Daisy was a destined to be Queen.... she knew that. Knew it in every fiber of her being. After all, she had already been one of the local Princess for three years running, and now, with the reigning Queen Dinty Cartwright finally aged out, it was her time to shine.
Standing in front of the full-length mirror (the 6' mirror loomed over her but that was to be expected with a 5-year old), she brushed her hands softly down the front of her blue silk dress, and smiled at what she saw. Golden hair in perfect curls tumbled onto her shoulders, and her eyelashes were the longest of any girl in the running this year. Her dress had layers of underskirts that made her dress poof out just so, and the skirt had sparkles in a swirling design that made it practically shimmer in the sunlight. There was a string of pearls around her neck, and even a stone that twinkled like pink and blue fire on one little finger.
Nodding to her reflection in approval, she turned from her reflection, listening for the sweet hiss of her dress brushing against the underskirts.
Heaven.
Walking carefully down the hall to the kitchen, she paused, took a breath and then calmly walked in.
Her father, sitting at the front table looked up and smiled as she entered the room. "Ah, I am fortunate to be visited by her Grace, our future Queen", he laughed. Leaning over, he kissed her tenderly on the cheek; he had not taken the time to shave yet, and it tickled. Daisy giggled, and then stood back, holding her skirts wide.
"How do I look Papa?" she asked, and slowly spun in a circle in order to make her skirts flare even wider.
Her father's smile didn't fade, but he took in the girl and, once again, he wished her could do more for her. Her little dress, once someone's Cinderella costume, had been carefully drawn on with glitter glue, but he could see smears where it hadn't fully dried before it had been moved. He noted the cheap string of imitation pearls, and the ring... he had no idea where Daisy had found it, but it appeared to be no more than a cheap piece of costume jewelry.
Daisy's usually straight hair had been worked over with a curling iron by her older sister, but nature was already making those curls droop and, no doubt, by the time they arrived at the competition, they would be straight again. Her excitement, however, could not be contained, and it only heightened the sparkle in her eyes.
"Let me go get cleaned up", he chuckled. "A vision such as you can hardly be seen with me all scruffy. What will people think?"
Daisy giggled again, allowed herself one more spin, and then carefully sat down, brushing her skirts with pudgy fingers.
Dave's girls were the two best things he had going for him, and there was nothing he wouldn't do for either of them... or at least try to. While there may not have been enough money for frivolities, at least the mortgage was paid on time and there was always food on the table. Still, he mused, as he walked to the bathroom and pulled out his razor, it would be nice to have a little extra for things like pretty dresses. Thankfully his girls seemed to have a good take on what was important, and didn't seem to notice if they were lacking some of the things other kids took for granted.
He knew Daisy hoped to be crowned Queen this year, and while she had a good chance, seeing as how there were only a couple of girls who actually cared to enter this small-town contest, he knew that there was also every chance that someone else would get that coveted crown.
In short time they were all ready. Missy, as usual, had her nose in a book, and she graciously offered her little sister the chance to ride shotgun in the beat-up truck. Daisy paused for a moment and then declined; as it was, with the air conditioner working only sporadically, sitting in the middle offered the best protection for her curls. Missy smiled in amusement... a smile so like her mother's that Dave found himself once again being so grateful for these two little miracles that held him together. He reached out, lifted Daisy gently to keep from wrinkling her skirts, and set her on the bench seat. Missy, nearly 8, was able to hop in on her own, not even lifting her eyes from the story that she was reading.
It was a short drive to the park where the factory's annual summer picnic was being held. In no time at all Daisy found herself on stage with four other little girls, all dressed in their royal best. Tiny Maddie Comstock, only four, was tottering around in what appeared to be her older sister's high heels in order to appear as tall as the older girls, and she was doing a pretty good job of it; even if she couldn't lift her feet up to walk, but rather slid her way across the pavement like she was roller skating. Her older sister followed along, grimacing at every scrape her shoes made on the asphalt, until, finally, she scooped her sister up with one arm, snagged the shoes with the other hand and carried her sister the rest of the way. Apparently, some sacrifices were just not to be made when it came to footwear.
Things were about to get underway when a girl Daisy had never seen before quietly made her way to the stage. Appearing to be her age, this little girl seemed to be nervous about being in front of the crowd, and was determinedly keeping her eyes on the ground before her. Daisy couldn't see her face at all, but it was obvious this girl was new as no one in the area had flaming red curls. In fact, Daisy could hardly take her eyes off the girl and failed to notice the concern now registering on the judges faces. As the girl came to a hesitant stop next to her, Daisy put on an even bigger smile and whispered, "Hi, I'm Daisy."
The girl looked up, timidity momentarily forgotten as her blue eyes met Daisy's brown ones. A smile crossed her face as she whispered back, "I'm Meredith". With that, Meredith's gaze went to the crowds and she quickly put her head down again. Daisy's heart went out to the girl and, impulsively she reached out a hand and squeezed Meredith's hand. Meredith, squeezing back, did not look up, but she did not let go either.
It seemed to only take a few minutes for the judges to come to a determination, and then Mr Schultz, the factory owner, was calling Dinty to the stage. The former Queen marched forward, her cheap plastic crown shimmering like burnished gold in the sunlight, and the paste gems flashed shades of red, green and sapphire blue as Dinty turned to the girls clustered on stage and wished them luck. Daisy felt herself coveting that glorious crown, forgetting everything, including her new friend in the moment. It will be mine, it will be mine, she repeated to herself, over and over.
Suddenly Meredith was pushing her forward. "They called your name", she whispered, and Daisy found herself stumbling forward so that Dinty could place a crown on her head.
A Queen's crown.
Daisy's hand reached up to touch that coveted crown, hardly believing it was now on her head, as the assembled parents applauded. Turning to smile at Meredith, Daisy was dismayed to see that all of her friends wore the smaller, silver princess crowns.... all except for Meredith. The girl was looking straight at Daisy, applauding her new-found friend, but apparently there had not been enough crowns to go around. Daisy had not known that could happen. The few years she herself had participated every girl had received a crown.
Without a pause she walked straight over to Meredith, plucked her crown from her head and whispered, "this belongs to you", and rested it on Meredith's head.
Meredith looked surprised, and tentatively reached up as if to be sure that the crown was really there. "But they gave it to you", she whispered.
"And now I give it to you", was Daisy's simple reply. With that she clasped Meredith's hand in hers and pulled the girl to the front of the stage. Dinty hesitated a moment, glancing at the judges for direction before walking up and offering Daisy her own crown, but Daisy shook her head. Dinty shrugged, not really understanding, but she quietly walked back to her spot on the stage, happy that she didn't have to surrender her own crown after all.
Daisy grinned as Meredith impulsively threw her arms around her and hugged her tight. So she didn't have a crown, and so what if she wasn't Queen this year; she knew she had done the right thing for Meredith. The girl was now smiling at the crowd, shyness forgotten.
Mr Schultz looked astounded, but recovered quickly enough and announced to everyone attending, "I present to you this year's Schultz Manufactoring Pre-School Royalty." Turning, he smiled at Daisy and then added, "Daisy Marsden you stay up here as well. You are just as much a part of this royalty as anyone else."
With that he stepped back and the girls all came forward to the edge of the stage, each waving back to the audience. Five crowns, but six little arms waving under the bright July sun.
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