Emily Rimmasch

Magic in the Black Forest

Once upon a time in a kingdom far far away, there lived a young prince. You

would think that he would be the happiest boy in the world due to his riches, but at last

he felt lonely and as if he had no freedom. He was an only child and his mother had

passed away when he was just a baby. His father, the king, was a great ruler who led

his kingdom with great pride. But due to this fact he never spent time with his son and

always put an immense amount of pressure on him because he knew that one day he

would rule the kingdom. The young prince was coming of age and would soon have to

marry a princess from another land. He sat through many balls unimpressed by the

riches of the princesses. He knew that he wanted to marry for love, but it would be

almost impossible since he wouldn’t be allowed to choose who he would marry. When

the young prince got sad he would try to find a way to escape out of the palace grounds

and into the village for a little while. It wasn’t possible very often, but it always made

him the happiest because he was able to meet with the farmer’s daughter who he truly

loved. He wished so badly that he could marry the girl, but the king would never

approve of it as she was not a princess. They would spend as much time as they could

together because they knew that soon the prince would be married and they wouldn’t

get to see each other again.

A couple of days before the prince was to choose a princess to get married to,

the prince and the farmer’s daughter were spending time together in the Black Forest.

They had heard of tales of magic in there and were trying to find some for themselves

although they were not hopeful. As they were walking through the forest a tall man in a
dark cloak approached them. “Who are you?” asked the prince. “I am the great wizard

of the Black Forest. I come to those who need my help but you must know that no

magic wish comes without a price.” The prince and the farmer’s daughter could not

believe their luck. They had been hoping for something magical to happen to them.

They quickly told the wizard their situation and pleaded for him to help them in any way

that he could. The wizard told them, “I can make the girl into a princess. Tomorrow you

will come present yourself to the king and it will be announced that you will be marrying

the prince.” The prince and the farmer’s daughter were thrilled. They seemed to have

forgotten that the wizard had warned them that no magic wish comes without a price.

They told the wizard to do the spell and the wizard gave them a mischievous grin. He

cast the spell and then the world seemed to change instantly. Moments later the prince

woke up in his own bed in the castle. “Was it all a dream?” he thought. He was getting

out of bed when he was summoned to the great hall. When he arrived in the great hall

he saw the farmer’s daughter standing there, but dressed as a princess. She looked at

him and gave him the grandest smile and the prince knew that it wasn’t a dream. The

wizard’s spell had worked. Two days later it was announced that the young prince

would be marrying this new princess that no one had ever heard about, but she was a

princess. They were married and happier than ever because they got to marry the love

of their lives. They had forgotten the wizard’s warning and had no reason to remember

it! Everything in their lives seemed to be perfect.

Ten years passed and the young prince and princess became king and queen

over the land. They ruled their kingdom with joy and kindness. They had two beautiful
little girls who they considered their biggest blessings. The king was determined to be

the best father to let his daughters know how much he loved them. The two little girls

had an adventurous spirit and loved to explore. One day the two girls were out in the

town when one said, “Sister we should go into the Black Forest!” The other sister got

excited and said, “We’ve never been there! I’ve heard that it is full of magic!” The two

girls hurried excitedly into the Black Forest unaware of the dangers that lied ahead. As

the girls made their way into the forest they saw a tall man in a dark cloak approach

them. They weren’t scared though, they hardly ever got nervous. One of the little girls

screamed “HELLO MISTER!” The wizard smiled. He knew that these were the

daughters of the young prince and farmer’s daughter who he had helped all those years

ago. He also smiled knowing that he had every right to play a trick on these girls

because he had warned the king and queen, even though they had forgotten. The

wizard went up to the two girls and introduced himself. The girls giggled now knowing

that they were in the presence of magic. They were eager to see what he was capable

of doing. The wizard said, “If you want I can do a magic trick that will turn you both into

beautiful fairies, to do so you must eat these special berries.” He pulled out two purple,

sparkly berries out of his pocket and held it out for the girls to see. The girls without

hesitation looked at one another, smiled, grabbed the berries, and popped them into

their mouths.

Almost instantly the girls began to change. Pink smoke and sparkles began

swirling around the first sister and the air surrounding her smelled like grapes. When

the smoke disappeared it showed a beautiful fairy holding a wand with a star on top of
it. The young girl smiled as she realized that she had become a fairy. At the same

time, green smoke and dust swirled around the second sister and the air surrounding

her smelled of dirt and decay. When the smoke disappeared this time the sister was

missing. “Where is my sister?” cried the fairy. The wizard grinned and vanished. The

young fairy sister was devastated. Her parents had warned them about not going into

the forest, yet they had gone anyways and now she had lost her sister. She sat down

on a rock and began to cry for many hours. She yelled, “I wish I had my handkerchief to

dry my eyes with!” Sparkles began to fly out of her wand and a moment later her

handkerchief was in her hands. The little fairy was shocked. She didn’t think that her

wand was real! She began to have hope. Maybe she could look around the forest and

try to find the wizard again and demand that he give her her sister back or else she

would use a spell on him. Or better yet maybe she would just find her sister along the

way.

The fairy sister began to walk through the forest again, this time full of bravery

knowing that she had magic on her side. She wandered through the forest for many

hours. Eventually she found a little cottage and decided to go in. When she got inside

she saw her sister and the evil wizard. She cried, “Let go of my sister or else I will cast

a spell on you!” The wizard looked at her and then at her sister and then began to

laugh. The fairy’s sister began to laugh as well! Her sister said, “Sister you have

become such a beautiful fairy! But this wizard is not evil! He was just playing a trick on

us! He was the one who helped mother and father get married to one another. He told

them that no magic wish comes without a price, but mother and father never paid him
back. He just wanted them to be his friends in return, but they never came back to

thank him.” The fairy was confused and the wizard could tell so he said, “It’s true. It

gets quite lonely living here in the forest by myself and hardly no one ever comes to

visit. I was hoping that all those years ago when I helped your parents out that they

would come back to thank me. I even tried to scare them by telling them that no magic

wish comes without a price, so I thought they would come back to me. That is why I

was so excited to meet you two! I thought that if I played a game with you two that you

would want to be my friend, but your sister told me that I played a mean trick instead of

a game, for that I am sorry. I just wanted to have some friends.” The wizard looked

down sadly. The two sisters looked at each other and thought the same thing. They felt

bad for the poor lonely wizard. They wouldn’t even be alive if it wasn’t for him. The

fairy sister said, “You know, we could still be friends! We could come visit you more

often, but you have to promise to not play any mean tricks on us any more.” The wizard

looked up and smiled. He couldn’t believe it! He finally had friends! The two sisters

and the wizard said their goodbyes and planned to meet up next week. The two sisters

and the wizard became best of friends and they all lived happily ever after.