(Im)patience is a virtue

 

I'm sure you are all patiently waiting for me to drop another blog :)

So here is my latest piece of fiction writing. 

The prompts I had to work with were: Fairy Tale / A fashion statement / An impatient person. With a 2500 word limit.

So without further ado, please enjoy:

Grace and the Magical Kingdom of Mystopia

Synopsis

When the Queen of Mystopia meets a mysterious end, a new queen must be crowned, Can Grace, a 13-year-old teenager still mourning the loss of her mother overcome her evil stepmother's plan and prevent the kingdom from falling into darkness?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And the winner is Gracey! She couldn’t believe it, she had dreamed of winning a competition, any competition, but now, here she was winning the long-running quest of Mystopia to crown its new queen. Taking the stage with an effortless grace, a quality she always jokingly connected to her name, she began to address her adoring audience: “Although I’m only 13, I promise to always do my best by Mystopia.” Humans and animals alike began to cheer wildly, and then SPLASH and: “HURRY THE HELL UP, we are going to see your grandmother this afternoon and I want you ready within five minutes or else.” Grace looked up to see her stepmother looming over her, still holding the now-empty bucket. She lay for a moment longer in the now wet bed, her tears mixed with water, barely evident she was crying.

Whisper began lapping at her, drying her sodden face and her frown dissipated as she snuggled her pet dog.  her only reminder of her previous family, her mum lost her life for breaking the kingdom rules, and her dad was thrown into jail as an accomplice. She missed them so much and hated the woman who had taken ownership of her. She was rude and impatient, and she hated Grace.  Grace recalled the titanic struggle over keeping Whisper: “Get in that house now and say goodbye to that mangy rat forever,” she had screamed at Grace before shutting the door and leaving Whisper outside in the snow.

 

Melissa ShadowBorne was 50 years old, never married, and disliked children. She hated Mystopia and the enchanted kingdom she had been thrust into with its talking animals, magical plants, dwarfs, and goblins.

Most of the inhabitants of the kingdom went happily about their lives under the stewardship of Queen Marie. Marie was a beautiful woman, who ruled the kingdom with a heart as pure as the driven snow which often surrounded her palace. Melissa hated her, and all she stood for. But it hadn’t always been that way. Although they were polar opposites, with Melissa always dressed in black, with a pointed hat, and haggard features even from a young age, and Marie always dressed in white or pink, and radiating sunshine they were best friends when growing up at Goldfish Arts and Magic school.

Melissa occasionally reminisced about that time, particularly when she gazed into the mirror and confronted her ghastly features. The years had not been kind, but that didn’t matter, she was the one still alive after all. Queen Marie had met an untimely death under mysterious circumstances. The only clue was a mysterious black-clad figure fleeing the scene. Many had suspected Melissa, but she pointed to her past as a friend of Marie as an, albeit flimsy, alibi. In truth, they hadn’t spoken in years. The day Queen Marie’s death had been announced, with no heir to inherit her throne, a heartbroken Queen Mother had announced a kingdom-wide competition to crown a new Queen of Mystopia.

That day was one of mixed emotions for the ‘uncrowned Queen’ as Melissa had taken to calling herself. Cackling like a banshee when she heard of the competition, she grimaced as she learned the rules: pile up good deeds to earn points, and enough points would gain entry to the ‘final fashion show’ to determine the most fitting queen of the land. Her impatience made her irritable, she did not take kindly to being kept waiting, but she knew that all her outfits sent a winning statement. All she had to do was enter the damn competition. 

As she walked through the village that day, she stumbled upon Honest Frosts Bookies, where local scallywag Cory Frost was taking bets on the next queen. Toad people and halflings alike were lining up to place bets on Pinky, a beloved nurse with a young family, who practiced magic to aid the healing of injured beings.  Her usual grimace transformed into a thunderous glare, then thunder rumbled across the sky as she saw her name at the bottom of the list as the most unlikely winner of the crown.

Her face boiled with rage as she peered into Pinky’s Practice. The beautiful young doctor, with her handsome husband and pretty child, already had it all and now she was going to be queen. “HOW DARE SHE, THAT CROWN IS MINE”, she seethed as another boil appeared on her face. 

