And They Lived Happily Ever After (Lottie)

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Finally she had a name to put to the face! Giselle... well, she certainly sounded like a storybook princess, they always had pretty, somewhat exotic names like Aurora or Snow White. They were never plain like Charlotte, not that Lottie planned to let a little something like a name stop her.

“I was born Charlotte, but most of my friends call me Lottie,” she clarified, though she wasn’t really fussed either way what name people chose. She would answer to either. It did bring up an interesting thought, though: maybe she was growing too old for the nickname. Would anyone really take a Princess Lottie seriously? Princess Charlotte certainly sounded more proper...

... but then when had she ever worried about being proper? Like she would really care if anyone took her seriously once she had that ring on her finger and crown on her head anyway.

“I spose I should be gettin’ along now, but if ya hear of any eligible princes, ya just go and give me a call, ya hear?”

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Giselle had never had a nickname. She had always just been Giselle to her animal friends, and probably to her parents before that. She didn’t really remember them. Or what happened to them. Oh well. But she was very excited to here that Miss Charlotte had a nickname. Lottie. Well that was simply lovely!

“Oh! A nickname!” she cried happily. “That’s lovely! I’ve never had one of those!” She didn’t think she’d be getting a nickname any time soon anyway. She didn’t really know anyone that well and here the animals couldn’t talk, otherwise they might have given her a nickname. But probably not, even if they could talk.

“Oh, I will most certainly call,” Giselle said seriously. But of course, she meant literally calling, not with any sort of telephone. She didn’t know what that was. They didn’t have those back home in Andalasia. If you called someone in Andalasia you yelled or called out to them. “I just hope you’ll hear me. But I do so hope you find your prince soon!”

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Somehow Lottie wasn’t surprised that Giselle didn’t have a nickname. For one, there was the princess thing. For another, it just wasn’t an easy name to shorten. She supposed that Elle worked, but it just didn’t have the same ring as Giselle, and Gis... there was just something horribly wrong about that, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on what.

“Well, if ya really want one I’m sure I could come up with somethin’ for ya, though I think Giselle is fine on it’s own,” Lottie offered, finally retrieving her handbag from where she had thrown it earlier. Remembering the offending rodent she had thrown it at, she gave a little shutter. It was probably high time she got out of here before they came crawling and flying back around despite her earlier shrieking, and Giselle... well, she was a sweet girl, but the kind that was better in small doses. Now Lottie was optimistic, more so than pretty much anyone else she knew, but this girl... she was something else. There was only so much of that undying cheerfulness that she could handle.

“So do I, sugah, so do I,” Lottie replied, completely missing whatever Giselle meant by calling. Sure she’d hear it, she wasn’t deaf, but this girl had said so many strange things today it was impossible to question them all. “And I hope your Edward shows up soon. Don’t he know it just ain’t proper to keep a lady waiting?”

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Giselle could probably have come up with half a dozen nicknames on the spot for herself! But where to begin? She could go by Elle, or Ellie. Or something like Gigi maybe. Sometimes she could be called Red, she supposed for her hair. Or Carrot. Carrots were much more like the color of her hair. And she could always be called Princess after she married Edward. That counted as a nickname, right? Or she could have one of those really long nicknames like She Who Sings And Talks To Animals And Dances Through Fields And Sleeps in Hollow Trees. Oh, that was more than half a dozen already (if you counted Princess)! See? That wasn’t so hard!

But at the mention of Edward, Giselle clasped her hands in front of her chest and gave a long dramatic sigh. “I hope he comes soon. But I’m sure he knows where I am and is coming for me at this very minute.” She really did hope that too.

“It was lovely to meet you though,” she told the other girl with a smile. “I do so hope we meet again!”

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As strange as this girl was, the hopeless romantic in Lottie couldn’t help but smile and almost swoon at the very idea of it all. The beautiful (if not a bit crazy) princess, waiting in her tower (or garden on the roof) for her prince to show up on his white horse, sweep her off her feet, and ride off to his castle in the sunset. It was Lottie’s dream for as long as she could remember, and now the fairytale was playing out before her very eyes.

Oh, if only it were here instead!

Still, it gave her hope. If it could happen for Giselle, then why couldn’t it happen for her? This place was magical and wonderful and she knew her dream would come true, she just knew it!

“Me too,” she replied, though it wasn’t completely sincere. “And I’ll try not ta flatten your little friends next time, but it was kind of a kneejerk reaction, so I can’t make any promises.”

With one last wave, Lottie headed for the door.