Tiles and Typewriters

To help get me back into the groove of writing and being creative, I used my French-English "Fantasy Tiles" that my father-in-law had bought one year when I was teaching French. (Yes, I know, why was I, someone who is Deaf, teaching French? In case you haven't read, check out this blog - it explains a little background) My FIL had bought the tiles to help students learn to write short stories with the tiles they selected. Now, my kids use it and when I get stuck, sometimes I use the tiles as a prompt to create a short story to help get my "creativity" flowing again.

So, that is what I did today. I had the tiles: mountains, dragon, magic wand, ring of power, 3 wishes, bad witch, lake, princess, prince, flying horse, castle.

I did a 5-minute sprint and made the story below. Of course, I used my typewriter to write it up.

The Treasure Hunt

Once upon a time, high in the mountains, there was a dragon who guarded the princess' treasures. She had three magical objects: a magic wand, or a ring of power, and a jar of three wishes. She knew others would steal these treasures if they found them. One day, a witch saw the dragon fly from the castle back to the mountains, and curious about what she guarded, followed her. When she saw the dragon guarding a cave full of treasures, she grew envious. She wasn’t a bad witch, but as jealousy and greed grew in her heart, all she wanted to do was take the magic. So, she made plans to take just one of the three items - the 3 wishes for she thought, if she has the wishes, she could wish for a ring of power - and she already had one magic wand. She cast a spell on the dragon, putting her to sleep and stole the 3 wishes, hiding them deep beneath the lake at the bottom of the mountains.

When the dragon woke up, she immediately went to the princess, upset.

"I didn't protect them enough." She wailed.

"I am not angry with you, dear dragon," the princess calmed her friend. "I know who took them and she has changed. Magic calls to her, so she would've found them eventually. I should've destroyed the things when I first found them hidden."

"What can I do?"

"Guard the last two treasures, dragon. If they are taken, then the magic of the land will be gone." The princess signed, not wanting to speak about the objects out loud, just in case the witch was listening. While the princess wasn't deaf, her younger brother and cousin were, and she had learned sign language to communicate with them.

"I will guard them with my life," the dragon promised.

The princess sat down, trying to figure out how she could retrieve the magical objects. She couldn't hold her breath long enough to reach where the witch had hidden the 3 wishes, after all, she wasn't a mermaid! And she had no magic powers unless she had access to the wand or ring. She sighed, knowing that she needed to tell her family about the lost magical objects.

Suddenly, she had an idea. There was a Royal Ball planned for the next month with many people coming. Her parents, the king and queen, wanted her to choose a suitor at the ball, but, she wasn't sure she was ready.

"How can I know their true intentions?" She had questioned when they begged her to choose someone.

"This," she whispered, grabbing a piece of paper to write the proclamation. "This will show me who I can trust. If they can get to the magical objects, surely they must have good intentions. It is the only way that they'll be able to find them when they are hidden. Then, if they give them back to my family, I know they will be one I can trust with our secrets."

The king and queen loved her idea. They quickly sent out the proclamation:

Whosoever retrieves the lost treasures of the kingdom will marry the Princess.

The day of the ball grew closer and closer, but no one had yet to find and bring the treasures back to the Princess. Saddened, she worried that they would be lost forever.

The day of the ball arrived. Hearing a loud commotion, she stopped playing with her brother and motioned to get his attention. “Something’s happening,” she signed. “Stay here.” She hurried out and outside to see a huge pale green flying horse in the sky. Waiting for the horse to land, she looked anxiously around, wondering who it was.

Once the horse was back on the ground, a tall man jumped down. “Princess! I have found your treasure." He bowed low and handed the treasures over to the stunned princess.

She looked. at him, and seeing his intentions, she smiled. "Welcome, my prince. We have been waiting for you and there is much to do before tonight."

"Tonight?" He asked, curious, following her inside.

"Yes, our wedding. Come, let's go meet my parents."

He laughed, stopping her. "Oh, princess. I did not pay attention the proclamation. I would’ve gotten the treasures for you if you simply asked. I would like to have a kiss, and time to get to know you - a date! We have all the time, you know."

She smiled slightly, not glancing at the treasures in her hands, knowing that they'd grant them even more time than he realized, and agreed. "Very well. We'll take it slow. Thank you for retrieving these treasures."

"Always. Now, for my kiss?" He tapped his cheek, waiting.

The princess winked. "Of course," reaching up and quickly giving him a peck on the cheek. "As you wish."