The Princess and the Engine

I decided to create a writing challenge for myself, so I thought I would write a short children's story in the style of Theodore Geisel. Here it goes!

The Princess and the Engine
by Jeff Fiet

In the middle of nowhere, a quaint, little town
Stood nestled amidst the Forest of Frown.
In the midst of the forest was Castle Morose
Where lived a fair princess whose name no one knows.
She'd lived in the castle her full twenty years
And each of those days were chock full of tears.
"Why's the princess so sad?" you might ask in your head.
That's simple. There is merely one thing causing dread.
She can't leave the Forest to go into town.
Her castle sits high and she's scared to walk down.
So, she sits all alone and she cries and she moans
And she orders more junk than one person should own.
Her castle is full to the brim with new things...
None of it used, but all of it brings
A second of joy, though those seconds grow shorter
With each new day of her life as a hoarder.
Today is another with nothing to do
But order more junk to lighten the blue.
But just as she goes for the phone with her hand
She's stopped by a sound that resounds through the land.
It's the sound of a whistle and the sound's getting near
She runs to the window and opens to peer
Down the hill toward the forest where something she spies
Sending numerous puffs of white steam to the sky.
She hears a chug-chug and a quiet peep-peep
And out chugs an engine, right out of the trees.
It chugs and it chuffs right up to the door
And peeps as it waits for it's passenger to board.
The princess looks out and decides right away
To forget all her stuff. It's not used anyway.
And she boards the small train, climbing right up and in
And the engine peep-peeps and starts moving again
And the engine takes off straight toward the town.
It turns toward the hill and it scuttles right down.
It chugs with the princess to the middle of Promise.
And then something happened she couldn't have guessed.
She smiled...and that smile brought a joy to her heart
More than any of the stuff that she'd bought off the cart.
More than vases or jewelry or buttons or cans
Or miniature garden gnomes with really bad tans.
It brought her more joy than ever she'd felt.
So, she got off the train and right there she knelt
And cried, but these tears were the tears of sheer joy
For the princess had found what she truly enjoyed.
She was free from the bonds of her prison of stuff.
And now she needed nothing. Just life was enough.


So... What do you think? Needs some illustrations perhaps!  :)