Grammy Ronni looked up. She had
been staring the pile of mail for ten minutes and still could not believe that
her daughter Avy had finally sent a postcard from Germany to her. She hadn’t
heard from Avy in almost a year and was glad she was doing well. Mr. Savage had
never been Grammy Ronni’s favorite, but he made Avy happy and that was what
mattered. They had had several children, six in total, and all girls! Avy
always wanted a big family so Grammy Ronni was glad she was able to fulfill
that wish.
The
postcard had an alternative message to it though. Although Avy was happy, it
appeared her daughters were going out every night and they couldn’t figure out
how! They had hired almost every babysitter in the country and none had been
successful in finding out how they were getting out of the house. Avy had sent
the postcard requesting her mother’s help. Grammy Ronni was not sure if she
could leave her son David, but decided she had to do something! So, she told
David that she was going to have to travel to see Avy and would be back within
a month’s time.
Grammy
Ronni packed her bags and drove to the airport, still queasy about the decision
of leaving Jonathon unattended. Once at the airport she requested the earliest
flight to Germany and was told it would be an hour before she could board.
Grammy Ronni passed the hour by picking up a tourist book on Germany. She read
as much as she could while waiting for the plane as well as on the nine hour
flight to Frankfurt, Germany.
Once in
Frankfurt, Avy and Mr. Savage picked up Grammy Ronni.
“Hi mom! We’re so glad you came, we have lost just about all
hope in trying to discover our daughters’ secret.” Avy ran up and gave Grammy
Ronni a hug and Mr. Savage gave her a hug as well after.
“Well, I had to come and help my daughter! David has had me
long enough, and I haven’t seen you in what feels like forever!” Grammy Ronni,
Avy, and Mr. Savage grabbed her bags and drove to their home.
Once at their home, Grammy Ronni was introduced to all of
the daughters: Elsa, Anna, Julie, Rose, Cora, and Ronni. Grammy Ronni was very
honored to have had her name passed down to Avy’s daughter. They enjoyed the
afternoon and soon it was evening. Avy pulled her mother aside.
“Mom, please try to watch the girls and see where they go. I
am very worried that if we do not figure this out they will be kidnapped, or
worse!” Avy was in obvious duress about the situation and Grammy Ronni could
not have that.
“Don’t worry I will figure this out!” So Grammy Ronni went
and gave each girl a kiss goodnight and silently slipped into a chair in the
corner of their room. She then began to snore loudly so that the girls would
think she was asleep!
Slowly the girls began to slide out of their beds and get
dressed in beautiful dresses. They slipped on their shoes and opened the large
window in their room. As the last one climbed out Grammy Ronni carefully began
to follow them. They walked to a large lake and waiting at the shore line, were
six young men in boats! Each girl climbed in a boat and they were rowed across
the lake to a beautiful gazebo filled with lights and music. Grammy Ronni found
a boat a ways down the shore and quickly rowed to the gazebo to get a closer
look for herself! Once there, she took a cup from the party to show Avy and Mr.
Savage. She watched the girls dance and enjoy themselves, until they went to
their partners and asked to return home. Grammy Ronni quickly hopped in her
boat and rowed away before the girls could notice.
The next morning Grammy Ronni told Avy and Mr. Savage everything
she had seen and gave them the cup. This was more than enough evidence for Avy
and Mr. Savage. They called their daughters in and asked each of them if what
Grammy Ronni had told them was true. The daughters each said yes. Avy then
asked the girls if instead of going to dance, they would bring the boys to
their house for dinner so that Avy and Mr. Savage could meet them. The girls
agreed and were glad they were not being punished!
That night the girls each brought their dancing partner to
meet their parents. The boys were gentlemen and brought flowers and a small
gift. Avy and Mr. Savage met each of them and welcomed them into their home. After
dinner the boys went home and the girls stayed asleep that night.
Grammy Ronni stayed another week to travel and reconnect
with her daughter. Avy thanked her profusely for helping them find out where
their daughters were going at night. Grammy Ronni was glad to know that the
girls were not in trouble and that she had been able to help them. At the end
of the week, however, Grammy Ronni flew back home, with gummy bears for
Jonathon and a stuffed black bear to be friends with Mr. Piddles.
Author’s Note:
This week I based my story off of the
Twelve DancingPrincesses by the Brothers Grimm. I really liked this story because it had a lot
of description. The images of the princesses were also very well done and I
loved the imagery evoked from it all. I wanted this to be my last story for my
portfolio and I wanted to tie Avy and Mr. Savage into the Grammy Ronni
storyline. I had already predetermined that Avy would be Grammy Ronni’s
daughter, but I wasn’t sure exactly how I would connect all the dots. The
Twelve Dancing Princess story seemed to be perfect though! I changed a few
things from the original story, however. In the original there are of course
twelve daughters, which seemed a lot of children for today’s world. So I cut
the number in half to six! I also made the suitors a babysitter, so that the
girls would not be marrying at too young of an age. I liked that the girls
ended up with their ‘princes’ because in the story they don’t and it made me a
little sad to see the girls not have a happy ending. I also wanted to end with
Jonathon getting treats and Mr. Piddles having a new friend!
