The Crack In the Wall

A young princess and village boy meet through a crack in the wall and experience a lasting friendship until death parts them.

STORYLINE:
Leanna and Simon are young children from different backgrounds. They meet through a crack in the palace's stone wall. As years pass the two friends remain close until Leanna is caught trying to sneak off to the village to meet Simon. Unfortunately, while Leanna is grounded to her room, Simon is taken ill. Leanna only gets to meet him at his deathbed. Although Simon dies, the story has a happy ending when Timothy (Simon's younger brother) and Leanna's future daughter (Chantelle) continue the friendship Leanna and Simon started.
STORY:
Once upon a time there lived a little princess named Leanna. She lived in the palace with her parents and three sisters. Leanna had straight brown hair, but all her sisters had curly blond hair and blue eyes. Leanna was often called the “plain princess”, but she did not mind because she did not care much about being a princess. Leanna liked to go outside and play in the palace gardens with the animals. She especially loved Milly, the baby fawn her grandfather gave her for her eighth birthday.
But as time passed, Leanna began to care about being plain. She often felt left out of parties because she was not outgoing and beautiful like her sisters.
One day Leanna was exploring the palace gardens. Behind some ivy she found a very large, old gate. It was very rusty and full of cobwebs. Curious, Leanna pushed the gate open. She was surprised there was no lock. “Maybe it fell off," she thought.
Leanna cautiously entered the gate and saw a thick, green forest. “Am I still in the palace gardens?” she wondered. There was a tall stone wall on her right, so Leanna knew she still was behind the palace walls. Leanna decided to explore. She went into the woods, while Milly followed and sniffed the flowers.
Because she was so excited, Leanna was not afraid at all. She kept walking and singing. Suddenly she heard laughter. It sounded like little children. For a moment, Leanna felt afraid because she did not think anyone could be living in that secret forest she had just found.
“Who’s there?” she called. The laughter stopped. Leanna listened carefully.
She heard a little girl say quietly, “Someone’s here! Let’s hide!”
A little boy said, “I don’t see anyone.”
“Well I’m leaving!” cried the little girl. “I don’t want to play here anymore. Maybe it’s a ghost!”
Leanna could not hear the voices very well, but she wanted to find out where they were. “Please don’t go!” Leanna shouted. “I’m friendly!”
But no one answered.
“Hello?!” Leanna shouted again. “I’m only a little girl!”
“I’m here!” said the little boy’s voice faintly. “I can’t see you at all but I can sort of hear you!”
Leanna stared at the wall. It seemed as if the voice was coming from there!
“Say something again!” she called.
“What shall I say?” the little boy asked.
Leanna pushed away some ivy, and saw a large crack in the wall! Peeking though, she saw a little boy with brown hair looking around.
“Hello!” Leanna cried happily. “I can see you through this crack in the wall!”
“Really?” The boy rushed over to the wall. “Wow! I can see your eye!”
Leanna laughed.
“Why are you on the other side of the wall? Do you live in the palace?” the boy asked.
“I am a princess,” Leanna said.
“Wow! A real princess?” The boy clapped his hands in delight. “Wait till I tell my friends.”
Leanna frowned. “You can’t tell. I might get in trouble for talking to strangers. Let’s keep it secret.”
“Ok,” the boy agreed. “Do you have a crown?”
Leanna nodded. “But I don’t wear it outside because it gets caught in the branches when I climb trees.”
The boy laughed. “That’s funny. I wish I had a crown! I’d wear it all the time.”
“What’s your name?” Leanna asked.
“My name is Simon. What’s yours?”
“Leanna.”
And from that day on Leanna and Simon became secret friends. Nobody but them knew about their secret wall. Leanna and Simon sometimes left fun letters for each other in the crack in the wall. Once, Simon brought his little brother Timothy for Leanna to meet. “Don’t worry, Timmy’s only a baby,” Simon said laughing, holding the baby up to the crack for Leanna to see. “He won’t tell our secret.”
Although Leanna could see Simon and Timothy, she made sure her side of the wall was always covered with ivy so Simon could not see her. She did not want them to see that she was a plain princess.
The years passed by and the two friends grew up. One day Simon asked Leanna to visit his village.
Leanna answered, “You already know I’m not allowed to leave the palace grounds.”
Simon was very sad. “Oh well. You are still my best friend.”
“You are my best friend too,” Leanna said.
But there came a time when Leanna decided to sneak out of the palace to pay Simon a surprise visit.
Leanna was a little nervous because she was not beautiful like her sisters. She wondered if Simon would laugh at her because she was a plain princess.
Nevertheless, Leanna asked her friend Johnny, the stable boy, to help her hide under some hay on a cart so she could visit the village.
“Ok, but just this once,” Johnny said reluctantly.
Johhny rode the cart to the village. Leanna was very excited to see this new world. When the cart stopped, Leanna got out and dusted off the hay.
“You wait here,” she told Johnny. “I’m going to find my friend Simon."
Leanna asked everyone where Simon lived. They pointed her to a small house. Leanna met a nice old man.
“Are you Simon’s father?” she asked.
“No, I am his grandfather,” said the old man, smiling.
