The Princess and the Thousand Puppies

As the sun went down, everyone in the castle prepared for bed-time. Bathed and clean, Lilli settled down for bed grabbing her favorite blanket to snuggle with. It didn't take long before she drifted to sleep and began to dream.

Like so many of Lilli's dreams, this one was bright and full of sunshine. She ran through fields of flowers, giggling and happy, followed by a herd of one thousand excited puppies. Young dogs of every breed yelped happily and chased Lilli as she ran toward the forest where she liked to play. The puppies were wonderful friends and she loved them. They played hide and seek together, duck duck goose and tag.

Just when a brand new game of peek-a-boo was about to begin, the dream came to an end with rushed words from Queen Mommy.

"Princess Lillianna, it's time to wake up!" Her Mommy sang. Lilli grumbled and rolled over, wanting to get back to her dream. She missed her puppies!

Queen Mommy frowned, took the blankets away and screamed, "Princess Lillianna, you must wake up!"

"Fine," Lilli huffed and rolled out of bed. She washed her face, brushed her teeth and put on a lovely purple dress. Walking back into her bedroom, she gasped!

The room was filled with one thousand puppies! Lilli squealed in delight then ran into the room to welcome her friends. This was her dream come true!

The puppies were yipping and howling and so happy to be back with Lilli. They loved her too.

Suddenly the door flew open and there stood King Papa who said, "What's all the hub bub?"

"Oh Papa!" Lilli ran to her father, the King of Fairyland and hugged him tight. "My one thousand puppies are here! Yay!"

The King patted Lilli on the head and said, "Wow, that's a lot of puppies."

Just then, Queen Mommy walked into Lilli's room and said, "Oh my goodness! Where did all these puppies come from?"

Lilli smiled and said, "Last night before bed, I wished on a shooting star for one thousand puppies."

A small collie puppy ran and jumped on Queen Mommy, who laughed and petted the puppy on the head. "Oh… She is adorable. What a cute little puppy."

"Yes, I've named her Twinkle Toes," Princess Lilli said. "She is sooooooooo cute!"

Then a snow-white Siberian husky bounced over to King Papa and offered his paw. The King shook his paw and said, "Mighty husky, I proclaim you the royal pet for Princess Lilli. Good doggie!"

"What about all the other puppies?" Lilli asked. "They want to be royal pets too."

The puppies bounced and barked in agreement, then yawned and fell asleep. Lilli looked upon her new pets, each and every one of them sound asleep and snoring loudly, making Princess Lilli giggle the whole morning.

"Well…" The King mused. "I suppose they can all be royal pets for you my princess. What do you think my Queen?"

Queen Mommy sighed and took the kings hand. "Yes, but we need to get some dog treats immediately!"

Lilli laughed again and said, "No problem. I also wished for one thousand packages of dog treats last night."

She walked to the closet and when she opened the door… One thousand packages of dog treats spilled onto the floor, making a loud noise and waking the puppies. They barked and ran around in excitement, thrilled to see all those tasty treats.

"Sit!" Princess Lilli said and all of the puppies sat down and waited patiently.

"What fine puppies," said the King.

"I agree," said the Queen.

After giving each puppy a treat and a scratch behind the ear, Princess Lilli led the puppies through the great hall of the castle and outside to play in the field. They ran about the field, playing games and rolling around in the grass until the Queen called them in for dinner.

In the royal dining room, a table was set with heaping plates of food and beside the table were one thousand bowls of puppy food and dishes of water. After dinner, the Queen insisted that it was time for Princess Lilli to take a bath.

"But I want the puppies to have a bath too!" Lilli said and the puppies yipped in agreement.

The King scratched his head. "How will we bath them all? We can not fit one thousand puppies and Lilli in the bath tub."

"I have an idea!" Princess Lilli exclaimed. She turned around and snapped her fingers, the puppies following her out the door. She brought them all to the swimming pool!

The puppies ran and jumped in the pool, splashing Princess Lilli as they played. The King and Queen laughed and joined in the fun, swimming and splashing in the pool.

As the sun went down again, the King jumped out of the pool, dried himself off and announced that bed-time was once again approaching. The puppies listened to the king and exited the pool. As they came out of the water, they shook themselves dry, getting the King all wet again.

Princess Lilli and Queen Mommy laughed as the King frowned and dried himself off again.

Just then, a yorkie terrier jumped out of the pool and shook the water off himself, getting the King wet again!

"Silly Puppy!" Exclaimed the King. "To bed, all of you!"

And so the king and queen led Princess Lilli and her one thousand puppies to her bedroom where they tucked her in and watched as the puppies gathered around her bed and yawned.

"Goodnight my Princess, sleep well," the King said as he kissed Princess Lillis forehead. "And goodnight puppies, sweet dreams."

They all settled down, the puppies falling to sleep. Lilli blew kisses to each puppy and smiled. She was so happy with her one thousand puppies. She couldn't wait to play with them again tomorrow! She yawned and rubbed her sleepy eyes, holding her favorite blanket tight. She turned and looked out the window, gazing at the stars in the night sky.

All of the sudden a giant shooting star flew across the sky making Princess Lilli smile and say, "I wish for one thousand kitties," before she drifted off to sleep.