Moat Monster - Heather Eagar and Grant Eagar

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To order my books:

 Angelica: The Princess and the Pig  

Henry and Sophie: A Steampunk Adventure 

Sheila the Vampire: Dancing with the Enemy

 

The Ill-fated Prank by Heather Eagar  

Prompt: Moat Monster

    It had started as a harmless prank. Darlene would attach some moss and maybe some mud and leaves onto her dress, as well as a cap she had made herself, and swim around in the moat a bit. Nothing crazy, but something that might freak the princess out a bit. Princess Clara never left the castle, except at eleven sharp, for her early lunch. She’d eat it on the grass by the water and dip her toes in. No one was allowed to walk past the castle at that time. The princess claimed she needed complete solitude, though that didn’t stop the local villagers from spying from their homes and shops. At exactly noon, the princess would retreat inside the castle grounds, and not be seen again until the next day.

    Darlene’s plan was just to startle the princess, something that would add some excitement to her otherwise drab existence. And it all worked according to plan. A little too well. Darlene slipped into the moat, unnoticed at ten forty-five. When the princess arrived at eleven, she sat on the blanket that had been laid out for her. After eating her fill, she slipped off her shoes and dangled her feet over the edge of the moat.

    Darlene slowly swam past. Princess Clara didn’t notice her. So Darlene swam past again. And then another. Until she finally got fed up with the princess’s inattention to anything other than herself, and Darlene pinched Clara’s toe. The princess screeched and leapt to her feet, then noticed the moving figure in the moat.

    “Guards,” she yelled. “There’s a creature in the moat.” When the guards hurried over to see what the commotion was about, they too did not recognize the figure as a young girl, but rather saw her as something they needed to vanquish.

    Darlene immediately saw the error in her logic and cursed her lack of impulse control. The guards didn’t want to get into the water with the creature, but they couldn’t let it swim about as it pleased. So they went to fetch their crossbows. At which point, Darlene swam as quickly as she could to the opposite side of the castle. But just as she was pulling herself from the moat, the guards caught sight of her, and their first thought was that the creature was on its way to terrorize the town.

              If only there were a way to escape unseen into the forest where she could strip herself of the cap and dress. If Darlene gave herself up now, she would be thrown into the dungeon for sure. 

    Darlene spotted the princess watching from the shore a little way down, looking panicked, but there was also a brightness in her eyes that said she hadn’t had this much fun in a long time. 

There was only one way out of the situation. 

    Darlene ran toward Princess Clara and pushed her straight into the moat. The guards were so busy rescuing the spluttering princess, they didn’t see the creature disappear behind the row of shops.

    The guards are still looking for the moat monster to this day. In the meantime, they are profiting by selling t-shirts, mugs, and other souvenirs to the villagers who travel from hundreds of miles away, in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the elusive monster.

The Princess takes a Bath in the Moat - Grant Eagar

Prompt: Moat Monster

The fair maiden walked across the moat bridge; well she wasn’t that fair, she had olive skin with coal-colored hair.  Halfway across the bridge she stopped and glanced over the railing at the water below. She could see Lilly pads with an occasional frog hopping from pad to pad. The princess leaned over the railing and reached down to pick a cattail growing in the water. It was just out of her reach so she scooted a little farther out and reached down again. Her foot slipped and she fell into the moat.

She floundered about in the thick gown with a whalebone corset. She screamed for help but the castle guards were napping. Finally, she went under and sank to the bottom and stared up at the surface of the water twelve feet above her. Girl, she thought, you’re too stupid to live. She quickly undid her dress and corset and flipped off her shoes and kicked towards the surface. It felt like her lungs would burst and when she finally broke the surface she gasped for air.

With some kicking and thrashing, she was able to stay afloat after a fashion. She had never swum before. Her panic subsided when she realized she was making progress towards the castle side of the moat. Her heart sank when she heard a guard yell out. “Don’t come any closer or I’ll shoot you with my bow.

She yelled, “Now you wake up! I’m the princess, you nimrod, now help me!”

“I don’t believe you. don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He leaned over the bridge to shoot her with his crossbow. Just then Harold, the moat monster, burst from the water and grabbed him and dragged him under. Harold resurfaced and swam over to the princess with a happy, contented look on his face.  The princess climbed onto his broad back and gasped for breath.

“Thank you Harold, that was really nice of you, he had that coming to him.” They watched the guard floundering about in the water. Harold offered a questioning grunt, "No Harold you can not eat him, just let him flounder about a bit then we may have to rescue him." The princess scratched his back and enjoyed the show. 

Note: These stories are a good example of writers coming up with similar stories from the same prompt.