Hello, my name is Bear, and this is my dolphin.  We have a confession.

A terrible admission.

A dirty secret.

A skeleton, or bone, in our Chihuahua closets.

Are you ready?

Wuffle.

We have not read the new Twirl.

Or read about the fabulous new creative woman of the Pond, Summer from Artful Life!

We didn’t even read yesterday’s Mother’s Day poem.  Wuffle, wuffle, wuffle.

And we can’t read today’s Gift either.  And that’s where our terrible conffesion, our horrendous admission comes in…

We don’t know how to read.  Oh WUFFLE of all WUFFLES!

So please read the Gift for us.

We need to know what happens!

Wuffle.

For those who don’t know, the Gift is the story of Samantha, a grad student who discovered a strange gift while staying with her friends at her parent’s vacation cabin over winter break.  After traveling to her old friend’s bar to try to determine the origin of the strange necklace she received, she suddenly found herself in the enchanted forests of Ireland being pursued by a secret admirer.  Can her friends and loser boyfriend Jeremy save her before she gets trapped in a real-life fairy tale?  Read on…

To read previous issues of The Gift, look under the Never Ending Stories Tab…

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“Holy crap!” Jeremy cried, his eyes wide.  “That dude’s got a sword!  He’s going to kill us!”

“How astute of you to realize that!” Ashley snapped.  Cleo stepped closer to her.

“Where’s that gun at?” she murmured.  “The one Rouge had in the car?”

“The car,” Ashley answered.  Cleo groaned and bit her lip.  “That doesn’t help us much, does it?”

“A gun wouldn’t have helped you, anyway,” Aine replied, her green eyes locked on Rouge and Brogan.  “You have to remember, we’re not in your world right now.  We’re on the cusp of mine.  The only weapons we have here are spells and magic.”  She glanced at the sky and grimaced.  “And with the sunset in a few hours, the Prince will be more powerful with every moment.”

“You know, it’s been close to sunset for hours now,” Ashley pointed out.   “How long does time take here?”

“Forever to you,” the tree fairy replied.  “A moment to us.”  She returned her attention back to Brogan and gasped as he pushed the sword towards Rouge’s neck.  Ashley and Cleo screamed.  Even Jeremy shouted, lunging toward them.

Rouge held up a single hand, his eyes fixed on Brogan.  His chin steady, he didn’t flinch as the hard steel ground into his throat.

Brogan smirked as he dug the tip of the sword into the base of Rouge’s throat.  A single drop of blood trickled down his chest, blooming into a small red explosion in the collar of his shirt.

“Don’t even try lad,” Brouge hissed in his thick accent.  “As a good Irish boy, you should know not to mess with the fairy folk.  Even if you don’t die, we can make you wish you had a million times over.”  He stepped closer, turning the sword slightly.  Rouge forced himself not to flinch or cry out.  “What’s so important, anyway?  Samantha is with the Prince now.  There’s nothing you can do to get her back.”

“You’re wrong,” Rouge snarled.  Thrusting his palm up, he knocked the sword out of Brogan’s hands.  It went flying through the air, slicing through branches and leaves as it arched across the grounds.  Rouge’s fist slammed into Brogan’s face, the sickening sound of cracking bones filling the air.

Blood streaming down his face, Brogan pulled him to the ground.  The two men wrestled, jabbing and kicking each other as each fought to gain the upper hand.   Brogan rolled over and grabbed his sword from where it had fallen.  Clamping Rouge’s arms to the ground with his knees, he held the sword above his head.

“No one disturbs the prince!”  Brogan shouted.  “No one!

“Do something!” Cleo shouted, turning away from the violent scene.  “We’ve got to help him!”

“I’ve got it!” Aine shouted.  Spreading her arms out, she leaped across the clearing onto Rouge’s head.  At that moment, Brogan jerked his arms down, aiming the sword towards Rouge’s face.  The sword crashed into the empty air inches above his skull.

“Using magic against me?” Brogan drawled, raising his eyebrows.  “Do you know what can happen to you, Aine of the Forest?”

“There are things you can’t see, Brogan!” she informed him.  “Things you don’t understand.”  Brogan shrugged and stood, sheathing his sword.

“That’s it?” Ashley cried, rushing toward Brogan.  “She puts up a spell and you’re suddenly done?”

Brogan shrugged.  “Here, I have little ability.  Her fate is not my call.  My job is to simply protect the prince and to make sure Samantha went to him.  That has been done.”  He looked at Jeremy, who was shrinking away from him on the ground.

“Is the prince hot or something?” Jeremy asked.  “Because I don’t know why she’d want to be with him when she could be with me.”

