Raising an eyebrow, Julie said, "Would you like to tell the story yourself?"
"No," she said, rolling her eyes and nestling back into her pillows.
Julie nodded and then she went on. "Long ago in a kingdom far, far away, there lived a lovely young maiden named Juliet," she said, compromising on the maiden's description. "The maiden's mother had died when she was very young, and her father had remarried a very unpleasant woman. She had a son whom she favored very much, and he was a spoiled, rotten boy named Jack. Growing up, Jack would always pick on young Juliet, pulling her pigtails," Julie said, reaching out and lightly tugging a lock of Alyssa's long brown hair, "and pushing her in the mud when Juliet's father wasn't looking.”
"Why didn't his mom yell at him?" Alyssa asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"Well, she wasn't a very nice person," Julie explained. "And she didn't really like Juliet, so she thought it was funny when Jack would pick on her."
Rolling her eyes, Alyssa said, "I never like Jack."
Smiling wryly, Julie said, "I've never liked Jack either. Now, back to the story…"
Alyssa became instantly attentive again, listening eagerly for the next part.
"For years Juliet had to endure Jack's torment in her father's absences, and she never said a word to him about it, not wanting to upset him. But then one day when Juliet's father was out working in the kingdom, something terrible happened."
"He died," Alyssa stated, yawning.
"Well, yes. There was a carriage accident—”
"And he got runned over and died," Alyssa summarized. "I want to hear about the grumpy knight," she said impatiently.
"You're rushing me, child," Julie complained. "But you're right, it's getting later by the minute. Let's speed this thing up…"
"After Juliet's father died, the treatment of the stepmother and the wicked stepbrother got even worse. Since her father wasn’t there, there was no one to stop Jack from tormenting Juliet all the time. One day Jack made Juliet come with him out into the woods so that she could carry all the wood he could find for their fireplace—”
"He's the boy," Alyssa cut in, "Jack should be carrying the wood."
"Yes, well, Jack made Juliet carry all the wood. Carrying all the heavy wood made Juliet very tired and thirsty, so when they came upon a spring she asked if she could stop for a drink. 'No,' Jack told her, 'you may not drink from the spring.' So Juliet didn't stop for a drink, she just continued to carry the wood. It seemed she was carrying it for a very long time, but she thought that was just because the wood was so heavy. Then Juliet began to notice it was getting dark. Jack and Juliet were never supposed to be out in the woods alone after dark, because it was dangerous."
"Why was it dangerous?" Alyssa asked with a smile, because she already knew.
"Well, there were bandits," Julie explained.
Grinning, Alyssa said, "What happened to Jack and Juliet in the woods?"
"Well, when the sun finally disappeared out of the sky, Juliet realized that Jack didn't know where they were, and that was why he was making her carry the wood around everywhere."
"He should've asked for directions," Alyssa stated.
Nodding, Julie agreed. "Silly Jack."
Then, continuing on with the story, Julie said, "Suddenly Juliet heard the sound of horses galloping up the pathway, and she knew it must be the bandits!"
"Oh no!"
Nodding, Julie said, "So as the horses got closer, Juliet and Jack both got scared. Juliet knew she couldn't run with the wood, so she put the wood down by the side of the path and ran, hoping to get out of sight before the bandits came. 'Stupid girl,' Jack hissed at her. 'Mother will be upset if we come home without the wood.' But before Juliet could even respond, the horses were so close that she knew they must be right behind her. 'Stay with the wood,' Jack said, shoving Juliet in the direction of the wood pile and jumping behind a big bush so the bandits wouldn't see him. But the driver yelled out, stopping the horses. Juliet had been spotted!"
"What happened next, Mommy?" Alyssa asked, bouncing a little.
"Well, as it turned out, it wasn't the bandits."
"Who was it?"
"It was the prince of Juliet's kingdom, traveling home after his visit to a nearby kingdom. When he saw Juliet discarded carelessly by the side of the road, he stopped. Prince Marcus was his name, and as he climbed out of the carriage, looking Juliet over, he asked, 'Why are you alone in the woods at this late hour?' Juliet was afraid—she didn't know who he was or if Jack would get mad at her if she told the man that she wasn't alone out there—would they look for him, too?—so instead she merely said, 'I was gathering some wood for my fire and I got lost.' The prince raked an appraising look over her, saying, 'Lost, you say? Where do you live, girl? Where are your parents?' Juliet was quiet for a moment, unsure of what to tell him, and then she finally said, 'I have no parents, sir.'"
"Poor Juliet," Alyssa said. "I like the story where she does have parents, Mommy."