In a far away land, on top of mountains of sand, Princess Jasmine sits in her palace over looking the city below. Similar to the tucked away villages, Jasmine’s true desires are hidden from the rest of the world. The townspeople frown upon the royal family, scoffing at them when they stroll by on their chariots. Likewise, Jasmine’s father, the Sultan, and his advisor pick up their noses and scoff back. While this imbalance of power goes on, Jasmine secretly wishes to be one of the townspeople. She dreams of living a normal life away from the riches and away from the jewels. She doesn’t want to marry a prince or have the responsibilities that come along with being a princess. Everyday she wakes up feeling like an actress, putting on a show. Jasmine has to eat a certain way, dress a certain way, speak a certain way and even wave a certain way. She feels like no one really cares about her or what she really wants. After being stuck in this palace for so long, she is even beginning to forget who she really is.
On one summer day, Jasmine went into the Village to pick up some fruit. She usually has her servant do it for her but on this day, she insisted that she did it herself. She didn’t want to be isolated from the townspeople so she planned to dress herself in a way that would make her look as if she fit in. All of her princess clothes were covered in gold and jewels. It would be too obvious if she wore anything of her own, so she thought of a clever idea. She grabbed her old sheets and sewed them into a frock. She then took her pillowcase and turned it into a bonnet. She borrowed a pair of her servant’s sandals and went on her way. Jasmine knew that if she was caught leaving the palace in this type of attire she would be scorned and taken back to her room so she thought of a plan. She would wear her princess dress and pack her village clothes in a bag. Once she has made it out of the palace, she would hide behind the nearest barricade and change.
Jasmine managed to make it out of the palace without any question. As she was looking for a place to change her outfit, someone threw an egg at her and yelled “go back to your palace”. In tears, Jasmine ran as fast as she could into the nearest store. When she walked in, the store owner recognized her and got down on his knees to bow to her. She walked over to him, shaking her head.
“You don’t need to do that.” She lifted him up off the floor.
“But Princess, I insist.”
She brushed the dust off his clothes and smiled.
“I’m just like you. A regular person.”
“Princess, you are royalty. You aren’t like anybody down here in the village. You belong with the people in the palace.”
Jasmine sighed and plunked herself in a chair. She cupped her chin between her hands and dropped her eyes to the floor. She mumbled under her breath, “if only you knew what it was really like”. Her tiara dropped on the floor and one of the jewels broke off. The store owner picked it up and offered to fix it. In a daze, Jasmine didn’t respond. The owner said he needed to go pick up some superglue from down the road and he would be right back. He took the crown with him and walked out the door.
The sound of the door shutting snapped Jasmine back into reality. She looked around and noticed that no one was in site. She grabbed her clothes out of her bag and quickly changed. She threw her princess dress back in her bag and snuck out the back door. No one recognized her and it couldn’t of made her happier. On her way to the fruit stand, she noticed the shop owner walking towards her in the distance. She covered her face with her bonnet and looked the other way as they crossed paths. She noticed people laughing and children playing. She could hear birds singing and street musicians performing for coins. She leaned her head back, took a deep breath and smiled. This was the type of life she wanted to live.
Remembering what she came down here for, Jasmine headed towards the fruit stand. There was one stand in particular that she always went to. It had the sweetest melons in the whole village. She looked forward to eating these melons every week. It was her special treat that always kept her happy even in the palace. The shop keeper always gave Jasmine the biggest one. Of course this was because she was the princess. But nonetheless, she was always flattered and tipped him generously.
She walked several blocks and turned down the lane with all the wooden stands. People were selling weaved baskets, jewelry and gum. As she got closer to the stand, she noticed that the barrels were empty. The tables were clear and the sign was taken down. She ran up to the stand to ask the shopkeeper where everything was, but he was gone. Not a sweet melon in site. Jasmine looked around to see if there was somebody she could ask. She walked over to the nearest stand, which was selling baguettes. Beside were two little kids with ripped clothing and dirty hands. Jasmine smiled at them but they shied away and ran behind the stand. She looked up and noticed a charming young man working there. He took a baguette, ripped it in half and handed it to the children. They took a few bites and ran down the road with the rest of the loaf in there hand.
“Excuse me sir, do you know where the fruit stand went? The one across the road with the most delicious melons?”
An older, heavier woman ran up to the young man and grabbed him by the ear, dragging him away from the shop.
“It’s probably closed down because this street rat stole it all.” The woman looked back at the young man. “What did I tell you about giving my loafs to those homeless kids.”
“I’m sorry Mrs. Leante, I won’t do it again.”