“I have a grandfather too,” Leanna said. “Do you know where Simon is?”
Simon’s grandfather nodded. “He is out in the fields, working.”
Leanna thanked the old man and headed towards the fields and where she saw many men working.
She tapped one young boy on the shoulder. “Do you know who Simon is?”
The boy looked at her in surprise. “Yes, I do.”
Leanna was happy. “Oh good! I want to surprise him. I’m his friend Leanna.”
The boy looked very stunned.
“What is wrong?” Leanna asked.
“Maybe you will find him later,” the boy said quickly. “He is working.”
“I will find him,” Leanna said, smiling. “I will just follow the palace wall and find our meeting place.”
The boy watched Leanna leave. Leanna did not know that the boy she had spoken to was Simon, for his face had been covered with sweat and dirt.
“I can’t meet a princess looking like this!” he thought, looking at his dirty hands and clothes. “If only I was cleaner...”
Meanwhile, Leanna could not find the crack in the wall in Simon’s forest. Frustrated, she returned to Johnny’s cart and went back home.
The next day, Leanna told Simon through the crack that she had visited him.
Simon acted surprised. “You were in my village?”
“Yes I was,” Leanna said grumpily. “But I couldn’t find you or this crack.”
“Don’t be mad,” Simon said laughing. “You must come again. For dinner!”
“When?” Leanna asked excitedly.
“Tomorrow!”
“Ok,” Leanna said. “I’ll have to tell Johnny to drive me out again.”
When Leanna told Johnny her plans, he was afraid. “If we get caught, I will lose my job,” he told her.
“Don’t worry, it will be our secret,” Leanna said. “I will hide under the hay again.”
But a stable man overheard Leanna and Johnny talking. He told the King and Queen about Leanna’s secret. The King and Queen were not happy with what Leanna was doing. “Leanna should not talk to the village people,” they said.
Leanna’s sisters were shocked at the secret. “I wonder how long she has been talking to the village boy,” one sister said.
The sisters went to Johnny and asked him about the village boy. Johnny was scared. “Will I lose my job because I helped Leanna visit the village?” he asked.
“If you tell us the boy’s name and where Leanna goes to meet him, we will tell the King and Queen not to fire you,” the sisters promised.
Meanwhile, Simon, Timothy, and their grandfather prepared a nice big meal for Leanna. They swept the house clean and wore their very best clothes. But Leanna did not come.Simon was very upset. “I wonder if she forgot,” he thought.
Back at the palace, the King and Queen were talking to Leanna. They said: “You cannot go back to the village. You will stay in your room for a week because you have been doing things without our permission.”
Leanna cried all night in her room. She knew Simon, Timothy and their grandfather were expecting her but she was not allowed to leave her room.
The next day, Leanna’s sisters visited Leanna’s secret forest and found the crack in the wall. They could see Simon on the other side, reading a book.
“Simon, you can’t see our sister anymore,” the sisters said. “You are only a commoner, not a prince. Leanna can only be friends with royalty.”
Simon was very hurt. He left and did not come back again. After a week passed, Leanna visited the crack in the wall. Simon was not there, but she found a letter from his grandfather. It read:
Dear Lea, Simon is very ill and he is dying. I know he would want to see you before he goes home to God.
Leanna was very worried. She ran to Johnny and told him Simon was dying.
“It’s important that I see him now!” Leanna cried.
Johnny agreed to take her to the village one last time. Once there, Leanna ran to Simon’s house. Simon’s grandfather took her to a room where Simon lay in bed. Leanna could see how pale Simon looked. His eyes were closed.
“Hello Simon,” Leanna said very softly. She was sad he was dying, but also very happy to see him at last.
Simon’s eyes slowly opened. “Hello Lea,” he said very weakly. But he smiled. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too,” Leanna said.
“I was the boy you met the first time you came to the village,” Simon confessed. “I was ashamed to tell you because I was so dirty.”
“I was ashamed because I’m just a plain princess!” Leanna exclaimed. “But you should've told me it was you. I don’t mind dirt. I get dirty all the time.”
“I don’t think you are plain,” Simon said. “You are my best friend.”
“You are my best friend too,” Leanna said tearfully.
Later that night, Simon died. Leanna was very very sad.
Simon’s grandfather gave Leanna a box. “This is from Simon,” he said.
Leanna opened the box and found a crown made of leaves and a note that read:
Thank you for being my very best friend.
Leanna held the box close to her. “This will be my treasure.” She would never forget her best friend.
Many many years went by, and Leanna became a woman. She married a prince and had a beautiful daughter whom she named Chantelle. Chantelle grew up into a lovely young girl.
As for Simon’s family, Queen Leanna made sure they were taken care of. She gave them a new house, and lots of cattle. Queen Leanna let Chantelle visit Simon’s grandfather and Timothy whenever she wanted. Although Timothy was a little older than Chantelle, they too became best friends.
Timothy and Chantelle never got tired of hearing Johnny and grandfather tell stories. Their favorite of course was about the crack in the wall... how a long time ago, a little princess and a little village boy became the best of friends.
All because of one, simple crack.
THE END