Ko je princesa Elizabeta zapustila princa Ronalda, si je vzela čas zase – prebrala je vse knjige, ki jih je

že davno hotela, ogledala si je vse najboljše risanke, zapela vse svoje najljubše pesmi vsaj stokrat, se napla-

vala in nasmučala. In takrat enkrat jo je našlo pismo iz Slovenije, v katerem so jo otroci z OŠ Kolezija povabili, da jih

obišče in spozna nove prijatelje. Princesi Elizabeti se je to zdela odlična ideja in za prevoz je prosila svojega znanca zmaja.

After leaving Ronald Elizabeta took time for herself – sheread all the books she has always wanted, watched all the bestcartoons, sang all her favourite songs at least 100 times,skied and swimmed to death (almost) … and about then shegot a letter from Kolezija firstgraders in Slovenia, who wereinviting her to come over, so that she would make newfriends. The princess thought the idea was excellent andasked her acquaintance – the dragon – to give her a ride.

Po tridnevnem potovanju čez Atlantik sta utrujena pristala na strehi OŠ Kolezija. Šolo sta našla brez težav, saj je bila to edina stavba vLjubljani s pisano vetrnico na strehi. Princesa je bila precej premražena, na sebi je namreč še vedno imela le obleko iz papirnate vrečke. Pomočnih stiskih rok in divjih objemih so jo otroci takoj odpeljali v garderobo k omari, v kateri hranijo najdene kose oblačil. Princesa si jeizbrala zeleno majico in oranžno krilo, prvošolci pa so ji okoli vratu hitro privezali še rumeno rutico, da bo v prometu, ki ga ni vajena,varna. Medtem se je od nekod vzel še šolski zmajček in se spoprijateljil z ameriškim zmajem. Prijateljske niti so se tkale z veliko hitrostjoin princesa je takrat prvič pozabila na Ronalda.After 3 days of flying over the Atlantic they landed on the roof of Kolezija Primary School in Ljubljana. They found the school easily,because it was the only building with a colorful pinwheel on it’s roof. The princess was quite cold because she was still wearing the paperbag dress. After lots of huging and handshaking the children immediately took her to wardrobe, where she picked some clothes from thebox with lost children stuff. She liked green T-shirt and orange skirt. Firstgraders also put a yellow scarf around her neck to make hermore visible in the traffic. In the meantime the school dragon came around and made friends with American dragon. Friendships of allkinds were growing fast and it was the first time that Elisabeth forgot about Ronald.

Po kratkem počitku in okrepčilu (zmaj ni maral ničesar, ker mu niso ponudili nobene princese, niti najmanjše (npr. popečene na žaru)) so sevsi skupaj odpravili na Ljubljanski grad. “Živi tu kakšen princ?” je vprašala Elizabeta in bila nad odgovorom “Ah ne, kje pa!” majčkenorazočarana. Živel pa je na gradu ljubljanski zmaj in princesin zmaj je tako dobil drugega zmajevskega prijatelja v svojem življenju. Princesase je medtem odpravila na stolp, da si ogleda mesto iz ptičje perspektive. A groza! Tako se ji je zavrtelo v glavi (najbrž je bila še utrujena oddolge poti), da so jo otroci brž odpeljali na Prešernov trg in jo potolažili z balonom. Med tigri, zebrami, mikimiškami, … si je izbrala balon vobliki srca. Zakaj, tega še sama ni vedela. (Ampak nam se kar zdi ☺)

After a short break and a snack (the dragon didn’t eat anything, because he was not offered a single princess, not even a tiny one(roasted for example)) they left for Ljubljana castle. “Does a prince live here?” Elisabeth asked and “Oh no, not really!” answer made her quitesad. But another dragon was living there and an American dragon got a second dragon friend in his life. While dragon bonding theprincess climbed on the top of the castle tower to see the town from the bird perspective. But … because of the hights she got terriblydizzy (she was probably still tired due to long over-ocean flight) and the children promptly took her to Prešeren Square, where the baloonsof all sorts were offered to buy. The princess picked the baloon in the shape of a heart. Why – she didn’t know. (But we have an idea ☺)

