'The Princess waves good-bye. 'It was wrong for you to take me away from my mother and father,' she calls across to them. 'I want to go back to them and to all my friends and neighbors. Now you must learn to bake bread and rolls for yourselves.'
'The Trolls look very sad as they wave back. We turn and walk into the
enchanted, tangled forest.'
***
The Little Old Man picks up his cane, slowly stands, and smiles at us.
'Our perilous crossing of the enchanted, tangled forest is the next part of the story,' he says. 'Everyone rise and stretch. Stamp your feet and swing your arms.' He points to a drinking fountain. 'Have a drink of water if you wish. Then, let's gather again in a little while and I'll tell what happened to us along the narrow, twisty trail that cut through the enchanted, tangled forest.'
The Same Tale: And then…
The first part ended with the Little Old Man telling us all to stand and stretch. That's what we, at Three Palms, did too. As we ate half our sandwich, Suzanne went on with the story. *** The Little Old Man continues.
'Here we are now,' he says as his eyes move from one side of the half- circle to the other. 'The Princess, you and I have just stepped across the magic line into the enchanted, tangled forest. We have escaped from the Trolls. We must find our way back to the cove where our ship is anchored. From there we will sail across the stormy seas, heading for home. Our Princess will be back with her mother and father who love her and miss her very much.
'But first, we must make our way to the other side of this enchanted, tangled forest.
''The Trolls tell strange tales about this forest,' the Princess whispers.
'She stares about at the thorny, dripping vines.
'The Trolls say there are THINGS in this forest. I hope we can get through to the other side without seeing them.'