UP IN ZOE'S ATTIC
by Richard Thompson

On the morning after the night that Sarah slept over, Sarah and Zoe went to explore up in Zoe's attic. Up the narrow, dark and dusty stairs they went. They opened the door.

"It's awfully spooky in here," said Sarah.

"There's got to be a light switch here somewhere... " said Zoe.

CLICK!

With the light on, the attic wasn't such a spooky place. It was just a big room full of piles of boxes and mountains of junk. The girls went in and started to look around.

Suddenly, they heard a strange noise coming from behind a small mountain at the far end of the room: Snort! SnoRT! SNORT! Whe-e-e-ez...

"What's that?" said Sarah.

"I don't know," said Zoe. "It sounds like pigs. Why are there pigs in my attic?"

Snort! SnoRT! SNORT! Whe-e-e-ez...

The girls tiptoed up to the mountain of junk. They peeked around and saw...

"It isn't pigs! There's a lady sleeping in my attic!"

Snort! SnoRT! SNORT! Whe-e-e-ez...

The girls tiptoed closer.

"What's that lady doing sleeping in my attic?" said Zoe.

The lady was snoring very loudly: Snort! SnoRT! SNORT! Whe-e-e-ez...

"Zoe!" said Sarah. "That's not an ordinary lady. Look! She's wearing a crown. She's a princess..."

Snort! SnoRT! SNORT! Whe-e-e-ez...

"... and I know why she's sleeping in your attic! Somebody put her under a spell, and she has to sleep forever until someone gives her a kiss to wake her up."

"I think you're right!" declared Zoe. "And I bet I can wake her up!"

Zoe bent over the sleeping princess. She gave her a kiss. But...

Snort! SnoRT! SNORT! Whe-e-e-ez...

"It didn't work!"

"Let me try," said Sarah. "I'm a very good kisser."

Sarah bent over the sleeping princess. She gave her a kiss. But...

Snort! SnoRT! SNORT! Whe-e-e-ez...

"It still didn't work!"

"Wait!" said Zoe. "I remember now. It has to be a prince who does the kissing. Hmmm..."

"Too bad we don't know any princes," said Sarah.

"But we do, Sarah!" cried Zoe. "We do know a prince! We can get Charlie Prince to come and kiss her."

"No," said Sarah, "that wouldn't work. Charlie's not really a prince. Prince is just his last name."

"It's worth a try," insisted Zoe. "It might work. Come on - let's go find Charlie..."

Charlie Prince's mom had a bakery at the corner, and that's where the girls found him. He was busy filling a bag with jelly doughnuts; Charlie didn't like to go anywhere without a good supply of jelly doughnuts. They took him up to the attic.

"See, Charlie," said Sarah. "She's a princess. You can tell because she's wearing a crown. And she's under a spell. She has to sleep forever until a prince kisses her and wakes her up. That's why we brought you. Give her a kiss, okay."

Charlie shook his head.

"I don't think it would work, Sarah," he said. "I'm not really a prince. Prince is just my last name. My dad isn't a king, and my mom isn't a queen. No, it wouldn't work."

"Could you just try, Charlie?" said Sarah. "Please."

"Okay," said Charlie. "I can try."

He put down his bag of jelly doughnuts. He bent over the sleeping princess.

And he was just about to kiss her when Zoe said, "This is so exciting! You're going to kiss her! She's going to wake up! You're going to fall in love and get married and live happily ever after!"

"WHAT?" Charlie yelled.

"That's how it always happens in the stories, Charlie," said Zoe.

"Well, I'm not marrying ANYBODY!" Charlie declared, and off down the stairs he went as fast as he could go. He could go pretty fast; the girls ran after him, but they couldn't catch him.

The girls went back to the attic, and this time when they went in, they heard a different strange noise from behind that small mountain of junk. It sounded like: CRUNCH! CRUNKLE! CRUNCH! - quiet for a moment, and then - schlick, schlick, schlick, schlick, schlick and UMMMMM!

They tiptoed up to the mountain of junk and peeked around.

There was the princess sitting up on the edge of the bed. She was holding Charlie Prince's bag of jelly doughnuts. As the girls watched, the princess reached into the bag, and the paper rattled: CRUNCH! CRUNKLE! CRUNCH! She took out a doughnut, popped it into her mouth and chewed silently for a moment. Then she licked the jelly and the icing off each of her fingers and her thumb : schlick, schlick, schlick, schlick, schlick. She sighed contentedly: UMMMMM!

"You're awake!" said Zoe.

The princess looked up, startled, and dropped the bag of doughnuts.

"Who are you?" she gasped.

"I'm Zoe," said Zoe. "But you can't be awake. Charlie didn't kiss you."

"Oh," said the princess. "You think I was under the kind of spell that needs a prince and kiss to break it. No! No! The wicked witch who put me under my spell said that I had to sleep forever until someone brought me a bag of jelly doughnuts. By the way, these doughnuts are delicious. Did you make them?"

"Oh, no. I didn't make them," said Zoe. "Charlie's mom made them at The Queen of Hearts Bakery."

When Zoe said the word "bakery" the princess' eyes got really big and a big smile spread across her face.

"Did you say 'bakery'!" she cried. "Could you take me there?"

Zoe and Sarah took the princess down the street to The Queen of Hearts Bakery, and the princess ordered another dozen jelly doughnuts. She ate every single one.

The next day, the princess came back and asked Charlie Prince's mom for a job at the bakery. Charlie Prince's mom hired the princess to put the jam in the jam tarts and the jelly in the jelly doughnuts. For pay, the princess got to eat as many jelly doughnuts as she wanted.

And you better believe me when I tell you that that princess lived happily ever after!

RICHARD THOMPSONTHE STORY VINE