llonka:
Short Story:
There was a young maiden, very fair and very much in love with a handsome young man. She was a kind soul and helped her parents with their farm. She did not have much, but she was the happiest girl anyone in town had ever met. She had her true love, and that's all she needed.
She was headed to the marketplace one day when a dark carriage came along the road. A hooded head emerged from the window and beckoned her inside, offering her a ride with them to town and out of the cold weather. She had many more chores to do that day, and really couldn't afford to take too long going to the marketplace. It was a long and tedious walk, so she accepted. As if by magic, the door swung open and she stepped in.
The figure removed their hood, and with it revealed a dark smile. It was a women with a tired and worn looking face, and a pointy and gnarled crown upon her head. "I hear that you are the fairest and happiest here in the land..." Her eyes focused on the maiden with a steely gaze. "I do believe it. The sweet aroma of it radiates from you."
Little did the maiden know that this was a queen from a nearby land that had much sorrow in her heart and was once very beautiful. It pained her to see others happy. Driven mad by the loss of her loved one, she weathered away, but she was also a very powerful sorceress. Powerful as she may be, you can not bring one back from the dead. There was no happiness left in her heart, but her magic allowed her to slightly feed off others, and rejuvenate the beauty she once had.
Envious of the beauty of the maiden, she wanted to cause her the same sorrow she had been made to endure, and have her beauty diminished. She robbed the maiden of what made her so happy in life: her true love. But to cause her more pain, she transformed this young man into a fox with a vivid heart upon it's head, so that whenever she lay her eyes upon it she would be reminded that her love was gone.
Little did the queen know that this maiden was also a very strong soul. Determined to have her love back, she swore she would find or create a spell that would return him to his proper form. She found a teacher of magic and began her journey. Her only solace the heart-faced fox that never left her side.
Oh goodness. That's dreadful. :( I couldn't think of anything creative, though.
