Hello, everyone.  I’m Sandie the stingray.  I’m the newest member of the Land of the Flowered Bed.

For those of you who don’t know, the Land of the Flowered Bed is a enchanted world of stuffed animals in a little girl’s bedroom, though she doesn’t know it.  In fact, a brand new Land of the Flowered Bed Book, illustrated by Marie of A Year From Oak Cottage, will be coming out next month.

But the real reason I’m here is I have a confession.

A scandalous secret.

A skeleton in my underwater closet.

But you’ll have to wait until Saturday to hear it, for the next Critter Confessions.

And now Queen Bitty has a proclamation of the uptmost importance:

“Invisible Subjects,

In honor of Sandie the Stingray coming to the Pond, albeit the Land of the Flowered Bed, we shall have a Midsummer’s Night Dream Ball, where all creatures of all species, creed, color and age may attend.  Call it the Puppy Ball 2.0.  We shall have dogs, cats, horses, moose, ocean creatures, ducks, space aliens, wildebeests–whoever wants to attend, shall attend!  Stuffed animals are welcome, as the Land of the Flowered Bed is completely composed of stuffed animals.

And one lucky child, one unusual child, shall come as a Pond Ambassador from the Outside World.  Otherwise, no humans shall attend.

So if you’d like your creature to attend the Midsummer’s Night Dream Ball or for your child to be possibly selected as the Pond Ambassador, send the Blond Duck an e-mail through her site.  For critters, please include photos, name, age and personality traits.  For children, please include first name only, age, and why your child should be selected, and who their favorite stuffed animal/ pet is and why.

All entries must be turned in by Aug. 8, as the ball will be held Aug. 11.  So send away!

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.

Now, an Elf Prince has decided to make her his bride–whether she wants to or not.  As she struggles to escape, her childhood love Rouge and friends must fight to rescue her…as soon as they get out of the dungeon.  And the wedding is at sunset…

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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“How are we going to get them out of here?” Ashley demanded.

“Could we do that magic thing, like you just did?” Cleo asked hopefully to Brogan.  He and Aine both shook their head.

“Neither one of us are that powerful,” Aine replied, her voice both bitter and sad at the same time.

“If it was that easy, many of the brides would be home by now,” Elisa agreed.  “Many wizards and witches have tried to save the brides, for their own egos or for leverage against the king.  None have succeded.  This room is guarded against magic.”

The group fell silent, staring glumly at the frozen brides.  The brides stared back, their vacant stares drilling into them.

“So we’ll just have to haul them out physcially, one by one,” Ashley said stubbornly.  She marched over to one of the brides and bent, grabbing her hands to pull her up.

“It won’t work!” Elisa warned, shaking her head.  “In fact, it is the opposite of what you want to accomplish.”

“Don’t!” Aine cried, bouncing on Cleo’s shoulder. “Don’t touch them!”

“I wouldn’t do that…” Brogan warned.

Ignoring them, Ashley tugged on the girl’s hands.  A stomach-curdling crack sounded, followed by Ashley’s whoosh of air as she fell flat on her back.  Stunned, she held up her hands and stared at them in horror.  Clutched in her hands was the bride’s own stony palms.  Shrieking with disgust, she dropped the porcelain hands and pushed them away.

“Careful!  You’ll shatter them!”  Aine hopped to the ground and scampered over to the hands.  Examining the edge of the broken wrists, she clucked her tongue.  “This one has been there forever.”

A hoarse yell tore from Ashley’s lips.  “You mean, they’re stone?” she hollered, her eyes wild.  “They’ve been sitting here so long they’ve turned to stone?”

“More or less,” Elisa replied.  “Now, they can only escape in their dreams.  That’s the only life they have left.  Even if they did return home, what would they return to?  Their parents are dead, their intended have moved on…many don’t even have a home any more.  They have no education, no skills outside the home, no friends…The only life worth living for them is in dreams.”

“All life is worth living,” Ashley replied, her jaw set.

“I couldn’t agree more.”

The group whirled around, gasping in unison.  The Prince stood at the entrance of the room, his face twisted in a snarl carved from malice and rage.  His skin, always pale, was now an incandescant alabaster.  His blue eyes were now black, burning in his face like dark candles.

But the most shocking thing was that he glowed.  A silver haze radiated around him, brimming off every inch of his skin and clothes.

Pursing his lips together, the Prince Aran shook his head.

“Never in my life have I had this much trouble taking a bride,” he shouted.  “All I wanted was to give Samantha a happy life!  But no, you had to interfere.  And now you’re trying to interfere with my other wives!”  He narrowed his eyes.  “And you, Brogan.  My once trusted guard.  You have betrayed  me.  For what?  What trinket have you earned?”

