Dear Invisible Subjects:

It’s come to my attention many of you are getting lax.  You’re getting soft, lazy.  In some horrific occasions, you’re even taking vacations.

I am not amused.

Therefore, I command you to keep your minds sharp.  You must read:

Twirl.

And the pink penguins confessions on Saturday.

And the Gift.  Right now.

Or else.

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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She knew it wasn’t real.

But she wanted it to be.

Her mind whispered what she knew deep in her gut was true.  This was just a dream.  She wasn’t really standing at the Star Field, the place they had gone so many times.  It wasn’t night, it was almost sunset.  Instead of the soft cotton sweatshirt and worn jeans, she could feel the heavy silk dress constraining her.

But it felt real.  It felt almost as real as the ground beneath her feet and the wind toying with her hair.

“It’s almost here!”

She whirled around and grinned.  “The meteor shower?” she asked, her voice jumping with excitement.  Rouge bobbed his head, his smooth cheeks spreading into a wide smile.

“I got my dad’s telescope!” he exclaimed, pulling a long, thin case out of the back of his mom’s old truck.  “We can watch it happen.”

Samantha hugged herself, shivering in the cool night air.  “Do you think we’ll ever get to travel to the stars?” she asked dreamily, staring up at the tiny twinkles.  “Do you think we’ll ever get to go to another planet, meet another being?”

Rouge grunted as he slammed the feet of the base into the soft earth, steadying it with his hand.  His eyes glittered.  “I know we can try.”  He attached the telescope and stepped back.  “Take a look.”

Samantha pressed her eye to the telescope.  Adjusting the knobs, she frowned.  “There’s something wrong.  All I can see is a big metallic ring.”  She flipped the telescope over and gasped.  A silver ring was dangling from the telescope on a red ribbon.  “Rouge!  What’s the occasion?”

“You.”   Rouge smiled, holding up the ring.  Even in the dim light of the stars, she could see the intricate carvings dotted with outlines of stars.

“It looks like your ring!” Samantha cried.  “Your family ring.  The one your grandmother gave you.”

“I know you’re nervous about graduating and going to college.  So now, every time you’re nervous, you can think about the stars.  You can think about tonight.”  He twisted the ring between his fingers, dropping it on her palm.  “You can know that the stars are always going your way.  You’ll always have luck, no matter where you travel.”

Samantha beamed.  “Rouge, you’re amazing.”

But it was just a dream.

As much as she wished, it was just a dream.

The Prince’s ring weighed on her finger like lead.

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“I wouldn’t go in there,” Elisa warned behind Ashley.  Ignoring her, Ashley flung the doors of the bridal suite open and gasped.

“Ashley!” Cleo shouted.  “You’re here!”  She leaped up and clapped her hands.  “I was so worried.”

Ashley barely looked at her.  “Is she dead?”  She rushed forward, bending over Samantha’s still frame.  Samantha had been laid on a satin covered bed and dressed in the same grey gown the other girls wore.  The Prince’s bracelet and necklace, the necklace Ashley had hid earlier, circled Samantha’s pale skin.  The engagement ring sparkled on her left hand.  Her eyes stared toward the sky, looking more glass than human.   A velvet box lay next to her.  Ashley cracked it open.  A thin gold band dotted with diamonds lay inside.

“Is she…?”  Ashley couldn’t bear to repeat it.

“No,” Cleo answered.  “She’s just been like this.”

“She’ll wake up at the wedding,” Elisa informed them, sliding into the room behind them.  The other brides didn’t stir.  Not so much as a single finger raised, a eye blinked in their direction.  “It’s a trick he has.  One of his brides tried to escape once, so he enchanted his gifts.”

Rage boiled within Ashley.  “Why?” she burst out, flinging her arms to the sides.  “Why does he do this?  Why does he steal women, take them from their family and friends and turn them into–into dolls!  Into vegetables!  These aren’t wives!”  Her arm swept over the room of silent brides.  “These women are dead!  They don’t talk, they don’t think, they don’t laugh.  They’re not real!  They’re just…there!”

“Precisely,” Elisa replied, her voice bitter.  “It’s easy to be a husband to so many wives when they can’t be jealous or argue with you.”

Ashley shook her head, pressing her lips together.  “Well, I’ll make sure I rescue them,” she vowed, staring at the frozen brides.  “I’m going to save every last one of them.  It’s not right.  It’s just not right.”

“Good luck!” Aine scoffed.  “I don’t think you realize what kind of magic you’re dealing with.  And the Prince isn’t anywhere nearly as strong or powerful as his father.  And his father has a extreme hatred of humans.”

“I don’t care,” Ashley replied stubbornly.  “I’m going to free them.”

Cleo cleared her throat.  “Shouldn’t we rescue Samantha first?”

“Right.”  Ashley turned to Elisa.  “What does the Prince want from her?”

Elisa shrugged.  “I’m not sure.  I’ve never seen him so desperate before.  Your friend must be putting up quite a fight.”

“What did all his brides have to have?” Aine asked, her brow furrowing.  “What was his criteria?”

Elisa checked them off on her fingers one by one.  “They had to be pretty, spirited, creative, imaginative, slender…and easily reachable.  Usually, he chose girls that were confused about their life in some way.  Like they were being forced into a arranged marriage or into a career they didn’t want.”

“Jeremy,” Cleo muttered under her breath.  “Bastard.”

“How easily reachable?”  Aine asked, tapping her fingers against her teeth.

Elisa shrugged.  “Well, anywhere that he could get them…”  Her eyes widened and her lips parted.  “In their dreams.”

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

“What’s it?” Jeremy shrieked. The cranky watch troll stormed over to them.

“What the devil is going on here?” he bellowed.  “Can’t a fellow take a nap after a stupendous meal?  Must I watch you all the time?”

“I’m sorry,” Rouge replied, smiling at the troll.  “I just thought of something.”

“Huh?” Jeremy blurted out.

“What?” the troll asked suspiciously.

“Tell me, Sir Troll,” Rouge asked.  “Do you have any fairies around here that might have a bit of dreaming dust?”

The troll drew back, his eyes narrowed.  “How do you know about such things?”  Rouge held up his hand, then remembered he no longer had his ring.  “My family has been in this country a long time,” he replied.  “My aunt was actually almost one of the Prince’s brides.”

“What’s her name?” the troll growled.

“Elisa.”

“Elisa!” the troll exclaimed, his jaw dropping.  “Well smack me with a rotten dwarf!  She’s a legend around these parts.  She’s the only bride that ever escaped.  That was a fabulous wedding, it was.  So much extra food…”  Drool ran down his chin and he grunted in nostalgic bliss.

“Tell you what,” the troll replied, snorting up the excess drool.  “I’ll get you your fairy and dreaming dust.  But you have to do me a favor.”

“Anything,” Rouge replied without hesitation.

The troll leaned forward, his eyes glittering.  “I want the Prince’s ring.”

To be continued….

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends!  Tomorrow we have a fun ode and Wednesday, a new Coconut Queen.  Thursday we’ve got a delectable delight and Friday, a new Twirl!  Then Saturday, we have a new creative woman, Whitney!  Stay tuned!

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