Her Name Shall be Belle (on hold)

Chapter Two: The Little Prodigy

Chapter Two:

"Daddy! Mommy! Look! It's a swallowtail butterfly! They are very rare here! I read about them! I cannot believe I am actually seeing one!" The five year old Belle frolicked around the royal garden chasing butterflies, but not catching them or else it would hurt their wings and kill them. She was a very gentle soul, with much kindness and spirit. Her most favorite thing to do was read. She would read anything. She had no preferences. Colette had read to her since before she was one, and she picked it up quickly. At two years old she could point out words and speak with impressive fluency. The garden she was playing in was more like a courtyard. It was in the middle of the castle, but it had no roof. It was surrounded by windows that looked into the library. The courtyard was Belle's second favorite place in the castle. Her first favorite place was the library. Most of her days were spent curled up in the balcony of the library. All of her hiding places were in the library. When Moe was busy running the kingdom, Colette and Belle would sit in their secret place in the library. No one knew about it, not even Moe. If Belle had trouble reading a word, Colette would help her and give her an approving smile. When a maid would walk in they got very quiet and when she left they laughed and giggled until they couldn't breathe anymore. Then Colette would sneak into the kitchen and grab food for them to eat and they would stay up all night long reading good books. This behavior brought on Belle's urge to live in the library. At eight years of age she begged and begged to Moe and Colette. Moe always thought she should act more like a princess, but Belle was only eight and didn't understand her duties as a princess yet. When they finally said yes, she packed up everything by herself and went to the far corner of the library, next to the children's books. Her living space was always neat and dusted. She kept everything in tip-top shape and organized. After about four months of living in the corner of the library, she had finished the children's section and moved on to the history books. She wasn't amazed by history, but it still interested her. The real interest came when she was about 12 and moved into the adventure section.