Wie manche von euch wissen, schreibe, male, zeichne etc ich. Leider kann ich davon nicht viel ins Internet stellen. Wie auch immer, hier sind ein paar Auszuege meiner Werke:

2006 Media Studies Spring Coursework "Advertisement" Jeans campaign "ElFin Jeans":

Part1

The Princess of Sugarli (Childbook version):

The Princess of Sugarli

By Franziska Chrobok

1.    Chapter Once upon a time…

The snow fell without a noise and apparently endlessly down from the bluish grey sky. Griselda pressed her hands against the big glasses of the palace windows. She was in the eastern wing where hopefully nobody could find her. Her hot breath steamed the glass up. She slowly let her right hand glide downwards and drew a snowflake on the steamed place with her finger. Griselda hated the winter; especially the time just before the change of the years. It reminded her too much on her mother. “Unbelievable, it’s almost already three years ago, that…” “Griselda! Here you are! Bless my heart, everybody in the palace is looking for you! You cannot just disappear like that!”, Bertha puffed while she held herself exhausted on to a pillar. Her face was bright red. With one hand she comprised the hem of her heavy, blue velvet dress whose seams were dangerously widely stretched. Griselda even had already bet when it would finally burst. However, Bertha neglected to get rid of it. Must have been because it had once been a present of her adored Knight Laurens. Griselda loved her maid. Especially, since the death of her mother, she and Bertha were connected even more intensely. However, somehow the princess never had a minute on her own. If you know Bertha, you understand: She knows everything, finds everything out and finds everybody everywhere. This, of course, has its disadvantages, too. Not only for people who don’t want to be found but also for Bertha herself, who, more often than she wants it, becomes a with keeper of secrets.

“Princess? Don’t you want to explain yourself? I see, I guess it’s funny to you to scare me to death! To death…Oh, my nerves!” Griselda couldn’t help herself not to laugh. Her maid simply looked too weird. The red colour of her face had reached by now facet’s Griselda hadn’t known it was possible. And that colour didn’t match at all with the orange tone of Bertha’s hair so that it took all seriousness of that uncomfortable situation what made Bertha even more angry. “Darling, I feel you will be my downfall!” “Bertha, please calm down. Nothing has happened! Let’s go somewhere else, alright?” With these words Griselda took her maid’s hand and they went down the corridor into the direction of the spiral staircase. “You said the whole palace is searching for me?” “Well, I was and that’s enough, isn’t it? Come on now, I have to get you ready.” “To get me ready? For what?” “Your gracious father is going to hold a formal reception and I am here to assure that you will look pretty.” “A reception? I didn’t know about that…”, Griselda mumbled.

How on earth could she ever decide? Griselda stood in front of her pink canopy bed. On top of the wide, white blanket the most beautiful dresses were laid down Griselda had seen in her life. “Bertha? Where do all these dresses come from?” “A present.”, responded a trailing off voice from the fitting room. “What, a present? Who would ever give me those clothes?”, the princess thought and sighed because everything was strange in an unexplainable way that day. Something big, coming, but also and in particular worrying was in the air. She felt it as a fainting vibrancy, which was surrounding her. She quickly rubbed her arms, she had got goose bumps. Suddenly, something cold was laid around her neck. “Here you go, my dear, this medallion really matches excellently with the blue dress.” Griselda turned around. It was Bertha who surveyed her full of pride. “Go and try it on!”, she suggested.

“Unbelievable…”, Griselda whispered astonished when she stood in front of the giant, gold framed mirror in her dressing room. She loved this room. The floor was dark red padded. In its middle comfortable sitting pillows in gold, white and pink were laid which were decorated with pearls and embroidery. Big, mahogany-wooden wardrobes stood along the walls. They were only intercept by mirrors, candleholders and big flower pots that almost over flew with white roses. At the back there was a white spring ornate with angels out of whose music instruments the water effervesced. But now something in the room had changed. Directly in front of her, she looked at a reflection she had never seen before in her life. She nearly looked…grown up. A deep sniff ripped her out of her amazement. Bertha dabbed her cheeks dry with a tissue. She started to sob: “My little Griselda, you became so…adult.” “It’s only a dress, I am still 14. What’s the matter with you?” “It’s not about that…excuse me. I am going to send Ruth.” She turned on her heels and ran out of the room. “What’s wrong today? Bertha never is so sensitive…I mean not that sensitive.” She adjusted her dress and looked at her mirror image from every perspective. Her appearance had changed but she was still the same. The same wild child who used to prefer playing with the stable-lads and daughters of the servants rather than learning stitching or reading poems. “Young lady?” Ruth stood in the entry portal of the dressing room. In her arms more foulards in the most wonderful colours were piled up. “Oh, thank you but I am going to stick to this one.” “Whatever you like. Let’s go then to your bathroom, princess.”

