Highly Commended Story - Tanaria – The Macaw Princess

“Tanaria – The Macaw Princess” by Shriya Pasricha, Amity International School, Sec-43, Gurugram, India, is the Highly Commended story in the junior category of the second biannual Short Story Contest 2020.

Shriya Pasricha is a juvenile story writer, hodophile and a dancing enthusiast studying in class VI in Amity International School, Sec-43, Gurugram, India. Shriya has been an active writer in the profound school newspaper ‘The Global Times’ since three years. Her self-composed poems like the recent ‘The Covid Times!’ have inspired many students in the times of quarantine. Passionate about what she does, she transports her readers in a completely different world, making them experience her unique stories. Her goals in life are simple- To keep writing stories and books to encourage the youth who will be the future leaders of tomorrow and to be content in life.

Tanaria – The Macaw Princess

Long time ago in a magnificent castle of Catellocks lived a happy family which was protected by the royal macaws. On one fine day, the king and queen went for a cruise tour with their baby daughter, but the sudden change in weather was really unfortunate. Moreover, the death of the King and Queen due to the shipwreck added an insult to injury. However, the princess was somehow saved by the dolphins of an island nearby. The animals of the island decided to give her a happy life and to make her forget the tragic incident. They promised to keep this incident a secret to the princess and never tell about her real identity. And this beautiful baby girl was named ‘Tanaria’ which means ‘the most beautiful element on Earth’.

Years passed and she became really familiar with the environment of the Island under the watchful eyes of the kind animals. She discovered her specialty to communicate with animals. Coco, a macaw became Tanaria’s best pal forever on the island.

After a few days, a charming prince named Arthur of one of the wealthiest kingdoms visited the island in the middle of his cruise tour. As he entered the jungle, he was attacked by some poisonous snakes, who were protecting the Island Kingdom. Luckily, princess Tanaria arrived in no time and saved the prince from danger. He was very grateful to her for saving his life. So, he took her for his palace tour as a token of gratitude.

When they reached the city, they heard the news that the King’s majestic crown had been pilfered. The King became very apprehensive and set all his servants and guards to work. Well, Tanaria realized that this was not the right time for the palace tour and decided to help the royals in finding the crown.

The fact that Tanaria couldn’t investigate was, that the thief was present in the palace itself. And she was none other than the royal magician Cassandra. Her blind love for Prince Arthur made her steal the precious crown. But nonetheless, Tanaria and Prince Arthur’s investigation led them to the Forbidden Forest. Behind the tall trees was a secret door, which had a tag saying “Open Me.” As they opened the mysterious door, a big trap net fell on them which was thrown due to Cassandra’s magic spell. As she continued to add ingredients to her magic potion which would lure the Prince to marry her. With the help of Tanaria’s gestures, the clever macaw Coco took Cassandra’s magic wand and broke it with its beak. Coco rescued Tanaria and Arthur, and they ran back towards the castle.

Arthur felt that he was in debt because his gratitude wasn’t enough to thank Tanaria for all the help she had provided him. He asked Tanaria to marry him and live a happy life in his kingdom. Tanaria’s happiness knew no bounds and she shouted a “YES” and accepted his proposal.

The wedding day had come and all the people were busy in decorating the hall, checking the guest list, preparing the feast and what not. When the ceremony began, Tanaria was asked to sing a song on this precious day. She sang a song which only royals knew. The new queen of Catellocks-Tanaria’s aunt, who was also a guest at the wedding, was surprised to hear the voice and she realized that it was none other than her own niece!!! Everybody was exultant to hear that finally the princess was brought into being. It was the happiest moment ever in Tanaria’s life and they all lived happily ever after…