Invisible Friends, let me introduce myself.  I am Miss Moose McKinley, from the Land of the Flowered Bed.

And I need your help.

You see, the Pond Puppy Ball is tomorrow.

And I have nothing to wear.  Zilch.  Nada.  Not a fur to call my own.

So do me a favor.

Read the latest Twirl….

And the Love Pig’s Critter Confession…

And then help me figure out what to wear for the ball!!

I wuffle in sympathy.

And now, for the Gift!

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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Rouge’s hand tightened around the stone wall.  Shaking with rage, he clamped his jaw shut.  It was all he could do not to rush toward the Prince and knock him to the ground.  The prince’s smug expression made him almost as sick as the enormous diamond twinkling in the box.  It was a ring no mortal man could ever compete with.  Even from his hiding spot, he could see the clarity of the stone, the delicate workmanship.

His eyes shifted toward Samantha’s face.  Her eyes were wide as she stared at the ring.  Biting his lip, Rouge rested his head against the wall.  It was over now.

“Married?” Samantha squeaked.  “What about the other clues?  How about I find those first?”

“My dear, don’t you love me?”  The Prince took her hand and Samantha shrank back slightly.

“I don’t know you,” she replied.  Rouge sagged against the wall, relief and worry spinning through him as her worried voice filled the room.  “I don’t know you.  I don’t know this place.  I don’t know anything.”

“Of course you do,” the Prince replied.  Rouge could hear the hard edge under his soothing tone.  Leaning forward, the Prince kissed Samantha’s hand.  “You know I love you.  You know I’ve loved you for years.  Do you know the torture it’s been, watching you, unable to speak or touch you?  Do you know how many times I wanted to hold you when you cried, kiss you when you laughed and love you–just love you?”  He swept his arm outwards, enveloping the castle.  “All of this–the jewels, the riches, the power, the others–it’s all worthless compared to you.  I’ve done everything for you.  I adore you.  I worship you.”  He picked up the ring and held it up, twisting it so sparkling rainbows exploded in the light.  “Marry me.”

Rouge held his breath.  Peeking around the wall, he watched as Samantha raised her head.  The dazed look was gone.  Her dark eyes snapped as she eyed the Prince.  “What others?”

It was all Rouge could do not to burst out laughing.

“Others?”  The Prince blinked, his breath catching in his throat.  “My love, I don’t know what you mean.”

“You said the others meant nothing.  What others?”  Samantha’s voice was deadly calm as she looked up at him.

“No one.”  The Prince smiled, but his eyes were narrowed in anger.  “Do you mean to make me beg, darling?  I don’t understand why you are acting this way.  You seemed so happy a few minutes ago…”  He glanced down at the table and snarled.  Grabbing Samantha’s wrist, he jerked her towards her so their faces were inches apart.   Lifting the broken bracelet with his other hand, he shook it in front of her face.

“What did you do?” he growled.

“Nothing,” she snapped back.  “It fell off.  Why?  If you’re so rich, can’t you buy me another one?”

“That’s not the point,” he growled.

“Exactly!” Samantha shrieked, pulling against him as she tried to struggle out of his grasp.  “You don’t want me.  You want some kind of robot.   I’ll never marry you!  Never!”

With a howl, the Prince pulled Samantha even closer to him so quickly her head snapped back.  Clamping the bracelet around her wrist, he dropped her hands and grabbed her face between her hands.  As her eyes gazed over, he muttered, “There is something you are hiding.  And I’ll find out.”

Struggling against the power of the bracelet, Samantha slammed her other arm into him and shoved him away.  Her arms flailed uselessly, batting against the Prince like a sleeve of a jacket.  Crumpling to the ground, she groaned as the Prince picked her up.

“I know that you’re hiding something,” the Prince muttered.  “And I’m going to find out what it is.”  Sweeping the food off the table with one arm, he dropped Samantha’s unmoving form onto it as the dishes shattered around them.  The Prince jabbed his ring onto Samantha’s left hand, fourth finger.  Samantha screamed, her face contorted in pain for a brief moment.  Then her expression smoothed into the same glazed look Rouge had seen before.

Shouting a strange form of Gaelic Rouge had never heard, the Prince grabbed her hand.   Scarlett light flickered around the ring.  Jumping back with a snarl, the Prince tore his fingers through his hair.  He glowered at Samantha and started towards her.

“Don’t touch her!” Rouge shouted, rushing out from behind the wall.   The Prince turned slowly.  As his eyes traveled up and down Rouge, he smirked.

“So you’re the one of her dreams.”

