It's just too little, too late....

A long time ago, there was a beautiful queen named Dianna. She lived in a high castle in a small town called Dublin, Ireland. One snowy day in Dublin, the queen was up in her castle and she opened the shutters when she accidentally slit her finger on the glass. The blood dripped from her finger onto the snow and she admired it. She said,

“One day I will conceive a precious baby girl. She will have auburn brown hair and chestnut brown eyes. Her porcelain skin white as snow, and her lips crimson red.” Well, a few years later, the queen finally got her wish and she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Her name was to be Devonne Levesque. Five years after Devonne was born, the queen passed away. Devonne and her sister Maria were left in the care of the queen’s sister. Devonne grew up to be a gorgeous young lady. She always spoke with honor and gave all her elders respect.

One important thing Devonne inherited from her mother was the ability to sing. At the tender age of sixteen, Devonne was already singing like a superstar. But little did she know she had a secret admirer from afar. He lived right next to her, but she never really seemed to notice him. He would look through his bedroom window and see her sometimes across the castle. He was a prince and he lived in a castle with his two brothers who were also princes. One day he saw her down at the pond sitting on the grass. Her long, beautiful auburn brown locks flowed down to her back and her cheeks tinted from the wind. He thought she looked gorgeous. Figuring she was alone, she started to sing a song she had made earlier.

“Don’t ask why, before we get too close, just let me say goodbye, it’s easier this way, don’t ask why before you ask the question and I die inside just let me walk away.” When Prince Adam heard that, his heart almost skipped a beat. She was pretty and she could sing. He snuck through the trees to get closer to her. If he took just one more step, he could be able to smell the scent of her hair. He leaned in and took a deep breath. She smelled of vanilla and raspberry. But then he took a step too far and fell right next to her. Devonne’s breath hitched in her throat because of the closeness.

He got up and extended his hand to her.

“Hello,” he said shyly. “Hi,” she responded. “Sorry about that. I was trying to see if I could find any ducks out here. I wasn’t spying on you or anything,” he said nervously. “Oh. Well, I’m Devonne,” she said, blushing. “I’m Prince Adam, nice to meet you,” he replied. “So do you live around here or something?” he asked genuinely.

“Yeah, my castle is right over there,” she said pointing to it. “Oh, that’s funny because I live in that castle right next to it,” he said trying to hide a smile. “So that must mean we’re next door neighbors, then,” she said, standing up. “Yeah, probably,” he said with a smirk. “Well I guess I should be-ow!” he exclaimed when he went to walk. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “I think I injured my leg when I fell,” he said wincing. Adam pulled up his pant leg and saw his leg was bleeding.

“Oh my goodness, are you okay?” she gasped.

“Yeah, I’m fine I just-ouch!” he exclaimed when he tried to walk. “Maybe you should sit down,” she said while she coaxed him to the floor. “What are you going to do, then?” he asked, worried that she might leave him alone. “I’m going to go get some peroxide and some bandages,” she said while running to the castle. Adam just sat there, his leg still gushing blood. He bit his lip so he wouldn’t cry from the pain. When Devonne came back, he was still on the grass wiping the blood form his leg. “Don’t touch it, you’ll only make it worse,” she scolded him. She kneeled down in front of him and opened the peroxide bottle. “Now this might sting a bit, so grin and bear it,” she explained when she poured the peroxide on his leg. Adam bit his lip so hard he was certain he drew blood. He figured if he paid attention to her, the pain would go away. She looked so innocent with her baby face. She didn’t even look like she was sixteen, she looked much older. When the peroxide dried, she took the bandages and wrapped them around his leg. She tied it in a knot tight so it wouldn’t unravel. “There we go. Now don’t take the bandage off or else it will get infected.” “Thank you so much,” he said shakily. “You’re welcome,” she replied. He got up carefully so he wouldn’t fall down again. “Do you need any help getting home?” she asked. “No, I’m fine,” he yelled back while he limped back to the castle. Devonne had a warm smile on her face.

She skipped all the way back to the castle and up to her bedroom. “I think I’m falling in love,” she whispered to herself. Maria Levesque was in her bedroom admiring herself in the mirror. Maria did not like her sister Devonne. She thought she was prettier than her. Maria had a mirror in her room that was magic and could see everything. Every day the mirror would reply the same, “you are the fairest of them all.” But one day she asked the mirror the same question and he said Devonne Levesque was more prettier. This made Maria very mad. So she hired a hitman to find her sister and kill her. So the hitman went out on a search for Devonne Levesque. When he found her, he couldn’t believe his eyes. She was dancing and twirling, her long auburn curls following after her.

She looked so beautiful, even Aphrodite would be jealous of her. He did not want to harm her, but he knew he had to get the job done. So he crept up behind her with the ax and almost took a swing at her when she turned around and jumped away.

