This is a little short story I wrote a couple years back for a writing contest. Comments are greatly appreciated.

“Imagine That!”

Every little girl dreams of it: her own magnificent castle, staffed with only the finest in servants to wait on her, as the expression goes, hand and foot. Extravagant would be an understatement to describe the ideal princess-esque fashions she would wear. Gowns in a plethora of vibrant colors and a pair of elegant little slippers that matched every last gown would fill two, maybe three finely-crafted wardrobes that could swallow her whole when fully empty. Meticulously groomed stallions, endless rooms to explore…and who could forget the ever-popular knight in shining armor to sweep her off of her enchanted feet?

I have to admit, I would definitely be lying if I said that I, in my younger years, couldn’t possibly be have been counted among that creative group of dazzled little girls. I was one of those that stayed in my room for hours on end, eating the finest in imaginary delicacies and ordering my loyal and trustworthy imaginary servants to cater to the slightest wish that would cross my royally spoiled mind.

It always happens that when such a little self-proclaimed princess reaches a certain age, she is sad to learn that her dreams could never come true. Reality sinks in, and she learns that life is hardly about fairy tales and happily-ever-after endings. She either continues to dream in pitiful denial…or moves on.

I guess that you could say I fell in the middle of those two categories: always holding out a pinch of hope that my royal parents that were really never to be would come for me and help me escape my dreadfully boring life, but secretly knowing that I was doomed to a life of a horrifically normal mortal.

But I had always been a stargazer, and grew up, contrary to popular belief among friends and family that mentally I never did mature, to find myself a both boldly determined and dedicated astronaut. I had watched the technology of space travel evolve at an exciting pace during my years in school, and now one could travel to another galaxy and be back a couple of weeks after departure!

My first mission outside of the galaxy was to an unexplored planet simply known as Estel Nine. I was flying the shuttle solo, which was perfectly fine with me, and landed in a clearing with no trouble from the shuttle or any sort of life form at all. The planet’s inhabitants obviously cared nothing about space travel or traffic. Noting this in the shuttle’s log, which would be automatically transmitted to mission control, I left the ship.

A group of plainly dressed people stood at the bottom of the landing ramp, mouths open in what seemed to be awe. (Why they were in awe, I’ll never know, as I was wearing but a simple orange flight suit and standard-issue space boots.)

“Hi,” I began, putting on the friendliest smile I could manage.

“It is Her!” cried one of them, a boy of about fifteen. “The One From the Sky! And she will come from the sky,” he began to quote dutifully, “the One who will be our beloved queen, and happiness shall smile upon the land once more!”

“I’m Holly-”

But the boy wasn’t finished with the surprises yet. “Princess Holly, we welcome you to your kingdom,” he finished, bowing gracefully to me. The rest of the group followed suit.

“What? I’m not princess!” I exclaimed.

They assured me, however, that I was. I was ushered, in a daze no less, up to a castle, learning that the land of Estelon had long been without a ruler. A prophecy had been made that a young woman would fall from the sky in some strange mode of transportation unknown to them, and she would be their queen. They had been waiting for what seemed like centuries for this day, so every Estelonian told me as I was led through what they said was my castle.

The plethora of brightly colored gowns, the meticulously groomed stallions, the fine delicacies…all of it was there, and it was all for me!

Once my servants had coaxed me into a gown of a deep, silky scarlet and fixed my hair to their liking, I was taken to the throne room of the castle, ceremoniously crowned and seated on my throne.

Suddenly, the doors of the room swung open and admitted a richly dressed handsome man. Murmurs echoed in the hall, and I could hear some girls swooning loudly over him, calling out to “Sir Elijah” in what seemed the bubbliest voices that they could muster. He ignored them outright, head held high as he marched towards me.

Sir Elijah spoke as he neared the throne. “So it is true, then.” More sighs sounded from his female admirers, which were duly ignored. “The One has come at last to our humble kingdom!” He knelt in front of me, instantly taking up my hand and gently pressing his lips to it.

It had all happened so fast that I pressed my eyes shut for a moment. I was finally a princess, and all in one day had these marvelous events taken place! I was a princess!

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back in my darkened bedroom in Austin, Texas. My alarm clock read a glowing green 1:09 a.m. The digital calendar on my wall said that it was September 9th, 2019. It was two weeks, I remembered, until the Estel Nine mission.

With an irritated sigh, I launched myself backward, my head landing on my pillow and bouncing back up before fully resting on it. I was Holly Bale, doomed to the life of a horrifically normal mortal; never was I to have my childhood dreams of being a princess come true.

Dreams can be so in-your-face annoying sometimes.

Imagine that!