Ignoring their chatter, Aine took Rouge’s finger.  She slid Samantha’s silver ring onto his pinkie, forcing it over the knuckles.  Rouge winced and looked at his hand.  His eyes widened and he sat up straight, bouncing Aine onto his lap.  “That’s the ring I gave Samantha for graduation!  How did you get it?”

“That doesn’t matter,” Aine muttered in a low voice.  She glanced at Brogan, who was deep in conversation about the merits of having dozens of girlfriends with Jeremy.  “Listen to me, Rouge.  The prince is powerful, both in his magic and abilities.  If he catches you, there’s no telling what will happen to you.  But you have something he doesn’t have.  And it is you, and you alone, who can save Samantha.”

“What is it?” Rouge asked, his voice cracking.  “What do I have?”

Aine shook her head.  “I can’t tell you.  You have to discover it on your own, or it won’t hold the power you’ll need.”  Wrapping her hand around his finger, she tapped the ring.  “This will protect you for awhile.  Once you’re in the palace, there’s not much I can do.  My  magic comes from the Earth, and there’s nothing about the earth in the palace.”

“I understand,” Rouge responded.  “Thank you for helping me.”  He reached forward to hug her, but Aine shook her head.

“We must hurry,” she mummured, pointing to Brogan.  “Now close your eyes.  And think of Samantha.”

Rouge closed his eyes.  It was so easy to think of her.  It was like a never ending reel in his head–images of Samantha tossing her hair, studying in high school, performing on the school’s dance team.  The summer nights they spent talking on his mother’s porch, all the times they spent giggling instead of studying and getting kicked out of the library.   He smiled, remembering the time they had gone to the lake and he taught her to fish.  She had screamed when he stuck her foot in the worm bucket, nearly taking his eye out with her fishing pole.  He chuckled aloud.  The sound echoed.

His eyes flew open.

The clearing was gone.  Instead, he was nestled behind a crystal wall.  A chandelier of rubies and golden topaz hung over his head, glistening in the dim light of the palace.  Suddenly, he heard Samantha’s voice.  Leaping to his feet, he crept across the marble ground.

“I think the bracelet is stuck,” he heard her say.  Peering around the edge of the wall, he saw a long obsidian stone table.  It was all he could do not to gasp when he saw her.  She was wearing a golden rose silk dress that hugged every curve and line.  Jeweled roses had been woven into the dark tendrils of her hair and her skin practically glowed in the soft light.  She was talking to a man with pale skin and hair that was nearly white it was so blond.  Rouge swallowed hard.  His throat felt like it had been stuffed with rocks.  The elf prince.

“And why would you want that bracelet to come off?” the prince asked, moving closer to her.  “It was a gift from me.  Surely you’d want to treasure it forever?”  His voice was smooth, each word dripping with a smug sweetness.

Rouge’s fists tightened at his side.  He leaned forward, cocking his head towards the table.

“Well…” he heard Samantha hesitate.  “What if I need to take it off for a bath or something?  Or if I wanted to play football?”

It was all he could do not to burst out laughing.  Samantha hated football.  And she left her jewelry all the time.  He remembered the time one of her earrings fell off in her parents’ swimming pool, and he’d spent the whole night helping her look for it.  The nostalgic smile faded as he heard the prince’s reply.

“Football?” The Prince threw back his head and laughed.   “My love, you do amuse me.  What games you play!  Have you not forgotten I have been watching you?” Rouge watched as he leaned forward, taking Samantha’s chin in his hand.  “I know what you like.  I know what you hate.  I know what you love…”  His voice trailed off and he leaned closer.

Samantha flinched, but her movements were slow and dull.  She shook her head, but it was as though she was nodding off to sleep.   Her eyes became glazed, her face a blank screen.  Rouge’s jaw tightened.  It took every ounce of his strength not to run into the room and rip her out of the Prince’s grasp.

“Tell me you love me,” the Prince cooed, cupping her cheek.  His finger slid across her skin from side to side, tightening as he gripped her face.  “Tell me you’ll never leave me.  Tell me that you’re mine.”

“I….don’t….know…you…”  Samantha slurred, blinking her eyes heavily.  “We…just…met.”

“Don’t fight it, love,” the Prince drawled.   “Don’t fight your attraction to me.  I’ve been dreaming of you for ages now.  You’re the girl of my dreams.”

Rouge shook his head, biting his lip.  “She’s the girl of mine,” he whispered.  “The girl of mine.”

Suddenly, there was a large crash behind him.

To be continued…

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends!  We have a fun little tale tomorrow and a new Coconut Queen Wednesday!  Then we have a new recipe, new Twirl and more whimsical fun!  Stay tuned!