Once upon a time, in a land very far from here, there lived a Princess and her Prince. The two cared for each other very deeply and their love was known throughout the land. Many mothers prayed that their daughters would be loved as greatly as the Prince loved his Princess. Many fathers prayed that their sons would marry wives as devout and obedient as the Princess was to her Prince. As long as the two were together, there was great happiness in the land.

There was great happiness for all except for the Great Wizard. He was jealous of the Princess and her Prince and wanted nothing more then to destroy their love for each other. On their wedding day the Great Wizard cursed the couple before the alter and all of the towns people. �If for any reason the Princess wants something that the Prince has not given her, the two will be separated forever!�

As the Princess cried silently into her Princes� shoulder, he vowed that he would give her everything that she could ever wish for. She in turn vowed that as long as she lived, she would want nothing more then his love and if she broke this vow she would end her life. This was how it was for many years. The Princess wanted nothing and the Prince gave her everything; there was much happiness and it seemed there would be a happily ever after. Unfortunately the Great Wizard was not pleased at all. Surely there was something that the Princess would want! Then it occurred to him, every day the Prince would bring the Princess a single rose from their garden and this always pleased her greatly. Actually, now that the Great Wizard thought about it, the Princess was constantly surrounded by beautifully scented, nearly perfect flowers. Was this her weakness? Could he use it against her? �We shall see.�

On one beautiful, bright afternoon the Great Wizard executed his plan. In a nearby meadow he cast a spell that caused the most beautiful of flowers to bloom. The scent that radiated from them was so exquisite; there are no human words to describe it. Amongst all of these beautiful flowers was a single, perfect rose. Every petal was a different color and it stood proud and graceful with it�s leaves spread out like arms taking in the sun. Many creatures were drawn to the meadow and would lie amongst the flora basking in its beautiful scent.

When the wind changed direction the meadow�s enticing aroma caught the attention of the Princess. �What is that wonderful smell?� She was so drawn to it; she left the castle grounds just to investigate where it was coming from. Lo and behold there stood the most stunning collection of flowers she had ever seen. She ran to them, tripping over her skirts, and finally landed in a heap amongst the soft petals. She was entranced, �How can there be anything more beautiful then this?� She walked among the flowers, being careful not to crush the delicate stems and came upon the single rose. She quickly drew in a breath, �Oh! This is indeed the most beautiful flower on earth! Oh, how I long to just touch its petals.� She knelt before the rose and caressed its proud stem. �May I just take in its scent?� She leaned before it and placed her delicate nose against its face and breathed in deep. �Surely I could just admire it for a little while before my Prince misses me,� and there she sat for the rest of the day.

When evening came, she could hear her prince calling for her in the distance but she could not bring herself to leave the side of the magnificent flower. Again her Prince called out to her and again the Princess could not leave the rose�s side. Finally when the Prince called her a third time, the Princess wrapped her fair hand around the flowers stem and plucked it from the ground.

In that moment the earth began to shake and fall away creating a giant chasm around the Princess. She watched as her Prince ran to her, so that he could save her, but it was too late. The meadow stood on a giant pillar of rock and earth surrounded by nothing but air and terrible rocks thousands of feet below. She reached her hand towards her Prince but there was a great distance between them and her hand couldn�t reach his. That�s when she noticed the flowers thorns piercing her as she held it clutched to her chest. She knelt on the ground and watched as her blood and tears fell on the lovely flower and caused it to blacken. The petals quickly began to fall off as they withered under her touch. Soon she was left with nothing more then the stem and it�s deadly sharp thorns. As her prince watched from the other side of the chasm, the Princess plucked off each thorn and swallowed them whole. With every thorn she swallowed she could feel her insides being torn and yet she continued to take in the remnants of the flower.

It took many hours for the Princess to finally succumb to the bleeding inside of her, and her loving Prince watched unable to stop the inevitable. The flowers in the meadow, that were touched with her blood and tears and listened to her agonizing moans of pain, took pity on the poor Princess and covered over her body entombing her forever.

The End