Once upon a time, in a far away land, there was a princess who had a bad hair day.  (Amber R.)  It was definitely a bad hair day -- she had bugs and glue in her hair! (Mary S.)  On top of that, her hair was all puffy (Taylor S.) and all different colors! (Leah N.)  This was a very bad day for the princess to have her bad hair day because today she was getting married. (Joey N.)  She was getting married to the most handsome prince in the kingdom. (Austin B.)

    The princess took a shower and her hair was clean and straight.  But when she brushed her hair, it puffed up again!  (Amber R.)   She quickly called for help, but no one came because they were too busy with the wedding preparations. (Mary S.)  Next she tried to put her head under the sink, but she smacked her head on the faucet and had to get an ice pack. (Charles G.)  The princess started to cry, and the salt from her eyes took the puffiness right out of her hair.  But, now she had another problem. (Mrs. B.)  She noticed a dot on her face - then another, and another.  She began to scratch.  She had the Chicken Pox! (Angela H.)  But her problems had just begun.  Not wanting to look at herself in the mirror any longer, she was backing away when she tripped, fell out the window and landed in the moat where the crocodiles lived. (Gabe S.)
    Suddenly, she saw a crocodile coming straight toward her, so she started to swim as fast as she could.  When she glanced up, she saw something falling from the castle window. (Gabrielle D.) It was her diary and it was falling toward the alligator. (Austin B.)  It hit him smack in the middle of the head and knocked him out just as he was about to have the princess for lunch.  But wait!  More things were flying from her window.  As she sat drenched on the bank of the moat, she saw some of her favorite pieces of jewelry sparkling in the sun as they fell to the ground.  Somebody was rummaging through her drawers! (Angela H.)  This was a very bad day! (Taylor S.) This was supposed to be one of the best days of her life.  What more could go wrong?

    At that very second, a part of a metal pipe came tumbling from her window and hit her on the head.  She fainted.  (Dallas E.)  She didn't know how long she had been knocked out, but when she finally started to come to, she looked around groggily.  She could not believe her eyes!  She didn't know how she got there, but she was in the church. (Nicholas M.)  Her handsome prince was about to marry someone else (and she looked just like the princess)!! (Mrs. B.) She got up and then she fell over again. (Nicholas M.)  What was going on?  She had to stop this!  She got up and ran.  She had to stop the prince from marrying the fake.  (Charles G.)  Outside of the church, the princess gathered some glue, bugs and a snip of her puffy hair and put them in a bucket.  She had a plan. (Danica F.)  All of a sudden, as she began to stir the contents of the bucket, she was being violently shaken.  It was her chamber maid, Lucinda,  and she was shaking her awake.  She looked around and realized that she was lying in her bed.  (Anna K.) Thank goodness, it was all just a dream! 
    She threw back her covers and was about to get out of bed when she noticed a smudge of mud and a small piece of seaweed hanging on the bottom of her nightgown.  The princess thought to herself, "Wait a minute, maybe it wasn't a dream after all." (Karina K.) "What's happening to me?" she cried out loud.  The chamber maid just stared at her blankly.  The princess looked down at herself one more time.  (Veronica L.)  It was not just a dream, it was a nightmare! (Gabrielle D.)
    Her chamber maid leaned over her and said "I'm sorry Rebecca, but the prince is marrying somebody else."  "I'm very sorry," she said very happily. (Amber R.)  Was her chamber maid part of the plot to make sure that the princess wouldn't marry the handsome prince?  But why?? (Mrs. B.)  The princess had all kinds of thoughts streaming through her head and was so confused, she decided to lay back down for a while to think things out. (Karina K.)
    "I need to get to the church!" the princess cried out.  As she tried to get up, the chamber maid pushed her back down and snapped her fingers.  Immediately, leather straps wound up around her as if they were snakes, holding her securely in the bed.  "No, dear, you're much to ill to be running about," the maid said in a sickeningly sweet voice.  "Let me make you a nice cup of tea," she added with a smirk.   Then she went to the kitchen to make her tea, but it didn't sound like she was just making tea. (Angela H.)  As the maid was stirring the tea, she added 1 drop of a secret potion to the mug.  All of a sudden, the tea was smoking and fizzing. (Karina K.)  She came back into the room with the fizzing mug on a silver platter.

    "Now, drink this and everything will be fine," Lucinda said in a low voice.  "Why are you doing this?" the princess choked out.  "Well, isn't it obvious?" the maid responded with an evil laugh. . .(Amber R.)  "The prince didn't really want to marry you; he wanted to marry your fine twin," (Angela H.) she continued pointing to herself.  "You didn't even know you had a twin did you?" the maid asked.  "I used to be beautiful like you until I drank this tea.  I should be marrying the prince.  Not you!" screamed the maid.  "Once you drink this tea, I will become a princess and you will be an ugly chamber maid.  Then I will go to the church and marry the handsome prince."  (First Grade)
    "You'll never get away with this," cried Princess Rebecca.  But as the princess said this the chamber maid poured the tea down her throat.  She began to feel dizzy. (Angela H.)  "I feel kind of dizzy,"  the princess said weakly, and the chamber maid replied, (Amber R.) "Good, it's working." (Angela H.)  "Soon, I will be you." (Amber R.)  The princess couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.  While she slept, she turned into the maid, and the maid turned into the princess. (Nicholas M.)  When the princess woke up, she saw the maid (who now looked like her) dressed in her clothes. (Dallas E.) She looked down at her hand, but it did not look like her own hand anymore.  The princess said, "What happened?". . . (Dallas E.)  "We switched bodies silly little chamber maid," (Amber R.) said her evil twin, the real chamber maid.    The princess frowned at her maid, but then she smiled.  She had a plan.  (Veronica L.)  But her plan would only work if one very important thing remained. (Karina K.)  Her heart was pounding as she slowly turned her hand over.  She glanced down quickly so her evil twin did not notice and she was relieved to see a heartshaped birthmark where it had always been - on the knuckle between the third and ring finger on her left hand.  Not everything on their bodies had changed.  Now, if only the prince will notice.

