From the princess...

My niece, Cate, is 7 years old and very imaginative - her beautiful little head is full of stories. I asked her for a story during a car ride to Wisconsin last year and this is what I got.

Once upon a time there was a princess whose parents had her in a castle for a very long time. She waited and waited for someone to save her and one day a prince came riding up to the castle to save her. And not just any prince, this was Prince CHARMing. He had a sword and a gun and some food - everything a prince needed and princess needed too. He came riding up to the castle to save the princess. He threw up a rope to her and said, "Catch it!" and she did and climbed down. The princess said, "O.K., but we have to be quiet because a different person put me up there besides my parents, his name is Pete the Giant."
I interrupted - Pete the Giant?
It's kind of from Mickey Mouse but I thought it fit really well. It's not too scary right?
Right
They got away from Pete the Giant and got married and the princess got really tired so they stopped at the hospital. The princess had her babies and everyone was holding the babies until the parents got there and the princess's dad told her she had to send the babies down the river.
What? So the princess stopped at the hospital to have her babies and now she has to send them down the river?
Yes, but there is going to be a happily ever after to this story.
Okay.
And so the dad made the princess send the babies down the river but there was a girl down the river and God told her about the babies and she saved a baby.
One baby was saved and two others are in the river?
Actually there was a hundred of them and she couldn't really save all them, right?
I guess not.
And so God pointed to the baby and once the princess found the one He was pointing to and rescued him from the river. In fact, this story is kind of a Mary story.
Okay.
The girl's name was Mary and God told her to name the baby Jesus. Mary took the baby home to the husband and said, "Look at this baby." Her husband's name was Jeffrey.
Jeffrey?
Yeah, I can't really remember the name.
Joseph?
Josesph?
Yeah.
Um... I can only say that once. I'm going to call him a different name. How about James? I know it is kind of familiar but I like it.
Okay
So they took the baby, the note and money beside the basket.
Where was the basket?
It was a kinda pink basket... a blue basket.
Was it in their house?
No, they got it in the river. It to have a big bow on it but but it got washed away in a big wave.
Can we pause this story for a second?
Okay, so you can tell me something?
No, I have to write something down.
Are you going to write my story?
Yes
Because it is about Jesus?
Right
Are you writing it down for school?
No, so I can remember it.
So you can read it over and over again?
Yeah.
Okay.

After I finished writing down Cate's story, we arrived at our destination and I never got to hear the end. Someday I'll have to ask her to finish it. Mary and James and baby Jesus will probably journey to Egypt and tell the parents to let the prince and the princess go. All the babies will probably get swallowed by a big fish and be rescued by Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Yes, that would be a happy ending indeed.