My Guardian Angel
By: Coreen Tan
Princess Seule:
Whoosh Crash! My arm breaks my fall as my ex-suitor pushes me into a
wooden bench. How silly of me not to introduce myself? After all, this is my story. I
am Princess Seule, Princess of Asone, a small, little, kingdom that looks almost like
the villages in Cinderella’s realm. Being a princess isn’t just about party and dresses
but also about expectations. For example, planning social gatherings, dealing with
wars, making laws, and seeking justice are just a few things rulers have to do. Most
importantly, you need to make sure that you have an heir to the throne, which is
where I come in. Without a future ruler, all the work done by a predecessor is useless.
Unfortunately for my parents, they need a reality check because no suitor of any kind
would want to marry me. I’m the very opposite of a good princess, let alone a queen.
For example my favorite color isn’t pink, it’s black. I hate puffy gowns and the most
important fact of all is that I don’t want a prince charming to come and sweep me of
my feet. I prefer the ground thank you very much! In fact, I don’t need anyone at all.
That is the exact reason why I’m here in the dungeon. Let me tell you, pouring ice cold
water down a suitor isn’t the best way to go. I feel a twinge of regret and sadness but
for some odd reason I don’t want my so called ‘Prince Charming’ to burst through the
dungeon doors and save me. I can do this all by myself, as soon as I find out how to
get these chains off!
My day would start out with a dress of different shades of pink laid out on my
bed already prepared before I wake up. As usual, I yelled at my servant for picking
out such a bright colored dress. Then I would make my way to the Breakfast Hall
where I saw my father and mother silently arguing about my past suitors. They
looked up at the sight of my completely black outfit and sighed. My father got up and
beckoned me over. I felt as if I was a dog being told to roll over, but still I came as
commanded. My mother looked at me disapprovingly as I took small steps toward my
father. I already knew what he was going to say before the words were even out of
his mouth, “Change”. When he actually said the words, there was more anger than I
had expected. Knowing that he had a higher status than me, there was no point of
arguing. My mother escorted me to my room where she chose a white dress along
with a white pair of shoes and a white hat for me. As I looked at myself in the mirror,
I thought, “Ha, I look like an angel!” I laughed out loud, something that I didn’t do
very often. My mother on the other hand looked up and smiled, seeing a glimpse of
the daughter she had always wished for.
As we made our way to the garden, I could see my mom still wished that she
had a daughter like Sleeping Beauty. That one day I would prick my finger on a needle
and be awakened by who else, but ‘Prince Charming.’
I thought about the time my mom had said that my name had meant ‘alone’ in
French. I never gave my name as much thought until now. Realization has struck me
that my given name has decided my destiny. I knew that in the end, I would finally
get my way and not need some Prince to save me.
As I tried to clear my thoughts, I looked around at our garden. It was simply
beautiful, even Sleeping Beauty’s lips probably couldn’t shame our red roses. There
were statues of past rulers, princesses and princes alike. They were all successful
during the time of their reign, but that isn’t what surprised me. It’s the fact that the
past couples had an arranged marriage and liked it.
I almost smiled as I thought of my own past suitors. They were usually lawyers,
doctors, or politicians. Just the thought of when a few suitors passed out when I
simply talked to them, made me laugh. Some had actually ran away when I had
stepped foot in front of him, in fact they tried to jump our garden walls. Only to fall
down with a big WOOSH-BOOOM! It was so often that this happened, that we began
to lower our walls and put mattresses around it. Just in case future suitors would
actually be that desperate to leave.
As I arrived at the end of my garden, I took a deep breath and made an ‘I’m
not happy to see you’ face and ‘just leave face’. I just wished that they would
disappear because everyone knew that one false step could ruin their chances of
marrying me. “Like they even had the chance to marry me in the first place!” I
thought. My mom gave me a pat on the back before turning away and leaving me to
face them alone.
As I stepped into my private garden, I saw my pathetic suitors, they were all
dripping with sweat and shaking for fear. I heard them each take in one deep breath,
probably wondering whether that would be there last breath they would ever inhale.
Shifting from one foot to another, they looked up, smiled and tried not to show how
scared they were.
I took a seat at the head chair, I gestured them over to sit. They each looked
from one to the other wondering who would have the courage to take a seat. Finally
a large, fat man stepped up out of the line, and took the seat to my right. The others
immediately followed his lead, fighting over who would sit to my left.
It wasn’t long after they were all seated when the servants begun to file in.