Only a few moments later, Griselda sat on her little throne on the bathroom surrounded by three girls, who twitched on her hair, dabbed powder all over her face and speckled her with vanilla and raspberry oils. She had just been coming out of the bath tub. The whole room was therefore still full of steam and in the wide tub were rests of well smelling, sparkling foam. With each blink of an eye, that she did, her mirror image had changed again. She had to sneeze because of all the powder, with the effect that even more of it was put on her face to recreate her “ruined” make-up. A long time later, that seemed to had been ages, Griselda stepped shimmering out of the bathroom. She felt herself to be uncomfortably disguised. Behind her, she left three exhausted, sweating helpers and Ruth, who had kept on bringing new jewellery and shoes, in a cloud of glimmer, fog and hundred of smells.

With every step Griselda took, she felt that she was walking into the wrong direction. That she should turn around and would be better off sleeping. However, her feet moved straight on towards the big portal of the reception hall. The folding doors seemed to become taller and taller. Despite of their breathtaking appearance, all the dark wood, bronze and colourful stones, they acted as a deterrent. The princess’s heart thumped loudly. From far away subdued voices, laughter and melodies came to her ear.

Maybe Griselda should have listened to her intuition. Then she couldn’t have avoided what was about to happen behind those doors but she at least could have delayed it for a little while.

Two gawky servants opened the swing doors for her while taking a deep bow. From one moment to the other Griselda suddenly stood in a crowded, festive decorated saloon that was packed with beautiful women in breathtaking dresses, servants carrying tablets full of tasty smelling fares and drinks, candles, flowers and sparkling crystals. All views were now directed at Griselda who had been holding her breath. Silence with a discreet background music laid down over the companion.

A man knocked on the floor with a stab and announced: “Her highness, Princess Griselda of Sugarli!” The girls slowly started moving into the direction of the assembled royal household without any goal. That’s what she was expected to do, wasn’t it? Her father walked with open arms and red cheeks out of the companion towards her.  He smiled and hugged her briefly. With one arm supporting her back, he turned around to the assembled people. He shouted out: “My dearest friends, relatives, reverenced ministers, we thank you for your coming on this marvellous night.” Then he said to his daughter: “Griselda, darling, I have got a surprise for you!” “Father, what is going on? I don’t understand.”, she whispered. Instead of an answer, the portal on the faced back of the hall was opened and the same voice from a short while ago enunciated: “His royalty, prince Richard of Urmau!” Some people clapped their hands, King Hubert patted proudly smiling his daughters shoulder, who shocked stammered: “Oh no! Not that idiot!”

The ceremonies now officially started and the room was filled again with laughter and talking. Meanwhile King Hubert took Griselda’s hand and guided her into the middle of the hall where Richard, his parents and five servants were already waiting for them. Richard didn’t seem to be really delighted, too, however he seemed to be less taken by surprise than Griselda. She stayed silent. Her father pushed her gently in the back but he only got an angry look of her as a result. Finally, Richards mother, who apparently was extremely excited, broke the awkward silence. “Well, there she is. Unbelievable, how…tall and pretty she became in that short time.” She flushed. “Come on, say something, Gustav.” Her husband responded reserved: “Absolutely, very acceptable. The time wasn’t that short, darling.” He completed addressing Hubert: “I am sure them both will make an extraordinary arrangement. I congratulate to such an adorable daughter, my friend.” “Excuse me?”, Griselda thought. Hubert thanked: “I can only give this compliment back to your son. It’s very pleasant to know that our families will be united again after such a long time. Griselda, you are so calm. Don’t you remember your old playmate?” Unfortunately, Griselda could remember. It was hard to forget such an unsurpassed arrogance, presumptuousness and self-infatuation. Everything she replied was a grumble. “Really charming”, Richard’s mother Agnes mumbled.

