Maybe more than a while. I felt a burning in my chest; anxiety I thought it was to be, but nonetheless, I tried to calm down to fully uphold myself. She sat beside me and sighed, “I know. It’s a lot to take in.”
My eyes twitched as I shot an anxious look at her, “YOU NEVER TOLD ME?!”
“Well, I-”
“I HAVE TOLD YOU ABOUT HIM FOR MONTHS AND YOU SAID NOTHING ABOUT HIM BEING YOUR UNCLE!”
I shook her back and forth like a crazed lunatic. Annabella tried to position herself as best as she could while I proceeded to shake her back and forth. I don’t remember what I screamed at her, but all I knew was that it was probably about her not telling me that Drosselmeier was her uncle. We had been friends for 4 years, and the least she could’ve done was tell me, “Hey! I know Drosselmeier! He’s my uncle!” She told me that she’d never keep secrets from me, but here we go. She’s revealing a secret she hid ever since I first mentioned Drosselmeier!
Likewise, she sighed as she got out a picture from the shelf. The picture looked old, dusty even. Cobwebs still hung on the sides; she plucked those off like small grapes. In the picture was a man with dirty blonde hair. I assumed that the black-haired woman was his wife and the children in the picture were their offspring. There was a dirty-blonde haired boy in the picture; his outfit was green with a hint of white on the sleeves. He had two yellow star stickers on his cheek; at least that’s what I thought of. His eyes were blue, and he looked a bit similar to his father.
“This was him… according to Ol’ Dross.” She spoke softly; my eyes widened, as then I realized the nutcracker from my dreams was the boy! But how…? It’s been 9 years and Drosselmeier ever told me that he looked so young yet mature! Annabella scoffed as she put the image down, “That Nutcracker is a brat, I tell you. I feel like you should watch your back. ”
“A brat?” I asked.
“He’s nothing but an entitled, selfish prince.” She scoffed. Pushing the image out of my hand, shattering the glass. She gave a nasty side-eye to the picture before going off to the kitchen, ending the discussion with, “I’m going to the kitchen. Do you want anything?”
With the sudden change of tone, I was still befuddled, confused and bewildered. Normally it’d make sense for me to go more into questioning, but I didn’t want to upset Annabella even more. I shifted gears in my mindset, asking her: “Do you have any Coca-Colas, Annabe-”
“Aurora.”
“What?”
“My real name is Aurora. Aurora Dawn Carter.” She sighed. I was processing a bit until my brain thought it didn’t make sense. We already have an Aurora in the friends' group. Now we have two Auroras! I was going to say something but I just corrected myself, “Sorry. Do you have any Coca-Colas, Aurora?”
She grabbed 2 cans of cola along with 2 glass cups with ice in them. She poured the cola in each cup, and she then grabbed Santitas Tortilla Chips, which had a post-it that said: “Annie’s Chips only”; She tore open the bag, poured it in a red bowl, and she came back with the stuff. Furthermore, she turned the TV on, and it was still on the DVD player.
I just stared at the TV, and she sighed, “I forgot to put in a movie.” Standing up, I walked to the cabinet which had a variety of movies; from children’s classics from the 50s to Christianity Movies from the 2000s. I scrolled through the DVDs and found one that caught my eye. It stood out of the shelf unlike those other movies.
Taking it out slowly, the title of the movie was called: “The Nutcracker Prince.” I tilted my head at the title, confused about what the movie was. Turning to the back, it was said to be released on November 21st, 1990. Just a month away from Christmas. The cover looked like something out of a Disney film. Annabella, oh I’m sorry, Aurora asked me, “Any good movies?”
“Just one,” I answered as I showed her the box. I approached the DVD player as I knelt down to put the DVD inside. It took a while for the DVD to process, but when it did, that’s all we watched for the night. It was indeed probably for the best that we watched this so I could just experience something that I’m going to miss here in Hawaii.
“Oh, The Nutcracker Prince! I forgot we had that movie!” Aurora surprisingly said. I held in my laughter as it took one DVD to refresh one of her memories.
As the music began to play, I felt soothed in a way that I’ve never felt before. I was swaying side by side when the music felt so majestic. It felt mysteriously relatable though. I have no clue how but, it was. I didn’t know how this movie had an effect on me, but as the movie proceeded, I chuckled at the section where it felt like a children’s cartoon. Not to give out any spoilers or anything, but it felt too funny to take seriously. But I must say, Kiefer Sutherland sounds wonderful as Hans.
Those are indeed my personal thoughts but they lingered in my mind as the film progressed. Aurora sighed as she chuckled a bit, “I remembered my aunt owned the VHS for this movie, but ever since her death, we weren’t able to find it.”
“That’s a bummer.” I answered with such sympathy. As the film was reaching the end, there was some stuff I wasn’t expecting but just knew that I was crying at the end of the film. I held onto Aurora as I cried hysterically.
“It’s just a children’s film. Sure, it’s enjoyable but-”
“I THOUGHT HE TURNED BACK INTO THE NUTCRACKER!!” I cried out. I could just feel her patting my back as I proceeded to bawl. That film tugged at my heart strings so hard like a ball of metal.
Minutes after the whole movie debacle, we just played board games and gossiped about the latest hot boys in the girls magazines today. I scrolled through the pages and I smirked a bit, “You know, I heard the Disney boys are the best go-to.”
“Yeah, I swear Disney chooses the best boys.” Aurora answered, “What about Warner Brothers?”
“Pass.”
I laughed as I continued to scroll through the magazines. But then, I felt something… I put the magazine down and walked towards the bathroom. I closed the door and washed my face, trying to get that feeling out of my body.
I breathed softly as I slowly looked at the mirror, only to be met with the reflection of a dark shadow of a monster. The monster screeched at the top of its lungs like a Wendigo combined with a bird’s chirpings. I screamed before slipping on some spilled water and hitting the floor, knocked out.
