Bellalina and the Lafantasian Witch | Teen Ink

Bellalina and the Lafantasian Witch

January 13, 2009
By Rebecca Shaw BRONZE, Rockville, Maryland
Rebecca Shaw BRONZE, Rockville, Maryland
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Once upon a time, in a magical land know as Lafantasia lived jolly fairies, beautiful princesses, friendly talking forest animals … and an old, powerful, witch. Evil, cruel and grotesque, the witch cursed all who dared to anger her in any way, by placing them into their own personal hell. She once cursed an old peddler to live for eternity with the creatures he feared the most, Goblins, in the land of Gobblygook, because his horse trampled on her precious herbs garden. Nothing gave her more joy than to see the terror in her victim’s eyes as she brought them to their doom.
The witch did not live alone, frightening the Lafantasians, for it would be easier to stay forgotten and steer clear of the witch if she lived in isolation. She imprisoned a young maiden of sixteen, Bellalina by stealing the girl from her mother, Princess Viola, and then killing the princess right after she had conceived the child. Viola had once bravely stolen the witch’s potions book and had shared its contents with the entire kingdom. The people of Lafantasia now knew that the witch kept Bellalina for her potion of eternal youth and that the witch had to wait until Bellalina’s eighteenth birthday to drain the youth out of Bellalina. Then, she would kill her as she had killed her mother. Bellalina’s long shimmery golden hair, framed her delicate, pale, porcelain doll face that encompassed wide sapphire blue eyes and rosy red lips. Bellalina was truly set her apart as a beauty, even when ripped, huge rags and soot covered her tiny, slender body.
The witch never allowed the girl out of their cottage, except to buy ingredients for her potion in the tiny village of Saura, at the edge of Lafantasia. Bellalina’s only companion became the books she stole from the rickety bookshop in Saura that told of princes, balls, fairies, and happily ever afters.
Day after day, Bellalina strolled into this small provincial village that only ever gave her ingredients that would lead to her doom and the forbidden books she craved.
One warm, summer day when Bellalina bought a large package of Calendula herbs from the potions shop, !Bibbety Bobbity Do!. As she staggered under the weight of the package, she tripped and bumped into a large being behind her.
“I-I’m sorry.”

“It is fine young maiden. I am Prince Phillipe. Would you like to put your package in my chariot and go on a walk in the meadow? What is your name?”

“Y- Y-Yes, My name is Bellalina.”

Looking up as she replied, Bellalina saw a valiant handsome man who looked even more like a perfect prince than described from her stolen books. His wavy, golden hair framed his perfectly almond, emerald green eyes. A beautifully tailored red shirt embroidered with gold and elegant black pants enveloped his strong, flawless body. Surveying her own old ripped pink dress and bare feet, she could not believe an actual prince took interest in her. He intrigued her and was so charming, and she desperately wanted to find some reality from the stories she always read.
Walking through the meadow, the two talked about everything about their lives. Philippe told her of the extravagant balls he attended and the good fairies, funny elves, and friendly talking forest animals he had met in his life. She told him of her love of books and of course the evil witch who kept her as a prisoner.

“Dear Bellalina, I must save you from the evil witch. I have finally found the love of my life in you. I will save you. We must get married tomorrow morning.” Philippe said in his velvety voice as they watch the sunset as they lay on the meadow.
“Philippe, I’m scared. The witch could really hurt you and I would kill myself if someone hurt you.”
“Shh, darling Bellalina, just go home today, so she does not suspect anything and I’ll come to Saura tomorrow and we will runaway together. My dear mother told me the witch is cursed if she puts one foot into our castle grounds. A great princess once found that in the witch’s potion book.”
Bellalina began to cry, as she imagined how everything in this plan could go terribly, terribly wrong for the castle was a day from Saura. As she sobbed, Philippe gently pulled her face to his and kissed her tenderly. Everything in the moment felt perfect.
Unfortunately for Bellalina and her newfound prince, the all powerful witch found out of Bellalina’s plan’s from her crystal ball and from her henchmen in Saura. As soon as Bellalina set foot into the cottage, the witch put her into a tall tower dungeon.
Unfortunately for the witch, the prince had hid in the woods near the cottage to make sure Bellalina would be safe. He summoned Felicity the good witch through a magical mirror and asked her if there was a way to destroy the evil witch outside of the castle’s walls. She said the only way to demolish the witch would be to destroy her spell book with her wand in her presence.
Luckily for Philippe, elf fairies could counter act witch magic by putting witches to sleep. Using his mischievous and tiny elf fairy friends, Twimp and Timp who traveled with him, Philippe had them put the witch into a deep sleep with their magic as he stole the book and wand. Philippe then raced to the tall tower, surprised to see Bellalina racing towards him, since she found she had the ability to jump off the tall tower and survive now that she had found love. They rode back to the witch’s home and Philippe held the wand and the book in his hands.
“Twimp, Timp! Quick wake her up.”
The elf fairies vibrated for a moment and cloudy blue sparks flew from the witch.
“What happened? Where is my book, my wand?” mumbled the witch as she woke. Then she noticed Bellalina. “ BELLALINA with you ! oh no my wand , my book, oh no, oh no , OH NO! Help ! Help!”
There was a second of anguish and screams as if a thousand knives were upon the witch. She exploded into several bits of purple and black particles of dust… and then silence.
“I’m free!” Bellalina yelled joyously and she graciously leapt into her prince’s arms.
She and her beloved prince rode off in the moonlight to get married and live happily ever after, never to be bothered by the evil witch again.



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This article has 1 comment.


Davina said...
on Feb. 2 2009 at 3:11 pm
I'm glad you submitted your work, Rebecca. This was an interesting experiment with alternating viewpoints.