“Who are you and what are you doing with that ax?” The hitman dropped his ax and fell to his knees. “Oh, please forgive me, fair maiden I was hired by your sister to find you and kill you,” he explained. “Oh my goodness, what should I do?” she asked. “Run, run away to the city and never come back!” he bellowed. So Devonne did as she was told and ran all the way to the city. She was scared. She had never been this far away from home before. As she was walking, she noticed a couple of guys walking across the street. They also noticed her and started yelling at her. “Hey there, sweet cheeks, you looking for a good time?’ one of them hollered. “Hey baby, nice rack!” the other screamed. She covered herself and kept on walking. What am I going to do now? She thought to herself. It was getting dark and she didn’t want to be out his late. She came across a little shelter that looked like it was for orphans. She knocked on the door, but nobody answered. When she tried the doorknob, it was unlocked. She opened the door and turned the lights on. The place was a mess. There were dishes everywhere in the sink, the table was covered with used plates that were dirty, and the floor needed to be mopped. Who could live in a place like this? she said to herself.

She shut the door behind her and walked around.

In the corner next to the window, she saw a mop.

“I guess the people that live here wouldn’t mind if I cleaned up a bit.” So she grabbed the mop and waxed the floor. Then when she was finished, she washed all the dishes. She was so tired she thought she was gong to pass out. So she went upstairs and found their bedroom. It was a big room with 7 beds going across. “My goodness, I’m so tired. I guess I should lay down and take a nap.”

So she went to the bed all the way next to the window and fell asleep. Meanwhile, walking down were seven boys who had just gotten off work and they just wanted to go home and sleep. They opened the door and their mouths dropped open. Someone or something had been in their house. The floor was spotless, and all the dishes were in the rack. “What the fruit happened here?” the blonde one said. “Looks like our house has been cleaned,” the brown haired one replied. “Well it doesn’t matter now, let’s go upstairs and straight to bed,” the blonde one said. So they went upstairs and turned the lights on. Suddenly they noticed at the very edge of the room there was a girl sleeping in one of the beds. “What is going on now? First our kitchen is clean, now there’s a girl sleeping in our beds.” “Maybe she’s a ghost.”

“Maybe she’s dead.” “If she was dead, she wouldn’t be sleeping or breathing, would she?” Slowly they walked up to her and examined her. She looked so harmless and innocent. “Gosh, she’s beautiful.” “You think she has a boyfriend?” “I hope not.” Suddenly, she started tossing and turning in her sleep. “You think she’s having a bad dream?” “Of course not, if she was, she would be making noises in her sleep.” Suddenly she woke up and looked around. The seven boys just stared at her. “Holy crap! She is hot!” “Hello,” she said quietly. “Why are you in our house?” “Oh, this is where you guys live? I’m so sorry,” she said, looking embarrassed. “It’s okay.” “I’m Alexander.” And these are my brothers, Adam, Jacob, Martin, James, Rievers, and Thomas. “I’m Devonne,” she said shyly. “Were you the one that cleaned our house?” asked James. “Yeah, I just couldn’t stand seeing a messy house so messy. Where are your parents?” she asked.

All seven of them lowered their heads. “We don’t have any parents, we’re orphans,” said Jacob sadly.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” said Devonne. “Oh that’s okay, some people think we have different parents, anyway,” said Thomas. “Well, do you guys mind if I stay here for a few days? Apparently, my sister is trying to have me killed so I can’t go back home,” she explained. “Why that’s horrible, I can’t believe someone would want to kill a beautiful girl like you,” said Martin. “Well in that case, welcome to our home,” said Alexander. “Thank you guys so much, I really appreciate it,” she said happily. “But, do you promise that you will help out around the house every day?” asked Rievers. “Of course, why wouldn’t I?” said Devonne. All seven of them jumped for joy. So they went to bed dreaming of the next morning. Back at home, Maria asked her mirror who was the prettiest girl. The mirror replied, “Devonne Levesque is the fairest one of all.” She now resides in a shelter home with seven orphans in the city.” Maria was furious. This meant that the hitman did not complete what she had told him. So she thought of another idea to get rid of her sister. The next morning, the seven orphans and Devonne woke up to start to start the day. Devonne washed all the dishes and made them all breakfast. When they were finished, they cleaned up and got ready for work. “Now Devonne, you have to promise us that you will not let anybody in while we’re gone, okay?” said Jacob. “Okay, I won’t,” said Devonne. So they said their goodbyes and went to work. Back at the castle, Maria was working on a special treat for Devonne. She decided to disguise herself as a twenty year old woman who was selling strawberries. But one of the strawberries were poisonous and anyone who took a bite out it would die instantly. So she took the strawberries and left. Devonne was back in the house reading a book when she heard a knock on the window. She put the book down and went to the kitchen. “Strawberries! Strawberries for sale!” yelled the twenty year old Maria. She went up to Devonne’s window and said, “Hello dearie, would you like some strawberries?” “Of course I would, how much are they? “They’re actually a dollar each, but since you’re so beautiful, you can have some for free,” she said. “Excellent! But are you sure those strawberries are fresh?” asked Devonne. “Honey, not only are they fresh, they’re magic! If you take just one bite, the one you truly love will love you forever,” she said dramatically. Devonne thought about it and wondered. The one she truly loved would be with her forever. “Okay, I guess one bite wouldn’t hurt,” said Devonne. So she picked up one of the strawberries and washed the tap water. “No, don’t take that one, take the reddest, juiciest one,” said Maria. So Devonne picked the one Maria told her to pick. She wondered what it would be like to have the one be with her forever.

