Once upon a dream

Chapter 1

I'm Aurora, princess of the kingdom. Prince Phillip and I have been happily married for many years.
But it seems like only yesterday that Prince Phillip rescued us from the evil fairy, Maleficent.
It all happened on the day I was born. My father, King Stefan, had invited many guests to celebrate my birth. Even King Hubert came with his son, Phillip !
The fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, were special guests.
Flora gave me beauty. 'Lips that shame the red, red rose,' she said with a wave of her wand.
Fauna conjured a flock of birds and gave me the gift of song.
Before Merryweather could give me her gift, a gust of wind forced open the palace doors. The evil fairy Maleficent entered the room with a terrible burst of thunder.
Maleficent was very angry because no one had invited her to the party. The evil fairy pointed at me and said, 'Before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she shall prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die !'
The guards rushed in to capture her. But the spell had been cast, and Maleficent had already disappeared in a ball of flame !


Chapter 2

When Maleficent had gone, Merryweather gave me her gift. She couldn't undo Maleficent's curse, but she could change it.
A vision of the future appeared as the fairy whispered the last gift, 'Not in death, but just in sleep, the fateful prophecy you'll keep. And from this slumber you shall wake, when true love's kiss the spell shall break.'
On my sixteenth birthday, I would still prick my finger on a spinning wheel. But instead of dying, I would fall into a deep sleep.
Only a kiss – the first kiss of true love – could wake me.
To protect me from Maleficent, my parents sent me away. Dressed as peasants, the three fairies took me to the forest where we'd live until I turned sixteen.
Then, my father ordered every spinning wheel in the kingdom be destroyed.
I still remember the cottage where we lived. I didn't know I was a princess, and I didn't know that my guardians were fairies. I called them my aunties. They called me 'Briar Rose'.
Though we were very happy, my aunties worried a lot. They knew that Maleficent's spies looked for me everywhere. So they warned me never to talk to strangers.
I didn't worry, though. I didn't know about the curse or the evil fairy. And I never saw anyone in the forest.
Well, not until ...


Chapter 3

On my sixteenth birthday, my aunties sent me out to pick berries. I had a feeling they were planning something – a birthday party, maybe.
I didn't want to spoil the surprise, so I left to pick berries as they wished.
I sang a song as I wandered in the wood. It was about a stranger I had met once upon a dream. He was a handsome prince, and we fell in love.
Suddenly, my animal friends appeared wearing a cloak and boots. They pretended to be the handsome prince of my dreams and asked me to dance.
I accepted their invitation.
I danced with the pretend prince and laughed. When I turned around, I saw ... a real person ! A stranger – a very handsome stranger – must have switched places with the animals to dance with me !
I couldn't believe it. The stranger was exactly like the prince in my dreams ! He joined me in the song, and we danced together between the trees in a sunlit clearing.
When the song was over, the handsome man asked me my name. I didn't tell him, but I invited him to our cottage for dinner !
My aunties had warned me about strangers, but he wouldn't be a stranger on our second meeting, would he ? In fact, he was no longer a stranger to me.
I had fallen hopelessly in love with him.


Chapter 4

I returned home and told my aunties all about the handsome man.
Instead of being happy for me, my aunties were upset. All in a rush, they told me the truth about who I was.
I was shocked to learn I was ... a princess !
There was more. My father had always wished to join kingdoms with King Hubert. When I was born, Father promised that I would marry King Hubert's son when I turned sixteen.
Since that very day was my sixteenth birthday, we had to return to the castle. There, I would meet and then marry a prince I didn't even know.
That evening was as sad as the day had been happy. I walked silently and thought about the man I had met. What would he think when he arrived for dinner to find our cottage empty ?
I wished I could see him again – just to say goodbye.
Although I missed the stranger very much, I couldn't wait to meet my parents. For sixteen years, I didn't even know that my parents were the King and Queen !
When my aunties and I arrived at the castle, everyone was already asleep. The servants showed me my room and called me, 'Princess Aurora'. Although it was strange to have servants wait on me, I liked the sound of my new name.
I sat in my room for a little while, thinking about my marriage. I didn't want to marry the prince – I didn't even know him. But I told myself I would do it for my parents. And I would do it to unite our kingdom with King Hubert's kingdom.


Chapter 5

As sat at my dressing table, I noticed a strange green light. It hypnotized me, and I followed it through the castle, up a staircase to a dark room.
There was an old spinning wheel in the room: the only one in the kingdom that had survived !
"Touch the spindle !' a voice said.
I heard my aunties calling me, and I wanted to run to them. But I couldn't. I had to obey the voice.
I reached out ever so slowly and touched the spindle.
The last thing I remember is a great green fire that burst out from the spinning wheel. The fire was colder than ice !
I wanted to call for help. but I couldn't. I was dizzy, and I couldn't see !
I heard voices below, but before I knew it, I fell to the floor and into a deep sleep.


Chapter 6

All of a sudden, I woke up. I was lying on a bed, and the stranger I had met in the forest was at my side !
'I'm Prince Phillip, King Hubert's son,' he said.
'Prince Phillip ?' I exclaimed. 'But I thought you were –' '... the one who is supposed to marry you,' he interrupted. Prince Phillip and the handsome man I had met in the forest were the same person !
I was so happy that I couldn't stop smiling.
Phillip explained that Maleficent had hypnotized me into pricking my finger on the spinning wheel. Then she kidnapped him as he waited for me at the cottage.
While the kingdom slept under the fairies' protective spell, Maleficent had turned herself into a dragon ! Phillip battled her with a magical sword.
When he and the fairies had defeated her, he kissed me. The first kiss of true love broke Maleficent's curse, and everyone in the kingdom awoke !
Prince Phillip and i were married. Hundreds of people from all over the kingdom attended our beautiful wedding.
The guests were very happy that our kingdoms had united. And everyone toasted us – the royal couple who had met once upon a dream.