by Kathy Sattem Rygg -
Jetta Rose wanted to be a princess. Every day she spent hours practicing her princess moves. She was good at twirling and gliding, but her specialty was bowing. She even knew how many times to flutter her eyelashes when she smiled—five, to be exact.
Her closet housed an entire wardrobe of princess clothing, shoes, and accessories. Frilly dresses in pinks, purples, blues, and yellows lined the rack. Glittery shoes filled the shelves. And one beautiful, sparkling tiara rested on a white satin pillow tucked neatly inside a box. This was Jetta’s prize possession, and she only wore it when conducting serious princess business, such as trying to turn a frog into a prince. She hadn’t been successful at this yet, even though she had kissed a lot of frogs—six, to be exact.
One day during princess practice, her older sister Jordan Violet bounced into her room. “Which princess are you practicing to be today?”
Jetta Rose stopped in mid-twirl. “I’m Cinderella,” she said, taking her best bow.
Jordan Violet glanced at her sister’s light blue satin dress and silver slippers. “You can’t be Cinderella. She only wears one shoe.”
Jetta Rose looked down at her feet and frowned, then kicked off one of the silver slippers. “There. Now I’m Cinderella,” she said with a grin. Then she went into her closet and carefully removed her tiara from its satin pillow. She placed it on her head. Being Cinderella qualified as serious princess business.
The rest of the day she wore only one shoe. Her toes got a little chilly and the bottom of her bare foot got really dirty. Wearing only one shoe made her legs lopsided. She stumbled every time she tried twirling and gliding and lost her balance when she bowed, causing her tiara to fall off a bunch of times—seven, to be exact.
“I don’t want to be Cinderella anymore,” she said, taking off the silver slipper. That night she put her princess clothes back into the closet and carefully placed the tiara back on its satin pillow.
The next morning Jetta Rose put on a silky purple gown and gold shoes. Right after breakfast she started princess practice.
Jordan Violet galloped into her room. “I thought you were Cinderella?” she asked.
“That was yesterday. Today, I’m Rapunzel,” said Jetta Rose, taking her best bow.
Her sister looked at Jetta Rose’s dark, brown hair. “You can’t be Rapunzel. She has long, golden hair that goes down to the floor.”
Jetta Rose glanced at her reflection in the mirror and frowned...
