Queen Merida

• Madison Davis, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2014

Merida checked behind her as she walked towards the veil of ivy at the bottom of the garden. She heard the jingle of bells as the wind blew at it. Merida gently touched the charm on her necklace and twittered. The ivy parted and she stepped through.
“Welcome Merida”, said the cheerful voice of her friend Max. Merida opened her eyes and saw the tall boy standing beside her.
“Hello Max. What’s going on?” she asked.
“Well…”her friend dropped to his knees and cried, “Oh Merida, it’s awful. The Queen has banned all plants and flowers. All the animals have gone into hiding!!”
“Max, that’s so awful. I’m sure we can make this better, give me some information about the Queen.”
“Well, she hates seeing anything more beautiful than herself, and since everything in nature is more beautiful than her, she hates every living thing,” said Max with a sneer.
They walked on in silence through the endless stretch of dead grass.
The silence was broken by the sound of many feet heavily pounding on the ground. The noise grew louder and Max yelled “RUN.”
Merida did as she was told and ran, her heart hammering in her chest not knowing what she was running away from but the terror in Max’s voice told her to keep going.
A little later Max stoped so Merida did the same.
“I think we lost them,” Max gasped.
“What where they?” said Merida breathlessly.
“The Queens guards,” Max whispered.
They started on once more, journeying over the crunching dry carpet.
Soon the pair reached a small village that Merida knew, but didn’t recognise.
“What is this place?” she shivered.
“It’s my village. Don’t you remember? The gardens are gone and everything has turned to stone, but it is my village all the same.”
As Merida looked at the village she filled with rage. The taste of fire burnt her mouth. “We have to do something!”
“But WHAT!! She is so powerful. She could turn US to stone if she catches us.
“I’ve got an idea. Let’s plant a beautiful garden, with the most beautiful flowers. We’ll use the pendant to help it grow. And we will gather all the animals and stand against her. We will use the pendant to grow the beauty across the land.”
At once the friends busied themselves, digging, sewing and watering. Finally Merida clasped the pendant in her hand and wished that the garden would grow.
No sooner had she said the words than green shoots exploded from the ground and began to spread.
The children’s happy faces disappeared as they saw the menacing black carriage approach. The Queen’s horsemen yanked the reigns, Merida’s heart was in her throat. What was their punishment going to be?
As the black figure emerged Merida and max cowered, waiting, terrified.
What was happening? As the sun reflected off the budding garden on to the Queen, she stiffened, and greyed. She had turned to STONE. That’s when the reign of Merida began.