Thursday, January 8, 2009

Princess Elsie and the Inside-Out House

Once upon a time Princess Elsie decided to go for a walk in the woods. Princess Elsie loved to walk through the woods and explore new places. As she was walking through the woods, Princess Elsie discovered a path that she had never noticed before and decided to walk down it to see what might be there.

The further Princess Elsie walked, the closer the trees grew together until she began to wonder if she should turn back. The path was getting hard to follow and she was sure that it must end without going anywhere. Just about then, Princess Elsie walked through a gap in the trees and into a clearing in the forest.

In front of her was a lovely meadow with soft green grass. There was a very big house in the middle of the meadow. Now there is nothing strange about a house in the middle of a meadow, but it was what was outside the house that made Princess Elsie curious.

Outside the house was a bed, and beside the bed was a nightstand and dresser. It was as if there was a bedroom right there in the front yard! And if that wasn’t strange enough, there was also a couch and coffee table. Princess Elsie looked around and saw something that was really strange…there was a kitchen table, four chairs, and a stove and refrigerator. All outside! Princess Elsie wondered why all these things would be outside the house.

Now Princess Elsie was a very brave little girl, so she walked right up to the front door and knocked. Pretty soon a little old man opened the door and looked at Princess Elsie.

The Little Old Man said, “Hi. My name is Mr. Marvel.”

Now we don’t know if Marvel was the man’s first name or last name. Maybe Mr. Marvel didn’t even know if he had another name, but looked like a very nice man to Princess Elsie.

“My name is Princess Elsie.” she said.

“Well hello Princess Elsie. Please come into my house.”

So, Princess Elsie walked into the house and got a really big surprise. There wasn’t anything inside the house, or at least there wasn’t any furniture or anything else that was supposed to be inside a house that Princess Elsie could see. In fact, there was grass where carpet should be, and a pond in the middle of the room! And Princess Elsie couldn’t believe it, but there was a tree growing right next to the pond…inside the house!

“Can I ask you a question Mr. Marvel” asked Princess Elsie as she looked at the ducks swimming on the pond.

“Why, yes you can.” He replied.

Why is all your furniture outside your house and your front yard on the inside of your house?”

“That’s a very good question Princess Elsie. I love the outdoors. One day I decided I wanted to know what it would be like to sleep outside, under the stars.” said Mr. Marvel.

“I loved it so much that I decided to sleep outside every night, so I moved my bed outside. Pretty soon I decided to move my dresser and nightstand outside as well. I liked that so much that I decided to move my couch outside so I could sit and watch the birds. Eventually, I decided to move my kitchen outside so that I could enjoy the breeze on my face while I ate my food. By then all the furniture in my house was outside my house!”

“Wow” said Princess Elsie, “that is a great story, but can I ask one more thing?”

“Sure.” said Mr. Marvel.

“Why do you have a pond and a tree inside your house.” Asked Princess Elsie.

“Well,” said Mr. Marvel, “since I moved all the insides of my house out onto the front yard, I decided I should move my front yard into the house. I took up the floor and planted some grass and a tree. Then I dug a pond and filled it with water and fish. This way I can be outside, even when I’m inside!”

“That makes a lot of sense.” said Princess Elsie. “I really like your inside-out house.”

Mr. Marvel laughed. He had never heard his house called an inside-out house before, but he liked it.

“Would you like to have lunch with me? asked Mr. Marvell.

“I would love to.” said Princess Elsie.

Princess Elsie and Mr. Marvell had creamy peanut butter sandwiches and enjoyed sitting outside the inside-out house.

The End.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Under Construction

This blog is under construction.

My goal is to chronicle the stories that I create for my niece. I hope you will check back for the first of many Princess Elsie Stories.