The Next Night came, tomorrow I leave Germany for the remainder of my small life. I sat on my bed, playing with my dolls. Soon, I felt a shiver down my spine. I look behind me, and it’s the mouse king again! This time, he pointed at the basket of all my sugar dolls. I knew that he wanted them, but those were given to me by my mother; they were so valuable. He shot me with a scary glare that said, “Give them to me, or I’ll kill you.”
I nodded as I gave him the basket of dolls. He then grinned as he bit off their heads one by one; I quivered in fear as each of the dolls' heads were bitten off. I could hear the squeaks of the dolls as each of their heads were bitten off. I wanted to stop it, but I couldn’t because my nutcracker’s life was at stake. As soon as the heads were bitten off, he grinned, “Thank you so much for the delicious treat, now I ask for all of your picture books! I want them on the floor before 3am!”
“3AM?!” I gasped.
His claws then came out like cat claws; I sweated a bit before I gave in. Running down the stairs, I went to go get the picture books that were given to me in my childhood. Soon, I noticed the cabinet. It was repaired, but that’s not what caught my eye. The Nutcracker stood still like the distinguished prince that he was, but his whole body was covered, from head to toe, in blood.
I took him out and gasped, my little heart pounded in fear as I worried about what the mouse king had done. I look up at the top cabinet to see the heads of most of Fritz’s Toy Soldiers, torn off. Most of them disputed blood, as their blood landed on the nutcracker. I turned my head back to him, pleading, “Nutcracker, I am so relieved that you’re okay. By the looks of it, the mouse king might’ve done this… but that isn’t the point of the matter, I need help! The Mouse king wants all of my stuff, and he says if I can’t hand it to him by 3AM tonight, you’re going to die! I don’t want you to die!”
Tears fell down my face, I held my body close as I felt a bit hopeless in myself; I felt like I was soon to fail in protecting my beloved nutcracker…
“M-Madame Stahlbaum?” I heard the voice. I opened my eyes and saw the nutcracker walking towards me. He sits on my lap, staring at me like a cute kitten. Pavlova, I guess, heard the voice too. He approached me and the nutcracker. I smiled a bit as I pet Pavlova, feeling some sort of relief.
I faced back to the Nutcracker as he held my finger gently. “I thank you, Miss Stahlbaum, but you will not need to sacrifice any more of your childhood items.”
“But what can I give?” I asked in despair.
“I will deal with the mouse personally, for he is my brother cursed; hand me a sword and I shall finish the deed in time.” He reassured me as he kissed my finger. I nodded as I held him in my arms.
“I am to soon return with a sword at your disposal.” I smiled as I placed the nutcracker on the table. I turned away, but then I had a small thought, “Oh wait, can I am-” I turned back, and he was still once again. Furthermore, I looked away in disbelief, but since I had nothing better to do, I decided to ask the one person who I can trust with toy soldier gear. Running up the stairs, I arrive at Fritz’s room; I noticed he’s asleep, so I gently nudged him for him to wake up fully.
“Fritz, wake up! He’s here!” I whispered softly.
“Who’s here?” He groaned as he awoke from his disturbed sleep
“The Mouse King! The Nutcracker needs a sword to fight him! It’s going to be a mighty duel!” I explained. Fritz’s eyes widened as he smiled. He went to a small chest that was on his cabinet; he took it off the cabinet and looked at me with an encouraging look in his eyes, “Okay, where’s the nutcracker?”
Both of us ran downstairs to the living room where the nutcracker stood still on the table; Fritz kneeled down and opened the box, “Dear Nutcracker! I give you this sword; this was a sword once held by my hussar before being dismantled in the snow. It is now yours, use it well during the battle between the mouse king!” He placed the sword by the nutcracker’s feet and Fritz sighed, “Now all we can do is wait…”
DECEMBER 22ND
Tomorrow…
It was soon time for me to go back to Germany after 9 years. I didn’t want to leave Hawaii for the Christmas break but I didn’t have a choice. After housesitting with Aurora for 2 days, I was able to catch up on some things regarding my dreams of the nutcracker, Godfather Drosselmeier and the other random stuff that I had to deal with.
Aurora sighed, “Marie… Promise you won’t forget me.”
I tilted my head, “Huh?”
“When you see him again, promise you won’t forget me when you get married?”
“Since when will I, Madame Marie Maier Stahlbaum, get married to whatever snob you described him to be?” I spoke it with a fancy British tone of voice. Aurora laughed as I did the accent, proving that during times of worry and distress, I can still make a couple of people laugh with my witty humor.
Soon, I packed my bags as the final hours arrived. Aurora hugged me for a final time before I left; I waved goodbye as I proceeded to go back home to get the rest of my stuff for the TAXI. Soon, I arrived, but I noticed that my family was almost ready to leave. I shrugged, walking upstairs to get bits of my stuff in check. I grabbed my pajamas, my toothbrush, my 3DS, my books and my sketchbook, only for me to put them in my bag. My charger, notebooks and random snacks that I wanted during the flight were in my carry-out. I looked at the window for a final time, looking at the beautiful view of Honolulu before it was time to leave.
“Marie! Let’s go!” My mother exclaimed.
“Come on, Butterscotch, the Taxi is almost here!” My father spoke joyfully.
“Coming!” I exclaimed, running down the stairs with my stuff in tow. I smiled as the taxi soon arrived; packing our luggage in the trunk of the taxi, we were driven to Daniel Inouye International Airport to be flown to Nuremberg, Germany.
I sat at the window seat, awaiting takeoff.
But soon..
I rested my eyes…
I fell asleep for the entire flight…
Dreaming…
Dreaming of the adventure I was soon to have.
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