THE MAGIC CASTLE

by David E. Anderson

Once upon a time in a land far, far away,
There was a magic castle in a kingdom by the bay.
Inside lived Princess Ashley and her sister, Princess Sue.
And there was no one in the kingdom more loved than these two.

They would run around the castle, 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 Princess Sue left in the early hours,
Into the forest to the south to pick the queen some flowers.
She promised to be back by noon, and she was never tardy.
But then, when lunchtime came and went they sent a rescue party.

Princess Ashley asked if she could help in finding Sue.
But she was told the searchers would do all there was to do.
So she waited in the garden as the minutes turned to hours,
Wishing that her sister hadn't gone off to pick flowers.

She had to find her sister and she knew not what to do.
But just then Ashley heard a voice, the voice of Princess Sue!
Princess Ashley turned and looked through all 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 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?"
But then the rose spoke to her in the voice of her young sister.

The rose said, "help me, Sissy, for I think I am a flower.
A wicked witch has transformed me, using her evil power."
Sue said when she went into the woods down to the south,
She saw a rose abloom outside an old, decrepit house.

She should have done as her heart told and turned away and fled.
But the rose drew her attention. It was a rose of fiery-red.
A rose as beautiful as any flower she'd ever found.
So 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!"
Princess Sue said, "Sorry, I'd like my mistake corrected,
So here, I'd like to give you every flower that I've collected."

So 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 Melba said.
"But you're a pretty girl, my dear, so I'll take you instead!"

The witch turned Sue into a rose, and Sue cried in dismay.
"Oh please, oh please, please let me go! I'll do just what you say!"
Melba brought the Princess home and stuck her with the flowers.
Where she'd stay a rose forever from the wicked witch's powers.

Now, Ashley never used magic. In its ways she wasn't handy.
But she knew of a great sorcerer whose name was Wizard Andy.
Wizard Andy had a lab in the tower way up high.
She asked the Wiz 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.
The 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 to break the curse is the very witch who placed it.

'There are 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, a scary thing to do.
If you win, she'll lift the curse, but if not, she gets you!'

The Wizard and the Princess went out to the witch's shack
They asked the witch to kindly change the little princess back.
But that mean old witch did what the Wizard's book had said.
She laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and shut the door instead.

Wizard Andy said he just might fool her with a trick.
He promised he would try his best 'cause he was pretty slick.
And so the great sorcerer knocked on Melba's door.
She opened it, still chuckling from what they'd said before.

He said, "okay, so you can change a girl into a flower.
But to change her back would be a trick that truly shows your power!"
Melba said, "I'm a great witch, and I can prove it, too!
To prove it, I will turn that flower back to Princess Sue!"

Princess Ashley and the Wizard left the witch's shack.
They headed home to see if Sue had really been turned back.
And there they saw young 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.
That little girl they thought was Sue was Melba in disguise!
That 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.

Melba said, "Did you forget? I've read that old book, too.
So would you like to make a bet for dear old 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.

"So let us take turns doing tricks of any type we choose.
Whoever cannot match a trick will be the one to lose.
If you lose, then you make Princess Sue how she should be
But if I lose and you win You can make a flower of me."

Melba said, "No way, you're not as sweet as Princess Sue."
Then she looked at Ashley, saying "I have chosen you!"
Ashley didn't want to see her sister stay a rose forever,
So she agreed because she knew the Wiz was pretty clever.

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

Wizard Andy's turn was next, and he said, "mamble-mog!"
Those secret words then turned a little rock into a frog
Melba said, "that's easy," and those same words she repeated.
She made a mate for Andy's frog. She would not be defeated.

The witch's next trick was to turn her frog to stone again.
He 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,
But still no one could find a trick beyond the other's powers.

When Wizard Andy made a kitty, hers was just as hairy.
Then when Melba made a demon, his was just as scary.
When Wizard Andy made a house, hers was just as spiffy.
Then when Melba 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 power.
So Princess Ashley stays a girl And Princess Sue a flower."

Then Ashley said, "No, you can't leave her in the flowerbed!
If you can't defeat the Wizard, I'll fight you instead!"
Wizard Andy turned to her, saying, "No, Ashley, you can't!
For if my powers can't defeat her, you don't stand a chance!"

But the witch said, "it's too late! She said she'd take the bet!
Now, instead of one Princess, I'll have a matching set!
Oh, this is going to be such fun! I'll prove that I'm the worst!
But since I'm such a good sport, I'll let the child 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 forever if you could be yourself once more,
And run around the castle and color pictures on the floor."

Then Ashley said to Melba, "There, 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.
And Princess Sue had been turned back, the way that she should be
And she told Ashley that she knew that love would set her free.

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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