THE COOK, THE QUEEN, & THE PUMPKIN PRINCE (satire/farce)

2004 Semifinalist: Scriptapalooza Competition
2003 Quarterfinalist: American Screenwriting Competition

SYNOPSIS:
Another royal cook has been executed for serving pumpkin at the queen’s table.

Although the “orange squash” is the only local crop and the endless war has cut off most of the trade routes, the queen adamantly refuses to eat it, considering it peasant food. So alas, a new chef must be hired, and one is recruited from a far away town.

Upon his arrival to the outskirts of the kingdom, he stays the night with the local herb woman/inn keeper, Moya who advises him of the danger of his profession. The next morning, when the castle guard arrives as his escort, the chef is nowhere to be found. The guard won’t leave empty handed so Moya herself dresses up as the chef and accompanies him to the palace.

If things weren’t bad enough, on her way to the castle, Moya is accosted by villagers complaining of a strange blight infecting the pumpkin crop and destroying their only source of food. She is the only one savvy enough to trace the blight and save the village, but she cannot escape her obligation to appease the queen’s arrogant appetite.

Once inside the castle, she is presented with the task of having to create increasingly fantastic meals for the queen in order to stave off her execution. (Scheherazade style), Incorporating her special knowledge of herbs, a little bit of magic and the amazing power of persuasion, she manages to win the queen’s favor and stay alive. If only she could find the cause of the blight that is ruining the crops and threatening the kingdom with starvation!

When the last food supplies are finally used up, she must turn to a creative solution to keep the castle fed. Knowing that pumpkin is off limits, she resorts to a macabre alternative.

In the end, frustrated by the endless war and their increasing starvation, the townspeople revolt and overthrow the queen and the court. Moya’s young apprentice exposes the chef’s secret and owing to an old prophecy he is deemed the new ruler of the land, he promptly ends the war, the source of the horrific blight is found, and peace is restored to the kingdom.