Princess Plumplee

Once upon a time, there lived a little princess with plump, rosy cheeks. Every time she smiled, her cheeks dimpled into little round plums. She was adored by all for her cute teeny cheeks. A jolly girl, she loved to laugh and play practical jokes on all her family and friends. She was Princess Plumplee.

One day, the girl’s great-great grandmother came to visit. A decrepit old woman, with gangly hands and a permanent scowl across her face. Princess Plumplee’s sisters were terrified of their grandmother. Whispers echoed throughout the castle that the old hag was a witch. Princess Plumplee could not believe in such nonsense. She greeted her grandmother every morning at breakfast with a hearty, “Good morning Grandmama!” and a peck on her hallowed cheek. Princess Plumplee swore that a slight smile tugged at the old woman’s lips every morning in response.

The two could even be seen together on the occasional walk through the gardens. Princess Plumplee would ask her grandmother about all the trees, shrubs and flowers since she appeared to be quite knowledgeable on the subject. She had a grand old time with her grandmother, her plump cheeks constantly dimpled from smiling. Still never a smile from grandmama though, but she didn’t mind.

After several months had passed into her great-great grandmother’s visit, Princess Plumplee deemed that the camaraderie between the two friendly enough that she would play a prank on her dear grandmama that would surely get her to smile. She thought and thought on a funny, but harmless prank for the old woman. As they strolled through the gardens one sunny afternoon, grandmama asked Princess Plumplee if she wouldn’t mind picking some fruits from the trees to go with their supper. The idea came to her in a flash.

After their quiet stroll, Princess Plumplee dashed off to her room. A crafty girl, she made replicas of all the fruit they had picked out of paper. “What jolly fun this will be!” she thought to herself.

At supper, as the bowls of fake fruit were brought out, Princess Plumplee could not stop giggling. As her grandmother picked up one of the paper fruits, she asked where the fruit was that they had picked that afternoon. Still giggling, she said, “Why it’s right there in your hand dear Grandmama!” The old hag said nothing and continued to stare. The silence dragged on so long that Princess Plumplee began to grow nervous. But the woman merely stated, “Very amusing dear.” But still no smile.

Several days later, on their next walk through the gardens, Princess Plumplee’s great-great grandmother asked her if she would again, pick some fruit from the trees. As Princess Plumplee reached for a peach, she heard a loud bang and was no more.

At supper that evening, one of Princess Plumplee’s sisters asked her great-great grandmother, “What is that fruit you’ve got there? I’ve never seen it before.”

The old hag replied, “I’ve decided to call it a plum my dear. I grew a whole tree of plums in the garden.”

“A plum? What a cute, round, little fruit. It looks delicious!”

Grandmama merely bit into the sweet flesh of the plum and smiled.

The end.