Twilight Princess

Eja, a girl of fifteen, sitting in her room alone, silent, grieving on her fate. Her father had recently passed away, she’s having problems with her boyfriend, her school work is piling up, PMR is three months away, her mum has not decided to let her go to a party next week, she had a very late supper of ‘roti canai’ last night and all the other problems a girl of fifteen can carry.
She sighed softly while looking out from the window.

Knock. Knock.

"Hi Eja, may I come in?"

Eja awakes from her deep thoughts.

"Oh hi mak.. come in.."

"Still mad at me?"

"No lah.."

"Then whats with the long face?"

Eja sighs.

"Ohh.. mak… its just not fair!" Eja rises her voice slightly. "It really isn’t! Why us? Why me?"

"I know, I know. It’s hard for me too. I am so sorry that you had to go through all this at a time like this. But I guess we just have to be strong."
While she caresses Eja’s back, her voice quivers with emotion.

"It’s just that, I don’t think I can handle this on my own. I miss ayah." Eja's voice breaking off.

"If God is willing, everything will be fine. I’ll always be here for you."

Eja's tears welling up.

"Mak, I need to be alone right now.. "

"Ok sayang.. I’ll leave now.."

Eja is now crying almost hysterically exclaims in between sobs.

"The world is so cruel! I hate my life!! Damn this life! I’m so stupid!!" She wails aloud.
"Why!!!" She wails loudly and chokes.
"I deserve a better life than this!!!" She wails even louder and coughs.

Suddenly, a strong gush of wind comes through her window and then everything turns dark. A light falls upon a corner.

A middle aged woman appears and clears her throat.
"Err.. What did you say?" Her voice raises to a very inquisitive tone.

Eja' eyes widen and she feels extremely terrified.
"Who, who, who are you?"
"Oh, Eja.. I’m your Fairy Godmother..i’m.."
"Fairy Godmother!!" Eja jumps away from her seat.
"Yes… I hear you want a better life?" She tries to sound friendly though she is actually very nervous.
"Where did you come from? Emaaa.."

The Fairy God Mother panics and covers her ears.
"Don’t! Don’t call Emak!" She runs about nervously.

Eja runs to her door, but is obstructed by the Fairy God Mother.

"Relaaaax!!" FGM's voice almost screaming.

"Eja, I am your fairy godmother. I come from a place you do not need to know where and I am here because I heard you crying and saying that you want a new life." she exhales.

Eja blinks her eyes continuously.

"Now what is so bad about you life?" The FGM sounds more relaxed.

"My..my..my..life…it’s just so stupid! My father just died! My PMR is in three months and I still haven’t prepared anything yet! And my pet cat met with an accident." Eja's voice trails off and her body shakes as to control from crying

"Ohh I just have so much problems. I don’t know if I can handle all this. .I’m still so young…" she sighed

FGM pulls an annoying face.

"And so you think you don’t deserve all this?" Her voice sounds slightly sarcastic.

"Yes, I don’t deserve this." She said softly and looks down.

"So what do you think you deserve? A better life perhaps?"

"Yes a better life, a life like a princess. Yes, I wish my life was.....hmm.. happily ever after…yes.. I want to live like the princesses in the fairy tales, happily ever after…" Eja smiles to herself.

The FGM tries to be serious but her expression of disbelief is quite evident.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! I am sure of it! " Eja is finally in full of spirits.

"They all live happily ever after don’t they?" She pauses to reconfirm.

"Yes! I wish I could live happily ever after like the princesses!"

"I suppose so." She sounds unsure.

"Well if that’s the case, your wish is my command, Eja! close your eyes, and we’ll be there!" The FGM swirls her wand.

The room turns dark. Soon, the environment looks like a scene from Cinderella. Eja and the FGM are at a corner. Eja looks excited but is calmed by the FGM.

The sounds of the horse’s hooves and a man clearing his throat can be heard.

"His Royal Highness and Prince Phillipe are here! Open the door and let them see what you claim is true!"

