Brave Prince From

The Land of Hearts

            by Sam Goldsmith

 

A long time ago in the land of Hearts there was a good King who lived with the Queen of Hearts and their son Jack in a ginormous castle.

 

 

Everyone in the land of Hearts loved the King because he would have giant feasts with a ton of pizza and a gallon of soda pop a mountain of candy for dessert. He invited everyone from the lands of Hearts, Clubs, and Diamonds: the tenacious twos, the thrilling threes, the fabulous fours, the finicky fives, the squabbling sixes, the spectacular sevens, the amiable eights, the noble nines, and the tremendous tens.

 

 

 Everyone in Hearts was happy, especially Jack who was going to be crowned Prince of Hearts very soon.

One night, the King heard a knock at his castle door. He and Jack opened it to see Andrew Ace from the land of Spades, who looked very sick.

 

 

“M’Lord (cough!), can you offer your help to a poor (cough! cough!) sick man in need? (cough!)” said Andrew Ace.

Now, everyone knew that anyone from the land of Spades were not to be trusted since they were known to be very sly and cunning tricksters. But the King’s heart was too big and he let Andrew Ace in.

“Thank you,” said Andrew Ace. “You are most kind.”

“It is my duty to help those in need,” replied the king.

“Now, if it isn’t too much trouble,” said Andrew Ace, “can you fetch me a bucket of water to soak my feet? I fear I’ve caught a dreadful cold.”

“No problem,” said the King. “Come, Jack. Let’s go to the well and fetch this poor man some water.”

But as soon as the King and Jack had left the castle to go to the well, Andrew Ace slammed the door and locked them out! The King and Jack banged their fists against the door, shouting, “Let us in! Let us in! Let us in!” But the mean Ace just laughed, and he took the Queen of Hearts and threw her in the dungeon.

“Andrew Ace has taken over our castle!” said Jack. “What shall we do?”

“Let’s go to the land of Clubs,” said the King of Hearts. “Maybe the King there can help us.”

So the King and Jack set off for the palace belonging to the King of Clubs. They banged their fists on the door and shouted, “Help us, help us, King of Clubs! Evil Andrew Ace of Spades has taken over our castle and captured the Queen! Will you help us take our castle back?”

 

 

From the tower above, the King of Clubs shouted down, “Oh, no! I cannot help you. Andrew Ace is far too clever for me. Last time I saw him, he tricked me and stole all of my gold!”

So the King of Hearts and Jack left the land of Clubs.

“What shall we do?” said Jack. “Andrew Ace has taken over our castle and the King of Clubs won’t help us!”

“Let’s go to the land of Diamonds,” said the King of Hearts. “While the King of Clubs will not help us, the King of Diamonds is one of a kind and may choose to help.”

So the King and Jack set off for the palace belonging to the King of Diamonds. They banged their fists against the door and shouted, “Help us, help us, King of Diamonds! Evil Andrew Ace of Spades has taken over our castle and captured the Queen! Will you help us take our castle back?”

 

 

From the tower above, the King of Diamonds shouted down, “Oh, no! I cannot help you. Andrew Ace of Spades is far too strong for me. Last time we fought, he broke my best sword in two and tied me to a tree!”

So the King of Hearts and Jack left the land of Diamonds.

“What shall we do?” said Jack. “Andrew Ace has taken over our castle and now the King of Clubs and the King of Diamonds won’t help us!”

“We have no choice but to go to Jimmy Joker to ask for help,” said the King.

So the King and Jack set off for Jimmy Joker’s hut. They banged their fists against the door and shouted, “Help us, help us, Jimmy Joker! Evil Andrew Ace of Spades has taken over our castle and captured the Queen! Will you help us take our castle back?”

 

 

Jimmy Joker opened the door. “Of course I’ll help you,” he said. “You are the King of Hearts, after all.”

“Thank you very much, kind sir!” said the King.

“Don’t flatter me,” said Jimmy Joker. “I am only a comedian.”

“Andrew Ace is very clever,” said the King. “He can out-trick almost anyone. We need a plan.”

“I have an idea,” said Jimmy Joker. He leaned forward and whispered his plan into the King and Jack’s ears.

That night, the trio approached the foot of the castle. Jack was dressed in the Joker’s extra suit, which was a bit too big for him. The Joker carried a trampoline and the King carried a pogo stick.

“This should give you enough power to jump onto the roof,” said Jimmy Joker. Jack climbed onto the trampoline and started jumping on it with the pogo stick. Bounce! Bounce! BOUNCE!!! With the third bounce, Jack landed onto the roof. He climbed through a trap door to get in the castle.

He was creeping through the castle trying to get to the front door as quietly as he could when he tripped over his oversized suit and crashed to the ground. Then a voice echoed through the hall: “Who goes there?”

It was Andrew Ace!

 

 

Jack lowered his voice. “I am the Joker. I live here in the castle.”

“That’s quite a big suit,” said Andrew Ace.

“Oh, yes. My regular suit is still drying. In fact, I was just on my way to get it.”

“Before you do,” said Andrew Ace, “can you show me one trick before I go to sleep?”

“Of course,” said Jack, pulling a deck of cards out of his pocket and fanning them out. “Pick a card, any card.”

“I love card tricks!” exclaimed Andrew Ace as he picked a card.

“Can you remember what card it is?” said Jack. Andrew Ace nodded. “Then put it back on top of the deck.”

Andrew Ace put the card back.

“Now, close your eyes and I’ll make the card you picked disappear!” said Jack.

 

 

“This is going to be a great trick!” said Andrew Ace, closing his eyes. Jack took the card and taped it on Andrew Ace’s back.

“You can open your eyes now,” said Jack. Andrew Ace opened his eyes and Jack gave him the deck of cards. “See?” said Jack. “Your card isn’t in there anymore!”

 

 

Andrew Ace was puzzled. He looked through the cards again and again but could not find his card. “Where did the card go?” he demanded.

“Oh, I never reveal my secrets,” said Jack.

“Make the card re-appear!” ordered Andrew Ace.

“Okay,” said Jack. “Close your eyes.”

Andrew Ace closed his eyes, and Jack ran. He didn’t stop running until he opened the front door. Then he led the King and the Joker to Andrew Ace who still had his eyes closed. The King and Jimmy Joker locked him up in the dungeon and freed the Queen of Hearts.

 

 

The King was so happy to have his castle back that he had the biggest feast ever with tons of pizza and gallons of soda pop and mountains of candy for dessert. He invited everyone from the lands of Hearts, Clubs, and Diamonds: the tenacious twos, the thrilling threes, the fabulous fours, the finicky fives, the squabbling sixes, the spectacular sevens, the amiable eights, the noble nines, and the tremendous tens. All of the Kings and Queens were there laughing and partying and having a wonderful time.

 

 

“May I have your attention please!” shouted the King of Hearts over the guests. “I would like to thank my good friend Jimmy Joker who was a great help in defeating Andrew Ace.”

Everyone cheered and Jimmy Joker bowed.

“I would also like to thank my son, Jack. Without his courage and cleverness, we might not be having this party today. So I will officially crown him Prince of Hearts and he will be my successor to the throne.”

He put a silver jeweled crown on Jack’s head. Everyone applauded and Jack blushed.

And ever since then, the Land of Hearts has been a happy and peaceful place.

 

 

The End

 

 

“Can I open my eyes yet?”