During the night Griselda turned to her father, always conscious to not meet Richard (which was easy because he had the same interest). “Dad, please tell me that you didn’t seriously arranged that I will get married! Especially not, that person over there!” “Love, listen to me. I can understand that you feel passed over. However, you have now reached an age where you have to make yourself thoughts about your future. Nobody is talking about a marriage, you only should get engaged. Afterwards we will see further.” “I don’t see a big difference between marrying or engaging…Father, I can’t marry! I am not even interested in boys. I mean, not more than as friends.” “Sweetheart, that’s exactly my point. You would never pick an aspirant during the next years that’s why I arranged something for you. You aren’t forced to do anything but I expect you to deal with this situation in all fairness. You know, that you have to marry in the course of the next two years. Otherwise, your cousin will receive the crown and you know, your cousin shouldn’t even have the responsibility over a pet – never mind a whole kingdom! If Richard disgusts you that much, then please, do it for me or at least for your country. Well, I always thought you both would have had a lot of fun together.” He hugged his daughter carefully and ended his speech with: “And now: smile! This is your celebration. You should enjoy it. I am going to care for a few of our guests now. Tomorrow everything will look different, believe me.” “Tomorrow?” “Yes, Richard is going to live with us for a while so that you both can get to know each other better.”

Griselda pressed her head against the tear wet pillow. Why couldn’t she fall into sleep? That’s all she wanted. Somebody knocked on her room door. Without that she would have answered, the door was opened and the King stepped in. He sat down at the edge of the bed and wanted to stroke Griselda’s hair but she turned away.

“Love, nothing has been decided, yet. We just have planned that you both get to know each other again. Give him a chance! I am sure, that won’t want to leave him anymore in the end.” He blew the night candle out and was ready to go. Then he added: “It’s the best for you.”

2.    Chapter Old enmity never fades

On the next morning Griselda woke up with reddened eyes and a bad feeling in her stomach. Her hair was tousled; she hasn’t been carrying anymore about her updo last night and fell into sleep with it. While she was stretching and yawning loudly past night’s memories came up again to her mind. “This all can’t be true, can it?”, she questioned herself. She laboriously got out of bed and walked to her bathroom. With one hand she was rubbing her eyes, with the other she opened the bronze bathroom door and exhaled a piercing shriek. “What are you doing in my bathroom?” Richard turned puzzled around. Half of his face was covered with shaving lather and his hair was almost as scrubby as Griselda’s. “And for what reason do you need shaving lather, anyway? That’s ridiculous.” She tried to laugh tauntingly but it went down into a chortle. “Sweetie, I am 18. You do things like this with 18. Oh, and because of the bath: I am afraid, you will have to get used to it because I am living now exactly next to you so that you never dispose of me!” He waited for a reaction, then he adjoined: “This was ironic. Believe me, I didn’t choose it!” “Wow, it can speak! Go out of my way, I need to get to the washbowl. Oh, by the way, I don’t have to get used to anything! I will simply order to accommodate you somewhere at the opposite end of the castle.” She gave him a destructive look and accompanied her steps towards him with: “As – far – away – from – me – as – possible!” “Do what you can’t help to do.” This was his last comment. He washed his face, rubbed it dry with a towel and left her alone. Griselda checked him despising up until he was gone.

The breakfast went unusually quiet. The long banquet table stood in the same hall in which a glamorous party was held only a few hours ago. Now the room seemed to be sapped and empty even though it was the same Griselda was eating every single morning her breakfast. It seemed as if the wonderful smell of the food would try to disguise something. On the table was, as always, a clean, white blanket adorned with flowers on which plates full of fresh fruits, warm bread, spreads, all kinds of sausages and cheese, eggs, cakes and cans with milk and juices were presented. However, there was nothing among it that could have forced Griselda to eat something. She just kept on starring from her father to Richard who was sitting on the other head end of the table oppositional to her. Her father, the King, who had chosen a chair at the middle of it, desperately tried to start a conversation every few minutes; relatively unsuccessfully. Griselda kneaded a piece of bread dough between her hands as if she intended to kill it. Richard gave brief, precise responses to the King’s questions, that were meant to lead to a talk. Griselda inevitably had to smile when her father ordered wine after his tenth failed attempt to set off a discussion. It was then, when the princess suddenly realised that she had never seen before the servants who were surrounding her fiancé to-be. Even his food didn’t look the same as that on the table. “Did you really dare to bring your whole household with you?”, she shouted.  Richard only briefly looked up from his cheese that got all his attention replying: “No, the whole household would involve more people, don’t you think? Stupid question.” The dough in Griselda’s hand was pressed to capot. King Hubert asked a close standing servant: “Refill, please!”

