A modern-ish fairytale with the theme of mental health. |
Once upon a time there was a lovely little princess named Sunshine Star. She had long blonde hair and blue eyes, and lived in the magical Kingdom of Netsa. With her bubbly attitude and ability to heal the depressed, Sunshine was loved by everyone who knew her... well, everyone except for Stone Woods, an evil witch who hated happiness. But Sunshine had a dark secret - she was sometimes extremely unhappy, so much so that she would cry for the whole day. She could never tell anyone of her secret, for fear the evil witch might learn of it and take advantage. The reason Stone Woods did not like happiness is because she was unhappy herself, but like Sunshine, she would never tell anyone. She wanted to be the happiest person in the kingdom, even though she was desperately sad. One day Stone Woods was walking through the kingdom of Netsa and happened to come across Sunshine's house. Sunshine did not like to live in the castle because she wanted to live like a normal teenage girl. On this particular day, Sunshine was having a bad day, and was crying in her room. Her window was open and as she walked past, Stone Woods could hear her sobs. That gave her an idea for a wicked plan. The next day, Stone Woods turned up at Sunshine's house, wearing a disguise. She was dressed as an old beggar woman. She knocked on the front door. "Hello?" Sunshine asked brightly as she answered the door. She was extremely good at hiding her emotions from other people. "Hello, dear," replied Stone Woods. "I was wondering if you had a place for me to stay? I'm homeless, you see." The story pulled at Sunshine's heartstrings and being the kind princess she was, she said, "Of course. Come in." "Thank you, dear, how long can I stay here?" "As long as you like." Perfect, thought Stone Woods. So Sunshine and Stone Woods - still disguised as the old woman - fell into a routine of living together. But it had been a whole week and Stone Woods still hadn't seen Sunshine crying yet. She soon realised that Sunshine would only cry in private, and that she would have to be sneaky if she was going to put her plan into action. The following night, Sunshine was having one of her crying episodes. Stone Woods noticed, and went into the bedroom to 'comfort' her. "What's wrong, dear?" she asked, trying to conceal the open bottle in her hands just enough so Sunshine wouldn't see. "I don't know," sobbed Sunshine. Stone Woods wrapped her in a reassuring hug, holding the bottle underneath Sunshine's chin. Her tears began to trickle into the bottle. That was all Stone Woods needed for her plan. "Well," she said, "I hope you feel better soon. Bye!" And with that she left Sunshine's house, never to be seen again. Or so she thought. Back at Stone Woods' castle, she already had an evil brew going. The plan was to make everyone in the kingdom of Netsa even sadder than she was, and Sunshine's tears were the final ingredient she needed. She would fly above the kingdom on her broomstick and sprinkle the potion she'd just concocted over all the people in the kingdom, and they would all immediately feel a wave of depression wash over them. And then Stone Woods would be the happiest person in Netsa. When Sunshine woke the next morning and stepped outside her house, something did not seem right. The people of the kingdom of Netsa usually seemed bright and cheerful, but today everyone was crying. "What's wrong?" she asked a random passer-by. "I don't know," the stranger sobbed. And then Sunshine remembered the conversation she had had with the old lady the previous day. Come to think of it, the old lady looked a little bit familiar... And then she realised why. The old lady was actually Stone Woods! She'd obviously put a curse on the kingdom of Netsa to make everyone sad. Sunshine raced towards Stone Woods' castle to confront her. She knocked on the door. "Ah, if it isn't Sunshine Star," Stone Woods said as she opened the door. "What have you done?" sobbed Sunshine. "Well, I think you'll find I'm the happiest person in the kingdom now!" "Why have you done this?" "It was the only way I could be happy." "Really? Why don't you just talk to someone?" asked Sunshine, desperately. That made Stone Woods think. Why didn't she talk to someone? She invited Sunshine into the castle. And they talked, for more than two hours, about everything and anything. And by the end Stone Woods was feeling much better, and she agreed to sprinkle the antidote for the sadness potion over the kingdom. Because no one deserved to be sad. And ater that day, no one in the kingdom of Netsa ever was again. THE END - 2 - |