The Magic Pencil – Read and Print

By Rachel Dunstan Muller, copyright 2022

(Scroll to bottom for printable PDF)

Long, long ago, in a kingdom far away, there was a princess. A very spoiled princess named Gillian. Whatever she wanted, morning or night, all she had to do was twitch her little finger and a whole army of servants would come running to see what she needed. She didn’t have just one bedroom – she had seven bedrooms – one for every day of the week. She also had seven dressing rooms filled with pretty gowns, and seven playrooms filled with toys.

And did I mention? There was even a toy workshop in the castle, where the most talented toymakers made a new toy for the Princess each and every day. Now, you’d think the Princess would be happy with so many servants, and so many bedrooms, and a new toy every single day. But Princess Gillian wasn’t happy. In fact, she was miserable most of the time, and she had quite a disagreeable temper as well. If a new toy didn’t please her, she would throw it on the floor, stomp to her nearest bedroom, and slam the door with such force that the entire castle would shake.

Well, as you can probably imagine, Princess Gillian wasn’t very pleasant to be around, and so she didn’t have many friends. In fact, she had no friends at all, unless you count the ones her father, the King, paid to play with her. But even those playmates were afraid of Princess Gillian’s temper, and so they never stayed very long.

As time passed, and Princess Gillian’s mood only got worse, her mother, the Queen, began to worry about her. “Our daughter hasn’t been happy for a very long time,” she said to the King. “In fact, I can’t remember the last time I saw her smile.”

“What she needs is a new toy,” said the King.

“But she gets a new toy every single day,” said the Queen.

“True,” said the King. “But it seems to me that our castle toymakers are just making the same dolls and animals and toy boats over and over again. No wonder Princess Gillian is bored. What she needs is something really special.”

And so the King and Queen issued a royal decree. That means they sent out a message, throughout the entire kingdom. And the message was this: that the first person to bring the Princess a new toy that made her happy – would receive a chest filled with gold.

Well as you can imagine, it wasn’t long before the road to the castle was crowded with all kinds of people: tinkers and tailors and carpenters and magicians, and yes, even some very skilled toymakers. And these visitors to the castle brought all kinds of clever toys – the kind you’d expect to see long ago. They brought fancy puppets, and fancy dolls, and even fancier dollhouses. They brought flutes and harps and pretty music boxes. They brought colourful kites to fly in the sky, and miniature ships to sail on the water.      

And did Princess Gillian like any of these new toys? She did NOT. “Ugh. They’re all boring,” she said. And off she stomped.

Oh, her poor parents. They really didn’t know what to do.

Then just when the King and Queen were about to give up, one last visitor arrived. She didn’t look like a fancy toymaker, this visitor. In fact, she didn’t look a fancy anything. Her wool cloak was old and patched and dusty from the road. But the King had told his royal guards not to turn anyone away, and so the old woman was brought right into the royal throne room.

“And what do you have for Princess Gillian,” the Queen said, once the old woman had curtsied.

“Something special,” said the old woman. “Truly special.” And as everyone in the throne room watched expectantly, she reached under her cloak, and brought out – a wooden pencil.

“Is that – a pencil,” said the King. He could hardly believe his eyes.

“It is,” said the old woman.

“You brought a – pencil to make Princess Gillian happy? A simple, ordinary pencil?”

“Oh, there’s nothing ordinary about it,” said the old woman. “Whatever a person draws with this pencil – comes to life.”

“But that’s absurd,” said the King. “In fact, it’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”

But just as he was waving the old woman away, Princess Gillian stamped her foot. “Wait. I want to try this magic pencil.”

Now, as I’ve mentioned before, Princess Gillian was used to getting what she wanted. And so even though her parents were very skeptical, the old woman was allowed to hand the pencil over – with some special instructions.

“Everything you draw with this pencil will come to life – but only until the sun goes down,” the old woman told the princess. “When the sun sets, everything you’ve drawn will turn to dust.”

Princess Gillian didn’t smile, or even say thank you, as she accepted the pencil from the old woman. But she didn’t throw the pencil to the floor or stomp away, either – which was definitely an improvement. Instead, she took the pencil to her Tuesday bedroom, closed the door, and began to draw on a royal piece of paper.