"Quick children! Get ready! The prince is here already! Cinderella go to your room now!" the stepmother gives her order.

"But mother!"

"I said, go to your room now!" Her voice screeching as she is trying to control her anger.

Cinderella runs to the back, sobbing. Stepmother opens the door and puts a pleased look on here face. She exhales.

"Your highness! This is such an honour." She bows but the King and the Prince walk pass her ignoring her curtsy.

"His Majesty and the Prince is here for one reason and one reason alone. They are here to find the lady that fits this glass slipper."

The footman shows the glass slipper placed inside a glass box. The stepmother looks at the slippers greedily.

"Where are your daughters, madam?"

The two girls suddenly appear looking proud and blushing. They curtsy.

"This is Anastacia, your highness, and this is Drizella," the stepmother introduces her daughters.

The King says something causing everyone to jump in surprise. He looks tired and annoyed. The footman looks as if he was going to faint.

"I came here for only one reason. I came here to look for the girl that has made my son unrest and uneasy for weeks!" The King looks at the direction of his son who is sitting quietly, then looks at the two daughters who are fidgeting with their skirts.

"Will one of the ladies please come forward?"

The two girls pushed each other as they try to make way to the footman. The king and prince looks in disbelief.

"Girls!!!" The stepmother clears her throat.

Anastacia tries the slipper first. The prince and the king looks eagerly.

"It fits! It fits!" Anastacia shouts in excitement.

The slipper suddenly falls, the horseman was just in time to catch it, everyone sighs in relief.

"I’m afraid not! Next daughter please!"

Drizella tries the slipper. Stepmother, the king and the prince looks eagerly. She shoves the slipper into her foot but it would not fit. The King looks annoyed and sigh a few times. The prince gets up and looks around.

"This is most unfortunate!" The footman wipes his forehead with a handkerchief and shakes his head.

"Do you not have any other girls in this house, madam?" asks the prince.

Suddenly, Cinderella comes running towards the parlour. Stepmother quickly tries to obstruct her. The two girls are agitated and tries to stop her as well. The King is bewildered and the prince tries to claim Cinderella.

"Now who do we have here?"

"Oh she’s nobody! She’s just a maid." The stepmother grabs Cinderella’s arm. "You can go back to your chores, Cinderella.."

"Silence! Let the girl try the slipper!" Everyone is taken aback by the King’s sudden outburst.

"Sweet lady, would you please try this slipper?"

The Prince and The King look at Cinderella with much interest. The footman slips the slipper into Cinderella’s foot. Alas! It fits! The footman, the king, the prince, the stepmother and her two daughters gasp in disbelief! Eja jumps in unison.

"Divinity of heaven! The slipper fits! We have found the one!"

"Alas! I have found you." Cinderella smiles and gaze into the prince’s eyes.

"Oh Cinderella. This is wonderful!" The stepmother hugs Cinderella with force. Cinderella is annoyed with her reaction. "What will happen to my daughter now, your highness?"

"Your daughter?" The King glares at Stepmother and she steps back.

"We have found the one! We have found our gold mine!"

"Huh? Your gold mine? What, what do you mean?" Cinderella looks confused.

The prince comes face to face with Cinderella.

"Cinderella, I am here not to ask your hand for marriage."

Cinderella, stepmother and the two daughters shout in disbelief.

"What!"

"But..but..but.." Cinderella tries to find words to say but failed.

"I have searched high and low to find the perfect girl to be our model for the shoe boutique I intend to open. It so happens that you came that night and had left this slipper. I was amazed by the beauty of the slipper and I imagined the beautiful feet of its owner. I have then decided to find that girl with the beautiful pair of feet so that she can be the model of my shoe boutique," the prince explains.

Cinderella blinks continuously and trying hard to stay calm.

"So you have never loved me my prince?" She holds the prince’s hand.

Without emotions, the prince said, "No I have not. I am here to propose to your two feet."

Cinderella is speechless, her stepmother and the two daughters are speechless too. The king and the footman smiles all the way and are relieved. The characters suddenly freeze.

