2025 Flash Fiction Contest: Second Place

 Once Upon A Royal Fish 

Lillian K.

Based on the song Humuhumunukunukuapua'a by David Lawrence and Faye Greenberg

Once upon a time, I was simply a girl that had gone to a ball at the palace. Unlike other girls, I wasn’t there to meet the prince. I was there to meet the Minister of Domestic Marine Proceedings. After all, every girl’s dream was to earn an internship there and be able to care for the kingdom’s aquatic wildlife…right? 

As you know, every fairytale has its pumpkins to deal with. Mine was my little brother, Jonah, sneaking into the party wearing his herald costume complete with a bugle he got for Christmas. 

If you want to cause a royal catastrophe, you’ll need three things: Your brother pretending to be Little Boy Blue calling the sheep home. The prince’s fairy godmother getting bowled over by the king’s startled hunting dogs. 

And the sparkling pink wand flying from her hand and landing smack into the bowl of fruit punch. 

All this made for the perfect disaster when Prince Oren tried to retrieve the magic wand…but instead he got bibbidi-bonked. 

And that’s how I found myself trekking to a volcano with a full punch bowl, my backpack, and Prince Oren, who is now a fish. Yes. A fish. To top it off, Jonah came too, his bugle in hand. 

“At least it wasn’t because the fairy’s wrath was kindled,” Jonah said, giving the bugle a loud, triumphant toot. 

“Make way, oh people, for the prince and his entourage!” he cried.

Did I mention that he liked to read old fairy tales? He had checked out stacks of books about knights, fairies, chivalry, and more. It’s how he convinced me to find the fairy, Esmeray. After all, according to the tales he had read, she could fix this. Or, so we hoped. 

I stared at the slippery volcano face. “You know, no kids were allowed at the ball.” 

Jonah stood tall. “I’m twelve years old. Not a kid.” 

I sighed. 

“Besides,” he continued. “I wanted to come to the ball too. I like new adventures.” 

Technically, the ball wasn’t an adventure. All graduating students were invited to celebrate the end of the school year and they were given a chance to network for future jobs. Sadly, Oren’s future was already chosen for him (being the next king not a fish, mind you). Still, he was a good friend, determined to help me out and introduce me to the Minister to get my dream job. Unless I could undo the spell, that dream job would disappear faster than a wolf could blow a house down. Oren’s parents would make sure of it. 

Before I could explain all that to Jonah, the volcano sputtered and coughed. Once it stopped, I said, “Why would a fairy choose to live all the way up there?” 

Jonah shrugged. “Scenic views? The book said to find her here.” Oren blew out bubbles and swam frantically in circles. 

“You know,” said Jonah, shuffling his foot. “It’d be exciting to check out the rest of this island. I read there’s a cove on the other side. Maybe we’ll find treasure.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous.” I handed him the bowl. “I’ll go first. Don’t drop the prince.” 

“Aw, come on Brinleigh! We haven’t been on a real treasure hunt in ages!”

I ignored him. My muscles strained as I braced myself and tried to claw my way upward in a rather ungraceful kind of way. I needed magic boots to get me to the top, not sneakers. 

“Harken, look!” Jonah cried. 

“Jonah? Aaa!” My fingers slipped. With a cry, I tumbled and landed hard on my backside. I realized he had gone. “Where are you?” 

“Here.” He charged around a bush, wielding a polished stick in his hands. “This is perfect for fending off wild jungle beasts!” 

“There’s no creatures in sight.” 

“Come hither,” Jonah declared grandly. He pointed the stick high in the air. “I’ve discovered a hidden path!” 

I rolled my eyes as he led the way to a flight of stone steps. Steps? I mentally kicked myself. How could we have missed that? 

“Let’s go,” I said. “We’ve got to get this fixed before midnight.” Or the spell would be permanent. 

As we ran, Jonah swung his stick from time to time, making wooshing noises. Despite my anxiety, I smiled. Just a little. Once upon a time, Jonah and I would run through the woods in our backyard, going on gallant quests to find treasure or rescue our hens-in-distress (usually fetching them from the oak trees.) Those were fun times. 

A pang of nostalgia hit me. This summer, I’d be leaving to start a new adventure…alone. 