They served food while observing the unlucky suitors and wondering how these men
ended up in front of me. Lunch all began the same. The guests poked at the food to
check whether I had put some poison. Thinking that I’m desperate enough not to get
married, these men were suspicious. As usual, they would take a bite making sure
that there was nothing wrong with the food before swallowing it. The suitors would
then make sure that they were okay before repeating the process until their food was
consumed. I heard a musical laughter from behind my chair; I turned around simply
out of curiosity just to find a boy.
He looked very familiar. His face and his sparkling blue eyes reminded me of a
perfectly clear pool that held no secrets. Just the eyes alone betrayed all of his
emotions to the on looker. He saw me as I stared, then he turned my way, and
smiled. It caught me off guard and to my great surprise, I smiled back. I looked away
ashamed feeling like an unworthy princess, sharing one of my few smiles with a
servant! I was careful not to turn around, still feeling his gaze as he walked away
preparing to serve the next course.
The rest of the dinner just flew by. The suitors were still expecting some sort of
poison in their food. Still felling the need to be cautions, the guests watched their
every move. For me, I was debating in my head why that boy looked so familiar.
Could it be that he was a childhood friend? I quickly scraped that out of my mind,
reminding myself that from the age of 6 until now, I have never had a real friend. A
saying jumped into my mind as I thought of ‘friends’. Who ever made up the motto,
“The meaning of life is friendship” never met me. Besides this fact, I tried to recall
memories of any friend, my mind could only remember so far back to when I had
fallen down the stairs, to wake up on a lumpy bed of a young boy and his mother.
They worked as servants who served food in the palace. The young boy named Jason,
had been walking around when he had come across my unconscious body. He lifted
me up or more like dragged me to the servant’s quarters.
When I finally woke up, he was watching from about 3 feet away probably
scared that I would hurt him, but instead, we became friends quickly, laughing,
playing, and just having fun. Then my father found out about our friendship and
forbade it, but it was only a few weeks from my 6th birthday. I begged him to at least
let it be until my birthday. He reluctantly agreed. As soon as I woke up on the day of
my birthday, I found a note by my bed side saying good bye from Jason. Going
forward in my memories, I noticed a young boy in each of them, watching me,
guiding me, and acting sort of like a Guardian Angel.
My train of thought was ruined by one of my suitors who kicked me from
under the table, as he tried to get my attention, I glared at him fighting the urge not
to yell. I thought to myself, “If I do have a Prince Charming, this one will definitely not
be the one.” I got up, took a pitcher filled with water from a servant and walked over
to the man who kicked me and poured it over his head. I watched as the ice cold
water went down his head soaking him. As I turned to walk away, a hand grabbed
my shoulder. Reacting through my instinct, I grabbed his arm and swung it into the
air with all of my might; you could hear his yell echoed as he hit the ground.
I strolled out of the garden and back to the palace. As soon as I was inside of
the castle, I ran for my room. I passed my mother and father who too followed me
wondering what I had done this time. Not waiting for them to catch up, I shut the
door, locked it, marched up to my beautiful golden bed, and just sat down. Other
princess like Cinderella would have been crying and her ‘God Mother’ would have
been comforting her. I’m pretty sure that I don’t have either a ‘Prince Charming’ or
‘God Mother’; there is no way that either would just pop up into my room because
first of all, I am not in distress and second of all, I don’t cry.
Yet again my thoughts were disturbed by my mother and father who had
finally made it to the door. They began to knock and demanded me to come out and
discus this like an adult. I decided in a split second that I didn’t want to be a princess
anymore. I ran to go get my cloak and opened my window. Looking out, I saw a
village just like the one in Cinderella, the cute little houses, the farms, shops, and
soon to be my new home. I climbed over my wall and began to descend down a
ladder.
I knew I was acting unreasonable but I thought that if there was one place I
didn’t belong, it was here. I walked to the edge of our castle’s wall, silently
calculating how much force I would have to put into my legs to make it to the top of
the wall, or at least somewhere close. Instead of jumping up, I simply climbed the
wall. I felt something pushing my foot up, giving me a strong enough boost to push
me to the top of the wall. I looked around, but I saw nobody. I jumped down to the
other side relieved to finally be out of the palace walls. I sat down and began to
replay the events that had just occurred. My mind kept flipping back to Jason and the
servant; maybe he is my guardian angel? I also thought of other fairy tales which
only mentioned about ‘Prince Charming’, ‘Fairy Godmother’, and a ‘Princess,’ so
where does Jason fit into this? There is no story about a princess and a guardian
angel.