Eja tries to run towards the prince but seems stuck.

"This is not supposed to happen! What about Cinderella? The prince is supposed to be in love with her!" Eja tries to run towards the characters.

"Well I guess the prince prefers her feet!"
"But aren’t they supposed to marry and live happily ever after?" Eja looks confused.

"Yes, but that’s what they wrote. In truth, they didn’t marry."

"You’re lying! Take me somewhere else! I don’t believe you!"

The fairy god mother sighs. "As you wish…"

The place turns dark.

Eja and the FGM are at a corner. They see a glass casket with a very fair maiden lying inside.

"That’s Snow white! I can tell! Oh, she has eaten the poisonous apple! Fairy Godmother we must save her!" She tugs FGM’s arm and tries to go towards the casket.

"Shhh! Shhh! Calm down girl!!"

The seven dwarves surround the casket and are weeping quietly over the lost of Snow White. The atmosphere is sombre. Suddenly, they hear a rustling sound of leaves. Out comes a green-like monster heading towards the glass casket.

"Am I not a lucky ogre today! I have found Snow White, and to give her life again, I shall kiss her!" Shrek laughs happily at his victory and the dwarves are anxious.

Shrek lifts the glass casket and pecks Snow White on her lips. He gazes at her as if in love. Suddenly, Snow White opens her eyes.

"My prince.." Snow White's voice is still weak.

"My princess.." Shrek smiles flirtatiously.

Shrek then lifts her up from the casket and starts walking away from the casket.

"Oh my prince, thank you for saving me.."

"It’s my pleasure, my love. Now let’s get married. The animals are waiting for you.."
"Animals? Oh my prince…" She tries to smile but is still quite tired.

Suddenly, they hear the sound of pounding hooves. Out comes a white horse with a dashing young prince on it. He pants and tries to catch his breath. He sees Snow White in Shrek’s arms. Shocked by this, he charges towards them. The seven dwarves quickly run away. All the while, Eja tries to enter the scene but is obstructed by the FGM.

"Snow White! What are you doing in the arms of this monster?"

"Monster? He is no monster. He has come to rescue me. He has kissed me and I am grateful to him for giving me my life back." Snow White clings harder to Shrek.

"You!" The dashing prince points his sword towards Shrek. "Ugly monster! I shall not let you bring my bride home! You must fight me!"

Dashing Prince charges Shrek while swinging his sword carelessly. Shrek dodges his way to avoid the dashing prince while carrying Snow White in his arms. Snow White shrieks continuously.

"No, you will never take my bride back home! She’s mine! I came here first!"
The dashing prince swings the sword and nearly cuts Shrek’s arm. Snow White wails.

"He is the one for me and you are late! I can never be yours…go away!"

And with the swiftness of an ogre, Shrek slaps the Dashing Prince on the back, making the Dashing prince fall off the horse and tumbles to the ground (THUMP.. OWWWW!!!!)

Shrek and Snow White and freezes.

Once the characters freeze, Eja is free. She stumbles a bit. Eja is annoyed.

"This is ridiculous Fairy Godmother! This isn’t supposed to happen! You’re lying to me!!" She goes towards Shrek and Snow White and tries to grab Snow White but is unsuccessful.

"The Prince is supposed to save her!"

"Oh…maybe something happened to him on his way to save Snow White. Horses have problems too, you know," the FGM says with much assurance.

Eja continues to separate Snow White from Shrek.

"This isn’t happening! Snow White will never be happy with Shrek!!"
"You never know my dear. You never know."

The place turns dark. Light falls on the FGM and Eja.

"Where are we now, Fairy Godmother?"

"You’ll see.."

"Why is everything so different here?"

"Nothing is different. This is what actually happened. Happily ever after is just a bunch of lies!"

"It cannot be!" Eja pulls a disappointed face.

"So do you still believe in ‘happily ever after’?" The FGM tries to be sympathetic.

They are now at a scene in Beauty and the Beast. The Beast has just been slained by Gaston. He is on the ground, growing weaker and weaker. Belle is with him and is sobbing.

