My+Fairy+Tale+(Creative+Monster)

Sbug232 Ruby June 12, 2008 **// Leila  //** My knees ached from being on the stone cold floor for such a long time. My apron had been torn and my golden blond hair was falling out of its loose ponytail. My bare feet were wet and cold and my head was pounding. Scrubbing the floor shouldn’t create such pain, but when you are scrubbing the every stone of every room in a five story castle, the pain comes. My name is Leila. I am the queen’s maid. Now being a maid for the queen is no picnic, especially at the young age of 10, but I always have a roof over my head and three meals per day. The queen herself is a mean old hag, but people swear to her beauty, afraid of being banished from her kingdom. But I will swear to you that she is a witch. Everyday I must scrub the floors of every room, clean the bathrooms, and follow her around tending to her every want and need. The only thing keeping me from taking leave of my senses while scrubbing the floor on this ridiculously hot day is my ability to sing. Working for the queen, there are a lot of rules. But luckily, there is nothing against singing. As I sing the beautiful lyrics to my favorite song, I hear the queen’s heavy footsteps marching down the long spiraling staircase I am sitting beneath. As she nears the bottom of the staircase, my stomach begins to turn somersaults, and my voice gets nervous and starts to crack. I keep singing as though nothing is wrong, but inside I am screaming. She is on the last step now, and I can hear her heavy breathing. I think I can almost smell her, but I keep singing. She is just standing silently on the last step not budging. My heart is racing, but I try not to show it in my voice. She just keeps standing there. Now, I feel the ache in my knees and head more than ever. I nervously pull the elastic holding my hair together out and run my fingers through my long hair, which is now reaching my waist. Out of nowhere, the queen squeals an evil shriek, and I can just make out the word leaving her lipstick stained mouth. “LEILA,” is what I hear. My mouth immediately shuts and every part of my body goes numb. My blood runs cold. I can almost feel her inside of me now. “SHOW YOURSELF,” screeching once again. I can’t feel my legs, so I struggle to my feet. When I am finally up, I duck around the spiral I am under. I look up at her. I am looking her straight in the eyes now, and I can see the fire burning behind them. I see what is coming to me. I hold my stance and don’t break down as she takes the last step down onto the icy stones and strides toward me. I want to cry and fall to the ground, or just run to my bedroom, but my body refuses to move. I stand there stupidly as she just stares. I decide to just take whatever she throws at me, but it won’t be easy. She is still silent. Why can’t she just get this over with? She is enjoying the pain and torture she knows she is causing me. She is keeping a straight face, but I am still looking her directly in her fiery eyes, and I can see her smirking. I am done letting her enjoy this. “Yes,” I whisper. “I gave you no permission to speak,” she fires back at me. I reply with the required “Yes ma’am.” “So are you intentionally trying to wound my beautiful ears, or is it just coming naturally to you?” Ouch. Harsh. I am really not all that bad of a singer, and I am dumbstruck and at a loss for words. “Well don’t jut stand there,” she continues, “apologize!” Apologize? She must be kidding! She should be the one apologizing! “Well? Are you going to apologize or not? You are easily replaceable, Leila,” again with the yelling. “I’m sorry ma’am, it won’t happen again.” I feel the room getting hotter. The queen is growing. I back away, scared for my life. Wings are transforming on her back, and she looks a shade of purple. The transformation is done, she is a dragon. I don’t understand what has happened. I look around, bewildered, when all of a sudden; fire comes blasting out of her mouth. It must be the fire she was storing behind her eyes. It touches the fair skin on my arm. I feel the burn and want to cry, but I must defeat her, I must stay strong. So I think. If making her angry turned her into this, then maybe, if I am able to calm her down, she will become more loving. “Mom,” I yell. The wicked creature stops and looks at me. “Mom, if you just listen, everything will be okay,” I continue, “I love you, and I want to feel like your daughter, not like your servant.” I see her shrinking and her normal shade is coming back. The wings are gone and she looks just as before. “Mom, please, I want to be a family again.” She breaks down into tears, “You did it,” she says, “You broke the curse.” “What?” I question. “The curse,” she explains, “I have been under a spell since the day you were born. An ogre from the kingdom to the right put a spell on me, so I could never love again. And you broke it. Leila, I love you.” I hug my mother and smile, “I love you too mom.”