Chapter 11.

Unable to sleep, frightened by terrible nighttime dreams of sickness and death, Mikayla abruptly wakes up, startling Spencer in her arms. He jumps out of her arms. Giraffe pats Mikayla’s shoulder with her head, butterfly kisses Mikayla’s index finger, and coyote’s eyes pierces through the wind and glares past the tree. Coyote feels a need to watch over Mikayla for protection.

It is dark outside. The moon sings. The stars dance in constellations. The black sky whispers words of joy. Unable to return to sleep, Mikayla, Spencer, butterfly, coyote, and giraffe look up at the beautiful sky for reassurance of hope, joy, love, and safety.

After a few moments pass, Mikayla begins to cough again… again… and again. The animals have confused faces, because they thought the tea they made would work. “I think we all should leave the grasslands. Mikayla is sick. You all can't sleep, and I'm having nightmares. I feel like something bad is going to happen. I don't think it's safe here,” coyote says.

“I'm having bad night dreams too,” Mikayals assures coyote of her discomfort. “Maybe we can find a resting spot in my town. 

Mikayla and the animals raise their shoulders, hang their heads high, and begin to march on the dirt road, in the direction of Johnston Town. They journeyed with might and courage, but the darkness was not silent. Along the way, they began to hear footsteps approaching from a far. The animals trimbled, but regained their resilience to continue along the path… Moments passed, and they began to hear the footsteps approaching again.

“Who is there?” Coyote boldly speaks.

“Maybe it's the cold darkness, windy dirt road, swaying grass, or trembling trees playing tricks on us,” giraffe reassures coyote of their safety.

“I hope so,” butterfly says.

Mikayla and the animals continue walking, as Mikayla continue to have random outbursts of coughing. The animals reassure her, that they will get her somewhere safe to heal her sickness…

The footsteps begin again.

…Far in distance, John sees a beautiful lady with sparkling deep brown eyes, long brown locs, and youthful brown skin. This time around, he assumes that it is her, as there are animals trailing beside her. John, joyfully leaps in their direction. “Mikayla,” he shouts in their direction, but he was too far away for Mikayla and the animals to notice who was making the sound. Butterfly shrieks. Giraffe shouts in surprise. Coyote looks around, scoots closer to Mikayla, and continues, boldly striding. Spencer trails next to Mikayla’s feet. The animals know that someone is near.

The witch magically pops up in thin air, in front of the sick Mikayla and startled animals. The witch flaps her arms to the sky, hums a song of destruction, and spikes jolts of flames to the ground. Nearly out of breath, John finally reaches Mikayla and the animals. He proclaims, “I love you Mikayla! I love you with…” 

Before, John could finish his statement, tornados - large in number fall from the sky, droves of sparkling purple monkey-headed, bumpy-tailed monster's fly from the sky and jump from place to place attacking him and the animals, and the witch casts a long wall of fire, dividing John and Mikayla. Mikayla screams and screams in sheer fear. She trips on a spark, and is scared for her life. The heat was getting hot. “Mikayla!” John shouted in her direction. The witch continued flapping her arms to the sky, and continued casting hate, destruction, and sickness into the air. Mikayla continued screaming and coughing, as her skin began to slowly turn purple, similar to that of John's purple skin.

“Now, it's our time to help John,” coyote shouts. The animals bulk up their strength and begin fighting with the monkey-headed monsters. The monkey-headed monster are strong, powerful, and aggressive, but the animals are quick witted, brave, and highly determined. Their in-sync combat moves, surprise the monkey-headed monsters. The animals don't give up on themselves, and continue fighting no matter how difficult it seemed with an army of monsters.

Mikayla continued to scream and cough as she tried to find her way past the wall of fire, but it was too hot, the wall was too thick, and the flames were growing higher and higher to the sky. She panicked.

“Why are you doing this?” John screamed in the direction of the witch, as he continued to fight off the monkey-headed monsters, with his father's swords, his monstrous claws, and his military combat skills.

“I told you!... You will never find happiness,” the witch laughed in an evil tone.

Struck with anger flaming in his body, love twirling in his heart, and determination resting on his shoulders, John had enough. “GRRRRR,” John growly very loudly like the monster he had became. He snatched out his claws, stomped his hoves, spun his antlers, and slapped his big furry chest. He whipped the monkey-headed monsters in his way, and flung them to the ground. He jumped through the wall of fire, and kissed Mikayla. As he confessed his love for her, the tornadoes began to disappear, the monkey headed monsters poofed away one by one, and the wall of fire began to go out.

