The Nutcracker and The Mouse King Chapter 9

Marie: *opens her eyes and jolts out of her sleep* NUTCRACKER!!!

*Marie takes a few deep breaths as she holds herself together. Confused, she looks down and finds she is tightly holding the blankets on her bed. She turns all around to see her surroundings. Marie is back in her own room, in her own house. Marie rubs one hand along her brow, feeling a bead of sweat on her head. Her other hand brushes along her nightgown but then she feels something small in one of her pockets. She looks down at her right pocket, sticks her hand inside, lifts something out of it, and opens her palm. To her surprise, she sees The Mouse King's crown with the seven jewels glittering from the sunlight*

*The door opens as her Mother rushes in, a worried look on her face.

Mother: I heard you screaming, are you all right? *sits by Marie's bed and feels her brow* You're sweating. Did you have a nightmare?

Marie: *looks at her night table to see the Nutcracker wasn't there* Nutcracker! Where's Nutcracker?

Mother: Nutcracker?

Marie: The one Drosselmeyer gave me on Christmas Eve! It was in my room and now it's gone!

Mother: Drosselmeyer? *sighs* That man and his tricks. It's odd, I do remember him giving you a Nutcracker.

Marie: Downstairs! He must be downstairs! *jumps out of bed and runs out of the room*

Mother: *calls out* Marie!

*But Marie keeps running as her mother follows her. Marie makes her way down to the parlor and rushes toward the Toy Cabinet. She opens it up hoping to see The Nutcracker, only for her hope to turn to disappointment: She could see Ivan, Cassim, The Twins, and Rosaline… But the Nutcracker, her Nutcracker, was not there. The Mother finally catches up to her*

Marie: He's gone…

Mother: Gone? *looks in the cabinet* It is gone. But I could've sworn your father put him right there.

Marie: But how can that be? *pause*  Unless… He must still be in the castle!

Mother: Castle? Marie, what are you talking about? Are you all right?

Marie: Mother! Drosselmeyer was right! The Nutcracker, all the stories, they were all true! The Nutcracker was his nephew! He had a niece who was cursed into a Mouse. And the Mouse King… He was so horrible… And look… *takes out the crown* See? It's his crown! I took it from him when the Nutcracker defeated him. Then he grew seven heads and--

Mother: Marie, you were probably dreaming it all. There's no Mouse King, there's no Doll Kingdom, and furthermore, the Nutcracker is NOT Drosselmeyer's nephew.

Marie: But---

Mother: No buts. You've got to put away all these fantasies. Your father has already left to pick up your uncle and when he gets here, we're going to have a "long" talk about filling your head with these silly stories. *walks out then turns* And Marie… Don't mention anything about those "dreams" anymore.

Marie: *looks back at the empty spot in her toy cabinet* I don't understand… If it WAS all a dream…where did you go?

*As soon as her mother leaves the room, Marie takes a seat on the parlor chair and continues to stare at the empty space. As the hours pass, Marie still sits there trying to figure out how it all happened. She thinks of all the possibilities that could've happened but she can't ignore what she believed. Now and then, her mother passes past the door and sees Marie sitting there. The Mother worries for her daughter, but decides to give her some space. By the time it was around the afternoon, a knock at the door was heard and Marie turns as her Mother opens the door. She is talking with someone, possibly her father and Uncle as she walks out and closes the door behind her. Marie's attention is not on the conversation heard outside the door; instead, she turns back to the cabinet. After so many hours of silence, Marie finally stands up and speaks up as if she were talking to the toys. Though it feels as though she speaks to herself*

Marie: *sighs* I don't know if any of you can hear me; I don't even know if you're listening. If any of you know where Nutcracker is, please tell him this for me: I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't able to keep my promise to help. You’ve all risked your lives to protect me and you've been the best friends I could ever have. I'm sorry I couldn't save the Nutcracker from his curse. But if you can tell him, if "any" of you can hear me, please let him know that if he truly was real I would never behave as Princess Pirlipat behaved. Because meeting him and all of you was the most wondrous thing to ever happen to me. I… *gives a small smile and a single tear falls down her cheek* I love him. I love…Kristoff.

*The tear falls down from her face, slowly down to the floor. When it makes impact, Marie hears a loud bang that rocks the house so hard that she practically falls down on the floor. Marie looks around, but just as quickly as it came the explosion died down. Marie didn't know if anyone else felt it, but then she might have just dreamt it too. Marie sighs, believing the magic really has ended. Her father calls out for her*

Father: Sugar Plum! There's someone here to see you!

*Curious, Marie walks out the parlor and to the front door, where her parents stand by with Uncle Drosselmeyer standing by them. A smile is on his face when he sees her*

Drosselmeyer: Good morning, Marie.

Marie: Uncle Drosselmeyer…

Drosselmeyer: Yes, Marie… I‘m back. And I‘ve brought a surprise for you.

Marie: Huh?

*Drosselmeyer turns to the door and motions for two figures standing by the horse drawn carriage. They walk over to the house, wrapped in long coats and wearing hats (A top hat on the tall one and a fur hat on the little one). As they entered the house, Marie watches as they remove their coats and unveil their hats. When Marie sees who they are, a gasp escapes her lips and she can't believe what she sees: It is Kristoff and Clara, Drosselmeyer's nephew and niece. Only this time, they were no longer as Marie saw them. Somehow they had regained their humanity and they couldn't be happier to see Marie*

Drosselmeyer: Marie… I'd like you to meet my family: My nephew; Kristoff Zachary Drosselmeyer, and my niece; Clara Drosselmeyer.

Marie: *shocked* N-Nu… Nu…

Kristoff: *approaches Marie and bows* It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Stahlbaum.

Clara: *smiles* Oh, yes. We've heard so much about you from Uncle Drosselmeyer.

Marie: *shocked* I…I…

Kristoff: Shall we go into the parlor? I'd like to get to know you better in there, if that's fine.

*Marie turns to her parents, who are confused seeing how Marie seems to know the children. But after they exchange some looks, the Mother nods and allows Marie to go. Marie and Kristoff walk into the parlor with Clara close behind. They take their seats at the parlor as Marie tries to figure out how this happened*

Kristoff: *holds Marie's hands and smiles* Yes, Marie… It's us.

Marie: But… How?

Kristoff: You did it, Marie… You broke Mouserinks' spell.

Clara: We thought that by killing the Mouse King, the curse would be broken. But as it turned out, it was your love for my brother that did it.

Marie: I'm not dreaming this time? Is this real?

Kristoff: Quite real, I assure you. The Doll Kingdom is safe, and all the mice are free from the Mouse King's tyranny. For I am now their King.

Marie: Oh… Oh, that’s wonderful! But what about the others? Ivan, Cassim, Yin and Yang, Rosaline?

Clara: They're all safe, Marie. Especially dear Ivan. They're waiting for us to come back to the Doll Kingdom.

Kristoff: We really came here to ask you one question: Will you come home with us and live in the palace…as my Queen?

Marie: Oh, Kristoff, I'd love nothing more than to live with your in your magnificent castle… But what about my family? My mother, father… Fritz?

Kristoff: Well, we figured you would be worried about your family.

Clara: Which is why we'd like for them to come live with us in the castle.

Marie: Really?

Kristoff: You've already done so much for us. So we decided to ask you to invite them.

Marie: Oh my… They're never going to believe this.

Clara: You won't know unless you ask them.

Marie: *walks over to Kristoff* So this is it how feels…

Kristoff: Like the end of a fairy tale…

Marie: *sighs and smiles* Yes… Yes, I wish to go with you. Onward and upward… My dear, dear Nutcracker.


THE END