Young Writers Society

A/N I will need people to bug me to write the next chapter, if any of you could do that for me I'd greatly appreciate it.

I rested my doll against my side, watching as just below the surface of this universe, the goblins watched me. They were watching until I made a wish that would trick me into entering their realm, and leading me to their king. They did not know that I was watching them back, nor did they know that they and their leader had been outsmarted. Not one of them knew who I was, even the king thought that I was an innocent country girl, with a family that hated her. This was all a trap of my own design, for I knew that he lured girls into his realm with his own delusion, that he had fallen in love. These girls rarely escaped, and withered away, spirit spent and soul faded deep within his castle. It was not love that this excuse for a man wanted, it was an adorer. Someone who worshipped him as if he were a god, but he only seemed to choose girls that would never submit to such a thing willingly, and so by the time they finished his challenges, their spirit was broken, and he lost interest in them. I had watched this process from afar, my friends spying for me. The wind whispered in my ear of the goings-on inside his realm, of the challenges he set for the girls, they had to retrieve something they loved from him before it became one of his minions. Few succeeded, and finally I couldn't stand to watch this perverted play one more time, so I set a trap of my own.

I now knew that he was interested in me, and it was time to make my wish. I wished that I would never see my evil mother again, and she disappeared. I was satisfied, one of my most intricate enchantments had served it's purpose, and was waiting for me in the castle of the demon king. I pretended to look for her, my act perfectly mimicked a panic-stricken young girl. I ran from room to room, checking every alcove and cupboard. When within the hour, the goblin king had not appeared, the frantic search became real. I had one more trick that I had mastered, I curled up in a ball and began to cry. I took shaking, stuttering breaths, until I felt a presence behind me. My dimples appeared, as they only did when I was happy. I had a cover-story for this too.

I turned towards him, grinning as my whims demanded;

"Mother!" I yelled as I turned, grin vanishing when I saw the king. He wasn't exactly how I expected him to look, he had white hair, but looked much too young for it to be natural. He may have been in his thirties or forties, which was probably no comparison to his real age.

"You don't need her anymore. Come with me, we shall play such fun games in my castle." He said, he took my hand. His touch was softer than I had expected, more like a family member.

"Is t-that where m-mum is?" I had added the stutter to my character as one more detail to convince him of my innocence.

"You can have anything you want in my castle. But you have to forget your mother."

"Anything?". I questioned, he nodded.

"I w-want my m-mother back!" I yelled.

"Sakura, you don't know what I'm offering you. All your wishes, all your dreams will come alive as soon as you forget about her." He seemed to genuinely care that I got what I wanted.

"But I need my mother back.". I said, on the edge of tears.

He rolled his eyes, a blue butterfly with wings in the pattern of a monarch butterfly walked across his palm. "Catch this butterfly before the sun sets tomorrow, and I'll give your mother back. Fail, and she'll become a goblin like the rest of my people."

"Deal!" I shouted, maybe a little too quickly. To make up for this, I practically climbed up him to catch the butterfly in his palm. He grunted as I used him as a launching platform to reach the flying butterfly. I knew that following the butterfly was only the first challenge, my dignity had forbidden me to take them easy way out, the easy way to his castle. I knew that either way I would end up in his castle in the end. The butterfly flitted in front of my eyes. It was getting too far away for me to track. I ran for many hours, but the butterfly stayed just out of reach. I could feel the shift as the world changed from the one I knew to the realm of the goblin king.

After a few more hours, I was utterly exhausted. Only then did I really stop to take in my surroundings. I was in some sort of orchard. I sniffed the air, which smelled of the most wonderful, juicy fruits. I suddenly realized that I was famished, and the saliva pooled in my mouth as I stared at the tempting array.

It's a trick. My mind told me, but I really couldn't help myself as I plucked a juicy-looking orange from a branch. As I was peeling it I realized that I probably shouldn't eat anything here. I threw the orange on the ground, revolted at how easily I had caved. I got up and started walking again, all the smells bombarding my nose Eat me, eat me they seemed to say Eat me, eat me! After a while, I came across a small blackberry bush, berries ripe in the vine. One won't hurt, it's such a small piece! I thought, plucking one and resting it in the palm of my hand. I popped it in my mouth, savoring the juice as it slipped down my throat. My eyes shut as I enjoyed the juice, and it was several moments before I realized I was asleep.

When I opened my eyes again I was in a ballroom, and some sort of masquerade ball was going on. I was wearing a dark maroon dress, with black gauzy patterns covering it. It was my kind of dress, not too dark but not too light either. I was taller than I had been when I was awake. My hands went to my face, I sighed in satisfaction as I felt that my original face was back, high protruding cheekbones and all. I held a lock of my hair in front of my face, back to it's original silky black. I was back in my form, not my silly disguise for the goblin king.

...But what if this was his dream? What if this was one more temptation for me? Panicked, I hid behind my hands, searching for something else to hide behind.