• Narina sat up in her dragon guarded castle awaiting her knight in shining armor. She’d lie in her lumpy twin-sized bed, which wasn’t accustomed to her height at 6’1”, occasionally shifting to find a comfortable spot. Narina’s 18th birthday was in two weeks, making it 12 years since she’s been held prisoner princess in her god-forsaken confinement. Her black hair was now ankle length; when shimmering in the light it almost had a silver tint showing the many years she has been there. Her fingernails would sometimes get so long she would have to bit them off herself. She was lonely, and the fact that she fully recognized it only made it see worse.
    She stared out the window. In the sun, her eyes were blue instead of their natural green. Narina was watching the birds fly freely across the afternoon sky, wishing that she too could one day be as free as a bird, until one got shot and fell into the moat around the front of the castle.
    Suddenly there was a knock at the door, “Milady, your food has come,” said the man from behind the door. He opened the part of the door which allowed him to see into her room. When her piercing green eyes met his, he shut it back quickly creating a loud bang that ran rampant throughout the hallways.
    Narina looked away from the door, “You know what to do squire,” retorted Narina.
    The squire slid her plate under the wooden door and darted back downstairs, eager to get away from Narina. Narina grabbed her plate and returned to her bed. She ate gracefully, as if she were a regular debutante, though she had almost no training.
    Everyday was the same to her, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a crappy old room. Narina couldn’t take it anymore. After 12 years, you can imagine things becoming a bit monotonous. She stood up and set her plate on her bed. She lifted up her leg, and though she was wearing a long, elegant dress, tried to kick the door down. To her surprise the door came crashing down. She looked out into the hallway to check for guards, and to her suspicion, there were none. You’d think that after her 15 attempts to escape that her hallway would be more heavily guarded.
    Despite her suspicions she walked out into the hallway anyways, only to be caught as soon as she turned the corner. She was thrown back into her holding cell by two of their biggest guards, because the last time used smaller guards she kicked each in the place where it hurts and almost got away again. They covered her door with thick iron and placed locks all over it, 45 to be exact, which had 45 corresponding keys, which hung around 45 necks, of 45 guards.
    Narina was now in the same position as of starting on day on 12 years ago. Though. Narina wasn’t discouraged, not yet. She took the sheets off her bed and began to rip them into thin strips and knot them together. She was making a new plan to escape.
    ~
    Meanwhile, at the Strangonaugh Kingdom, Prince David was receiving his test to prove he was ready to take over the kingdom.
    “My son,” preceded the king, “you are 17 going on 18 and it is your time to bare the task.
    In a dragon guarded castle, on the Far East lays Princess Narina of Nofost Kingdom awaiting her rescuer. You are to rescue her and make her your queen. Now, I have heard that she is locked in a room with a door of 45 locks, with 45 different keys. Find the keys and get the girl.
    “Yes father.” David spoke facing the ground, for he was kneeling in his father’s presence.
    “Now leave my son,” the king pointed his long, bony finger towards the door, motioning for his son, David, to leave the throne room.
    David stood up and turned on his heel. He walked through the double doors out into the sunlight. He readied his steed, which happened to be a donkey, for David was only 3 feet tall. It took him some time but he finally got aboard his donkey, Stumpy, but soon he rode off into the morning fog only about an hour after he received his task.
    ~
    David was now at the castle door. He took Stumpy around to the back door and used a small opening to climb in. Luckily, since he came in from the back, he was able to evade the fire breathing dragon.
    Since David knew about the whole situation with the keys, the locks, and the guards, he planned ahead. He quickly found the eating quarters and slipped a bit of poisoning into their beer barrel. So, when they all went to lunch and took a swig of the whiskey, they all fainted face down into their plates, for they were all heavy drinkers.
    Now, all David had to do was retrieve all 45 keys from around all 45 necks and make his way to Narina’s holding cell.
    ~
    Once at the door he began to try and reach the locks. “Man, I didn’t think they’d be this high.” David set the keys in front of he door and went off to find a stool to stand on. Narina thought nothing of he sounds and continued what she was occupied to.
    David soon returned with his wooden stepping stool and placed it in front of Narina’s door. He picked up the convoluted ball of keys and began to try each key with a different lock.
    At this point, Narina was now concerned with sounds outside her door. “Who’s there?!”
    “Why, it’s your knight in shining armor,” responded David sarcastically.
    “Who’s there?!” asked Narina in a more anger-filled voice.
    “I am David of the Stragonaugh kingdom. I have come to rescue you.” David opened the small part of the door to peer into the holding cell. Narina could see his calm grey eyes. She set her cloth down to let herself be rescued. She had always wanted to play damsel in distress, but when she was little none of the other kids let her play princess. Instead they always chose Brittney of the Spears kingdom.
    “Well… do your saving; I’m waiting to be saved,” Narina crossed her legs and leaned up against the wall.
    David ignored Narina’s last comment and continued to work the locks, but soon, seconds turned minutes, which turned into hours, and Narina was becoming restless.
    “I’m almost there,” stated David, seeing how fast time was flying by.
    “Oh yeah, how many have you unlocked already?”
    David paused for a moment and whispered, “Six.”
    “I’m sorry, I couldn’t here you.”
    “Six!” he yelled. “I just need to reach the top.”
    “Just how tall are you?”
    “I’m 3 feet tall, but don’t be fooled; I’m 17 years old.”
    “Yeah I thought so,” Narina stood up and removed the mattress pallet from the floor. She picked it up from one corner and pushed it out the window only to have it fall directly below, 20ft below her window. She tied her conjoined strips of cloth to the door handle and walked over to the window, positioning herself for the jump.
    “Look, David right? Nothing personal but I’m going to take my own escape route.”
    “B-b-but, I’m supposed to rescue you,” David began to cry.
    “I’m sure princess Akana will take you, even though she has let herself go, she has no life, so she’ll be easy to rescue. She’s on the island of Styce in a sand castle. That’ll be fun.”
    “But, if I don’t rescue you, then I won’t be king,” he sobbed as he was fighting through tears.
    “I’m sure you won’t even reach the top of the throne, so…, all’s well that ends well,” with that, Narina jumped out the window and began scaling down the wall to the mattress below. She could taste the freedom. She was almost there.
    ~
    After she reached the bottom she knew she needed a ride. She went straight for the cave into the dragon’s lair. Upon walking in she could see it was a baby dragon. A small, wimpy- looking, non-fire breathing Dragon, that was about the size of Prince David. She was discouraged. She had no way of escaping the castle.
    So she walked around back to get back into the castle. She noticed a donkey stationed around the back. She got on even though her feet reached the ground and rode off.
    David, who was still crying walked back down the steps only to see Stumpy missing. He had to walk all the way back to the castle. With all the days of malnutrition, it stunted his growth forcing him to be 3ft tall for the rest of his life.
    The king disowned him and let his daughter, Princess Lilia, become queen. David walked along the streets as a peasant in a near by village. He became a beggar and was soon recruited into the freak show circus where his title was, “BOY WHO CRIES SO MUCH HE COULD END A DROUGHT.” But soon he became old and enfeebled and was made to clean the poop of all the freak animals. So David lived unhappily ever after in his life of pure misery.