I could say that my life has been uneventful, but that would be untrue. On the contrary, it’s been exciting (or at least interesting) since I was born.
Mother always wanted a daughter. Specifically one with hair as black as ebony (a dark type of wood), lips as red as blood, and skin as white as snow. Her dreams came true when I was born. Yes, that is my complexion exactly. Mother named me Regina, which she considered “the loveliest name in the whole world.” I should also mention now that she spoiled me.
Daddy wanted a son, and so he was not as excited as Mother. However, he found me so charming and lovely that his heart was soon won. At least that is what Mother claims. He always denies it. I agree with Mother because Daddy spoiled me just as much as Mother and he always found time to play with me.
We were a happy little family, Mother, Daddy, and I. We did everything together. Daddy and Mother were my playmates. Some families of our acquaintances hired nannies to care for their children, but Mother and Daddy took care of me, and Mother was my teacher. I was perfectly happy. And my life really was rather uneventful- until I turned five that is. Then adventures and mishaps surrounded me and became a part of my daily life. I remember the first incident distinctively.
It was the summer of my fifth year of life. The three of us were at Ronizo Beach, preparing to swim. This was a daily routine for us. Lyra (the country where we lived) is very hot in the summer; so swimming helped cool us off. I loved splashing around in the creamy waves. Lake Ronizo was not like most lakes. It had blue, blue water and sometimes the waves had little white caps. It was a perfect place to go on a hot summer day.
This particular day stands out because of a little crab (Lake Ronizo has many crabs). On that particular day, King Robert and Queen Lucy brought their children, Prince David and Prince Micah to go swimming. Prince David was seven and the crown prince. Prince Micah was two. I’d seen the king and queen before, but I had never seen the princes. Mother pointed them out to me.
I thought Prince David was rather handsome, with blue eyes and blonde hair. I was a strong-minded little girl (I still am, but now I use my head), and I decided to introduce myself. This decided I marched over to the royal family.
“Hi, I’m Gina.” I dropped a wobbly curtsy and flashed a smile. Rolling around in my five-year-old mind was if he is going to be king, maybe I can be friends with him and he’ll tell Mother and Father to buy me a dog. You see that was one pleasure I was denied. Mother was allergic and this kept me from my beloved puppy. Of course I had dozens of imaginary dogs, but it wasn’t the same as the real thing. Anyway, it couldn’t hurt to try, and a prince would make a wonderful friend. Nobody would tell us we couldn’t do something (at least that’s what I thought).
Prince David stared at me in horror,
“A crab! Oh, Mother, help! There’s a crab on her head.”
Then Prince Micah joined in.
“A drab! A drab!”
You guessed it. I had a crab sitting on my head. Both boys were frightened out of their wits. I found the situation rather amusing. However, I realized that it wouldn’t help us become friends if I laughed. Being the plucky girl I was, I reached up and threw it off.
“Don’t worry, it’s gone,” I said, trying to calm the princes. It worked and soon we were busy building a sand castle or “a home for the wee drabs” as Prince Micah put it.
By this time, Mother and Father had come over and were apologizing. Queen Lucy just laughed.
“Your Gina is charming. We must get together sometimes. The boys are quite taken with her.” And that was the beginning of my friendship with Prince David and Prince Micah when we were seven, five, and two, respectively.
I must confess now that the princes were often involved in my adventures, and mishaps were often thrust upon them because of my strong-mindedness. Prince David was very clever at coming up with schemes and poor Prince Micah was often the victim of our pranks.
It is well written, might I add.