I felt eyes were watching me. I got up, looked around, and took off. I ran
through the streets not quite knowing where I was going. All I knew was that I
wanted to get away from my former home. As I slowed to a stop, I heard a twig snap
to my right, and a stone shift to my left, I didn’t look where I was going, and I went
sprawling to the ground.
I felt something moving behind me, but when I turned around I saw no one.
Usually I wasn’t frightened but having absolutely no experience with the outside
world, I was terrified. Desperate not to make any sudden movements, I got up slowly,
looked around trying to figure out where I was, but in the end, I failed miserably. I
began to walk up and down the street, franticly trying to make my way back in the
dark, when I felt a hand grab my arm.
I pulled away before the hand got a strong grip on me and I ran down the
street farther away from my home than I was comfortable. As I turned around to see
if there was anyone following me, I stumbled over a bucket and I went head over toe
down a hill. As I regained my equilibrium and tried to stand up, a hand grabbed me
from behind. While the hand threw me into a wall, I was thinking about how other
princesses in the past have died.
My train of thought was ruined as I finally hit a wooden house. My head hit the
wall so hard, that I was sure it was bleeding. Before I could check it, the hand caught
hold of me again. This time, it pulled me back up the hill. I fought at every step
hoping that his hand would get tired and he would loosen it for a second so I could
get away. Unfortunately, he kept his had tight around my wrist. He pulled me right
up to a tattered house. He knocked at the door what seemed to sound like boom
boom tat tat boom and almost immediately the door swung open. All the faces inside
looked familiar; it felt as if I had seen them before.
That’s when it hit me, I looked to see who had lead me the whole time, and
the last time I saw him he was soaking wet because of me. He was the suitor from
this morning. As I looked around, I saw all the faces of all my ex-suitors. They had
planned this all out: capture me, rescue me, and get the glory. Fortunately, I had a
plan of my own.
He pulled me out of the crowded room and led me down what seemed to be
hundreds of stairs, before pushing me into a dungeon. So here I am, a princess
trapped in a dungeon, doesn’t that sound typical? My head was still bleeding and I
was getting dizzier by second, so I decided to put my plan in action. I fiddled with the
chains that had been locked around my wrists. Before I managed to get them off,
there was a light at the opposite side of the room. “Am I dead?” I thought to myself. I
pinched my arm hard, “Nope, still alive.” Right as I thought that a figure’s body
began to emerge from the light, he closed the trap door with a thud. He disappeared
into the darkness as if he was never there. I began to think that I was seeing
hallucinations when a voice called out of the shadows.
“Are you okay?” said the voice. It sounded soft, gentle, and almost hesitant.
“I am fine.” I replied softly, careful not to scare the man away.
“What were you thinking?” he whispered so softly that I could barely hear him.
“I wasn’t?” I said softly back, slightly embarrassed, and surprised that I had
actually told the truth to an absolute stranger.
“Well that’s obvious!” he said quite loudly.
My reactions wasn’t as I had plan, instead of cooling down, and giving myself
time to just breathe, I yelled back, “What! I don’t even know why you’re here, or in
fact, and in fact I don’t know who you are!”
It seemed like hours before he replied, his voice was shaky, but I managed to
catch the important works like, “…saw you….jumping the wall….followed.” Then he
fell silent. He was a quiet as a mouse. I was afraid for the first time in my life that I
was alone. I fought back the urge to call out to the darkness and see if he was still
there, but instead I held my tongue. The minutes seemed to stretch into hours, and
hours into days, so I began to play with my chains, as if they were my favorite toy as
a child. It wasn’t long before I began to fall asleep, to the world of dreams, where
even a princess like me could have a prince charming.
Jason:
I watched silently as she fell asleep, her head rubbing into the cold stone wall
as if she imagined it as her fluffy pillow in the palace. She had the same impression as
she did a few years back, strong face, independent words, and with just her tone you
could tell she didn’t need anyone. Seule was the same girl that I rescued after she fell
down three flights of stairs, and the girl that I intended to save from the dungeon.
Just like the other princes’ in the story, but in this case I was a servant, or more often
called peasant. I would save her as soon as she stopped badgering me with questions
and just fell asleep.