“We’re almost there,” Jonah cried. “Behold! A dragon!” He pointed his stick at an orange lizard. It flicked its tongue and darted back into the weeds. “I’ll protect you, Brinleigh. Begone, oh foul creature!” Jonah made to go after it, but I tugged on his sleeve. 

“Let it go,” I said. “We’re close to finding Esmeray. Then, when we’re done, we can go home.”

His face fell. I barely noticed the way he dragged his feet as he plodded after me. 

At the top we found a tiny house complete with gingerbread trim. Not the real kind of gingerbread, in case you were wondering. 

I knocked on the door. 

“Yoohoo!” A voice called from behind. “How can I help you?” We all jumped and Jonah almost dropped Oren. 

“Are you Esmeray?” I asked. The lady before us wore a sparkling, sea-green dress. In her hand was a piece of driftwood shaped like a cane. “I am,” she announced grandly, then recoiled. “Oh, fish! I don’t do… slimy creatures like that.” 

“Please,” I said, “He’s actually a prince.” 

“Mmm, no dear. The cursed prince was a frog, not a fish. Wrong tale.” I rolled my eyes and quickly explained. 

“I’d love to help, but I seem to have lost my wand.” Esmeray squinted at the pebble-filled garden in front of her house. With her cane, she pushed some wayward stones back into a neat line. 

My shoulders slumped. We had been so close. 

“Is this it?” Jonah held up the stick he had been carrying. 

She let out a squeal and hugged it tight. “My beloved, wonderful wand! I’ve missed you so… Oh, ahem. Right.” 

Blushing, she hastily added, “Now, for payment—” 

“What?” I exclaimed. 

“Oh, you don’t think I work for free, do you?” She motioned to the house. “I have property taxes to pay like every good citizen, you know.” “We don’t have money.” 

“An exchange will do.” She pointed to Jonah’s bugle and gasped. “I’ve always dreamed of learning to play one.”

Jonah clutched both bugle and fish bowl tighter. 

I nudged him. “Hand them over to her.” 

“Do we have to?” 

“We have to save Oren.” I reached for the bowl. 

Jonah jerked back. “She can have the fish but not the bugle.” I crossed my arms. “She needs both. Haven’t you read a tale about knights having to make sacrifices to save someone?” 

“It’s not the same.” 

“Why not?” 

“...just because!” 

I shook my head. “What happened to your sense of adventure?” “I could ask you the same.” 

“What?” I took a step back.

“You don’t get it.” Jonah stormed off behind the hut, still carrying Oren. “Jonah!” I went after my brother and caught his shoulder. “What’s wrong?” “You didn’t want to go treasure hunting,” he began. 

“Obviously, not now. We have to fix the spell.” 

“But after that you said we’re going home. I don’t want it to be over.” His eyes glistened. 

“What do you mean?” I asked. 

“After this, we’ll go home and you’ll move out. No more adventures like we used to have.” 

Of course. He was going to miss our time together too. I hugged him. “I’m also scared to go solo,” I whispered. “But I promise, as your big sister, we’ll make it work. We’ll find a way to make time to have new adventures together.” 

“Really?” 

I ruffled his hair. “Really.”

We returned and made the exchange with Esmeray. She waved her wand. With a ‘poof’ blue smoke engulfed us. When it cleared, Oren stood there looking just as he did at the ball. Tall, handsome, and very much covered in confetti. “Thank you,” I cried. 

Oren sneezed. “Yes, thank you. Now, we must hurry if we’re to make it home—” He took a step and pitched forward. Jonah and I grabbed him. “Ah yes, it may take some time to find your sea legs,” Esmeray said. “Or land legs, whatever you want to call it. Now, if we’re done, I’ve a pot of porridge to stir!” 

With the flourish of her wand, she vanished. 

“We’ll help you down,” I said to Oren. We slid his arms over our shoulders. Oren paused and looked around. “...Why are we on top of a volcano?” “I’ll explain on the way,” I assured him. Turning, I added to Jonah, “Ready for our adventure home?” 

Jonah grinned. “You bet!” 

And we all lived adventurous-ly ever after.

. . . . .

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