Brogan said nothing.  His grey eyes glinted from the shadows of the silver hood.

“You treated them like garbage!” Ashley shouted, pointing to the bride with no hands, staring unblinkingly ahead.  “You don’t love these women, you collect them!  You’re like a kid with action figures!”

“Where’s Jeremy?” Cleo demanded.  “What did you do to him?”

The Prince smiled widely, too widely.  “Why, he and my sword became well acquainted,” he drawled, his black eyes flashing.  “Very well acquainted, in fact.”

Cleo gasped.  Snarling, Ashley bent down and threw one of the bride’s stone hands at him.  It shattered against his chest, the silver glow around him brightening.  “You had no reason to kill him!” she shouted, bending down the grab the other hand.  “How dare  you?  What do you think you are?  I’ll tell you what you are!  You’re an evil, no good, slimy jerk!”  She reached back to hurl the other hand when a pale cold hand touched her shoulder.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Elisa murmured.  Her eyes stayed locked on the Prince.

“Why not?” Ashley snapped.  “It’s not like we could glue her hand back on.  She didn’t even notice.”

“Not that,” Elisa replied.  “It won’t do any good to harm him.  Not like that.  He can’t be killed.”

Ashley huffed, drawing her arm back.  “And why not?”

Elisa smiled.  “Because the Prince is dead.”

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Rouge groaned and stirred, clutching his head.  It felt like he had been in a fight with a steam roller.  Cracking his eyes open, he looked up at the thick trees overhead.

“I was wondering when you’d wake up.”

His head turned so fast his neck cracked.  Samantha grinned from her perch on a stump a few feet a way.  The silver gown pooled around her feet as she crouched down beside him.  Her hair, yanked free from the wreath of silver leaves she had worn for her wedding, tumbled around her shoulders in thick dark curls.

“I was afraid”– She stopped, unable to go on.

Rouge grinned, laying his fingers against her cheek.  “You know it would take more than a maniacal elf prince to kill me.”

Samantha laughed, her brown eyes shining.  “You really came all this way just to save me?”

Rouge nodded.  “It’s my fault anyway.  If I hadn’t left after high school….”

She pressed her lips together.  “You don’t know that.  There was no guarantee we would have been together.”

“We would have.  You know it as well as I do.”  Rouge took her hand and sat half way up, ignoring the black spots swirling before his eyes.  “I have to tell you why I left.”

She shook her head.  “I don’t care.  Really.  It doesn’t matter.”

Rouge squeezed her fingers.  “It does.”  Taking a deep breath, he looked at Samantha.  She nodded.  “Right after high school, I got a phone call from my family in Ireland.  A relative had died and wanted me to look after her estate for a few weeks, learn the family history.  In return, I could take a class or two at the local college and go back to the States with enough money to open up my own business.  She knew how I wanted to recreate my family’s dream.  The only condition was I had to come then, right then.  I didn’t have any time to say good bye.  And since it was only a few weeks and I knew you were going on vacation with your parents, I left.

But the weeks really meant years.  And every week I’d tell them I was going home, only to get suckered into staying.  I tried to call, but the phone was terrible and the Internet was worse.  I wrote letters, but when I returned home I realized you had never gotten them.  My aunts had kept them, determined to keep me here to run the estate so they could do as they wished.”

“That’s terrible,” Samantha whispered.

Rouge shrugged.  “It was selfish, but I understood their fears.  But the thing was is I traded a couple million dollars and a few years of college for you, for your friendship.  When I came back, I called Ashley.  She told me you were in college, dating someone.  And…I thought you were better without me.  So I called the dorm one night and left my number on your machine.  When you didn’t call back, I let things end.”

Samantha shook her head.  “I never got that message.  My roommate probably erased it.”   She leaned down, lowering her face inches from Rouge’s.  “Did you mean what you said?  Back at the castle?”

“That my dreams lie at your feet?  Yes.”  Rouge ran his fingers through her lush dark curls.

“No…”  Samantha trailed off, blushing.

“I said I love you, and I meant it.”  Rouge wrapped his arm around her shoulders.  “From the first moment I saw you in the cafeteria, I loved you.  I loved you as a friend, I loved the way you smiled, the way you laughed.  I’ve been in love with you all my life.”

Samantha beamed, and he brushed his lips against hers.  “Is this a dream?” she whispered.

Rouge grinned.  “Who cares?”

To be continued….

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends!  Tomorrow we have a whimsical tale, then a new Coconut Queen, Twirl and tasty recipe!  And we have a new Critter Confessions Saturday!

Don’t forget to e-mail me about attending the Midsummer’s Night Dream Ball!