Naslednji dan je nove prijatelje pot zapeljala pod zemljo. Ogledali so si Postojnsko jamo. Ne tam ne v Predjamskem gradu princesa ni našlaprinca, se je pa v jami peljala z vlakcem. Bilo je precej lepše in zabavneje kot na “vlaku smrti”. Občudovala je mogočne kapnike, ki v 100 letihzrastejo le za 1 milimeter, ter se čudila človeškim ribicam, saj takih živali ni še nikoli videla. Kako bi tudi jih, saj živijo le na tem območjusveta. Zmaju so se zdele podobne zmajevskim dojenčkom. Želel jih je pobožati, pa jih ni smel, saj so te živali zaščitene. Postal je kar malootožen, a v tistem hipu mu je pot prekrižal jamski zmajček Jami. Skupaj sta se dolgo igrala skrivalnice. Prav vsi so se zabavali kot še nikoliv življenju, ameriški zmaj pa je celo pozabil, da je strahotno lačen.The very next day the group went underground – they took a tour to Postojna cave. And not a trace of a single prince anywhere! But theprincess took a ride with a cave train and it was so much more fun than a roller coaster. She admired the stalactites, which grow for onlyone millimeter in hundred years. She was surprised over proteus (the blind, so called human fish - because of the colour of it’s skin). Shehas never seen an animal like this before. She couldn’t possibly, because this species lives only in this area. The dragon thought theylooked like baby dragons. He couldn’t touch them, because they are protected and this made him a bit sad. But another dragon came along. His name was Jami and they played “hide and seek” for hours. The dragon had the best times ever, he even forgot he was terribly hungry.

Ker ima vsaka prava princesa rada konje, je bila Lipica pravi kraj za obisk. Takoj so se vsi strpali v kočije in se popeljali po poteh okolipašnikov, po katerih so tekale črede prelepih belo-sivih lipicancev. Žal se je nad njimi kmalu razbesnela nevihta in na pomoč je prihitel šolskihišnik Rudi s svojim rumenim kombijem. V bližnji gostilni so jim postregli s potico. Tudi ameriški zmaj jo je poskusil. Pa ni pojedel le enegakosa, ampak kar 10 celih potic. “Morda pa princese le niso najboljša hrana svetu,” je pomislil prvič v življenju. Elizabeta pa je zaradi Rudijeveustrežljivosti (držal ji je dežnik in ji odpiral vrata) ugotovila, da prijazni ljudje niso nujno princi.

Every princess loves horses and that’s why they went to Lipica. They all took carriages to drive around the green fields of grass andobserve beautiful flocks of grayish-white lipizzaners. Too bad the storm came but the schoolkeeper Rudi rescued them with his yellow van.In a nearby restaurant they took a snack – the Slovenian cake “potica”. Even the dragon shared a bite. Actually not a bite – he ate 10whole potica cakes. “Maybe the princesses are not the best food in the world …” That’s the thought that crossed his mind for the firsttime in his life. And because of Rudi’s kindness (he was holding the umbrella for her and opening all the doors before her) Elisabethdiscovered that being a gentleman and a prince does not necessarily come together.

Dnevi so bili zelo vroči, zato se je vsa druščina odpravila na obalo v prelep Piran, da se okopa. Imeli so srečo – pridružili so se jimdelfini. In - ali je sploh lahko kaj lepšega, kot je jezdenje delfinov? Seveda ni smel manjkati niti čokoladni sladoled! Princesa je zagledalačednega fanta na skuterju, a ta je še opazil ni, preveč je imel dela z divjanjem po morju. Še dobro, princesa si gotovo zasluži boljšegamoža. Ko je padla noč, si je Elizabeta poiskala kraljevski apartma v najboljšem hotelu daleč naokrog. Ker je bil zmajem vstop prepovedan, jeprincesin “leteči taksi” poiskal Jamija iz Postojnske jame in vso noč sta si pravila zmajevske šale. Končno jih je nekdo razumel innasmejala sta se do solz.The days got quite hot, so the group decided to go to the sea side – in a wonderful old town Piran – for a swim. And they were verylucky – dolphins joined them and what could possibly be more fun than riding a dolphin? They didn’t miss a chocolate ice-cream either! Ahandsome scooter driver took Elisabeth’s attention but he didn’t notice her. It was a good thing, because she deserved much betterhusband than a crazy sea racer. When getting dark Elisabeth took a royal sweet in the best hotel on the coast. Dragons weren’t allowed tosleep over, so the princess “flying cab” found Jami, the dragon from Postojna cave, and they were telling each other dragon jokes allnight through. Finally they found someone, who actually understood them.

