Princess Neila & the Quacking Whistle
It was early morning at Casa Castle, so early it was still dark outside but princess Neila was already awake.
She looked at the clock on the wall and it wasn’t time to get out of bed yet.
“I can’t stay in bed. I am so bored,” princess Neila said to herself.
She looked at her brother, little prince Aaron who she shared a room with, and he was still deep asleep in his own bed.
Princess Neila sighed.
“I need to do something! I need to play! After all, I’m a princess, I can do whatever I want!”
Princess Neila got out of bed and ran to her toy chest. Although there were many toys in the chest, the first thing she noticed was the quacking whistle. This whistle was different from all other whistles. It was given to her by the chief of the Royal Hunters when she was born. It didn’t look like any other whistles. It looked like a duck beak. And it didn’t sound like any other whistle either. When she blew it, it sounded like a duck's "quack”!
Princess Neila put the quacking whistle in her mouth and blew as hard as she could.
“Quack! Quack! Quack! Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!”
It was so loud it woke up little prince Aaron.
Aaron wasn’t pleased, to say the least.
“Neila, you woke me up!” he shouted. “I was having a beautiful dream and you ruined it.”
“I don’t care,” said Neila. “I am a princess. I can do whatever I want.”
Aaron was cross. “It is not nice to wake up people! You should be considerate of others instead of doing as you please! Now go away and let me sleep!” he said, pointing at the door.
But Princess Neila did not care, nor did she listen to her little brother.
She decided to go for a walk around Casa Castle. She headed in the direction of the royal kitchen where she found the chefs preparing breakfast. They were cooking eggs, mixing ingredients and making the batter for pancakes. Everyone was rushing around to get things done on time.
Princess Neila put the quacking whistle in her mouth and blew as hard as she could.
“Quack! Quack! Quack! Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!”
It was so loud that it surprised everyone in the kitchen and made them drop all the pans and bowls. All the food, all the ingredients, the batter, and the drinks, everything was on the floor!
The kitchen staff were not pleased.
“What a mess!” said the head chef.
“Princess Neila, your Majesty, it is not nice to scare people! Now breakfast is ruined! We will have to start all over again and clean the whole kitchen!”
“I don’t care,” said Neila. “I am a princess, and I can do whatever I want.”
The head chef was fuming.
“Your Majesty should know better than this. You should care for others instead of doing as it pleases you! Now would you please leave? We have work to do!” said the head chef pointing at the door.
But Princess Neila did not care. She continued her little walk around the castle.
She went down the corridor, up the stairs and heard some noise coming from the royal magician’s room.
She carefully opened the door and saw the magician was busy writing on his blackboard, working on the formula of one of his potions.
Princess Neila put the quacking whistle in her mouth and blew as hard as she could.
“Quack! Quack! Quack! Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!”
It was so loud that the Magician broke his chalk stick on the board.
“Now little princess, why in the world did you do this?” asked the Royal Magician. “Did nobody tell you it is not good manners to disturb a magician at work?”
“I don’t care,” said Neila. “I am a princess, and I can do whatever I want.”
The royal magician stared severely at her.
“You may do all that you want when you learn to be polite,” said the Royal Magician.
“But so far, as you are acting like an animal, you might as well be one…”
The royal magician moved his magic wand toward princess Neila and said,
“Alacazam Abracadacrack! With this wave of my wand, you shall quackety quack!”
All of a sudden, the quacking whistle disappeared from princess Neila’s hands and her mouth had become a duck’s beak!
“Undo that spell!” she wanted to say, but all that was coming from her mouth, or now her beak, was, “Quack! Quack! Quack! Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!”
Princess Neila was scared.
She ran away from the royal magician’s room, straight to the royal kitchen.
“Help me, help me please,” she wanted to say but all that was coming from her mouth, or now her beak, was, “Quack! Quack! Quack! Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!”
The kitchen chefs didn’t pay attention to her, thinking she was trying to scare them with her whistle again.
She ran away from the royal kitchen, straight into her bedroom.
“Aaron, help me, please! The magician put a spell on me!” she wanted to say but all that was coming from her mouth, or now her beak, was, “Quack! Quack! Quack! Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!”
Little Prince Aaron was still trying to sleep and didn’t pay any attention.
“Leave me alone!” he said. “I’m still tired and this is not funny.”
Princess Neila ran away from her bedroom, straight into queen Mummy and king Papa’s room.
“Mummy, Papa, you need to help me!” she wanted to say but all that was coming from her mouth, or now her beak, was, “Quack! Quack! Quack! Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!”
But king Papa was no fool. He knew this was one of his magician’s tricks. He took princess Neila’s hand and went up the stairs to the royal magician’s room.
“Good morning, mighty magician Tim,” said the king.
“Good morning, your Majesty. I guess I know the reason for your royal visit.”
The Magician explained to the king what happened earlier, that princess Neila was very rude and had forgotten her manners.
Curious about all that noise, little prince Aaron and the head chef also climbed the stairs to the royal magician’s room.
“She did the same to me!” said prince Aaron.
“The little princess also distracted our cooking activities, your Grace.” said the head chef.
Princess Neila was so ashamed that she blushed. She tried to say sorry, but all that was coming from her mouth, or now her beak, was, “Quack! Quack! Quack! Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!!!”
“Would you like to say something?” asked king Papa.
Princess Neila nodded.
King Papa looked at the royal magician, who then moved his magic wand towards Neila and said, “Alacazam Abracabram! With this wave of my wand, you shall speak with charm!”
In an instant, everything was back to normal. Princess Neila’s mouth was no longer a duck’s beak. She was able to speak again and the quacking whistle was in her hand.
“I am so sorry,” said princess Neila. “I apologize to all of you. I was very naughty and very rude too. I promise I won’t do it again. What can I do so you all pardon me?”
The royal magician asked her, “Has your little Majesty learned something from this experience?”
“Yes,” replied princess Neila. “I have learned that I should always be polite and respect other people, even if I am a princess.”
King Papa was proud of his daughter.
“You learned a valuable lesson, my dear Neila. This adventure must have made you hungry. Who is up for some breakfast?”
“Me, me, me,” replied princess Neila and little prince Aaron.
“About that, your Majesty,” said the embarrassed head chef, “there might be a slight setback…”
The