"Well, I'll tell you that version tomorrow, but it's too late to change it now."
"Okay," Alyssa agreed easily. "I just want to get to the good part."
Shaking her head, Julie said, "You are so impatient. Fine. Back to the story."
Nodding, Alyssa grabbed her raggedy old Build-A-Bear from beside her and cuddled it close, leaning a little more heavily into the pillow, her eyes beginning to get a sleepy gleam. "Pay attention, Poppy Seed," she whispered to her bear.
"Since Juliet had no family, Prince Marcus told her to come in the carriage with him and he would try to get her a guest room in the castle, and he would even try to find her a job as a maid. So Juliet went with the prince, leaving Jack hiding in the bushes."
"I'm glad. I really don't like him," Alyssa told her mother.
Smiling, Julie went on. "Back at the castle Juliet grows fond of Prince Marcus as he arranges for the seamstresses to make her a new dress—one that isn't torn and sewn carefully out of old rags and potato sacks. Prince Marcus seems very nice to Juliet, and he also arranges for her to help out in the kitchen, and in exchange they let her stay in an old abandoned room near the tower. She and Prince Marcus become friends, and in the afternoons he even takes her out and teaches her to ride his horse."
Unable to ignore the instinct to interrupt, Alyssa said, "The first time you told me this story, I really wan
ted Juliet to marry Prince Marcus."'
Ignoring her precious little interruption, Julie went on with the story. "After living at the kingdom and visiting with the prince all the time, Juliet began to fall in love with the prince."
"Nooo," Alyssa whined. "She isn't going to marry him, is she? Where's the grumpy knight, Mommy?"
"Be patient, child," Julie reprimanded.
"I'm gonna be real mad if she marries the wrong guy this time."
Biting back a chuckle, Julie decided to speed the story up and save her daughter from an anxiety attack. "So one day Juliet and Prince Marcus are out gathering flowers in the field, laughing and playing and having a grand old time—”
"And he kisses her," Alyssa stated, wrinkling up her nose in displeasure.
Sighing, Julie said, "Daughter, I love you from your head to your toes, but you are completely butchering my fairy tale."
"I don't want Prince Marcus kissing my Juliet," Alyssa said protectively.
Rolling her eyes, Julie fast forwarded. "Later that day after he kisses her in the field," she said, despite Alyssa's grimace, "visitors arrive at the castle. There is much excitement as the servants buzz around the castle, preparing for a feast, a celebration. Juliet has no idea what they're celebrating, but before she knows it she's swept into the kitchen, helping wash and prepare potatoes for dinner. Juliet is still thinking about her afternoon with the prince, however, so she walks around, dreamily helping to prepare for the big feast, not even curious as to what it's for. Juliet was in her own little world, dreaming of Prince Marcus."
Alyssa sighed, still looking displeased.
"Later that evening there was a big feast in the dining hall, and for the first time Juliet got to see the visitors. As the feast was served and Prince Marcus sat at the head of the table, smiling and looking as handsome as ever, Juliet was ever so surprised by the beautiful visitor who entered the hall. The visitor was a beautiful woman with long blonde hair that glistened like the sun as it fell down her back. She wore an elaborate purple dress, with jewels worth enough money to feed Juliet's kingdom for a year. 'Welcome, Princess Emily,' called out the troubadour as he began singing songs to celebrate her beauty. Just then the king stood up, raising his glass and causing the entire hall to fall silent. 'This feast is in celebration of my son Marcus and his betrothal to the lovely Princess Emily. May they both have much happiness and be blessed with many beautiful children.'"
"Poor Juliet," Alyssa said again, shaking her head.
"Juliet couldn't believe what she heard! Prince Marcus had just kissed her earlier that day when they were gathering flowers—how could he be engaged to marry someone else? But he was smiling as he sat at the table, and he smiled at Princess Emily as she took her seat next to him, picking up the glass next to his and toasting him before she took a drink.
"Unable to watch any longer, Juliet ran from the dining hall, and she was so distraught that she couldn't think, so she just kept on running and running, wanting to get away from the celebration, away from Prince Marcus, away from the beautiful princess who would be his bride. Juliet ran fast even though she had started to cry, so she couldn't see very well through her tears. When she finally ran out of breath she did stop, but she had been running for so long that she realized she didn't know where she was. Juliet was lost and alone in the woods, and as she looked at the sky, she realized it was beginning to get dark."
"Uh oh," Alyssa said with a sleepy little smile as she forced her eyes to stay open.
"Juliet tried to find her way back to the castle, but it was getting very dark very fast. Still, Juliet was determined to find her way back." Then, switching the mood, Julie took on a more suspenseful tone. "But then something very bad happened. Juliet heard the hoof beats of horses coming her way, and she hoped that it was the castle guards so they could help her find her way back home…"
"But it wasn't," Alyssa supplied.
"Nope," Julie said, shaking her head. "It was the bandits! When they saw Juliet, they immediately jumped from their horses. 'What have we here?' asked the first bandit, walking in a circle around her as he appraised her dress to see if it held any value. Seeing that her dress was fashioned of a rich fabric, the bandit decided she must be at least a little bit important, and he decided to kidnap Juliet and hold her for ransom. Juliet was having none of that, and she kicked and screamed as the bandits tried to shove her into the carriage, demanding that they let her go. 'Ouch, why'd you do that?' asked the second bandit as she kicked him, and Juliet paused, thinking his voice sounded oddly familiar. Imagine her surprise when the second bandit turned out to be none other than Jack, her wicked stepbrother! He had heard that the prince was taken with her, so he thought it would be a good idea to capture her and hold her for ransom. Overhearing his discussion with his partner, Juliet stopped fighting to get free and told him instead, 'You're wasting your time. The prince is marrying someone else; he won't pay your ransom to get me back.' But Jack and the other bandit didn't listen to her, they just stuffed her in the carriage despite her protests.
"In the distance, Juliet could hear another set of hoofs, and Jack and his partner got nervous, saying, 'Hurry up, it could be the guards!' So Juliet waited until the hoof beats came closer, and then she took a breath, leaned toward the carriage window and began screaming for help."
Since Alyssa was getting tired, she had to sit up so she could at least stay awake through her favorite part of the story.
"Jack immediately silenced her, but not before she cried out for help and said that she was being kidnapped. Suddenly there was a loud cracking noise and the driver started yelling. The carriage began to slow down, despite Jack yelling for the driver to go faster. 'I can't, sire! The carriage is broke!' The carriage shook then, as if someone had jumped on it—”