"Oh Beast! Why, Why do they do this to you?" She cries.

Beast is breathing slowly. "Maybe I don’t deserve to live.."

"Don’t say that. You are kind and gentle."

Belle cries profusely. Her tears stream down her face like a heavy downpour. As she cries beside Beast, and as Beast was lying weak, Belle uttered the immortal words.

"Beast.."she sobs.

"I...(pause)...I love you…" She sobs and puts her head on Beast’s chest.

The stage suddenly turns dark and a light that gradually grows big is focused on Beast. Beast is no longer there, but is replaced with a man. Seeing this, Belle stumbles.

"Who are you? Where’s my Beast?"

"It’s me Belle. It’s me the Beast." The man checks his body, holds his hands, ruffles his hair and has the expression of seeing something for the first time.

"Beast?" Belle moves closer to the man, she gazes into his eyes and man looks at her closely too.

"You have his eyes.." She pause, checks him out for a bit.

"You are the Beast! Yes! You are the Beast!" She sounds very excited and hugs him tightly.

"Tell me what happened my love."

"A long time ago, an old woman came to the castle. She came to ask for a place to stay for the night. It was raining heavily at that time, but I forbade my servants to let her stay for the night. Suddenly, the old woman turned into an angel and with that she cursed me and everyone and everything in my castle.."
"So that makes you the prince doesn’t it?"

"Indeed I am."

"Oh my prince.." she gazes dreamily into the Prince’s eyes.

Suddenly, a crowd of villagers appear including Eja and the FGM. Eja looks satisfied. The villagers cheer as their prince has returned. Among the village folks are three ladies. The ladies seeing the handsome prince runs towards the prince, throwing their hands around him. Belle is shoved aside.

"Oh prince! My prince! How handsome! Please, please let me be your lady! Oh my prince! Marry me prince, marry me!" Three ladies say this together. They say it in a way which irritates the villagers, Belle and especially Eja.

"So Belle, I think it’s time for me to go. Thank you for rescuing me from the wretched curse," the prince says nonchalantly.

Belle is speechless. Her eyes and mouth are wide open. Eja is speechless too. The villagers begin talking. Eja tries to make her way towards the prince, but is stuck.

"Fairy godmother! What is happening? This shouldn’t happen!"

The prince, in a matter of fact manner says, "Thank you so much Belle. I could have never done this without you. You see, only a true love’s kiss can break the spell. I did love you, but that was then. Now I have options. I am a free man. Expect some reward from me soon. So long now! Thank you my fellow villagers for witnessing this historical moment. I’ll hold a thanksgiving feast soon."

Hearing this, the villagers cheered loudly, completely oblivious to Belle who looks as if she was about to faint.

"Fairy godmother! This is unbelievable! Are you saying that this is all a lie? That happily ever after is not true?"
"Hmm..yes, I guess ‘happily ever after’ is a lie.. But, in some ways, there is some truth in it but I guess the truth does hurt, so they just change the endings so that everyone will not be so miserable and will feel there is hope."

Eja ponders on this statement. She is obviously distraught.

"You could be right Fairy Godmother. But I’m still not convinced."

The place turns dark. Eja and the FGM are at a corner. They are in a garden.

"It is indeed a beautiful day! Don’t you think so Mathilda?" said the princess.

"Mathilda? Who’s Mathilda, Fairy Godmother?" The FGM signals to Eja to be quiet.

"Yes I agree, my fair princess." Then, there's a sound of a frog croaking.
"Oh, what do we have here! My little friend. There is something that I would like you to meet Mathilda." She pulls Mathilda closer to the frog.

"What is it fair princess?"

"Meet Mr.Frog. I have been seeing him these past few days Mathilda. There is something special about him."

"What is it fair princess?"

"Have you ever heard the rumours about a talking frog?"

"I believe I have, fair princess. However, I do not believe in those rumours."

"Well Mathilda, this time you can believe those rumours, because this is the talking frog!"

Mathilda looks surprised and takes a few steps back. She turns pale.

