Part I.  Part II. 
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The prince galloped towards the nest.  The princess, on his back, bounce to and fro.  She felt a little sick sometimes, being so high up and being jostled here and there, but she didn't lose her lunch.  She didn't have anything in her stomach to throw up, so she just enjoyed the fresh air, bounces and dizziness and all. 

The nest became bigger and bigger as the prince got closer and closer to it.  It was the biggest nest the princess had ever seen.  No.  She lives in an igloo.  I don't know why she lives in the igloo.  Maybe the Eskimos that used to live there left it for the King and Queen of the penguins.  Maybe it's a naturally made igloo.  What do you mean there's no such thing?  Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not? 

Anyways, the sticks and thickets rose to the sky, blocking half the sun.  The prince lowered his head and folded his wings in.  He ducked down low.  The princess hopped off next to his and looked up in awe and amazement.  It must have been four, five times taller than her!  But the entrance was nice and low.  The prince had to crouch and duck at the same time, which was difficult for an ostrich to do, but the princess walked right in, with plenty of headroom, too.  She noticed that the outer layer of the nest had pointy barbs and ouchie thorns, but the inside was filled with feathers, soft leaves and grass.  It was very comfortable in there, actually.  Even if it was a little warm.  The thick palm provided enough cool areas for them to sit. 

"You just have to stick your neck up and pick an ear of corn", said the prince. 

"Ear of corm?", she asked. 

"Corn, with an N", he replied. 

"What do they look like?", she said.  She couldn't understand why she would want just the ear of something when she can eat the whole corn.  Well, she didn't know that's how you count corn.  No.  She's from the Land of Ice and Snow.  Vegetables don't grow there.  But she couldn't see over the lip of the nest, so she just looked around. 

The prince realized that the princess couldn't see past the lip of the nest.  He said, "I'll share mine with you.  You'll be able to see what it is, and try it in just a second.  Let me pick a good one." 

What the prince set down in front of the princess was the strangest ear she had ever seen.  She's met and know very well some polar bears and seals and white foxes.  She had seen ears before.  But never like these.  How could this creature hear with those things?  The prince snapped the ear in half. 

"You just swallow it whole", he said.  Tilting his head back, he gulped down his half, reached up and pulled another one down. 

What kind of a silly animal just sits around to get it's ears ripped off?  The princess still didn't understand it.  No.  They don't have vegetables in the Land of Ice and Snow.  There's ice and snow.  That's why it's called the Land of Ice and Snow.  Maybe there's some vegetation there.  But not much.  Yes, you can have a Christmas tree.  I'll put it in there at the end.  I promise. 

Well anyways, the princess, she tried to do like the prince showed her, but she has these pointy beaks, so she just ended up with the half an ear of corn on the tip of her beak. 

She shook her head from side to side really fast and she ended up shooting the half an ear of corn across the nest.  She went and got the ear back to where they were and started to pick at the kernels.  She just took the tiniest nibble that she could at first.  Just barely tasting it with her tongue.  It was like he described.  It did taste like sunshine.  It was crunchy and juicy.  She pecked at the kernels and they popped right out.  It was fun!  Not as fun as catching mackerels, but still, lots of fun!  She rolled the round ear pulling out various kernels to draw shapes on the corn. 

The prince had never seen anything like this before.  He had never considered to pull the kernels out one at a time.  He had always just eaten them whole.  He then said, "Would you like to try some bugs now?"

"Yes please", she said.  She thought it would be good to be on her best behavior while she was at someone else's home. 

"The best way for us to procure bugs is to stamp your feet really hard", said the prince.  "Watch.  I'll show you how it's done." 

He stamped his right foot.  Yup.  Just like that.  Blammo!  And if he had downstairs neighbors, let's just say that they would have looked at him with the angry eyes the next day.  No.  No multistory nests.  That's just silly. 

Anyways, he stamps his feet and hundreds of bugs scuttle out from under his feet.  Big ones, small ones, long ones, ones with many legs.  The floor is crawling for a moment, and then all the insects eventually disappear.  He stamps his feet again.  The floor is crawling with bugs again.  He dips his head down low and starts to munch on the bugs that are scuttling away. 

"I like the big furry ones with eight legs", said the prince.  You can try different ones and figure out which one you like best.  The princess stamped her feet and just a few bugs were seen running.  She would stamp her feet, a few would appear, then they'd disappear before she could get after them. 

'No no", he said.  "You have to stamp your feet, while grabbing fo the ground in frint of the step.  You'll get it with practice."

It took the princess a few tries, but she got the hang of it soon.  Some of these bugs, which seem to be moving beans, were indeed very tasty.  They were both crunchy and juicy at the same time.  They were no mackerels, but it was still very good.  She was glad to have tried new foods that she's never had before.  She particularly liked the one with many many legs.  What's it called?  Yeah.  A Centipede.  A Millipede?  Okay.  Them too. 

For a few minutes, there was silence in the jungle except for the sound of thudding on the ground, and sound of munching and crunching.  Soon, both were very full.  They sat relaxing in the sun, happy as can be patting their bellies. 

Then they heard a fanfare.  Trumpets?  I don't know where ostriches would get them.  Let's just say that they heard a call, ok?  The entrance to the cave widened, and in walked the king and queen of all ostriches and their royal attendants, guards and other cling-ons. 

The prince walked over to them, bowed deeply and said, "Mother.  Father." 

They smiled and rubbed faces. 

'That's how they greeted each other in the land of Ice and Snow, too.', she thought.  She all of a sudden missed her family very much. 

"What in the world is that?", they asked, pointing at the princess. 

"Is it a bug?"  One of the attendants asked. 

"Can we eat it?", asked a Cling-on. 

They were all looking at her and she was caught in the middle of eating a millipede, with half of it curled on her beak.  How embarrassing!  She quickly finished the millipede she was eating, did a little curtsy.  Of course she knows how to curtsy.  She is a princess, after all. 

She was starting to get a little bit scared.  She didn't want to get eaten.  She didn't swim across the known world just to be eaten here.  She summoned up all the courage she had in her, all the lessons she had learned, and yes.  She wishes she had paid more attention to the old walrus and his tales, and she spoke in a clear, loud voice. 

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Okay.  It's getting late now.  Time for bed. 

I'll try to finish this one next time, ok? 

Maybe in two more installations. 

Thanks in advance for reading it. 

Good night Casters of Souls. 

This is GrapeKoolaid signing off. 

[cue national anthem]

zzz...