|🌴| Shipwrecked Princess |🌺| A Novel |🌺| Complete |🌴|

🌴 Chapter Forty 🌴

Essa was now left alone in the room, she turned towards the mirror. She looked at her reflection and couldn't believe she was seeing the same girl. 'This is me.' She thought, running her hands over the silky fabric. She turned to her animal family. "You don't know how much this means to me, thank you. Thank you all."

Indigo ruffled his feathers, displaying them as he nestled himself into a plush pillow. "There is no thanks needed. We wanted to do this to you so you can have some wonderful memories to have with you when we return to the island." He sincerely smiled, simply glad she was ready to have a good time.

Shylar nodded as she jumped down from the chair she was in and trotted over to Essa. "You look so pretty! I knew those colors would look good on you! It reminds me of the sunset and I know how much you loved watching the sunset." She recalled how Essa would sit on the highest peak, just watching the sunset over the horizon.

Essa laughed fondly, crouching down and rubbing the tiger cub's head. "Thank you for picking them out. It does remind me of our island's sunsets . . . which I miss." She sighed sadly for a brief moment. "I'm so happy to be returning home. I - I miss it." Her heart yearned for the island.

Bananas paused midway from putting another grape he had found on a dish on the table in his mouth. "You'll surely make a statement! I have no doubt you will have a good time because you don't get many chances like this! This is your only chance and we want you to take full advantage of it! That's what Sajuah said!" He grinned, stuffing the grapes into his mouth.

Essa had forgotten about Sajuah, with all that had happened she hadn't seen that cat around. She wondered how she was doing. "Sajuah said that? Well, I don't know about taking advantage of it, but I will try and enjoy myself. I don't know how well I'll do considering I've never been to a ball before. I don't know much about it other than dancing and talking is involved." Her nervousness chewed the inside of her lip.

Roki looked over at Bananas and rolled his eyes. He shook his head and focused on Essa. "Look at you. You've grown since coming here. I'm proud of who you've become. After all, you've been through, you still are sticking around for William. No matter how much it is hurting you, you care about him. That's the Essa I know, the girl who puts others before her."

Essa felt touched by his words, but they also stung a little. "I still don't know why I'm sticking around. My heart aches knowing he has feelings for me but he will never be able to tell me how he feels or even returns them. That must be awful." She could understand how he felt, if only she hadn't known then maybe things would have been better.

Roki could tell Rosalya telling her that was a burden on her. He knew Rosalya meant well, but Essa didn't need to know he had feelings for her. "It's also awful for you. Having feelings for a walking stick you'll never be able to tell either. That feeling you'll never be able to feel again since our island doesn't have walking sticks." Even he could see how awful that would be.

Essa didn't realize that before, and when Roki had brought it to her attention, she felt a pang of sadness. "I've never thought about it like that. I never realized that this is my last chance to be around others like me before returning home to an island full of animals - not that it's bad or anything." She quickly added, not wanting them to think wrongly of her words.

Roki understood what she meant even if she didn't clarify. "That is why we want you to have a good time tonight. I want you to think about yourself. Forget about all that is making you hurt and try to find happiness in the little things." He threw her an encouraging smile, knowing she needed some encouragement.

Essa listened to his words. She let them resonate in her mind. "Think about myself. Forget all that is hurting me. Find happiness in the little things." She repeated in a mantra. "I'll keep that in mind. I don't know how to act when I see William, or even what to say ‐ oh, I'm doing it again." She exclaimed, frustrated that she was falling back into that mindset.