The Princess Switch

Getting Ready for the Gala

                                                                                                Chapter #21: Getting Ready for the Gala

She walked me back to my room stormily, and she told me not to “cause any more trouble.”  I was only trying to make sure that she hadn’t left me all alone!  It’s not like being insecure is a bad thing.  Insecure people live very happy lives.  Sometimes, I guess.  Then, she spun sharply on her heel and stormed off, probably to go ask for forgiveness from all of the people that she was meeting with.  

Finding myself alone once again; I decided to sit down at the table and try to do something with my time.  I sat down with a loud “humph!” and stuck my lower lip out in silent defiance, even though I was alone.  I hoped that Daffodil could somehow sense my opposition to her commands.  I perched on the small chair by the table in silence until I felt something move by my feet.

I leapt to my feet, expecting to find myself surrounded by the frightening masked men, but to my surprise, I looked down and saw a little ball of cuddly fur.  I instantly knew who it was.  I threw my hands above my head and screamed in joy.

“Orion!  It’s you!”  I laughed, scooping the little bundle of joy up into my welcoming arms.  He was so cute, cuddly, and soft that he was almost like a stuffed animal.  I loved cute little animals, but by now, Orion had grown significantly since the time I snatched him away from his mother.  For the runt of the litter, he sure was pretty large now.  He seemed almost like a baby bear sometimes!  He sure ate as much.  I could barely pick him up anymore, now that he was so big.

But of course, his size didn’t make me stop as I tossed some of the mountain of remaining food to Orion, hoping it was alright for wolves to eat regular human food on a normal basis.  

After a while, I was both full and exhausted.  Now those two make an irresistible imaginary sleeping pill (almost stronger than melatonin), and I soon collapsed on the bed in exhaustion and peace.  The bed was so fluffy and inviting that I couldn’t stop myself from falling asleep in it.  

When I woke up, Petunia was in my room tidying everything up.  Silent and content, she hummed to herself as she dusted everything in the room even though everything looked spotless.  As soon as I saw that she knew I was awake, though, I blurted out a question, disturbing the silent peace.

“Where am I, and why?”  Ah, there it was.  The question that I had been wondering  since the moment that I had woken up in this strange place.  How could it be that my body almost forces me to ask questions even when I am hesitant?  I guess it was my natural instinct to question authority. . . .  

She sighed before continuing on to answer my question.  “You are in the Queen’s Underground Palace.  It is where every single person, well, underground speaking, longs to visit during their lives.  They can not be kept away, and if they fail to go after a while, they will eventually fade.  You could say that it gives them life, I guess.  Well, that is probably not the wisest way to put it, as that sounds really bad and wrong.  Now the situation is sounding like the palace is pumping their blood for them.  It is not like that, so just put it out of your mind, I guess.

“As you could probably tell, a person’s room reflects their personalities.  So, basically the individual’s heart can be read by the room that they are placed in, and then the room personalizes it’s self to be what the person would want in a room.”

I slowly absorbed all of the information she was giving me, shocked and definitely very confused.  I answered hesitantly.  “Ok. . . .  What is that supposed to mean?  Never mind, I’ll drop it. . .”