“NO!!! STOP IT!” The witch shouted. She was filled with heaps and bounds of frustration. Holding the purple blushed and sickly Mikayla in his arms, John continued to confess his love for her. “I will always love you, Mikayla. Whether a man or a monster, I will always be filled with happiness with you, my family, and our animals. We will always be filled with love, joy, and happiness.”

“Stop it,” The witch shouted as her voice turned weak. Her dry skin became wrinklier. Her lips shriveled into the abyss. Her gray skin wreaked of foul odor, and her eyes turned blank. She vanished, turing into the dust of dawn, her remnants fell to the ground in ashes. Mikayla’s skin tuned back into a beauty and her coughing ceased to exist. The once, purple deer-headed monster transformed back into the handsome John. 

The curse had been broken.

After looking into each other's pure soul, John and Mikayla look around to find their animal friends. Butterfly, coyote, and giraffe’s animal bodies laid motionless on the ground. Their human spirits had risen. The curse, definitely had been broken. They were drenched in pleated leather skirts, styled in large black fur coats, and sporting flamed weaponry. “Are you my enemies,” John said. “Why are you three dressed like the Cruel Nation soldiers. Why are you human? Why are you dead?" John was confused.

“We are your friends, forever!,” the once giraffe, now the human Sarah said. “We are filled with love in our hearts as well. Our garments represent the nation we ran away from for our own safety.”

“We did not want to be forced into drafting into a military that wanted to harm neighboring communities,” the once butterfly, now the human Gerald said. “We did not support the messages taught by the Cruel Nation, so centuries ago, we ran away to seek refuge.”

“That's how we landed in the hands of the witch,” the once coyote, now the human Claude said. We stumbled across her house, knocked on her door, and begged for help. We were running low on coins and food, and no place to live. She promised to give us a place to live with plentiful food, land, and free range, so we eagerly signed the contract that she presented to us.”

“Moments later…” Gerald said.

“Our life was over,” Sarah said

“We had been magically transformed into a butterfly, giraffe, and coyote,” Claude said “...and she transported us to the nearby grasslands, where we would live for the next few centuries of our lives, until you and Mikayla showed up.”

“Now we are free!” Gerald shouted in amusement.

“It feels so wonderful to be myself again,” Sarah said as she hugged herself.

“Our curse has been broken,” Claude said.

The animals thanked Mikayla and John for finally breaking the curse. Strucked with joy and sadness at the same time, Mikayla and John hugged their once animal, now human friends goodbye, as they passed through twinkling white lights in the distance.

. . . . .

The next day, John, in a fitted brown suit jacket and khaki slacks, anxiously roamed around his room, until a knock was at the door. It was his mother, Queen Viola. With a smile on her face, she hugged John and handed him a letter. She said, “Here. Your father wanted you to have this. It's the letter from his office.” John's eyes lowered with tears, as he read the letter, filled with his father's fresh fingerprints and long ago scribbles:

“Dear, John,

I want you to know how proud of you that I am. You are a fine fellow with a great heart. You are a gentleman, more than a ruler, and a friend, more than royal. I hope this letter finds you in a happy and joyous time in your life. I just wanted to tell you that the extra land the Cruel Nation had been complaining about was previously inhabited, but not by their community. It was lived on by our past ancestors centuries ago, some taken as captives and others forced into drafting into the Cruel Nation army. Many of them forgot their origins, and took on the titles of being a Cruel Nation citizen. The Regal Nation and the extra acres were owned by our native ancestors. I was unknowing of this, did some research in the public library records, and found out a few days after the Grand Fellows Ball in April. Forgive me for not telling you, my son, but I was ashamed of not knowing all of our history, in which I thought I knew. Enjoy the happiness in your lifetime.

I love you forever,

Father"

John and his mother joyfully hugged each other, and then headed outside in front of the bronze doors. The ceremony was about to begin. With her long locks styled in a right-side braid and decorated with bright Summer flowers and dressed in a floor-length, floral yellow ball gown, Mikayla walked through the entry way with Spencer accompanying by her side. John was beyond mesmerized. The town squares's bell rang loudly throughout the town, the choir sang a song of forever love, and the crowd of guests gleamed with large smiles on their faces. After making her way up the steps to John, John and Mikayla kissed. At that moment, life was in bliss. Love blew through the wind. Joy fell from the sky. Their eyes sparkled brighter than the sun. Happiness flung from their hearts, kissed the palms of the hands, and spread throughout the town to everyone of the land. Thus, Happiness Always Wins!

THE END.