“That’s what you always say. Now scram.”
The young boy smiled at Jasmine, grabbed his bag and walked away. He was followed by a little monkey who climbed up his back and sat on his shoulder. Jasmine was impressed at the young man’s kind gesture and his handsome smile made her blush. But she was a bit confused about the monkey. She giggled to herself and shrugged it off. The real shopkeeper, the older woman, walked up to Jasmine and put her hand on her shoulder.
“I’m sorry miss, but the fruit stand shopkeeper died last week so they had to close down his store.”
“Oh no, that is so horrible. What happened to him?”
“Not sure.” The woman squinted her eyes and leaned in closer to Jasmine’s face. “You look familiar.”
Not wanting to blow her disguise, Jasmine quickly covered her face and started to walk away.
“I don’t think we’ve met. I have to go now. Thank you for your help.”
She kept walking down the street so far until she came to a place she had never been before. It was a beautiful stream of water. She laid down her bag and took a seat. Jasmine felt sad for the old shopkeeper and wondered what could have happened to him. She looked out along the stream and took a deep breathe. Next moment, a hand holding a melon flew over her shoulder and was held next to her cheek. She quickly turned around and saw the face of the young man from the baguette stand.
“They are the sweetest in the village.”
Jasmine couldn’t believe her eyes. She was thrilled. She wondered how he found her here. Wanting to look cool, calm and collected, she went with, “I don’t think melons get sweeter then the ones from the stand that closed down.”
“Oh, trust me. These are sweeter. I’ve tried them all.”
The young boy took a nearby stick and shoved it into the ground. He then took the melon and cracked it in half over the stick. He handed one piece to Jasmine and kept the other for himself.
“Take a bite.”
Jasmine ate a little piece and was amazed. He was right. It was sweeter then anything she had ever tasted. Her eyes lit up and the young man sat down beside her and smiled.
“I told you.” He took a bite of his half. “I’m Aladdin and this is Abu.” He pointed to the monkey hiding behind his back. The monkey ran around and jumped on Jasmine’s lap. Jasmine laughed, awed and pet his head. Aladdin grabbed him and put him down beside them.
“Abu, that’s no way to treat a lady.” He placed the melon on the floor for Abu to eat. “What’s your name?”
Jasmine was in LaLa land. “I’m Ja..” Once she realized what she was doing she tried to cover it up. “ja...” She stumbled on her word. “Jambalaya”.
Aladdin scrunched his eyebrows in disbelief. “Jambalaya?”
“Yea. Well, Jambalaya is just my nickname. My real name is…”
She was interrupted by Aladdin leaning in closer and saying, “you look familiar”.
“Sheesh, I’ve been getting that a lot today. Must have one of those familiar faces.” Jasmine sneakily pulled her bonnet down to cover more of her face and looked the other way.
Aladdin held her chin between his thumb and pointer finger and turned her face back towards him. “No, I’ve seen you before.”
“I don’t think so.” Jasmine tries to subtlety pull away, but Aladdin doesn’t give in. He looks ever closer and gaps. He drops his hands and yells, “you’re Princess Jasmine.”
Freaked out that people might have heard, Jasmine covers Aladdin’s mouth and shushes him. Aladdin slowly pulls her hand off and whispers, “Princess Jasmine?”
Jasmine bows her head in shame. “Fine, you caught me.”
“What are you doing down here in the village Princess. And dressed like that?”
Jasmine explains to Aladdin everything she was feeling. Why she has to hide. Why she likes it down here so much better then in the palace. How she feels trapped. Jasmine and Aladdin ended up talking until sun down. Jasmine said it was getting late and that the Sultan will start looking for her now. She said goodbye and asked if she could see him again. He told her of course and that he would be around whenever she came down.
On her way back to the palace, she couldn’t get Aladdin out of her head. She dreamed of a life in the village. She thought about how simple it would be and how much happier she would feel. She imagined being with Aladdin, but knew that it could never happen. Her father and his advisor would never let a village boy into the palace and the village people would never accept her as Jasmine. She thought about disguising herself forever, but if in only a few hours people already noticed her, she knew that her identity would be given away if she lived there for good. She quickly changed back into her princess clothes beside the palace and walked inside sad and blue. She said goodnight to the Sultan and locked herself in her room. She laid on her bed and cried herself to sleep.
The next day, Jasmine woke up feeling rejuvenated and confident. She decided that she was going to go back into the village to see Aladdin dressed as a princess. She didn’t care what it took, but she was willing to do it. She felt that strongly about him and she wanted to make it work.
