Amyrella Read Along

Narrator: This is the story of Amyrella. You can read along with me in your book. You'll know when it's time to turn the page when the chimes ring like this. (chimes ringing) Let's begin now.

Once upon a time in a faraway land, there was a young girl named Amy Rose. When she was a child, her mother, Tawna Bandicoot, died. Her father, Crash Bandicoot, found a new wife who had two daughters a few years younger than Amy. But after Amy's father died, the Stepmother found a new husband. They were very cold and cruel to Amy. The kind girl was forced to work as a servant in her own house. Still, Amy was always cheerful. Sure that one day her dreams of happiness would come true, she started each day with a song.

Amy was always busy cooking, cleaning, and serving her stepmother, Sailor Galaxia; her stepfather, Dr. Eggman; and her stepsisters, Clarice and Faline. One day while Amy was doing her chores, she heard a knock at the door. "Open in the name of the King and Queen." a man shouted. It was the King and Queen's messenger, Darkwing Duck. He handed Amy a letter.

Sailor Galaxia and Eggman were giving Faline and Clarice music lessons. Amy knocked at the door. "We warned you never to interrupt!" barked Eggman. Then Amy showed him and Sailor Galaxia the letter. It was an invitation to a royal ball for the Prince! "By royal command, every eligible maiden is to attend," Sailor Galaxia read.

"That means I can go!" Amy cried happily. "You!" Faline shrieked. "We see no reason why you can't go to the ball." Eggman said in a silky voice. "*If* you get all your work done..." Sailor Galaxia added, "and *if* you find something suitable to wear." "Oh, I will," promised Amy, hurrying away. "Do you realize what you just said?" a horrified Clarice asked her parents. But Sailor Galaxia and Eggman had a plan. "Of course. We said *if*," answered the evil Sailor Scout. "Ohhh...*if*," Clarice repeated. Faline giggled.

Amy went up to her room in the attic and found an old dress in a trunk. "It was my mother's," she told the Mobians, as she twirled around.

"It's a little old-fashioned," admitted Amy. "But I can fix that." She took out a book and found a picture of another dress. She had just started making plans when she heard a shrill cry. "Amy!" "My dress will just have to wait," she said patiently. "I'm coming," she called, as she headed down the stairs.

"Now let's see," Amy's stepmother said, "there's the large carpet in the main hall, clean it! Oh yes, and the tapestries and the draperies---" "But I just finished," Amy said. "Do them again!" ordered the cruel scientist. The Stepparents planned to keep Amy so busy that she would never have time to work on her dress for the ball.

The plan worked. Sailor Galaxia, Eggman, and their two daughters kept Amy so busy that the sweet girl didn't have a moment to work on her dress.

"Poor Amy," a two-tailed fox named Miles "Tails" Prower said to his new friend Charmy Bee. "Work, work, work. She'll never get her dress done."

"Hey! We can do it!" exclaimed one of the Mobians. "We can fix the dress for Amy." The other Mobians thought it was a wonderful idea.

Tails and Charmy scurried to find some new trimmings for the dress. Faline and Clarice were throwing things away. "I wouldn't be caught dead in that sash," Faline said, while Clarice kicked aside her old beads. So the fox and the bee scooped up the discarded items.

Tails and Charmy had to sneak past Persian the cat Pokémon. It wasn't easy, but they did it! The Mobians were proud of Tails and Charmy. The Mobians began to work on Amy's dress.

The Mobians, Scuttle, and additional seagulls measured and cut and sewed. They all sang as they worked. They couldn't wait to surprise their friend Amy. But would they finish in time!

Soon it was eight o'clock. "The carriage is here," Amy told her stepparents. "Why Amy, you're not ready," said her stepmother, sounding surprised. "Aren't you going, child?" "No, I'm not going," Amy hadn't had a chance to work on her dress all day. "There will be other balls," her stepfather told her smugly, knowing that he and Sailor Galaxia had kept Amy from going to this one.

Amy told herself the ball would be frightfully dull, but in her heart she knew it would be completely wonderful. Slowly, Amy walked up the stairs to her attic room. When she entered her room, she couldn't believe her eyes. "Surprise! Surprise!" shouted the Mobians, Scuttle, and the other seagulls. "Happy birthday!" cried a confused Charmy.

