A Fairytale

For English class in 3e, students had to write a story for children. They could begin the story with ‘Once upon a time’ or ‘Long ago in a land far away’ and had to include a dragon, a deadly flower and a mask. See what one of them wrote.

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Once upon a time in a kingdom far far away, there was a princess called Violet who was hidden away from everyone. She was not like any other princess, she despised wearing dresses, loved sword fights and always wanted to become a knight. 

One day, as she was horse riding she overheard two loyal soldiers talking about the kidnapped prince from the neighbouring kingdom. Violet hid behind the door and continued listening to them without saying a word. 

“Did you hear about the prince who was kidnapped?”, one of them said. 

“Yes, apparently in order to save him you need to find a rare and deadly blue rose and kill the dragon guarding the prince. I think the reward for saving him is 10,000 gold coins and a medal of valour,” the other guard answered.  

After intently listening to the two soldiers, Violet went to her room and started preparing for her journey to go and save the prince. Earlier that day, she had heard her father, the King, say that many knights had tried to find the deadly blue rose but all of them died. He said that the only way to get the flower is to have a pure intention. 

The next day, Violet set out to find the rose, she started by asking a few people but no one knew what she was talking about. It was very easy for her to look around because not a single person knew she was the princess of the kingdom. She searched for hours in the forest but did not find anything. 

Violet was on the verge of giving up when she suddenly saw a… beautiful blue rose, floating in the middle of the forest. She recognised by its blue colour that it was the deadly rose, she desperately needed to save the prince. As she approached the rose, she started questioning whether or not she was of pure heart and intention. The princess slowly reached for the flower and closed her eyes. She quickly grabbed it and shoved it into her bag. She was incredibly happy, she did have a good heart as she had managed to obtain the rare rose, which had killed so many knights.  

She went back to the palace and rejoiced once she had reached her room. Violet knew that the last task she had to complete in order to save the prince was to kill the terrifying dragon who had frightened and destroyed kingdoms in the past. 

The next day, she headed back into the forest to find the tower guarded by the dragon. She looked for hours but was unable to find it. Violet asked a few villagers passing through the forest about the tower but no one knew anything about it. She had almost lost all hope when she stumbled on an old lady who guided her on how to find it.

After several long hours of walking along the path, she finally reached her destination, the beautiful tower of the kingdom, the tower where the prince was kept, the tower which was guarded by the legendary dragon. She reached for the handle of the door but the minute she touched it the dragon sat on the top of the tower and wrapped its tail around it. She trembled before the enormous dragon staring at her. Violet waited a few moments before asking the dragon what he wanted in exchange for the freedom of the prince. The dragon answered “Answer my riddle and I will free your beloved prince”. The confused young princess , it seemed that the only thing the dragon wanted in was the answer to his riddle. She accepted his terms and asked him to present her with the riddle. The majestic creature said “ This thing all things devours: birds, beasts, trees, flowers; gnaws iron, bites steel; grinds hard stones to meal; slays king, ruins town, and beats high mountain down.”. She thought for a long time, she could not find the answer when suddenly an idea came to her. “Time!” she screamed, she was correct and the dragon slid off the tower and allowed her to open the door. Violet went in and rescued the prince who was terrified. 

A few days later, Violet was awarded the medal of valour and finally became a knight as she had always wanted. Violet, who became the first ever female warrior and knight opened a school to train other young girls on how to become knights and she lived happily ever after!

– Aryana, 3e