THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER CLUB

 Challenge 12 stories in 12 months

 THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER CLUB

© Hazel Campbell 2017

Prompt: The Club | Wordcount: 750 | Genre: fairy tale)

Disney Princesses

Snow White was bored. Prince Charming was away on Kingdom business and she was lonely. Then she had a brilliant idea. She would invite some of the other fairytale princesses to form a Happily Ever After Club. They would meet regularly and tell their stories.

Six princesses came to the first meeting. Cinderella arrived in her pumpkin carriage. Two of the twelve dancing princesses came in a carriage shaped like a slipper. Belle and Rapunzel rode horses. SweetPea, the Delicate Princess, came in a coach padded with cushions.

There was much excited laughter and exchange of greetings when they met in the palace.

When they were refreshed and comfortable, Snow White explained her idea for the Happily Ever After Club, and they were all enthusiastic for they all shared the same loneliness when their Prince Charmings had to leave home.

"I'll go first,' Cinderella offered." I'll tell you about my happily ever after." So they eagerly settled to hear Cinderella's story.

"The first year was pure bliss," she began. "Prince Charming and I set up house in our part of the palace. The king didn’t give him any duties, so we played games and had picnics and balls and he helped me set up a sanctuary for my forest friends. It was wonderful!

"But, at our first anniversary ball, the king stormed in shouting, 'Babies! Where are the babies? I want to see my grandchildren.'

"He kept muttering about babies and quite spoilt the ball.

"That night, when we were having our usual bedtime snack of milk and cookies – Charming prefers to drink a glass of wine with his cookies – I asked Charming why the king was in such a temper. Did he expect us to go out and buy some babies? Charming was just as bewildered.

"When Charming left to go to his room, I couldn't sleep. I paced back and forth and finally decided that I needed to talk to Fairy Godmother.

'Goodness, Cinderella,' she said, when she arrived. 'I was in Far, Far Away Land. What could be the matter? You got your Prince Charming.'

'It's the king,' I told her. 'He wants grandchildren.'

'Well?' she said.

'He wants babies!' I wailed. 'And I don’t know where to get them.'

"Fairy Godmother's eyes popped wide open.

'You mean  . . .'

'You have to help us,' I interrupted her. 'I don’t know where to get them. Should we buy some, or borrow, or what?'

The listening princesses gasped, looked at one another with eyebrows raised, or rolled their eyes.

'Seriously?' Rapunzel exclaimed.

"Fairy Godmother looked at me as if I was Dopey or a Silly Goose," Cinderella continued.

'Where is the prince?' she asked.

"In his room, of course."

'You don't sleep together?'

'Of course not. After we have our bedtime snack he goes to his room and I to mine.'

'I see. And you don’t . . . ?'

'Don’t what?' I asked.

"Fairy godmother waved her hands. 'You know . . .  ' And she coughed.

"But I didn't know.  'What should we be doing?' I asked her.

'Cinderella, this is a fairy tale. I can't tell you that here.'

"She tapped her forehead as if she was thinking hard, then she waved her wand and a small Vial appeared.

'Tomorrow night, make sure you have your bedtime snack in your room,' she said. 'Put three drops of this in Prince Charming's milk.'

'He drinks wine,' I told her.

'Even better. Don’t let him see you, but put exactly three drops in his wine.'

'"How will that give us the babies?" I asked.

'We'll find out, won't we?' And then, POOF! She was gone."

"So did you?" The other princesses were hanging on to Cinderella's every word.

"Well, the next night, I made sure there were only two cookies on the plate, and sent Charming to get more. While he was gone, I put three drops from the bottle Fairy Godmother gave me into his wine, and when he came back, he drank it all."

"And. . . and . . . and . . .?" The others were eager to hear more of the story.

"Girls! Girls! I don't know if I can tell you anything more," Cinderella said. This is a fairytale."

"Tell us! Tell us!" they chorused.

"Well, he fell asleep, right there in my room . . .

"HE DID WHAT!"

"He fell asleep and I had to undress him and put him in my bed."

"And? And? And?"

Ran out of words:TO BE CONTINUED