Playtime

My girlfriend challenged me to write a story using the words-

Prince, Princess, Ostrich, Lemon Orchard, Lemons, A Lemonade Stand, Volcano, Museum, Balloon, Love, and Shepard’s Pie.

 

Prince Castor dismounted after a three day stretch of riding. He groaned as he landed sharply on his aching feet. His steed cooed and flapped its awkward wings. The large armored ostrich instantly began to wander away.

“No loyalty. No loyalty whatsoever.” He grabbed at the reins and led the animal to water. “I’m starting to wish I’d splurged and put a downpayment on that mustang.”

Castor hushed when a strange sound wafted towards him. It was singing. A woman singing.

He tied off his steed and followed the sweet solo symphony through the thicket. The song got louder until a beautiful maiden was in view. She was hard at work, standing on her toes to pick the juiciest lemons from the top of the tree.

“Excuse me!” Castor exclaimed as he burst through the brush.

The woman let out a short scream before losing balance and hitting the ground. Castor jogged over to her in a panic.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to-”

She slapped him across the face. Her cheeks flushed red.

“That’s no way to greet a princess!” She busied herself grabbing for the lemons that had fallen out of her basket. “What are you doing? Help me!”

Castor hurriedly jumped from stray lemon to stray lemon. He figured this was as good a time as any to get to know this woman.

“Soooo, what is a princess like you doing in a lemon orchard of all places?”

“For my lemonade stand of course!”

Prince Castor stood confused for a moment.

“Wait, Sarah I thought we were playing pretend- are you actually opening a lemonade stand?”

“Well, yeah. I thought we could do both.”

“Oh, okay. Gotcha.”

Castor shook himself out of his stupor.

“Well princess, we’re gonna need sugar if you want lemonade!” He grinned.

Princess Sarah giggled and gestured for Castor to follow her into the house. He wandered through the back door but was stopped before his first step.

“Wait! I forgot that I live in a volcano and the floor is lava!”

Castor could feel the crackling heat radiating from below him instantaneously. He pivoted his head frantically, hoping to find anything safe to touch. He spotted a large washing machine to his left and without thinking, jumped toward it and scrambled on top. He looked down at Sarah and beamed.

She sighed and calmly walked back outside. She returned thirty seconds later with a balloon tied around her wrist.

“This magic balloon lets me float over the lava.”

Castor gasped in amazement as the princess levitated over the bubbling molten rock with ease. He struggled to jump from chair to chair in order to keep up. They moved through the laundry room of the volcano and into the main magma hallway. About halfway through the atmosphere changed.

“Wait!” Castor whispered in a harsh tone. “We’re in a museum now, we need to steal the sugar without being detected.”

Sarah pulled her ski mask over her face. “Oh yeah, that’s right.”

The pair walked with their backs against the wall. Careful to keep their shadow profiles out of the sunlight. A large man walked by and stood in front of the pair. They were found out!

“Hey you two! Still playing I see.” He paused for a second to think. “I think there’s some leftover shepherd’s pie in the fridge. I could microwave some if you’re hungry.”

Sarah and Castor looked at each other for a moment and then ran into the kitchen, arms flailing. This time there were no filters on what they saw. Sarah’s dad set two piping hot bowls of shepherd’s pie on the table. Sarah and Castor didn’t hesitate to jump into a couple chairs that were already pulled out. The food was made with love. It was the same feeling that brought Castor to their door asking if Sarah could play.

“They make a cute couple.” Sarah’s dad muttered under his breath as he watched them dig in and reminisce about the adventures they had been through today.