of love from the dungeon to the towers,
Enough love to conquer any witch that I recall,
Because the power of love is the greatest magic of all.

©1993 by D.E. Anderson

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