    "OK, you win," Princess Rebecca said sadly to Lucinda.  "I knew I would win," said the chamber maid gleefully. (Charles G.)  "But I didn't expect you to give up so easily." (Karina K.)  "Now give me your engagement ring!" (Gabrielle D.)  "This wedding is now going to continue, without a hitch," the chamber maid said slyly, as she walked back towards the kitchen.
    The princess's plot was just beginning. (Angela H.) Before the wedding, the princess had to work double time - there was a lot to do. (Veronica L.)  First she had to find a way to get unstrapped from her bed. (Angela H.)  She had to be very convincing for her plan to work.
    "Lucinda, you know that I have to be at the wedding too," exclaimed Princess Rebecca.  "You were going to be my maid of honor, and the prince will think it is strange if my lifetime helper wasn't at my wedding," she continued.  The princess held her breath as Lucinda stopped and slowly turned around.  It was easy to see that the chamber maid was giving this some serious thought.  Lucinda cast a glaring look at the princess, and snapped her fingers.  The straps around the princess's wrists broke in half and fell away. (Veronica L.)  "If you breathe one word of this to the prince," Lucinda continued, "you will be very sorry." "I won't, I won't!" cried Princess Rebecca. (Gabrielle D.)  "Because if you do," the chamber maid said in a soft, sweet voice,  "little Princess Rebecca will go bye-bye. (Karina K.) You're history!" she contined. (Angela H.)   "And, I might not only take care of you, but I'll get rid of that father of ours also."  (Veronica L.) 
    Princess Rebecca gasped.  "You wouldn't. . ." she stammered.  "Oh yes I would," murmered Lucinda in that sickening voice again.  "I can't believe that all these years he couldn't save me from the spell our stepmother put on me!  Oh, well.  There's no time to get into that now.  We need to get to the church.  So come along with me and keep your mouth shut!" the chamber maid exclaimed as she headed toward the door.  Princess Rebecca walked  along, her eyes looking down at the floor as she quietly followed.
    "Will I be able to eat something?" the princess asked.  "Yes, of course you will," Lucinda answered in a strange tone. (Danica F.) "What a peculiar  question, if I must say," she continued.   "But yes, we want this to appear as normal as possible, so I guess that means you should be able to eat at my wedding reception." What Lucinda didn't know was that Princess Rebecca was remembering something her father had told her long ago -- "There is one thing that can break any spell," he had said.  "And that is the first bite out of a fresh wedding cake!"  (Danica F.)
    When they got to the church, (Veronica L.) the princess saw her father (Mrs. B.) standing outside by the front door.  At his side, was Princess Rebecca's faithful and loving dog, Captain.  The dog growled at Lucinda,  who looked like the princess, and the King said "Captain, I'm surprised at you, growling at your best friend!"  Then the dog went up to Princess Rebecca, who looked like the chamber maid, and licked her hand.  The King looked puzzled and said, "That's funny.  I thought the royal dog didn't really like you."  (Veronica L.)


 Princess Rebecca was hopeful for a minute that maybe her father was catching on.  "Oh, well, it must just be the excitement and stress of this big day," the King added.  Disappointedly, the princess turned and walked into the church with the chamber maid.  Lucinda said, "Come and help me put on my dress in the Bridal Room."
    "I will, but I just need a drink of water first," answered Princess Rebecca.  "Fine," Lucinda retorted angrily.  "But don't try anything funny.  Remember my warning!"   Lucinda went down the hall to the Bridal Room.
    Princess Rebecca didn't have much time.  She started to look for the cake. (Danica F.)  She hoped she could find the cake before it was too late! (Mrs. B.)  Rebecca snuck into the kitchen and there it was! (Veronica L.) She was just about to take a bite when she heard a voice say "STOP!"  It was her father. (Angela H.)

"What are you doing?" asked the King. (Charles G., Amber R., Danica F.)  "That cake can't be eaten until the princess takes a bite." (Dallas E.)  The princess stopped.  She thought very carefully.  She turned around to her father and said (Angela H.) "I am the real princess." (Gabe S.)  "Father, I am Rebecca.  I am doing what you told me to do to lift the spell." (Nicholas M.) 
    Just as she said this, Lucinda burst into the room, grabbed the princess and shoved her toward the door!  "What nonsense is she babbling on about?" she demanded of the King.  Then to Rebecca she snapped, "You know you are not the real princess!" (Nicholas M.)  "She was just telling me what a beautiful princess you are and what a beautiful bride you will make," said the King, winking at Rebecca. (Danica F.)  Rebecca gasped.  "Does he know that I am the princess?" she thought to herself. (Veronica L.)  "Yes, you must've misunderstood what I was saying," said Rebecca, whose face was now red as a tomato. (Karina K.)  Rebecca then winked back at the king. (Nicholas M.) 
    For one brief second, dead silence fell in the room. (Karina K.)  A knock at the door broke the silence.  The next voice they heard was the Prince's as he poked his head through the door, "Are you ladies almost ready in there?  Everyone is waiting in the church."  Lucinda was distracted for one moment as she shrieked to the Prince, "You are not supposed to see the bride before the ceremony!"