Earlier, I had seen her fiddling with the chains. I laughed as she hadn’t seen the
button on the side that would disengage the locks. I took a step closer wondering if
she would wake up, but since she didn’t I kept walking. Trying to avoid all of the
lighted sections of the dungeon, I came to a halt only one foot in front of he. The only
problem was that the area that she sat in was completely covered with light. As I
took a step forward closer to her, I silently wished that she wouldn’t wake up while I
remove her chains. I stared at her quietly, thinking about her perfectly straight black
hair, piercing eyes, and strong face which showed that she had been through a lot in
her life. These were the things that made up a perfect princess, if only everyone
would see her that way.
As I unlocked her chains and moved them to the ground, her fluttered open. Uh
oh, I am dead.
Seule:
As I opened my eyes, I saw my Prince Charming. With his kind hopeful face, he
used an expression that gave hope in even the worst of situations. I smiled, maybe
my Prince Charming from my dream came to me in reality. That’s when it hit me, I
was still in the dungeon, and this guy was trying to get me out. Like I said, I can do
this all by myself. Hey, my chains are off.
Jason:
I can’t believe it, she smiled twice today, this must be a record for her. Oh no,
she is frowning, this is definitely a good time to start backing away. I began to inch
back to the darkness, but her hand flew out and took a firm hold on my arm. Her
expression mirrored mine, surprised. In the steadiest voice she could manage she
whispered, “Don’t leave me.” She used the sort of voice that sounded desperate. I
could hear a tiny bit of fear, loneliness, and sadness in her tone. I sat down quietly
next to her. I wanted to break the silence so bad, but I didn’t want to say something
stupid, so I settled for a line that would probably anger her.
“Do you want me to get us out of here?” talking in the littlest voice I could.
It took her a while to reply, but when she did, she emphasized each word with
anger, saying, “I. Can. Do. This. By. Myself.”
Not letting my anger get the best of me I replied slowly, “Fine, we’ll just split
the work.” Seeing the change in her eyes I continued, “You can open the door, I’ll
close it, then you take a step, then I take a step, and keep that going until we reach
the wall. Then I’ll help you over the wall, get myself over the wall, and I’ll help you to
your bed room. Then we will just pretend that it never happened. Okay?”
She looked at me skeptically, as if I was going to turn on her any minute, and
not going to let her open the trap door, and so on. Laughing quietly, I thought to
myself, “Like your actually going to do anything besides opening the door.” I guess
that it was a little unfair about what I had done, not completely splitting the work in
half. The Princes’ in the stories have to do all the labors, so I was basically breaking
the rules.
It seemed like forever before she replied. Her voice was still unsure and mad
that she wasn’t doing anything, but in the end, she agreed. As she stood up, she
accidentally she kicked the chains, sending an ear splitting sound echoing through the
whole house. I pulled her towards the secret trap door, opening it quickly.
Immediately put her threw first, then jumping through and pulling down the door
with a thud. We ran as if they were right behind us, in a carriage while we were on
foot. Neither of us looked back, as we ran right past the town square, past the
fountains, and only stopped when we reached the stone wall.
I helped her over the wall as I had before, watching her disappear onto the
other side before I too jumped the wall. Also making a mental note to go to the head
of security, asking them to place more guards around the wall, just in case she
decided to do this again.
Instead of climbing the ladder we went through the front door. I know this
sounded crazy but hardly anyone came out of the palace after they went in, so there
were no guards at the front door either.
My curiosity was killing me, I asked in a steady but quiet voice, “Do you know
who I am?”
She looked at me with her piercing black eyes and replied in a sure tone, “The
servant from this morning, Jason, and my Prince Charming.”
Seule:
I looked straight into his clear blue eye and said, ““The servant from this
morning, Jason, and my Prince Charming.”
Jason:
Never in all my years since I met her thought that she would say that out loud.
Seule:
Did I just say that?
Jason:
After she said her last words, she began to smile, not one of those fake small
smiles she would make to please her mom and dad every now and then. But a real
smile, like an “I’m so glad we are friends again!” and a, “You are my prince
charming” smile. This is definitely a world record for Seule, three smiles in one day.
Seule:
Maybe I do have a prince charming, one that saved me when I fell down a
flight of stairs, watched over me like a guardian angel, and saved me from the
dudgeon. I guess it isn’t only in the world of dreams that a princess like me could
have a prince charming, but also in reality. Maybe my name doesn’t decide my
destiny, but the very opposite. After all, the name of my future kingdom, Asone does
mean “As One”. And so we lived happily ever after. Ugh, how typical.