“Thank you very much,” said Devonne. “No problem, I hope you enjoy it,” said Maria with a mischievous smile on her face. As soon as Maria was out of sight, she listened out for any noise.

Devonne held the strawberry by the leaves and took a big bite out of it. “Mmmm, that’s good,” said Devonne. Suddenly she started feeling weird.

“Oh my goodness, why do I feel so weak and dizzy?” she said out loud. The room started spinning and her knees gave in. Then all of a sudden, she fell to the ground. As soon as Maria heard silence, she gave a devilish smile. “I did it! I finally got rid of my sister! Now I am the fairest one of all!” she cried triumphantly. Soon the seven orphans came home after a hard day of work. When they went in, what they saw shocked them.

“Devonne, where are y-” Jacob stopped when he saw her lying on the floor next to the diner table.

“Oh my god, she’s dead!” exclaimed James. Martin immediately turned pale and ran over to her. “Devonne, Devonne, please wake up!” he cried out. But there was no response. The orphans were devastated that their beloved Devonne was gone. Martin couldn’t hold back the tears that spilled from his eyes while he cried. They decided to hold a funeral for her, but they put her in a case with silver lining. One by one, all seven of them carried her back to the castle where she lived. They set her down by the pond where she loved to sing and dance. Then they each said a prayer and added a rose to the edge of the casing. Then they began to sing a song that James had made specifically for the funeral. “Show me the meaning of being lonely, this is the feeling I need to walk with, tell me why I can’t be there where you are, there’s something missing in my heart.” Prince Adam heard all the noise, so he went over to see what was going on.

“What’s happening here?” he asked one of them.

“One of our closest friends passed away,” said James disappointedly. “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. What was their name?” he asked. “Her name was Devonne,” Jacob said while a stray tear ran down his face. The name forever echoed in his mind. He immediately ran to her side to look at her. She looked like a beautiful princess. Adam could feel the pain stabbing at his heart, his eyes were filled to the brim with water pouring down his cheeks. Finally, he wiped them off and began to speak. “Devonne Levesque, even though I’ve only known you for a day, I feel like I’ve known you forever. I love the way your cheeks turn pink when you blush or when it’s windy. I love how you always smell like vanilla and raspberries. And I love it when you sing, your melodious voice can warm anybody’s heart. I’ve been too afraid to tell you this, but I have the strength and courage to tell you now: I love you, Devonne Levesque. I love you so much and I always and forever will,” he said, his voice choking. He opened the case and take a deep breath. Then he leaned in and kissed her softly. Suddenly, Devonne’s eyes opened and she sat up. “What’s going on here? Where am I?” she asked innocently. Everyone’s hearts took a big leap from their stomach. “She’s alive, thank god she’s alive!” rejoiced Martin. “Devonne, are you okay?” asked Adam. “Yes, I’m fine, but why am I in this case?” she asked, looking confused. “It doesn’t matter now, what matters is that I love you, and nothing’s ever going to change that,” said Adam. Devonne’s heart beat fast against her ribs. “Oh, I love you too, Adam!” she exclaimed happily. The both of them embraced in a long hug and finally kissed passionately. The seven orphans cheered as the saw their good friend alive and in love. Prince Adam got down on one knee and said to her, “Devonne Levesque, will you marry me and become my princess?” “Yes, of course I will!” she said joyfully. So the two of them rounded up their horses and got ready to say goodbye to the seven horses. “Will you promise to come and visit us, Devonne?” asked Jacob. “Of course I will, I love you guys too much to forget about all of you,” she replied enthusiastically. Then she turned to Martin, who looked like he was going to burst into tears.

“Martin, you know you mean a lot to me. When I first met you, you were so shy and timid. Now that I’ve known you, you have finally broken out of your shell and became the true mature man that you are. I love you very much and I will never forget you, my brave little solider,” she said cutely.

Devonne gave him a big hug and placed a kiss on his forehead. So Princess Devonne and Prince Adam got on their horses and rode of to her new home and her new future. And they both lived together in harmony happily ever after.

The End