There once was a little princess named Katie. Princess Katie lived in a big castle in the center of a vast forest. The forest was very dark and scary. Her father, the King and her mother, the Queen always told her to never venture out into the forest. They told her about the ogres and dragons the inhabited the forest. There were wild animals that lived there also, like wolves and bears. “Ogres are very mean, if they catch you in the forest, they will eat you”, said her mother.
Katie was very sad, because there were no other children in the castle for her to play with. She was very, very lonely. She had beautiful clothes and many, many toys. But there was nobody to share them with. One beautiful sunny day she decided she was going to find someone to play with. She went outside to find a friend. She came upon a stream that ran right through the grounds of the castle. There was a big toad sitting on a rock. “Will you be my friend?” asked Katie. “Ribbit, I cannot play with you, I am not a child”, said the toad as he hopped away. Katie saw a big pretty yellow flower with a bumblebee hovering above it. “Will you be my friend”? Katie asked. “I don’t have time right now I am getting nectar for my babies”, replied the bumblebee. Then she flew away. Katie sat down on a big rock and cried. “Why are you crying little girl?” Katie looked up and saw a beautiful blue sitting on the rock next to her. “I don’t have anyone to play with” said Katie, wiping the tears with the apron of her dress. “Would you be my friend?” asked Katie. “I would love to be your friend, but how can I play with you? I only have wings and you can’t fly, can you? The bird asked Katie. “No, I cannot fly that would be kind of hard” giggled Katie. The blue bird flew off.
Just then Katie noticed some fish swimming along the stream, so she followed them. Before she realized what was happening, it was very dark. She found herself in the forest.
Katie heard a loud growl and turned around to come face to face with a big gray wolf. “My, what a tasty morsel, I have found” snarled the wolf. “Leave her alone” said this big gruff voice behind her. The wolf whimpered, and turned and walked away. Katie turned and saw her rescuer. It was an ogre! Not a big ogre, but Katie guessed to be a little girl ogre. She was about six feet tall, with shoulders about three feet wide. “Please don’t eat me” pleaded Katie. “Eat you, why would I eat you”? The ogre asked. “Cause ogres eat people”, said Katie. “No we don’t” the ogre giggled. Then the ogre asked her, “What is your name?” “My name is Katie” replied the girl, and then asked “What is yours”? “I am called Agnes”, the ogre told her. Katie looked at Agnes with a puzzling look. “What is the matter Katie? You look confused”, Agnes asked her. “Well my mother and father told me to never wander into the forest, because the dragons and ogres would eat me”, replied Katie. “Dragons will eat both of us” Agnes told her new companion. “Where were you going”, asked Agnes. “I am going to find a friend”, Katie told her. “I will be your friend” Agnes eagerly told her. “I would like that a lot” Katie answered back. “We will go to my house” Agnes told Katie. So, there went Katie and Agnes walking hand in hand to the cabin where Agnes lived with her father, mother, and two smaller brothers.
Back at the castle, the King and Queen, the guards, and the servants were going down the halls calling out for Katie. “She is gone” cried the Queen. “We will find her” the King replied. They all went outside and began searching the grounds for the little princess. They looked everywhere throughout the kingdom. They could not find her anywhere. When they got down to the stream, the big toad was sitting on the same rock as before. The King asked the toad if he had seen his only daughter. “rabbit” “I saw the child playing by the stream” the toad answered back. They started walking down the streamed calling for the child. “What if she wandered out into the forest”? The Queen desperately asked. “She will surely be eaten” the guard answered back.
Agnes lived in a big cabin at the opposite end of the forest. “Are we there yet”? Katie asked her new friend. “Just a little bit further” Agnes told Katie. All of a sudden the forest grew very quiet as if the animals sensed danger. Just then, the girls heard the thunderous flapping of enormous wings and Agnes knew what was in store for them if they didn’t get to safety. “It’s a dragon” screamed Agnes. She then scooped up Katie and ran the rest of the way home. When they reached the front porch, Agnes set Katie down. “That was so scary” Katie said. “I know”, Agnes replied. They both sat down on the step and laughed. “Agnes, is that you? The girls turned around and looked towards the massive front door. There in the doorway stood a nine foot ogre. “Oh, hi mama, this is my new friend, Katie” said Agnes. “Agnes! No! Why did you bring her here?” “The village people will surely think that we took her”. “My mommy and daddy are the king and queen”. “I will tell them what happened” said the frightened little girl. “W will take you back to your kingdom after night has fallen” her mother said. “You girls come inside now before the dragon comes back.” The two new friends went inside the house, all the while giggling as if they had been best friends all their lives. As Agnes helped Katie up on the big chair, her and her mother couldn’t help but to laugh at the sight of the small child sitting on that enormous chair. “What is so funny”? The small girl asked. “Why aren’t you scared of us” the mother asked. “I was, but Agnes said she wasn’t going to eat me”. She proceeded to explain what her parents had told her and how she ended up on their doorstep. They all laughed so hard, they were crying. Just then they heard thunderous foot steps coming up the front steps. “My father and brothers are homing from hunting”. Agnes said happily. Agnes’s mother went and opened the door for her husband Harold and young sons, Boris and Og. “We have company, announced the mother”. “I would like you to meet Princess Katie”. She told of their adventures of the day and of how the young princess found her way to their house.
