Bedtime Stories

When I was very young, my favorite way to end the day was to snuggle deep under the covers in the middle of my parents' bed and wait for my bedtime story. They were almost always the same kind of story, and almost never from an actual book. My dad would make one up on the spot just for me. I would listen as the words he said painted the most vived pictures and imagine that I was actually there. By the end, I was already nearly half asleep and dreaming of the places he talked about.
I had been thinking about these little stories the other day and wondered what they would look like if I wrote them out. Seeing as this week I'm focusing on writing, I figured it would be a good opportunity to stretch my memory muscle as well as my creative one. Even just remembering the stories themselves got me excited to write one out and see if I could recall all the little details. It brought back the magic of laying in bed and having someone tell you of a faraway land in their very best narrator voice and thinking, that if you believed so, one day you would grow up and really be able to live there. And so, without any further ado, here is a very short version of my favorite childhood bedtime story:
Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess. She dressed in the finest gowns made of the softest silk and the smoothest satin. Her castle had hundreds of rooms and secret hiding spots, perfect for playing hide and seek. The princess loved to look out from the tallest tower's windows and see the dense forest that stretched out in every direction. She would imagine all the adventures that awaited her out among those trees.
The princess also had very many horses, always nicely groomed and ready to be saddled for her. She loved to ride them most everyday, but had never had enough courage to go riding alone in the forest.
One day, however, she mustered up the strength to take her favorite horse and finally see all the magic that was sure to be out in all those grand trees. Sure enough, in no time at all, she found herself happily galloping through the magnificent forest she had always wanted to see for herself. Trotting along, the princess came upon many creatures she had learned all about in the books she was always reading, but had never met in face to face. Luckily, they were all very nice creatures, so she didn't have to worry too much.
After a great deal of time spent in the wonderful forest, the princess decided it was time to go back to castle. She was so worn out that, when she arrived, the princess simply took her horse back to the stables, and went straight to bed.