The Mobians, Scuttle, and the other seagulls had finished her dress. She could now go to the ball! "Oh, how can I ever---oh, thank you so much," the delighted girl cried.

Amy dressed quickly and raced down the stairs calling, "Wait! Please! Wait for me!" Sailor Galaxia and Eggman were shocked. Now they would have to let Amy go to the ball---or would they? "Those beads, they give it just the right touch," the Stepfather observed. "Don't you think so, Clarice?" the Stepmother asked one of her daughters. Clarice saw that Amy was wearing her old beads. "Thief!" Clarice cried. Then Amy noticed her old sash.

The two girls tore at Amy's dress. By the time they were finished, the dress was in rags and Amy was in tears. "Good night," the Stepparents said, as they left for the ball with their horrible daughters.

Amy ran outside to the garden. The Mobians felt terrible, but there was nothing they could do to help their poor Amy.

It seemed as if her dreams would never come true. "It's just no use. There's nothing left to believe in," Amy sobbed.

"Nothing?" asked a voice. "Now you don't mean that. If you'd lost all your faith, I couldn't be here, and here I am." It was Amy's fairy godmother, a scullery maid named Cinderella, and she was going to help Amy go to the ball.

With a wave of her wand and a few magic words... ...a pumpkin became an elegant coach... ...a hedgehog, a fox, a squirrel, and a bee were changed into four horses... ...a horse was turned into a coachman... ...and Max the dog became the footman. Cinderella was pleased. "Well, hop in, my dear, we can't waste time." But Amy wasn't quite ready. "Don't you think my dress," she began.

Cinderella looked at Amy. "Goodness! You can't go to the ball in that!" She waved her wand one last time, and Amy was wearing a beautiful ball gown. Amy loved her dress. "And look--glass slippers. Why, it's like a dream--a beautiful dream come true." Then Cinderella told her that like all dreams, this one would end. The spell would be broken at midnight.

Amy was very happy as she rode to the ball. But at the castle, the King and Queen were not so happy. Their nephew, Prince Knuckles, hadn't fallen in love yet. Bagheera told the King and Queen that falling in love at the ball would be like a fairy tale--and it would never happen!

Just then Amy arrived at the ball. When Knuckles saw her, he asked her to dance.

The King, the Queen, and Bagheera were amazed as they watched the couple dance. It looked as if Knuckles was falling in love with Amy! Clarice and Faline were very jealous of the new girl. Their parents thought there was something familiar about her, though.

Amy didn't notice them. She didn't know that the handsome male red echidna she was dancing with was Knuckles. But she did know that she was falling in love!

The couple went for a walk. They laughed and talked. Time seemed to fly by--and all too soon, Amy noticed it was almost midnight. "I have to go!" she apologized, and she hurried away.

Knuckles didn't even know her name. "Wait!" he called. But Amy couldn't wait. As she rushed down the steps of the castle, she lost one of her glass slippers. Still, she didn't stop.

Knuckles told Bagheera he would marry the maiden whose foot fit the slipper. She was the girl of his dreams. Meanwhile, Amy was sitting by the side of the road. Everything had been changed back. But Amy still had a glass slipper--and memories of a magical night.

It wasn't long before everyone knew Knuckles was looking for his mystery maiden. Bagheera was going from house to house to find her. The news made Amy happy--too happy for the Stepparents' liking.

So the Stepparents locked Amy in her attic room. "You can't keep me in here. Please," sobbed Amy. The Stepmother put the key in her pocket. Tails and Charmy wanted to help. They took the key from the Stepmother.

The brave fox and the brave bee worked hard to bring the key up to Amy. But would they reach her in time!

By now Bagheera and Darkwing had arrived at Amy's house.

Clarice tried on the slipper. When it didn't fit, she blamed poor Darkwing! "Get away from me!" she shouted. The slipper didn't fit Faline, either. "Are there any other ladies of the house?" Bagheera asked. "There is no one else," replied Sailor Galaxia.

Just then they heard Amy calling. "Your Grace! Your Grace!" The fox and the bee had freed Amy! The jealous stepparents didn't want to let Amy try on the slipper, so they tripped up Darkwing, and the slipper broke! Luckily, Amy had her other slipper in her pocket. Bagheera was delighted.

And so was Knuckles. He had found the girl of his dreams. But no one was happier than Amy. All of her dreams had come true. Amy and Knuckles lived happily ever after.

The End