"Oh poor Mathilda! Don’t be afraid. He really is such a dear friend to me."

"How do you do, fair Mathilda? It is an honour to finally meet you." The frog bows, Mathilda curtsy in return. "I finally have the privilege to meet your dear friend, fair princess."

"She is lovely, isn’t she, Mr. Frog?"

"No doubt." The frog glances at Mathilda. "I thought you were not coming today."

"Oh, I had to come! I had the most unpleasant sleep last night. I could not forget the poem you read to me!" Her body shakes with cheerful expression.

"Indeed, the poem has a very special meaning." the frog smiles with pride.

"Mr. Frog, I must confess something," the princess hesitates. "I must say this to you for if I do not I shall regret this forever."

Mathilda and the Frog look anxious.

"Mr. Frog........from this moment I do declare my love for you," she exhales. "I love you! I really, really do!" the princess leans forward to the frog, her eyes closed, and her lips puckered. She grabs the frog and carries him up to her face.

"Fair princess!" (MUAH!)

Suddenly, everything turns dark.

A man is standing in front of the princess and Mathilda. The princess looks flabbergasted. Mathilda takes a few steps back.

"Where is my frog?" the princess looks bewildered.

"I am it, fair princess." he smiles.

"You?" The princess looks even more bewildered. "You’re the frog? What happened to you? How long have you been a frog?"

"Oh, something bad had befallen upon me. I was put under a curse by a wicked witch. Only a kiss from a princess will undo the curse."

"Oh..." she pauses and thinks for a moment. A smile appears on her face. "So you’re the missing prince!"

"Yes I am that missing prince."

"I suppose we have a lot to do after this."

The Prince looks confused. "What do we have to do fair princess?"

"We must prepare for our wedding! Let’s go home prince! Mathilda, we have a lot of work to do!" She smiles gleefully.

"Certainly, fair princess." Mathilda agrees.

"Oh fair princess! What wedding? I do not understand what you mean. Please, please, please! Do not misunderstand me."

"What do you mean! I thought you loved me. What about the poem?" Her voice raises and she looks annoyed.

The prince stammers, "Err..the..the..the..poem is actually not for you.."

"I beg your pardon!!!!" The princess ia almost screaming.

"I only recited the poem to you because I wanted to practice before I recited it before.."

"Before who?" The princess is at the top of her lungs.

"Before Mathilda.."

Mathilda faints but is immediately caught by the prince. The Princess looks in disbelief and purposely shoves the two of them, causing them to almost fall. The Princess growls.

With Mathilda in his arms the prince said, "I am most grateful to you fair princess."

The Princess growls again, and tries to pull Mathilda down from his arms but is unsuccessful.

"You have helped me to break the curse. Please, I bid adieu."

Mathilda wakes up.

"Fair princess! What is happening? Help me!" She tries to break free from the prince.

"Oh Mathilda!" He grips her even more around his arms.

The characters freeze.

Eja is silent. She stares at the FGM. She does not look unhappy or satisfied. The FGM looks worried at Eja’s state.

"Is everything alright dear?"

"All of this is so unreal Fairy Godmother. I cannot believe all this. All this while, I thought ‘happily ever after’ existed."

"It does Eja. But ‘happily ever after’ does not have to end with a kiss or a life that has no worries. ‘Happily ever after’ can be found in your heart, or even by making your mother happy."

"Why then do these authors end their fairy tales with this ending?"

"I honestly don’t know the exact answer. But I think the idea of ‘happily ever after’ is just a way of making everybody forget their problems- just like you! You did wish your life to be like the princesses in Fairy land. You just felt that you needed to leave all your troubles for a while."

"I guess so. It would be miserable to be them anyway. I guess my life is perfect the way it is." she sighs.

"That’s a wonderful thing to say Eja. Now would you like to go to another fairy land or get back to reality?"

"Reality, Fairy Godmother and make it on the double, Fairy Godmother! On the double!"




The End



in collaboration with: aimi, sha, mira..miss u guys alot..