The Lonely Little Princess, Part 3

By Elizabeth Fust

Many years passed, and the three girls spent all their time together. They dreamed of their futures and of their “Prince Charming’s” too. With each other’s help, they grew into beautiful young women.

One summer, the little princess went on a vacation to a far-away land.

“I can’t wait to see all these strange places. Maybe I will fall in love with a prince from another land. I’ll send you letters!” she told her friends as she left.

The Princess and the dressmaker’s daughter were sad that the little princess would be gone for so long, but at least they had each other. Then the dressmaker’s daughter left, too.

“I’m going to go sew dresses for a queen in a foreign land. It will be so romantic! Maybe I’ll meet a gentleman and fall in love.”

The Princess was alone again. Both of her friends were gone and it didn’t take her long to read all of the books in the library again. One bright morning she went walking in the castle’s garden.

“God, so many years ago I prayed that you would give me friends because I was so lonely. Why did you have to take them away? I wish I had a fairy godmother, and then I could wish them back,” she said, angrily splashing her hand in the pond.

A small fish popped out of the water and stared at her. Then he dove back into the water. The Princess frowned at the pond as she thought of how lonely she was. The fish popped out of the pond again, and then went back into the water with a ‘splash’. He swam around in circles. The fish continued to pop in and out of the water and the Princess began to laugh.

She hadn’t laughed since her friends had left. A fish for a friend! How odd that seemed. In all the books she had read about fairy godmothers, they would tell a princess that if she kissed a frog, it would turn into a prince. Maybe that would work with fish, too…

Art work by Rachel Skiba

Elizabeth Fust is a homeschooled senior in high school. When she was six years old, she entered a story into a Reading Rainbow Young Writers and Illustrators contest, it is the first story she remembers writing. Elizabeth has been writing ever since. She is active in the parish youth group, parish choir, and 4-H. She is an avid reader, loves playing with her two dogs, playing Ultimate Frisbee with her friends, playing flute, dreaming up new stories, and learning new things.

Rachel Skiba has been homeschooled her entire life and is headed to her freshman year of college. She has always been interested in art and has taken many art classes. Rachel enjoys drawing, photography, sewing, beading, playing the bass, playing Ultimate Frisbee with her friends, and spending time with her four sisters.