Ever wondered what happened next in all those fairytales with beautiful princesses being swept away by Prince Charming? Well this sequel to Sleeping Beauty features a surprising twist that you may have never thougght about..

Rhonda is presently working on her third book. Her first two. Speaking for the Child: An Autobiography and a Challenge and The Crossroads of Time are available at Amazeon.com. Be sure to visit her website Rhonda Denise Johnson.com.

Prince Alarming Sequel to Sleeping Beauty Whatever sleeping spell that fairy put on me, I wish I had some more. I’ve tried pricking my finger again so many times that people are asking me if I have a pet porcupine. You think I’m whining? You just don’t understand. I’m not asking you to RSVP to a pity party. I just want someone to understand.

It all started well enough. You know the “and they lived happily ever after” bit. Everybody believes that was the end. Little girls grow up thinking the purpose of their lives is to meet and marry Prince Charming. Well, that’s what I almost did. I woke up from 100 years of rapid eye motion and got carried away by that jerk. Yes, I said jerk because, check it out, when he wooed me, he was still married to Snow White and the Cinderella chick. I guess no one ever thought he’d be a bigamist. I mean, the whole town was running around searching for a wife for him, and the cad was already married.

I had hardly wiped the sleep from my eyes when he swept me up on that barrel chested white steed. It was gorgeous. And so was he. I cringe just remembering how I’d swooned inside, riding off into the sunset with a guy like that looking at me like he’d never seen a woman before. I didn’t even notice the strange clothes he was wearing until it all came to a screeching crash. He never said anything while we rode. Just smiled. I was too enamored to see how odd that smile really was. I should have been afraid. A big, muscular stranger just rides up out of nowhere and acts like he has a right to take me wherever he wants to go. But maybe I was still kinda sleepy and it all just kinda continued from whatever I’d been dreaming about.

I wasn’t dressed for horseback riding but I didn’t even notice that when he whirled the hose around and set off for some magical unknown. The clouds were just a fuzzy backdrop for his lovely head. The sun set in his eyes and was gone.

“We‘re home,” he said as we entered the courtyard of a huge marble castle.

“Home?” I was just repeating him. The word was lovely because it was his word, but it wasn’t connected to any meaning outside of him.

“This is one of my homes.”

He passed me down to what I presumed were his attendants. One of them caught me when my gown snagged on the stirrups. As I said, I wasn’t dressed for horseback riding.

“James,” said Prince Charming. “Carry the lady to the Blue Room.”

“Excellent, your highness. That is the room we have prepared for you’re…er…lady.”

I barely noticed the “er” until Prince Charming shattered the spell.

“I must be off. I shall return within a fortnight. See to it that the lady is well attended and entertained. Her wish shall be your command..”

“As you wish, your highness. Excellent. ”

“What!” I nearly screamed. “We just started. Aren‘t we supposed to have a big wedding and invite all the kingdom and foreign dignitaries? I mean, there are supposed to be imperial trumpets playing and a red carpet, ermine and roses. You can‘t leave now. It‘s not in the story.”

“And you‘re not supposed to be unhappy. I have great matters of state to attend to, and you, my dear, must find a way to be happy. That is the story.”

“But…”

“Oh Darling, I‘ve already said more than any story calls for me to say. Do be a good girl and keep up appearances. I can‘t have the court seeing you unhappy. You just mustn‘t.”

He started to whirl the horse around, but I shrugged James away and grabbed the horse’s bridle. “No you don‘t, Prince Charming. I want some answers and you‘re going nowhere until I get them.”

“Good heavens, woman! What do you think you‘re doing? You mustn‘t..”

His words were drowned out by the clatter of wheels and horse hooves. We all turned to stare as seven little men piled out of a coach like none I‘d ever seen before. I was familiar with the work of all the coachwrights in my kingdom, and none of them could have made the wood fit so smoothly, as if it were all made of one piece like this. It was as if I wee in a whole new world. I began to notice the strange clothes everyone was wearing. The shoes went halfway up to their knees and were made of leather that…was that leather? What craft of magic could have rendered it so smooth? The cut of there garments was just odd. I’d never seen cloth so fine. It couldn’t have been spun with human hands. I was beginning to suspect that something dreadful had happened since the time I’d fallen asleep.

One rather grumpy looking little guy marched right up to the prince. “Are you Prince Robin Albert Thomas Henry Douglas Charming?”

“I dare say, I am. Who are you to trespass upon…”

“You lying son of a bugworm,” Grumpy muttered.

Then all seven of the little men ran forward and dragged the prince off his horse.

“What are you doing to my betrothed?”

“Betrothed?” Grumpy gasped. “Another one. Tear him apart boys!”

They started punching and kicking Prince Charming. James came up to stop them, but one of them sneezed on him so hard that he was blown back among the other attendants and they all bowled over on the ground. The little men got in a few more good licks before the attendants recovered and decided it would take all of them to put a stop to this. Five full grown men ought to be able to handle seven little men. They thought.

One attendant tried to grab two little men. But these guys were really angry. Prince Charming had done something that pissed them off and they weren’t leaving without satisfaction. The two little men wrapped the attendant’s arms around his back and I heard something go pop that sounded like it came from the guys shoulders. Finally, ten cavalry riders came charging across the drawbridge brandishing swords and battle axes. They drove the little men back against the wall of the courtyard.

I glanced at Prince Charming after the little men were driven away from him. They’d beaten him up pretty bad. How could such little guys bring him down so quickly? As muscular as he was, he was still a stranger to real pain. He was used to fighting like a gentlemen with rules and predictable movements. But these little guys didn’t say “touché” when they had an opening. A fair fight was, to them, an oxymoron.

So the prince lay on the ground moaning and looking pitiful. He didn’t even try to get up and be a man. One of the little guys took a step forward. “I‘m a doc. I can help.”

James snarled, “If you wanted to help, you wouldn’t have come here. His highness is a prince of the realm. You shall be charged with high treason for this. If we don’t boil you alive first.’

“I didn‘t want to come. I still don‘t want to be here,” one of the little men said, looking bashfully at the ground.

“Well, you are here, and you‘re in deep trouble.” Jams sneered. He turned to the lead horsemen. “Captain, take these miscreants away.”

“No wait!” I said. “I want to know what‘s going on.”

“You needn‘t concern yourself with such matters , my lady. It won‘t entertain you in the least.”

“I don‘t want to be entertained. I want answers. Why are these men angry at my betrothed?”

James rolled his eyes. I was clearly becoming a nuisance for him, but one of the little men stepped forward.

“Begging your pardon, my lady, but your so-called betrothed is already married to two other damsels, who you‘d better believe are in distress. We didn‘t even know about you.” This guy looked happy when he said this. Though he was still mad as hell.

I trembled. “No, that couldn‘t be…”

“Indeed, it is.”

James had had quite enough. “Captain, didn‘t I command you to take these scum away?”

“Command, Sirah? Since when do you command me, houseboy?”

“Houseboy? I have the king’s ear and when he hears how his son was treated, I‘ll see to it that your head is taken as well.”

“Why? Are you in need of one?”

While the big boys had their hissy fit, the little guys slipped away. They’d done what they’d come to do. Though fracturing my world probably wasn’t on their agenda. One of them actually fell asleep. I envied him.

That’s how the story really ends. Thanks to a couple of shrewd divorce settlement lawyers who knew how to shake up royalty, Cinderella has her castle. Snow White has hers and I have mine. We get together now and then to share a cup of chamomile and horror stories about what it was like being married to Prince Alarming. Their both great company, but it still doesn’t mend the broken dreams of a recovered somniac who thought that one day her prince would come.