Once upon a time, in a far away forest lived three young girls. The oldest one Amilia was 19, then Bianca who was 18, and the youngest Arabela who was 16. Living in a little cottage, with a big garden, there was many chores that had to be done. Arabela being the youngest was forced to do most of the work and took the blame for everything. Amilia and Bianca were very harsh to Arabela; they made fun of her for everything only out of jealousy. They told her everyday that she was nothing and would never be worth anything. They told her she was the most horrid looking person they ever had seen, and that she will never be loved by anyone. Arabela didn’t listen to them; she just ignored them and went on with her life.

Arabela did everything on her own, her own cooking, cleaning; her sisters did nothing for her, but expected everything from her. She would go to the garden to collect the tomatoes, peas, carrots, and would pick the apples from the apple tree. As she did this, she would sing songs to keep herself entertained, and always whistle with the sounds of the trees in the wind. Her best friend was Hooey. He was an owl that she went to for most of her advice. Once in awhile she would go over the hill to get her water from the creek. While there she would daydream while staring hard at the castle where Prince Oliver lived. But then she would say to herself,

"Why do I even think about it? He doesn’t even know I live over the hill from him."

Then Hooey would reply out of nowhere and surprise her,

"One day your answers will all come."

Not even knowing what Hooey meant, she just thought it was good advice anyway. She hadn’t ever seen the prince, but she knew he had to be a handsome, romantic, smart boy who she would love to be with. Although there was no use of thinking about him, she still went home in such a better mode.

Arabela didn’t even attempt to ask to go because she knew they would never let her, or even think about letting her. So for the next month she worked very hard on her sister’s dresses. When they were finished, they were like looking at a sunset; they were beautiful. Arabela was so proud of herself for that, she didn’t even think about going to the ball.

The night of the ball the sisters were walking and the first words from the Prince’s mouth were, "Where is Arabela?"

Amilia surprised by the question didn’t even know what to say, but mumbled out, "At home."

Back at home, Arabela was out in the forest picking flowers, only the ones she loved of course. When she turned around, the first thing that caught her eye was the Prince! She was jolted. "What are you doing here; you are supposed to be at your birthday party?"

The Prince looked her in the eye and confessed, "I was only having the party so that we could get acquainted. I have been watching you for many years on the hill, and just didn’t know how to approach you. This was the only thing I could think of, and I wanted to do it in front of the whole community."

With a "HOOT" from Hooey, Arabela and Prince Oliver got married, and lived happily ever after.