The next weeks were fully planned with collective activities with the aim that they both get to know each other a little better. Due to the fact that Richard was going to stay for an unknown period of time, Griselda had no other choice but to attend everything. She couldn’t hide in her room until the end of time. What she could do was, she could make the stay of their guest as unpleasant as possible. Then he would leave more quickly, than she could ever kick him out.

This afternoon a swordplay lesson stood on the programme. Unfortunately, the princess had to admit that Richard wasn’t as untalented as she hoped him to be. When they were standing in a free fighting arena, even the knight that was supposed to teach them kept on lauding Richards skills with the sword. That, understandably, made Griselda livid because she was the one who was used to be praised as a nature talent by her teachers. When it was her turn to fight against Richard, the princess saw her opportunity come to prove him what became out of the little girl she used to be several years ago. To her big disapproval, that demonstration didn’t really work. Ironically they were equally strong.

Richard blocked cleverly every attack and restrained his one ones. The air seemed to be on fire while they interchanged strokes. In these moments a new, never felt before, tension was built between them and time seemed to stand still. Everyone was determined to win. Suddenly, a voice cut the tension and the clangour of the heavy metals. “Be careful, that you don’t hurt yourself!”, Bertha exclaimed. Griselda turned confused around. A second that she wasn’t careful with the result that a stinging pain went through her hand. With a scream she dropped her sword. Also Richard let his weapon fall and grabbed the girl. “Oh no, I didn’t want this, believe me. I am so, so sorry! I’ve never meant to hurt you.” Blood ran down her arm. She dizzily stared from the flowing red into his desperate face. “You are completely crazy!”, she screamed. “Sweetie…” “And don’t you dare calling me sweetie!”, she shouted while she jerked herself free and ran away.

Short time later Griselda sat in the freezing palace garden. Her hand still was slightly bleeding but it didn’t hurt. It was only a small cut. What was troubling her the most wasn’t the injury, it wasn’t the shame of her defeat, either. No, what was puzzling her was, that she actually enjoyed the fight and its unusual tension in a strange kind of way. She shook her head thinking: “No, I don’t like anything related to that idiot! It was only the defeat that’s puzzling me, nothing else.” “Griselda?” Bertha found her and stood now in front of the girl. She hadn’t even heard her coming. “Are you alright?”, her maid asked carefully. “Please, leave me alone.”, Griselda sniffed and couldn’t help a tear run over her cheek. “I am coming to take you inside where it’s warm!” Griselda took silently obeying her hand and they both went out of the garden, across the yard into the impressive entrance hall of the palace.

Griselda sat cuddled into a colourful embroidered blanket on a comfortable, carmine divan in front of the warming ingle in the library. She starred into the open fire. In front of her on a side table made of maple wood, there were a plate with pastries and a large glass with milk. A servant sat a few metres further and completed a needlework. Griselda pulled the blanket closer around her and sighed. When she turned her head around she realised that they weren’t alone. Up on the balcony along the high book walls, there stood Richard with a book in his hands. Knee-jerk she punished him with a suspicious look.

Somehow he looked different from this point of view. Might have been because it was the first time that she had time to look over him unhurriedly. He had grown a lot; she could even see finely drawn muscles underneath his shirt. His hair still was the same; dark brown and wild. The up reaching shine of the fire made his skin look well tanned and made him look almost friendly. “Well, at least he isn’t ugly.”, Griselda though and drew her attention back to the ingle.

By doing that, she missed that right in this moment Richard looked down over the edge of his book and had similar thoughts about her.

The following morning started off much better than the previous one, despite a bandage around Griselda’s hand. She had been waking up extra early to avoid sharing a bathroom. However, when she reached its door, she had to detect sounds coming from the inside. Her fiancé to-be had been waking up even earlier to leave her the bath. “At least he has got manners.”, she thought and went straight back to bed.

Just under an hour later a highly pleased King Hubert sat on the breakfast table. He was engrossed in a talk with Richard about last summer’s knight’s games and neglected politely the wine offer. Griselda disliked that right in front of her eyes a friendship between men was built so she ignored both of them for the rest of the meal.

A ride to the town and the its enclosing forest was planned for the afternoon. The King decided to stay in the castle to handle businesses but he sent a little group of life guards with them. Griselda loved going for a ride. Every time when she saw the amazing view from the palace hill down to the town Bonbona, she hardly could catch her breath. If the idiot wouldn’t have been riding right next to her, she would also have been able to enjoy it this time. Richard stopped his horse and looked astonished over the crowd of colourfully sparkling onion spires that were covered with snow. Among them fir treetops stuck out and ran together in the far away forest. A touch of frost was in the air. Griselda was glad to have her thick winter coat to keep her warm.

