In this ongoing collaborative series, young writers around the world revisit stories important to their childhoods. Like many of the tales that shape our lives, these pieces flow into each other, creating a narrative that links contributors across continents and cultures. You can read the previous story here. Remember to come back to KidSpirit for the next installment, and don’t miss the accompanying videos that bring these young voices to life.

Meanwhile, in another village far from the prince’s, the exciting promise of a new adventure was in the air.

This village’s princess, Evelyn, got ready for the day. She put on her dress, black shoes, and crown.

Evelyn ran out the door. The other kids were playing. She walked over to Mary, and asked if she wanted to play “Queen,” but Mary said no. So Evelyn asked Tiffany, but she said no. Evelyn asked Lily, but she said no, too. Evelyn asked everyone. They all said no.

Evelyn didn’t understand why no one wanted to play. Sad, she went and sat all by herself.

As the day passed, Evelyn watched the other kids play without her. They laughed, ran, and jumped. She still didn’t understand. She was the princess, they had to play with her! Tears fell down her cheeks. She threw down her crown and ran inside.

“What’s wrong Evelyn?” Asked the Queen.

“No one will play with me!” Evelyn said through the tears. The Queen wiped them away.

“There’s a reason for everything. Figure out why they won’t play with you.”

The Queen was right. So Evelyn marched outside. She picked up her crown and walked over to Mary.

“Why don’t you want to play with me?” Asked Evelyn.

“Because you always want to play “Queen” and you’re always the Queen,” said Mary.

“Oh. I guess it isn’t fair that you’re never Queen. What if we play something else?”

“That would be fun. What do you want to play?”

“Hmmm, let’s play tag!”

“Okay. TAG! You’re it,” Mary said, then bolted.

Evelyn and the other kids played the rest of the day. Evelyn let the other girls be the Queen in their games. She played other games too. As spring fell into summer, the kids played from dawn to dusk. Everyone was excited to see what adventure awaited them next.