The first thing she drew was a flower. It wasn’t a fancy flower – Princess Gillian didn’t have much practice drawing. But sure enough, as soon as she was finished, that flower lifted right off the page and came to life. At least, it looked like a real flower, it felt like a real flower – it even smelled like a real flower.

Well, Princess Gillian certainly wasn’t bored now! She drew more flowers, and then a butterfly. The butterfly’s wings weren’t quite the same size, so it wasn’t as graceful as it might have been. But still – there it was, fluttering around her room!

Princess Gillian spent the entire day in her Tuesday bedroom, filling the room with all sorts of interesting creatures. When her parents came to see how she was doing – she barely spoke to them. And when her servants came with her meals, the Princess barely ate a thing. She didn’t even touch her strawberry tarts.

But at last the sun went down. And when it did – everything Princess Gillian had drawn – turned to dust – just like the old woman had warned.

Well as you can imagine, Princess Gillian got up the next morning – in her Wednesday bedroom – at the very crack of dawn. She couldn’t wait to get started again. And again, she spent the whole day drawing and playing with her new creations. And the next day too, and the next, and the next, and the next. And the more the Princess drew, the better she got. Her butterflies – were beautiful. Her birds and rabbits and squirrels – looked just liked the ones you’d find in the forest.

Then one morning – Princess Gillian drew a kitten. Oh, it was the softest, cutest little bundle of fur you’ve ever seen. And the Princess had so much fun playing with her new kitten, that for the rest of that day, she didn’t draw anything else. Oh, how she wanted to take that kitten to sleep with her that night. But sure enough, as soon as the sun went down, the little kitten turned to dust.

A tear trickled down the Princess’ cheek as she climbed into bed by herself. She wasn’t angry, as she often was when she cried. She was sad.

But, the next morning, as soon as the first ray of sun peeked through her window, Princess Gillian drew her kitten again. Then she drew her kitten a saucer of water, and another saucer of kitten food, and a ball of soft yarn to play with. Princess Gillian and the kitten spent the entire day together – and not just in the Princess’ bedroom – her Monday bedroom – but all over the castle, and then outside in the castle garden as well. They had all kinds of adventures together – at least until the sun went down.

Princess Gillian cried even harder this time, when her kitten turned to dust. In fact, she was so sad that she ran to find her mother, the Queen. “Oh, mama,” said the Princess, as she hugged her mother. “I want my kitten to be real.”

“But your kitten is real – at least during the day,” said her mother.

“But I want a kitten that doesn’t turn to dust at night,” said the Princess.

“Well, that’s easy,” said the Queen. “We’ll just go and get you a kitten from the royal stables. There are always lots of kittens there.”

“No, you don’t understand,” said Princess Gillian. “I don’t want some other kitten. I want my kitten. I’ve named her Buttercup. Oh, mama. Please.”

The Queen was a bit startled at first. She’d never heard Princess Gillian use the word “please” before. But she got over her shock, leaned down, and kissed the Princess’ face – then ordered her servants to find the old woman.

Princess Gillian had already drawn Buttercup again and was holding the kitten in her lap, when the old woman arrived the next morning.

“Oh, yes,” said the old woman. “There is a way to make your kitten real. But – you must be willing to pay the price. If you break the pencil in two, the kitten you’ve drawn won’t turn to dust at sunset. It will stay alive just like any other kitten, and like any other kitten, it will grow to be a cat. But beware: once the pencil is broken, it will just be two halves of an ordinary pencil. None of your drawings will ever come to life again.”

Princess Gillian listened very carefully as the old woman spoke. And when the old woman was finished, the Princess didn’t grumble or frown or stomp her feet. Instead she nodded slowly. “Thank you,” said the Princess – and it was the first time she’d used those words, as well.

As everyone in the throne room held their breath, Princess Gillian took the pencil from her pocket and snapped it in two. Then she picked up Buttercup from her lap – and cuddled the kitten close to her face.

“Oh, thank you,” the Princess said again.

In time the kitten grew, just as the old woman had said. And Princess Gillian and her cat lived happily ever after.

Print PDF

This story may be reproduced and used for personal or educational purposes only. Permission must be obtained from the author for public performance, reproduction or commercial use.