The Story of Me

4

Night fell and I could hear the creature calling out to me. "Marji~, it said, don't go to sleep. If you do I'll get you." I sat up in my bed sweating. "Please~ leave me alone." I sobbed. I figured that if I got up and walked around a bit I could collect myself. I got out of bed and walked out of my room and down the hall. I peeked into Maddie's room but she was already asleep. I walked down the hall a few more paces when I heard a noise coming from the library. I walked towards it and poked my head inside. The visiting prince was there sifting through a pile of books. He looked stressed and a bead of sweat dripped down his face. I was staring at him so long that I hadn't noticed he was staring back. Startled,I closed the door quickly and got ready to run down the hall when he called out to me. "Marji~,he said, come back here." I pivoted on my heels and walked back into the room. "Yes Prince?" I asked. "Sit here next to me, he said, I want to talk to you." I did as I was told and sat next to him. "Why are you so timid?" He asked. "Me?" I asked. " Yes you, he said, at dinner you barely said a word at all and even now you still don't look me in the eye. What are you so afraid of?" "The creature~" I mumbled. "What creature?" He asked. There was genuine concern on his face and it softened his features a bit.

"It lives in the well out in the garden, I said, it hates me and it follows me around. It wants to kill me." "So why don't you kill it first? He asked. "It's not that easy~,I said, things are complicated." "Why?,he asked, why are they complicated? You can make them not complicated if you try." "It's because of the princess, I said, thats why." "Where is she?" He asked. "I'll take you to her, I said, but you have to promise me you won't tell Maddie." "I promise~" he said.

He smiled at me and for some reason I trusted him. We stood up and walked out into the hall past Maddie's room and over to a statue. The statue was of Princess Monai's father and in his hand was a jewel. I lifted the jewel and the the statue moved revealing a door. I looked at the prince and he ushered me forward. The intrigue in his eyes was fascinating. We went through the door and it closed behind us as we began up the stairs to the tower. About half way there one of the spirit guards emerged from the wall. "M'lady, he said, is it time to wake her?" I looked down at my feet and shook my head. "Not yet, I said, we just all have to have patience." He nodded and disappeared as quickly as he came. I looked back at the prince and offered my sad smile before continuing up the stairs.

At the top floor there was a single door. "Is she in there?" He asked. "Yes~" I said. He walked up to the door but there was no knob. It was made of a forcefield. We could see her inside the white room but she could not see us. She looked so peaceful. "Why won't she come out?" He asked. "She can't." I said. He frowned as he peered through the door at her. She was floating above her bed with the ivory sword clutched to her chest, while wrapped in a cocoon of rose vines.
"She looks just like you and your sister, he said, at first I thought that you were just twins but now...." His voice trailed off as I heard Maddie's voice behind me. "That's because I am her, she said, and so is Marji." I dropped my head knowing that I was going to be in trouble later. "Explain this all to me, he said, from the beginning."