On the way to Bonbona she and Richard nearly didn’t speak a single word to each other. Having arrived the alleys of the town, they could see that among those impressive, stately homes with onion domes many little wood houses with bevel chimneys were squeezed next to each other. “A nice city”, Richard mentioned. “As if it was the first time that you see it.”, Griselda jeered. “It’s a real pity, that it’s so small!”, he continued. “Small? Bonbona isn’t small at all! It’s huge.” “Maybe you just think that it was huge because you are so small.” Richard japed. “Listen, you arrogant, self-important…Oh well, you aren’t even worse that I get upset about you!” With this comment Griselda hurried her white horse and they galloped away. To the bad luck of the life guards who were uncertain if they should follow her or stay with the prince. Fortunately for them, Richard took this decision off them. After a short moment of being perplexed he followed her spurring his horse.

Griselda hied through narrow alleys. She exactly knew which path to take to get as soon as possible into the protecting forest. She felt the growing anger coming up. No matter how fast she was riding, it couldn’t decrease this rage. Finally, she could easily breath when she saw the first treetops of the near woods. It was slightly snowing. Griselda guided her horse into a trot to slow it down into an unhurried step pace. She laudably patted her white horse that appreciative snuffled. From a distance voices and noises of hoofs became louder. Obviously, this must have been Richard and their protectors. There was no sense in running away anymore, they would get her. Moreover, it hadn’t been her plan anyway to “escape”. Griselda waited at the edge of the forest until her followers came close enough to hear her. “Why can’t you just leave me alone for one single moment?”, she moaned. “Stupid question.”, she thought to herself. “You lost the race.”, Griselda said to Richard, when he reached her. Then they kept on riding deeper into the woods.

The prince turned around to the head of the life guards and whispered: “Please, can you leave us some space? She needs room for herself. I am going to protect her.” He showed his sword. The man replied: “With respect, I am not going to risk my job or my head because of your generosity. However, we will keep a certain distance, if it helps.” “Thank you.” Richard incited his brown horse to ride next to Griselda.

It had stopped snowing. Every branch and bush looked like covered with sugar icing. This time the silence between Griselda and the prince wasn’t awkward. Her anger was decayed. The deeper they got into the forest the easier the girl felt herself. It seemed as if her crony would feel in a similar way. He was watching her from the side and broke the silence. “You know, you look much prettier when you aren’t angry.” Griselda looked at him as if he would be the weirdest creature ever. He quickly redirected from what he had just said proclaiming: “Those days have been quite exciting, haven’t they? You probably don’t experience that very often.” This backfired. However, before Griselda could give a harsh comment back, a staggering moaning distracted her from her thoughts.

A few metres away in front of the riders a little, tiny person was leaning against a tree. When they came closer, they surprisingly recognised that it was a boy around Griselda’s age. “Are you…crying?”, she asked as sensitively as possible. “Men don’t cry! Who wants to know that anyway?” “I am Griselda.” “Princess Griselda.”, Richard corrected, who had stopped right at her side. “And I am Prince Richard of Urmau.” “Oh, I am delighted to meet you, your highness.”, the boy flouted. “I am Tom. You can just call me Tom.” Then he turned to Griselda. “Actually, I am honestly delighted to meet you. I have rarely seen such a sweet girl.” Griselda flushed automatically. “Thanks. Can it be that you are upset? Because, you know, it seemed as if…”, she tried to explore. Toms eyes were ice blue, he had blond, curly hair and pale skin. All in all he reminded her on a little angel. “No, I am just scared.”, he answered. “I am in serious trouble and if they find it out, then I’m practically dead. But maybe you are the help I have been hoping for!” “I don’t think so.”, Richard disrupted him harshly. “Your problems don’t belong to us. We have to go now, come on sweetie.” Griselda could hear the life guards coming closer. “Listen Tom, I want to help you, but I can’t do it now. Can we meet here later again just after sundown?” Richard was speechless, Tom smiled thankfully. “I will wait for you!” With these words he disappeared into the branches of near bushes. “You don’t even know him! Do you have the slightest idea how dangerous it can be to trust strangers?” “I’ve got this feeling.”, Griselda responded and spurred her horse to keep on walking Richard further protests ignoring.

To be continued