Three months later, Pinky’s life had been forfeit. Humans and animals sobbed openly at her funeral; the woman who had saved them many times had no one to save her. There are few rules in a kingdom filled with magic, but the single unbreakable rule is a life for a life. When Melissa struck down a five-year-old boy, choking him until he breathed no more, she knew what she was doing when she placed him on Pinky's doorstep and hammered on the door before fleeing into the night.

 

 

 

It had been 6 months since, by the cruel hand of ShadowBorne, Pinky had died and, her husband Greg tossed into jail for assisting in the saving of the boy Timo.  That day Melissa ShadowBorne removed the number one pick of the kingdom for the throne and saw herself rise the ranks as she boldly stepped forward to give a speech about how she would ‘take care’ of Pinky’s daughter Grace.

The day a glum Cory removed Pinky’s name, a new name appeared on Frost Betting's chalkboard. Many hoped that Grace could one day rule the kingdom with the kindness and compassion that her mother had once displayed.  This hadn’t gone unnoticed by Melissa, who had become even sterner in the way she treated the young teenager.

“Thank you, Whisper,” Grace said quietly. Before her death, her mum had spent hours teaching her how fun wordplay can be. “Be brave my Grace, you can get through it,” her pet replied in his husky voice before woofing. Grace clicked her fingers, and she was dry in an instant, then slowly walked down the stairs. She knew how impatient Melissa was, so she took any small victory she could get. “HURRY UP” Melissa screamed at the child, her voice echoing throughout the building, as chandeliers swung from the soundwaves: “and God help me, you will call me MUM”.

She continued to berate the slow-moving child until finally, she raced up the stairs and firmly gripped Grace’s arms until tears began, then frogmarched her into the waiting carriage.  She turned from the driving seat and smirked at the scared and shaking child who was rubbing her now bruised arm: “That will teach you to keep me waiting you little tart”.

They spent the next five minutes haring through the cobbled streets of Mystopia, Melissa frantically whipping at the horses screaming: “FASTER” with many children, toad people, and animals forced to leap out of the way or be flattened. Upon finally arriving at their destination, Melissa once again grabbed Grace's arm in the same spot and applied as much pressure as she could, dragging the screaming child into the small, decaying cottage owned by ShadowBorne's mother.

Tiles were hanging from the ceiling, and the owner was even more haggard and full of hate than Melissa. “Good you brought the brat,” she croaked hoarsely towards Melissa, who flung Grace onto a wooden chair with a: “Sit there and keep your mouth shut, whilst me and your grandma work”.

“Come on, come on” Melissa yelled at her mother as she mixed some kind of green liquid in a cauldron. Grace and the other children of the kingdom always called her the wicked witch, but this was ridiculous.  Grace sobbed quietly as she rubbed her now purple arm, although apparently, the sobbing was not quiet enough for Melissa who gave her an almighty slap across the face.

Her handprint burned into Grace's cheek: “I said SHUT UP, and sit still” she bellowed, before taping Grace's arms to the chair: “There, now you will sit still brat, and don’t worry your ‘medicine’ is almost ready.” Melissa threw back her head and cackled again, before snapping at her decrepit mother once more: “How long now?”

Grace's eyes widened; she was going to make her drink the disgusting liquid that the old witch was concocting. She began to tremble; she didn’t want to make a sound as she didn’t want to be struck again. She tried moving quietly but the tape was strong, and there was no way she could break it. She looked around the room as the two hags stood over the medicine.

It had a few pieces of furniture but was mostly bare; there was nothing she could use to help her. Tears silently rolled down her cheeks as she stared into a mirror.  A young girl, wearing a black funeral-style dress by order of her stepmother. She remembered her confusion when she had yelled at her the night before: “Your outfit needs to make a statement, it needs to be appropriate for the occasion”.  

So, did she intend to kill me with this medicine? She wondered.

“Almost ready,” the elderly woman croaked. At that moment, time seemed to stand still. As Grace continued looking in the mirror, the glass began to swirl, until Pinky was staring out at her. “MUM” Grace cried. Pinky smiled at her daughter: Sshhh, sweet baby, I can only stay for a moment. Grace, I love you, I’m always with you and I always will be. Whenever you need help, just look for your reflection. Help your daddy if you can, but always try to be a good girl.”

