Giana was driving in her car. There was sun shining, no traffic, and everything was going perfectly. She was already ten minutes early to her babysitting job. Giana smiled. She parked her car outside the house and rang the doorbell. The father answered…but then he just disappeared. Huh. That was strange. Giana made her way inside. The three kids ran up to her excitedly. “Hi, Giana!” They shouted in unison. 

“Hey kids!” Giana replied, “What do y’all wanna do today?” 

There was a pause. A shadow crossed their faces. “We want to eat you.” They said. Giana’s happy face was replaced with horror as the kids morphed into evil demons! The floor opened up from under her and swallowed her whole. She fell into the darkness.

Gianna suddenly jolted awake, and sat upright in her bed. “Oh gosh…that was such a strange…and kind of scary dream!” Giana said aloud. She was usually groggy in the mornings, but she was wide awake and alert this time. But it still took her a few seconds to realize her alarm had been going off. She checked the time. Shoot! Giana thought, Late again!

A few minutes later she jumped out the door, hopping on one foot as she put her other shoe on, a piece of toast in her mouth, hair astray, and jacket half-on. Giana raced to the car as she tried to get herself together. And drove as fast as she could possibly go…without crossing the speed limit, of course. 

When Giana arrived, she rang the doorbell, completely out of breath. The mother answered, half asleep. “You… take the kids. Bye!” 

Welp. Giana was kind of used to it by now. She went into the house and the three kids ran up to her excitedly. “Hi, Giana!” They shouted in unison. 

“Hey kids!” Giana replied, “What do ya wanna do today?” There was a pause. “Uh…. you’re not gonna eat me, right?” Giana said sheepishly. 

The kids gave her weird looks. Except for Raven, who smiled and said; “Stop giving me such great ideas!” The other kids looked at each other. “…er, just kidding!” Raven said. Giana breathed a sigh of relief. “Not.” Raven murmured under her breath. 

“Anyways,” Giana began, “I was planning on taking you guys to the pond. How does that sound?”

“Yes, yes, YES!” They all cried. 

Giana smiled. “Well, let’s go!”

* * *

After a long day at the pond, everyone came back to the house and settled down. They reluctantly got ready for bed, as always. And as always, Giana began to tell them a story. 

“Okay, so. Once upon a time there was a young girl named Tatiana. She was a princess in a far away village called Greenside. Because she was of the highest order, she was expected to act prim and proper. Every. Single. Day. She took classes, but, you see, the classes she took weren’t the same kind of classes you guys took,” Giana smiled at the children.

“WHAT? What kind of classes did she take?” Niki asked.

“Well, she took princess classes. Y’know, classes on how to have perfect posture. Perfect etiquette classes. Table setting. Diplomacy.  Music and dance classes. Things like that. But the thing was, she wasn’t very happy. Tatiana didn’t want to learn how to play the harp or… how to set a table properly. She wanted to learn, like, actually learn. So, one night, as she was lying in bed, she remembered an old tale she had heard. A rumor had gone around at one point that there was an old man living in a shack up on a hill. He was rumored to be possibly the smartest man alive. That’s it! Tatiana thought. She decided that she would pack her bags tonight, and leave as early as sunrise to set out on her journey to learn. She hopped out of bed and began packing up as many of her belongings as she could. When she was finished packing, she went to bed, hoping for as much rest as possible. 

As the sun shone in through the windows, she gathered her bags, left a note telling her parents not to worry, and marched out of the castle, preparing for the long day ahead. 

The sun was beginning to set, and she was almost there! Just a little farther, she encouraged her legs. Just as the sun fell below the clouds, she collapsed on the ground, right in front of the hut. She gathered enough energy to knock on the door, and lift herself up into a standing position.

‘Hello?’ An old man with a long, gray beard opened the door. He was wearing shaggy clothes, and his hair was messy. ‘How can I help you, young lady?’

‘Hello!’ She exclaimed, ‘I am Tatiana, the princess of this village and I-’ The door slammed in her face. What? She thought.

‘Um, excuse me? Could you please open your door?’

The man opened the door again, ‘I will not help you. Your parents banished me out here, just because I was smarter than them.’

‘Well! Well- That was my parents! That wasn’t me! I didn’t do that! In fact- In fact, I- I’m here to learn! I- I’m sick of all the classes I take. I want to learn, y’know, math, and- and reading and stuff.’

The man raised an eyebrow. ‘Alright. Come in.’ Tatianna went inside, and after a warm dinner and a good night’s rest, they started with learning. They began with reading, then science, history, and finally math. Math was Tatiana’s favorite. She just absolutely loved learning about fractions, and square roots, and functions. She spent weeks there, with him learning more about math. After weeks on end of studying, they decided it was best for her to go home.

‘Well! Thank you so much for teaching me about these amazing things!’ She called, as she began her journey down the hill.

He waved goodbye, ‘Anytime, Tatiana!’

Tatiana headed down the hill back to her castle. When she arrived, her parents were all over her, asking questions like, ‘Where have you been?’, ‘Are you hurt?’, and ‘What happened? Did someone hurt you?’

‘Well… you see..’ she began, ‘I- I was sick of learning about how to be prim… and- and proper. I wanted to learn real things. So, I set out on a journey,’ she continued with a bit more confidence, ‘I went to the rumored hut out there in the woods, and had the old man teach me things, like science, and how to read! And math! I really loved learning about math! Anyway, I learned a lot and it was so fun! And it taught me how to be independent and make good decisions, so that one day, when I get to lead this wonderful kingdom, I know what to do, and how to treat people fairly,’ She finished, grinning. 

Her parents looked at her blankly, ‘I’m- I’m sorry. You learned… math?’ Her mother asked, frowning.

‘And you enjoyed it?’ her father added, ‘When I was in school, that was my least favorite subject.’

Tatiana’s face softened, ‘So you’re not mad?’

‘No darling. We’re glad that you want to learn. It means you’ll be a great leader some day.’ 

She joined her parents in a hug, and felt happy tears prick her eyes as she realized how happy she was she had an amazing family. The end,” Giana finished, and smiled. 

Oliver yawned, “That was a nice story. Although I still hate math.” 

“That’s alright,” Giana laughed, and added in a whisper, “I don’t like it either.”

“G’night Giana. I’ll miss you.”

“Good night Niki. See you next time,” Giana whispered, shutting the door behind her. 

Cites https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/2/fairy-tale-princess-in-a-green-dress-with-her-story-book-castle-little-bunny-sunshine.jpg