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Authors: Jessica Penot
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wanted to spend more time together. You would think they would have looked for every chance to visit and talk. I thought Aunt Perrine was someone my mother would have loved. I couldnât imagine what fight my father could have had with her to keep them apart for so long. âWhat did you and my father fight over?â I asked.
âHmmm,â she said thoughtfully. âZatâs a hard question. I âave no children. No family. Your grandfather and I werevery close. He loved me deeply and I helped your grandmother and he care for all their children. I always felt closest to your fazer. I vanted him to have zis castle and its responsibilities. Your fazer said yes, but later changed his mind. I told him he couldnât change his mind. We fought. Zatâs all. He didnât want the responsibility.â
âWhy not?â
âZis castle is a lot of responsibility,â she said.
âI would never turn away a gift like that,â I said firmly.
She smiled. âI hope you wonât.â
The door slammed and Alex strolled into the room. He looked happy, but he was covered in a fine film of filth. He left a trail of mud and leaves behind him. He looked like the swamp monster.
âOh Mon Dieu!â Aunt Perrine yelled. âTo zee shower with you. Vite! Vite!â
Aunt Perrine dragged Alex upstairs and I was left alone to my thoughts. I went over the couch and sat down, it was covered in a thick fabric; on it were tiny pictures of people wearing old clothes. The pictures repeated over and over again, to form a pattern. My mother had something like it on her bedspread at home. I remembered her calling it toile. Seeing the pattern made me homesick.
Looking further about the room, there was a TV, but it was small and somehow, I just wasnât interest in TV anymore. There were a few books on the shelf. The windows stood open and the lace curtain fluttered in the soft evening breeze. It was peaceful sitting there.
Dinner came and went with a duck roasted in fat and potatoes smothered in cheese. The evening came and the sun faded, Aunt Perrine put us to bed.
âI will tell you anozer story tonight,â she said as we lay on Alexâs bed. âTonight I tell
You
La Grenouillebienfaisante
. In English, it is zee kind frog.
â¦Once upon a time, zere was a very good king. Zis king married a queen he loved greatly. When zee king was attacked by his enemies, he sent zee queen to safety. She was sent far away from him and was away from him for a very long time. She missed her love terribly and resolved to return, despite the guards the king had sent to make her stay away from his battles
.
The queen was determined. She was also clever. She had a carriage made for herself, and took advantage of a distraction to escape. In her rush, she lost control of her horses and they bolted
.
She was thrown from her horses and was badly injured. She lost consciousness
âA gigantic woman, wearing a lion skin, was zere when she woke. The giantess said she was the Fairy Lioness, and took zee queen to her home, a frightful cave crammed with ravens and owls. It had a lake filled with the most fearsome monsters. The water of the lake burned with a blue flame. There was almost no food and the queen was always hungry. Zis Lion Fairy kept zee good queen, and zee good queen drowned in her sorrows
.
âZee queen worked hard for the Lion Fairy, but one day she saw a raven devouring a frog. She saved the frog and the frog was so overjoyed to be alive, zat he told the queen that he would grant her any wish
.
âThe queen wept, for the Lion Fairy was cruel and harsh and the queen was pregnant. She knew when her baby was born the Lion Fairy would eat it. So she begged the frog to tell her husband where she was and how to save her
.
âThe frog was honored to help such a beautiful and kind queen, and he went many miles through many dark forests to bring the king. Zee king came with all his best
âHmmm,â she said thoughtfully. âZatâs a hard question. I âave no children. No family. Your grandfather and I werevery close. He loved me deeply and I helped your grandmother and he care for all their children. I always felt closest to your fazer. I vanted him to have zis castle and its responsibilities. Your fazer said yes, but later changed his mind. I told him he couldnât change his mind. We fought. Zatâs all. He didnât want the responsibility.â
âWhy not?â
âZis castle is a lot of responsibility,â she said.
âI would never turn away a gift like that,â I said firmly.
She smiled. âI hope you wonât.â
The door slammed and Alex strolled into the room. He looked happy, but he was covered in a fine film of filth. He left a trail of mud and leaves behind him. He looked like the swamp monster.
âOh Mon Dieu!â Aunt Perrine yelled. âTo zee shower with you. Vite! Vite!â
Aunt Perrine dragged Alex upstairs and I was left alone to my thoughts. I went over the couch and sat down, it was covered in a thick fabric; on it were tiny pictures of people wearing old clothes. The pictures repeated over and over again, to form a pattern. My mother had something like it on her bedspread at home. I remembered her calling it toile. Seeing the pattern made me homesick.
Looking further about the room, there was a TV, but it was small and somehow, I just wasnât interest in TV anymore. There were a few books on the shelf. The windows stood open and the lace curtain fluttered in the soft evening breeze. It was peaceful sitting there.
Dinner came and went with a duck roasted in fat and potatoes smothered in cheese. The evening came and the sun faded, Aunt Perrine put us to bed.
âI will tell you anozer story tonight,â she said as we lay on Alexâs bed. âTonight I tell
You
La Grenouillebienfaisante
. In English, it is zee kind frog.
â¦Once upon a time, zere was a very good king. Zis king married a queen he loved greatly. When zee king was attacked by his enemies, he sent zee queen to safety. She was sent far away from him and was away from him for a very long time. She missed her love terribly and resolved to return, despite the guards the king had sent to make her stay away from his battles
.
The queen was determined. She was also clever. She had a carriage made for herself, and took advantage of a distraction to escape. In her rush, she lost control of her horses and they bolted
.
She was thrown from her horses and was badly injured. She lost consciousness
âA gigantic woman, wearing a lion skin, was zere when she woke. The giantess said she was the Fairy Lioness, and took zee queen to her home, a frightful cave crammed with ravens and owls. It had a lake filled with the most fearsome monsters. The water of the lake burned with a blue flame. There was almost no food and the queen was always hungry. Zis Lion Fairy kept zee good queen, and zee good queen drowned in her sorrows
.
âZee queen worked hard for the Lion Fairy, but one day she saw a raven devouring a frog. She saved the frog and the frog was so overjoyed to be alive, zat he told the queen that he would grant her any wish
.
âThe queen wept, for the Lion Fairy was cruel and harsh and the queen was pregnant. She knew when her baby was born the Lion Fairy would eat it. So she begged the frog to tell her husband where she was and how to save her
.
âThe frog was honored to help such a beautiful and kind queen, and he went many miles through many dark forests to bring the king. Zee king came with all his best
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