With that, the glass reverted to a mirror and time seemed to resume its normal speed, however, the tape holding Grace's arms had vanished. Just at that moment, Melissa ShadowBorne walked towards her with the vial of boiling green liquid. “Thank you, mum,” Grace said out loud, catching Melissa by surprise who half smiled “You’re welcome”.

“NOT YOU,” Grace yelled and swiped the vial from her hand, before dashing for the door, which thankfully was unlocked. She began sprinting for the forest, but there was no way she could outrun her evil stepmother. What could she do? Then she heard a ‘woof’ and Whisper was by her side wearing a saddle akin to a horse “Hop on” he whispered, just as both ShadowBorne women came storming out of the house only to see Grace and the dog disappear into the forest. “ARRRHHHHHHH” they both held their arms aloft and screamed in anger, causing rain, thunder, and lightning to engulf the kingdom.

Whisper sprinted for at least 30 minutes before he finally stopped by a tree to rest. Gently allowing Grace to dismount, he trotted around the perimeter of where they stopped to check they had escaped before he returned to Grace's side.  Grace leaned back against the old oak tree they had stopped under to shelter from the rain.

She was still shaking from everything that happened and trying to understand just how she had been able to see her mum. “Why are you so sad little girl?” her thoughts were interrupted by an elderly voice. She shot up and looked around, but it was just trees and some small wildlife. She stared up at the tree, which seemed to be smiling at her, and once again it spoke in a kind elderly voice: “What troubles little one?”

Grace was familiar with talking animals, but trees, this was a new one to her, Still, she could feel the tree's kindness enveloping her, and so she told Mr Tree, as she called him, her story. The tree explained to her how she needed to honour her mum by being the best version of Grace she could be. “But for now, you must rest,” he told her, as the tree’s structure changed and used its branches and leaves to make a tent of sorts for Grace and Whisper, where they fell into a deep sleep. 

When she finally awoke, the sun was shining, and the rain had stopped She looked at her arm which had completely healed: “Thank you, Mr Tree,” she cried, hugging the elderly oak tightly.  “You run along now little one, much work to do”.   “Right! Let’s go Whisper,” she replied and set off on her journey.

Grace spent the next 3 months living in the forest, eating berries, and talking to her mother every day, which she was able to do every time she visited the lake of dreams. However, she spent most of her time tending to animals, or people who passed through the forest. Anyone who was hurt, or injured, Grace was there, this young girl who only ever wished to be like her beautiful mother. 

Although she was unaware, her movements like all beings were being tracked by Queen Marie's mother.  When she awoke one morning from her old oak camp she was surprised to be greeted by Timo, the very boy whose life her mother had saved in exchange for her own. 

Grace wanted to hate this boy, he was here because her mother was not, but she knew her mother would never allow it. Both children stared at each other without speaking, before finally Timo stretched out his hand to give Grace a note. Then he turned and darted back into the forest, presumably towards town. Grace peered at the note “Grace, you have earned enough points to enter the final fashion show, please be at the palace tomorrow at midday. P.S Wear something pretty”.

Grace headed to the lake for advice and her mother appeared immediately: “My darling Grace, this is the last time I can visit you. Just do your best, I’m so proud of you”. With that, her reflection disappeared and when Grace looked down, she was now wearing the beautiful pink dress her mum once adorned.

Noon the following day came, and Grace stood in her outfit, alongside the other finalists, five in total. The final entrant was Melissa ShadowBorne, still in her usual pure black, with black make-up and a black veil.  As the competition unfolded it was evident no one could hold a candle to Grace, she was certain to win.

ShadowBorne, obviously realising this and unable to stop herself, screamed out: “If you crown that girl, I will kill her I will kill all of you, just like I killed Marie and your precious Pinky.” Her hand flew to her mouth, her patience finally costing her dearly. A hush descended over the room, before: “Get her”.

Queen Grace now rules over Mystopia, as advised by her newly freed father. The kingdom is happy and free, Melissa lives out the rest of her days in jail. Grace knows her mother would not want anyone to be killed, no matter how evil. And Timo? 15 years later, he and Grace were married after years of friendship. Of course, they lived happily ever after, and Melissa ShadowBorne's final fashion statement? A Black and white striped jumpsuit.