Happy Tell a Fairy Tale Day!

To celebrate, I'm sharing an excerpt from Upon A Dream- my modern-day retelling of Sleeping Beauty.

Imagine a grand theater with a warehouse full of costumes and props that you've only heard about and you've dreamed of seeing it, like forever, but no one is allowed inside without authorization. But someone left the door ajar, so what do you do? Sneak in, of course!

This is where we find Philip in this scene. See if you can guess which part of the Disney adaptation this scene relates to.

*For those who don't know, Talia is the name given the sleeping beauty in the original version.

Soft humming echoed through the room for a few notes, then went quiet again. Philip stopped and peeked over the top of the racks around him but couldn’t see anyone. He moved down to the end of the aisle and listened.

The humming started up again interspersed with a few words now and again. The voice belonged to a female if he wasn’t mistaken, and it came from somewhere to his left. He quietly made his way in that direction. Whomever it was, he didn’t want to startle them.

As he got closer, he realized the tune was from Sleeping Beauty—the one where Briar Rose meets the prince for the first time. The person singing it was definitely a female and he doubted very seriously that the sweet soprano came from Carol. Her niece maybe?

He finally caught a glimpse of movement. Philip stretched up on his toes to get a better look over the top of a rack of clothing. A blond with delicate features and a messy bun at the back of her head grabbed a dress, scanned a tag inside the collar, and hung it on the rolling rack next to her. She stopped singing and the sound of her fingers tapping on the keys of a laptop took over before the song started up once again.

As she turned for the next garment and repeated the process, he could picture her dancing across the stage as the lead in Sleeping Beauty. If she switched out her oversized glasses for contacts and let her hair down, she’d be the spitting image of the iconic princess. And she definitely had the pipes for the job.

When she started singing again, almost to the part where the prince would join in, Philip swallowed to clear his throat and waited for his cue before he sang out the beginning of his lines like they were already performing together. “The way y—"

She belted out a scream that made his ears ring.

Philip rushed around the end of the rack he’d been hiding behind. She stumbled backward, bumping the rolling table she used as a desk and sent it careening down the aisle. One of her hands covered her throat while the other swung behind her as if searching for a weapon as she backed away. Frightened blue eyes stared at him through plastic frames that looked like they belonged back in the ’80’s.

He held his hands up. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Philip, you idiot, what did you think would happen? He hadn’t been thinking at all. He’d been too caught up in the moment. Something his father never ceased to complain about. Maybe this one time, his dad had a point.

With his hand over his chest, he gave her his most charming smile. “I’m really, really sorry.”

He expected her to say something, smile at him, something to indicate that she was no longer frightened and accepted his apology. She backed further away, the look of terror still on her face.

“I’m such an idiot. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Philip Noble and I’m involved in the play to be performed next, Sleeping Beauty.”

He took a step closer and tugged on the skirt of one of the fairy dresses hanging from the rack she’d been working on. “I’m sure you know about it since I see you’re already making preparations.”

She stepped to the side of her computer table and then rolled it around to sit between them. “You’re not supposed to be back here.”

The barely audible voice didn’t sound like the one he’d heard singing. Had that scream she let out damaged her voice somehow? He sure hoped not. “You must be Miss Carol’s niece. She said you’d show me around.”

He hadn’t thought her baby blues could stretch any wider, but they did. It wasn’t really a lie. Carol had said if they needed anything, they’d have to go through her or her niece. She had probably meant for him to wait for permission first, but it was too late for that. “Aren’t you going to tell me your name?”

She mumbled something, and he chanced a step closer. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that?”

“It’s Talia.” The poor girl could barely look at him as she nervously tugged on the hem of her t-shirt.

Apparently, she wasn’t yet over the fright he’d given her. He did feel bad about it. He needed to find some way to get past her first impression of him. He’d have to if they were going to work as a believable couple on the stage. Because if he had his way about it, this girl would be playing the role of Aurora come opening night.