Na morju je postalo prevroče, zato so vsi skupaj odšli proti goram – na Bled. Tokrat so s čolni pluli po jezeru in se ustavili tudi na otočkus cerkvico. Elizabeta ni zamudila priložnosti, da si ob cingljanju zvončka želja nekaj zaželi. (Vsi vemo, kaj, a ne ;) In kaj so si privoščili zamalico? Kremšnite!!! Zmaju so teknile še bolj kot potica (raje ne omenjamo natančnega števila pojedenih slaščic) in od samega navdušenjamu je iz ust ušla neka neumnost (namreč, da ne bo več jedel princes), kar pa je poželo splošno odobravanje prisotnih in precej trepljanjapo gobcu.

Friends started to look for chillier places, so they left for Bled – a little lake town in the mountains. They took a boat and stopped on thecute little island with a church in the middle of the lake. Elisabeth climbed all the numerous stairs to ring a wishing bell. (We all know, whatshe wished for, right ;) And then what? Cream slices, a delicious desert!!! The dragon liked them even more than potica cakes (we’re nottelling the exact number of pieces he ate) and out of a blue he said something really stupid (well, something like he will never ever eat asingle princess again). The crowd around him greeted his words with an enormous HURRAY and patted his cheeks wildly.

Na najvišjo goro Slovenije – Triglav – še ni stopila nožica žive princese in to je bilo potrebno nemudoma spremeniti. Elizabeta si je obulapohodne čevlje, a še preden je dobro zagrizla v hrib, jo je že ujel Bedanec in jo privezal na drevo. Od nje je zahteval denar, s katerim si ježelel kupiti najnovejše pasti na atomsko energijo za medvede. Ker je princesin zmaj zaradi slabosti ostal v dolini (kremšnite!!), so bilemožnosti rešitve skoraj nične. A na drevesu se je skrival neustrašni Kekec, ki je Elizabeto ob prvi priliki osvobodil. Precej odrgnjeno jeodnesel k Pehti in ta jo je s svojimi zdravilnimi kapljicami v nekaj dneh spravila k sebi.Triglav (2864 m), the highest peak of Slovenia, has never been stepped on by a living princess foot, so this was planned to changeimmediately. The princess got herself brand new tracking shoes and started to climb. But shortly after Bedanec, a wild and bad man fromthe woods (book character), abducted her and tighted her up. He wanted money from her to buy himself atomic traps for bears. Because thedragon stayed down the valley due to stomach pain (cream slices!!), the possibilities for getting rescued were about zero. But fortunatellythe brave boy - Kekec (book character) - was in the neighbourhood (on the tree, to be exact) and he got her free as soon as possible. Hetook her to Pehta (book character), who was a herbalist and she cured the princess with her healing drops.

Elizabeta je okrevanje nadaljevala v Kekčevi koči. Kekec jo je začel klicati Betka in Elizabeti je bilo to všeč. Zmaj pa je po vetru prejelsporočilo, da mu je zbolela edina teta. S težkim srcem se je odločil, da se vrne v Ameriko. Poslovil se je od svojih novih (in edinih) trehzmajevskih prijateljev in jim obljubil, da jim bo vsak dan napisal kakšen sms. Princesa pa ni hotela z njim. Presenečenje? Niti ne.Kolezijski otroci so postali njeni najboljši prijatelji, Kekec pa je bil sploh pravi fant od fare. Pa tudi – le kdo na svetu se mu ne bi želelpridružiti, ko bo Bedancu spet kakšno ušpičil?

Mentor: Nelly Tiran, junij 2010

Elisabeth moved to Kekec place, where she recovered completely. Kekec started to call her Betka and Elisabeth liked it. They got alongvery well. But the dragon got delivered a message through wind way, that his only aunt got sick. He had to return to America. He saidgoodby to his new (and the only) dragon friends and promised he would write at least one sms a day to them. The princess decided notto return with him. A surprise? Not really. Kolezija children became her best friends and Kekec was the best boy she has ever met.

Plus – who on Earth wouldn’t like to join him when teaching Bedanec a lesson again?

P.s.: Ali je še kje kakšen neumnež, ki dvomi v skrivno moč zvončka želja?

P.s.: Is there still anyone, who doubts the secret power of a wishing bell?