The Princess Hanna Grand Finale (Part 1 of 2)
It's crunch time. The finale has begun.
It’s time to bring Princess Hanna’s Fire Festival journey to a close. Today’s post is the penultimate chapter in Hanna’s adventure. I’ll try to get the finale written up for next week!
I hope you’ve enjoyed the world of Courage Town and Princess Hanna so far. It will definitely be somewhere to revisit in the future.
Here’s a link to the most recent chapter in Hanna’s tale:
And here’s a link to the full series:
If you’re new here, welcome aboard. Please do stick around!
Now, time for today’s new chapter!
That night after the first Fire Festival challenge, for the first time in a long time, Hanna didn't have any trouble at all getting to sleep. She slept like a baby -- a baby with a very full belly of very delicious food. Her nerves had eased. She could breathe easier. She could think clearer.
She dug into her porridge the next morning. Her appetite was back and it wasn't going anywhere. The world was bigger than the festival again. There was more to life than winning and losing again.
Hanna and Carrie spent breakfast chatting about how they were going to have the best Halloween ever next year back home in Courage Town. They were going to teach everyone all about it -- the scary costumes, the pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating. They talked about maybe even setting up a haunted house.
Hanna's dad was caught off guard by Hanna's sudden calmness. Her coach, Uncle James, seemed to quietly be more proud of her than ever.
*
The morning ticked on and it was eventually time her Hanna and Uncle James to make their way to the contestants' waiting room.
The crowds were already filing into the town square arena. There were more of them than yesterday. No one wanted to miss the finale.
The waiting room was much quieter than it had been on the first day of the competition. It felt empty by comparison. There were only four contestants left, after all.
There was Hanna, Michael, George, and George's friend, Ben. The four of them split up and took a corner each in the waiting room as they received their final coaching pep talks.
George seemed the most focused. His coach was giving him an impassioned speech about fearsomeness and courage. You would have thought he was about to go into battle!
George's friend was going through a very different set of emotions. His bottom lip was wobbly and his eyes were big and wide with nervous discomfort.
Michael was the exact same as he had been the day before -- bored. He wasn't listening at all to the hired helper that was rambling through instructions. Strangely, Michael also had a little canvas bag with him, tucked under his arm.
And then, of course, there was Hanna and Uncle James. They were the only duo who were both sitting down. For most of the time, they weren't even talking. They just looked like two dragons waiting together for a carriage to arrive.
Eventually, Hanna broke the silence.
"Uncle James," she said. "I think you should come and live in Courage Town again. My brothers need to get to know you again."
Her uncle smiled. "I would love to."
A little more time passed and then they heard the crowd suddenly start to cheer more loudly.
This time, there was no need for a big speech from Uncle James. He knew Hanna was all set. He just gave her a smile and a hug.
Hanna and the other competitors made their way out into the town square arena.
Still, the nerves just weren't hitting Hanna in the way that they had for the challenge the day before. She felt calm and in control.
The crowd settled when the Scale City King stood.
"Firstly, congratulations to each of you," he said. "You have made it to the final challenge of the Fire Festival."
The crowd offered a cheering congratulations of their own.
"Now," the king said. "For the final challenge, you will each give a performance to demonstrate your skills. The stage will be all yours. Don't let us down."
As the crowd once again broke out cheering, a different dragon made their way over to the competitors and held out a fist with small bundle of twigs sticking out one side of their hand. Each dragon was then to pick out a twig at random. This would be the order in which they would be competing.
Ben would be first. Then Michael. Then Hanna. Then George.
The crowd was getting worked up. It was time to get the show on the road.
The centre of the town square was cleared for Ben's performance.
He looked so nervous, so terrified, that Hanna couldn't help feeling sorry for him.
His routine was well-practised. He stepped forward and began to breathe out bursts of fire directly up into the air like fireworks. He let out a variety of spears of flames and big bubbles of fire. The show was impressive and the crowd applauded gratefully. Still, there was a feeling in the air that the best was yet to come.
Next was Michael, and oh did he have a surprise for them...
His time started but he didn't make any big moves straight away. Very calmly, very slowly, he reached into his canvas bag and pulled out a jar of blue paint and a big paintbrush. The quiet crowd watched on curiously as Michael poured out several big blotches of blue paint on the cobblestone floor. He then began to paint out some letters.
Once he was done, he stepped back. The crowd was confused. He'd finished his message:
I JUST WANT TO PAINT
Once Hanna saw it, she whooped and hooted, applauding as loudly and boisterously as she could. Carrie was in the stands cheering wildly too.
A lot of dragons in the crowd knew Michael and knew his story. It took a moment, but they began to cheer as well.
Michael then packed up his things and left the stage behind. He walked over to Hanna and told her, "Sorry for the buzz kill."
Hanna grinned and pulled him in for a big hug.
"I loved it," she said.
Michael smiled.
"Your turn now," he said. "Go win your crown."
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