The Tale of Despereaux

As Despereaux comes to, he can hear Lester beating an ominous rhythm on the drum. Mice continue to chant that Despereaux belongs in the dungeon as a mouse pushing a spool of red thread shouts for people to move out of the way. Still on his back, Despereaux wonders where this all went wrong. In the book, love was good—love was why the knight saved the fair maiden. They lived happily ever after. But did another mouse perhaps eat the real ending of the story? Is there such thing as a happy ending?

Despereaux whispers “happily ever after” to himself as the threadmaster and his spool of red thread reach him. The threadmaster asks Despereaux to stand, and then he loops a length of red thread around Despereaux’s neck. As the threadmaster leans in close to secure the thread, he quietly asks if she—the Princess Pea—is beautiful. Despereaux says she’s lovely. The threadmaster pulls back and says the Pea is lovely, just like in a fairy tale—and Despereaux loves her just like a knight. Despereaux asks how he knows about fairy tales, but the threadmaster shushes him. He leans in close again and tells Despereaux to be brave for the princess. As the crowd of mice cheers, Despereaux vows to be brave for the princess—even if happily ever after doesn’t exist.