Stolen Truth

11

The day before we left was full of celebrations, everyone was trying to get one last night of fun in before the fear started to settle in. This was for the group that were leaving, this was something to remember the camp by, just in case anything did happen.

Whilst everyone else was preparing for more celebrations tonight, Dove and I were sat with Bunny and the other children, playing and laughing. Dove and I hadn't talked about the incident behind the bush since it happened, although Bunny never missed a chance to tease us about it. Bunny was still wearing the flower crown we made that day, despite the fact that many of the flowers has begun to die. I was wearing mine as well, when Dove saw me wearing she couldn't stopped laughing, Bunny defended me, saying that it made me look like a princess, this only seemed to amuse Dove even further.

It was nice to smile and laugh, even with the danger looming ahead of us. Bunny and the other kids were having a very serious discussion about which game to play next, all of them were arguing and they couldn't agree on anything.

"Why don't we play Dragon Princess?" One of the girls yelled.

"It's Dragon Prince!" One of the boys argued, "But I suppose we can play."

"What's Dragon Princess?" I asked.

"Basically, one person is the prince or princess and they stand on the stump. Everyone else is a blank and they have to try and knock the prince or princess off the stump."

"Okay," I said, "Who wants to go first?"

"Me!" Bunny yelled, "I have a crown, so I should be the princess."

"Rat has a crown too," Dove said teasingly, "Maybe he should be the princess?"

"Yes!" All the kids agreed, shouting my name excitedly.

"Fine, fine," I surrendered, letting them guide me to where I was to stand on top of the stump. All of the children backed away and took their places around the stump, waiting for Dove to give the word.

"Go!" Dove shouted, and all of them ran at me at once, desperately trying to push me off. It was Bunny who eventually managed to knock me off the stump, she ran at me from behind and jumped on my back, causing me to fall flat on my face into the dirt.

"Ouch," I said meekly, rolling over to see Bunny stood on the stump, triumphantly lifting the flower crown off her head and holding it up.

"Oi!" one of the boys yelled, "It was me who knocked him off."

I slowly got up and observed the situation, the boy was trying to push Bunny off the stump and rip the flower crown out of her hands. I walked forwards steadily and stood just a little behind Bunny in case she did fall off. She was currently battling the boy for her flower crown, both of them were pulling on it hard and they both managed to rip it in half.

Bunny stumbled backwards, and I helped her off the log, tears began to fill her eyes and soon they were streaming down her face. "He broke my crown!" She cried, "How can I be a princess now?"

I chuckled softly and knelt down so that I was at her level, I slowly reached for my head and took off the worn flower crown before placing it gently atop her head.

"B-but how are you going to be a princess now?" She asked, her lip quivering slightly.

"You don't need a crown to be a princess," I said gently, "Do you think that prince we're going to look for is just walking around with a crown on?"

"No," Bunny mumbled, shaking her head.

"Exactly, but he's still a prince, isn't he?"

"Yes!" Bunny said, happier this time.