I wrote this fairy tale/Aesop's fable-ish story a while back just for fun, and I thought that I might as well share it with all of you. I want to teach most of all, but I think that maybe I could dabble in some children's author work in the future as well, so I think of this as practice. I hope you like it. It's suitable for anyone to read, so I'd give it a G rating.

A/N: I wrote both songs, in case you were wondering.

Once Upon an Apple Tree

Once in a faraway kingdom, there was a good king, his seven sons, and his daughter. Now, the king had a very jealous sister that hated the sons and daughters and envied her brother's power. She was a dark sorceress, and plotted to overtake the throne. One summer's day she carried out her evil plan, turning the father and seven sons into trees and placing them randomly in the middle of a vast forest. The princess was transformed into a deer that was forced to walk the forests and only changed back to her true self when there was no moon. The royal family remained ageless while under this enchantment.

For twenty long years, the sister (now queen) had a terrible tyranny over the kingdom. The forest overgrew, and the royal family was long since forgotten. Until one day, a peasant boy of about eighteen years of age came riding through on a nightly hunt. He had to rely on his instincts as there was no light out. He had failed to catch a boar and was almost going to leave, when he spotted a fantastic looking deer. The boy tracked her across the forest and had her in his sights, aiming his bow with care. Just before he took the shot, the deer transformed before his very eyes into the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Immediately he felt love for her and was sure that he would never love another as much as she. The woman, in tears, told him of her plight and begged for his aid. In a sort of lovespell, he agreed and set out to find the queen to see about the enchantment.

The boy found the castle easily, it was gaudy and dark, filled with a sense of hatred and bitterness. He snuck into the tallest tower and waited. Soon enough, the queen appeared, ragged and hollow looking. She called in her manservant and told him to go into the forest and find the eight apple trees. "Water them," she ordered, "but do not sing of their greatness, no matter how magnificent they are. You will die that very second if you do." With that, she sent a frightened manservant into the forest with a lovesick hero hot on his trail. He watched the man find the apple trees, water them, and gape at how grand they were. He clamped his mouth shut the entire time and fled the forest as soon as he could, fearing his life's end. The boy, enthralled, found the princess (who was now a deer again) and told her of the secret. They figured that the water was special somehow and waited for the next time the manservant came.

A fortnight later, the manservant came again with the water. The boy and deer waited in the bushes near the first tree and watched as he watered them and kept silent. Our hero had memorized the location of each tree, and had convinced some friends to hide near each tree. The plan was to sing a song as soon as the manservant had left the tree to go to the next one. The boy taught them all a song to sing for the trees:

Oh, apple, big and dappled,
Fruit falls ever freely,
Big, grand, tall you stand,
Branches big and mighty,
Wake, tree, we bend our knees,
To praise you ever nightly.
We are your subjects,
Give us words!

So they began singing the song, and fortunately as the manservant happened to be deaf, the song rang throughout the forest without him taking notice. And then, the most wondrous thing happened.
The trees yawned! Big, gaping yawns. And they sang back!

Heark, now,
What cry is this,
To wake us from our sleep?
Sons, brothers,
Why have we leaves
And branches in our keep?
We gather strong and tall,
To find out once and for all.

As they sang their song, they gathered in a clearing around the men and the deer, confused. The deer, frantic, ran about nudging all of the trees. As she ran, she became lighter and more upright. She had transformed back to her true form. The king and sons remained, however, as they had been put under a stronger spell. The princess ran to each tree and wept, her tears pervading the bark and sap. Then, before their very eyes, the trees began to shed their bark. Branches fell, leaves scattered, and after a moment, the king and the princes stood in their true forms, awestruck. The peasants bowed and praised their long-lost leaders, singing of their greatness. Once the king found out about the enchantment, he was furious. He stormed off to the castle to regain his throne.

The king reached the castle not long after and set to find his sister to confront her, but his work was already done for him. He found her in the tallest tower, dead and shriveled. For you see, the water was her own blood. She felt guilty deep inside for cursing her family, and the payment kept her satisfied. The sorceress had finally repaid her debt. So the king and his family held a royal funeral for her and buried her beneath an apple tree in the courtyard. The boy married the princess, the king ruled the kingdom in peace once again, and the seven sons grew to be famous for having the richest and most abundant apple orchards the world has ever seen. And that, my dear friends, is why we have so many different forms of apples today.

The End.

I loved this! heeh it was so cute! and good going with the songs dude! You rock!.

P.S It reminds me of the Swan Princess...and the Last Unicorn lol.

:heartbeat: Pat

Yay! *dances around* Spuddy likes my story, that made my day. And normally I wouldn't be going for "cute", but it's a fairy tale, so thanks! ^_^

*laughs* There's no Rothbart though, or Prince Derek. Haha, I wasn't even thinking about that when I wrote it. And I saw The Last Unicorn ages ago! I loved it, but I can barely remember it...people in the story turned into trees though, right? I think it was to hide the last unicorns from that evil old guy and the bull thing... :huh: