Princess Carmelita (Chp 1)

PRINCESS CARMELITA
(Adapted from the movie “El Laberinto Del Fauno” or “Pan’s Labyrinth”)

A long time ago, in the Underground Realm, where there are no lies or pain, there lived a Princess who dreamed of the human world. She dreamt of blue skies, soft breeze and sunshine. One day, eluding her keepers, the Princess escaped. Once outside, the brightness blinded her and erased every trace of the past from her memory. She forgot who she was and where she came from. Her body suffered cold, sickness and pain. Eventually, she died. However, her father—the King—always knew that the Princess’ soul would return, perhaps in another body, in another place at another time. And he would wait for her until he drew his last breath, until the world stopped turning…

Maya loved that hometown legend. She had heard it since she was 3 years old. Her grandmother used to tell her that tale every night before bedtime, and whenever she asked the old woman if the Princess ever made it back to her world, she would always reply, “It’s up to you, darling. You can choose the ending, whether she made it back or not.”

That was before the village matchmaker Madame Adrianna came. The old bag of bones who was more wrinkly and more bent than her grandmother came to her house unexpectedly on a Sunday morning—three days after her 5th birthday—and spoke very long and very much in earnest with her parents and grandmother, carrying a whole bunch of gadgets and trinkets that she had never seen before and flaunting them proudly at them. Madame Adrianna was very well-known for making almost accurate predictions and having very high successful rates of matchmaking people, and was considered as one of the most important member of the high-society groups. It was no wonder her family seemed surprised and honoured that she would come all the way to make a house call.

She couldn’t understand much of what Madame Adrianna was talking about at that time (you can’t expect much from a 5-year-old), but she remembered watching every facial expression her parents and grandmother in the living room made while she pretended to be very interested with a storybook. First they looked happy, then concerned, then slightly distraught, and finally relenting, thanks to the matchmaker’s persuasive words. She quickly looked back at her book when her family turned to look at her, but she could tell from the atmosphere that things would never be the same again.

Since then, her parents and grandmother treated her like a princess. Despite their not-so-well-off background, they tried to give the best for her. She often got the bigger share of her meals and better clothes than they were wearing, and had her every whim and fancy met as best as possible. Even when she went out to help her mother with the groceries, people showed her with leveled respect and offered her the best they have in their stock. Passers-by and neighbours would greet her whenever she was outside reading her storybooks or playing with her pet dog and would occasionally drop by to present gifts to her and other household necessities to her family. Friends would be extremely nice to her and get her anything she’d asked for. And, as usual, her grandmother would tell the same tale of the runaway Underground Realm Princess before she went to bed. Everything was well looked after and soon she was allowed to do anything she wanted, not doing chores included.

She didn’t understand it at first and took everything they gave for granted. But then, things began to change when she was 8 years old. Strange people started coming into her house to talk matters with her family and started taking her things away. When she asked why, her family avoided the question. Then her family started to grow more and more distant. She continued to receive excellent treatment from them, but she began to feel like she was more of a VIP guest than of a daughter. They didn’t talk to her as much anymore and her grandmother stopped coming into her room to tuck her to bed and tell her the Princess’ story. More than often, she was required to stay in her room and only allowed out at the yard for at least two hours to catch some sun. She stopped going to school as the strange people arranged for a private tutor to educate her. More gifts continued to come in steadily by neighbours, family friends and relatives, which she could only observe through the crack of her door or at the window that had the view of her front yard. Her friends stopped coming to visit her after many days of being able to only talk to them behind the door, and more and more of those strange people came to take her things away, regarding her once in a while. Maya felt alone. So alone that sometimes she would cry herself to sleep at night.

She would give anything just to have at least one goodnight kiss and the Princess’ story from her grandmother.

Finally, on the eve of her 10th birthday, her grandmother popped her head through the door asking her to take a bath she had prepared for her. She had left her the most beautiful blue dress made of silk nicely hung outside the bathroom door, waiting to be worn after she bathed. When she was done, she was called for to dinner at the dining room, and when she got there, she discovered that her family had held a lavish feast for her. Thanks to the food given by the people in her village, for once, the family got to eat a meal fit for a king. There was chicken, beef stew, boiled vegetables, potato soup, fish and custard cake set aside for dessert later. As usual, Maya got the biggest portion, and they were chatting merrily like a normal family again. Everyone looked happy and Maya was glad that whatever was going on, it was over and that things have finally come back to normal.

Just when she thought everything was the way it should be, it was not meant to be. When the clock struck at 8 o’clock sharp, there came a knocking on the door. Maya’s parents and grandmother immediately had a change of mood as soon as they heard the first knock. Maya’s father excused himself and went to the door to answer it. Standing outside were the strange people again. One of them, whom she remembered taking her dolls and storybooks away, remained at the door while the rest went up to gather whatever remaining things were left in her room to be put onto the carriage which was waiting patiently outside.

“Is she ready?” the strange man asked.

“Please. Just one more hour with her,” her father begged.

“We’ve made a deal, Mr. Andre. I assumed Madame Adrianna has gone over the specifics with you and your family.”

“At least let her have a piece of cake. Tomorrow is her birthday.”

“Mother, what’s going on?” Maya asked worriedly. Her mother remained quiet, a sad look hung on her face. Her grandmother had the same look on her face too.

No one gave away anything. Maya continued to be left in the dark. And it still remained that way after the strange man allowed her father to have her biggest piece of cake and took her away as soon as her parents and her grandmother hugged her goodbye. Silence continued to hover around her as the strange man escorted her into the carriage and handed her one of her storybooks he had taken from her to read while it took her further and further away from her village and into the outback. She turned around to see most of the villagers coming out of their houses waving goodbye at her, her family being part of the crowd. She tried to ask the strange man where they were going and why her family was not coming with her, but he gave her a disconcerted look and stared out at the window. No one told her why and where they were taking here. Everything happened almost so fast that she had not the time to comprehend all this.

This was going to be a long ride.