Princess Eve

“Tell me a story,” the little girl said from the bed below me. I couldn’t see them, but I could imagine Kanchana brushing the wet hair from Evie’s face. She had come into the room a short time after leaving me the food, dripping wet and wrapped in a blanket. Boldly, I’d stood up on the bed to confront her. But then Kanchana had walked in and I'd decided to wait until I could talk to the girl alone. Instinct told me she was the one I needed help from, her and her alone. “Do you want me to finish the story of Snow White?” Kanchana whispered. “No, a different one.” “A different one, hm? How about Rapunzel?” “No.” “The Three Little Pigs?” “You’ve already told me that one.” “I’m not sure I have any new stories tonight, Evie.” “Make one up then.” “Oh, OK. I’ll try.” No sound came from below me for awhile, save for the shifting of limbs and the almost silent rustle of the sheets. Finally, Kanchana spoke. “There once lived-” “You forgot ‘once upon a time’!” Evie interjected. “Once upon a time- better?” “Yup.” “-In a land beyond the furthest ocean, there lived a princess by the name of Eve. Unlike her namesake, Eve was not the first of anything. She was born second to her sister and would live to be the last of her kind. For no one knew that Eve’s sister, Cora, was not long for the world. She was sick and wouldn’t live past her eighth birthday.” “What does Cora mean?” The girl asked quietly. “Heart,” Kanchana replied. “Her name meant ‘heart.’” I waited for Kanchana to continue. But the room had lapsed into awkward silence. “I miss my sister,” Evie said at length. When there was no reply, she continued. “What does my name mean, Kanchana?” “It means ‘noisy little bird.’” The girl giggled. “No it doesn’t! It means ‘life.’” “If you knew, then why did you ask?” “Does every name mean something?” “Yes, every one of them.” “Why did Cora die?” “Because her heart was weak, maina. It didn’t want to grow up. It wanted to stay the heart of a child forever.” “Is that why Mom and Dad divorced?” “Maybe. They were very sad when Cora died. Why don’t I finish the story now? I think you’ll like it.” “I don’t like Dad’s new wife. She’s mean. She acts like she’s my Mom. But she’s not!” Kanchana made a soft clucking sound with her tongue. “You should give her a chance. I’ve met her. I don’t think she’s so bad.” Evie didn’t reply. “Would you like me to finish the story?” The girl must have nodded, for Kanchana began talking without prompt. “Cora was meant to be Queen one day. For in that world, a woman always ruled. But after Cora’s death, Eve was named to inherit the thrown instead. But Eve didn’t want to be Queen. She’d thought to live her life out simply, not ruling over a kingdom. So instead of accepting her fate, she decided to run away.” “Where did she go?” “She traveled to the edge of the world.” “The edge of the world!” Evie whispered in awe. “But she didn’t get there over night. She traveled for a very long time, always looking for a place to stop and call home.” “What did she see at the edge of the world?” “She saw nothing, Evie. The princess had traveled to the edge of the world and still hadn’t found happiness.” “What did she do?” “She decided to turn back. For in her travels, she had realized that she’d been running from her home the entire time. But while the princess had been traveling, an evil witch had put a spell on her kingdom and taken over as Queen.” “Was the witch an evil stepmother?” Kanchana let out an exasperated sigh. “Not every witch is an evil stepmother.” “Uh huh! Snow White. Hansel and Gretel. Cinderella-” “Only in some fairy tales. The witch in this story was not an evil stepmother.” “Ok,” Evie grumbled. “So the princess began to travel back. But in her heart, she knew something was wrong. “How did she get back?” “Magic.” “You see, she hadn’t eluded everyone when she’d snuck away from the palace. A lone fairy had seen her leave. For all those years it had followed her, silently. Now that she was turning back to take her place as Queen, the fairy came out of hiding to help her.” “What did it do?” “It concentrated really hard, until the princess’ feet began to glow. Suddenly, the princess felt lighter than a feather. She ran around in a circle and found that she could move at lightning speed. With this gift, she would be able to get home in just a fraction of the time.” “Cool!” Evie burst out happily. “But magic that great comes at a price. When the princess turned around to thank the fairy, she found that the fairy was gone. It had used itself up in order to help her.” “The fairy was dead?” “Not dead. Gone. No amount of clapping would bring it back, although the princess tried. This fairy had sacrificed itself out of love. Its reward was to be a part of the princess forever. When the princess ran toward home, the spirit of the fairy flew with her. The princess ran for several days, until the hills of her home peaked over the horizon. But on the day she arrived where her home should have been, she found no sign of the kingdom.” “Where was it?” “The witch, and now evil queen, had set the kingdom on a cloud where no human could ever reach it!” The little girl gasped dramatically. “But never fear. The princess’ Father had kept a special garden on the hill furthest from the kingdom wall. In that garden was a plant that grew magical beans.” “Like the ones Mom drinks in the morning?” Evie laughed. “Not quite. These beans grew giant plants, plants that could reach into the clouds. The princess knew that with one of these beans, she could climb her way back to the castle. So she went to the hill and dug up the plant that she needed. Normally, the beans of this magical plant would only grow normal sized stalks. But if you exposed the seeds to air before planting them again, something amazing would happen. They would grow a million times in size!” “What happened when she got to the castle?” “When the princess reached the kingdom, she saw that everyone in it was sleeping. The witch had cast a spell on all the inhabitants.” “Did she wake them?” “She tried, but no amount of shaking could stir them from their sleep. So she went looking for the Queen instead. She found her in the treasury, counting the royal jewels. Fortunately, the princess hadn’t been seen yet. So she crept-” Suddenly, the door to Evie’s bedroom opened and the light from the hall illuminated the dimly lit room. I could tell from the silhouette that the witch had come back. “Oh!” Kanchana said in surprise. “I thought I’d find you two in here.” I could hear the smirk in the witch’s voice. “Kanchana’s telling me a story, Mom.” “I’m so sorry Lis,” Kanchana said to the witch, getting up from the bed. “I completely lost track of time.” The witch waved her off. “It’s OK. But it’s time for lights out, Evie. Give hugs to Kanchana. You’ll see her next weekend.” “But you’re not done with the story!” Evie whined. Even I was curious to know how the tale ended. Not only had the place Kanchana described sound like home, but the witch had sounded an awful lot like Queen White too. “Use your imagination,” Kanchana said softly. Then she whispered something to the little girl that I couldn’t hear. “Good-night maina.” “Good-night Kanchana.” When the door had closed and the room was quiet again, I shifted from my spot on the bed, preparing to make my move. “You can come out now.” The little girl said quietly. I fluttered off the ledge and down onto the corner of her bed. “Your light gets brighter when you fly,” she said. We stared at each other for a moment, both afraid to startle the other. “Where did you come from?” She asked finally. I shrugged, unable to find the words to describe how I had gotten to that point. “You don’t know, or you don’t know where it is?” “The second one,” I replied feebly. “But I think you might be able to help me get back.” “So I guess you’re not the kind of fairy that collects teeth, huh?” I shuddered, imagining myself trying to extract teeth from this young human’s head. “Of course not!” “So what kind of fairy are you?” “The kind that needs to find her way back home. There’s something terrible going on in the place where I come from.” “I see,” the girl said with an unusual amount of maturity. “There’s a witch involved,” I added. “There always is,” she said. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?” And so I did.