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Everything was dark and cold.   Groaning, Ashley struggled to open her eyes as tiny hands slapped at her face.  Cracking her eyelids apart, she stared up into Aine’s worried face.

“This is no time for a nap!” Aine scolded.  “We must hurry!”

Biting back a retort, Ashley stretched and climbed to her feet.  Blinking and rubbing her eyes, she slowly started to notice their surroundings.  Jeweled studded crystal walls lined marble floors.  A diamond chandelier hung overhead, glittering quietly.  It looked like she was living inside a diamond earring.

“Where are we?” Ashley whispered.  Aine crawled inside her purse and motioned for Ashley to pick it up.

“We’re in the castle,” Aine replied as Ashley lifted the purse in the air.  “The Prince’s home.”

“I can see why Jeremy and Rouge are worried,” Ashley replied, fighting back a yawn.  “I’d live here in a heartbeat.”

“Appearances are deceiving,” Aine replied in a low murmur.  “What might appear to be a dream is really a nightmare.”

Ashley gave her an odd look.  Suddenly, a deep male shout made them both jump.  Scurrying behind a wall, they watched as a dark haired girl in a lush golden gown fought with the most gorgeous man Ashley had ever seen in her life.  Only his pointed ears gave him away as an elf.  The girl crumpled to the ground and her face turned in Ashley’s direction.

“Samantha!” Ashley whispered, her heart sinking to her toes.  “Oh God!  I didn’t recognize her.”  She stared at the tall thin fair man.  Rage had distorted his handsome features so that his white teeth looked more like fangs, his blue eyes more like that of a wolf.

“That is the Prince,” Aine replied as the Prince hauled Samantha onto a table, dropping her on the surface carelessly.

“What is he doing to her?” Ashley gasped as he shouted a strange word.  Red light began to glow around Samantha’s hand.

“Finding out what’s in her heart and mind,” Aine replied, her voice grave.  “We’re much later than I thought.  And the wedding is only two hours away.  He moved it up.”

“Why?” Ashley asked.  She bit her lip, her fingers fluttering as she tried to think.  “We’ve got to do something.  We need to rescue her!”

Aine shook her head, pressing a finger to her lips.  “Right now, we must watch,” she hissed.  “Shh!”

Ashley started to argue, but a familiar shout interrupted her.  Glancing up, she saw Rouge rush out behind a wall.  “Oh no,” she whispered, grabbing the wall to keep from sinking to the ground.  “Oh no, no, no.”

“You can’t have her!” Rouge shouted.  “You don’t deserve her.  Let her go.”

“And what?” the Prince sneered.  “You do?”  He shook his head.  “You are a mere mortal.  You can’t give her what I can.”

“A life of misery and pain?  Any man could give her that,” Rouge retorted.  “I know what you do.  I know what you want with her.  And it’s not going to happen.”

“You know nothing,” the Prince sneered.

“I know Catriona O’Farrel.”  Rouge grinned as the Prince roared with rage.  “That’s right.”   Striding towards the Prince, Rouge’s normally serene face took on a dark scowl.  “Look, Prince.  She’s not going to be one of your ghostly maidens.  I’ll die before that happens.”

“That can be arranged.”  Ashley couldn’t help but shiver at the Prince’s expression.  Flicking his fingers, Brogan suddenly appeared in the room.  Jeremy and Cleo were standing next to him, their wrists bound in a thin silver chain.

“Your Majesty.”  Brogan sank to one knee, his head bent.

“Who are they?”  The Prince stared at Cleo and Jeremy.  “I saw nothing of them in her mind.”

“Just prisoners, my Liege,” Brogan replied quickly.  “Curious about folklore and all. A few of the fairies have been really chatty lately.   I didn’t want to take chances on your big day.”

“Are you trying to marry my girlfriend?”  Jeremy demanded.  “She’s mine, dude.  I bought her a ring and everything.  So you can back off.”

The Prince ignored him.  Striding to Cleo, he traced the side of her face with a finger.  She flinched and pulled away.  The Prince smiled.  “Perhaps we can arrange something,” he murmured, chuckling as horror splayed across Cleo’s features.

“Put these two in the dungeon,” he commanded, pointing to Rouge and Jeremy.  “As for her, put her with Samantha in the bridal chambers.  The wedding has been moved up to before sunset.  We will wed in two hours.  I must prepare.”   Without another word, he strode away.

Ashley looked at Aine.  “What do we do now?”

To be continued…

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends!  Tomorrow we have the Pond Puppy Ball!  Then Wednesday, we have a new Coconut Queen and Thursday, a tasty new recipe.  Friday we have a new Twirl and this weekend, a new creative woman of the Pond!  Stay tuned!