The Doll Prince

Chapter 4

Chime! Chime! Chime!

The first three chimes of midnight roused Amai from her sleep. Opening her eyes just a bit, she started to close them, before they snapped open.

Looking towards her bedside table, she realized her prince was gone!

"My prince?"

Quickly sitting up, she whipped her head around the bedroom, not finding any sight of the doll. Her door was ajar by a smidge, meaning someone had come in and taken him.

"Ugh, please don't tell me Aunt Kaya or one of the girls took him!"

Flipping the covers back, Amai put on her slippers and slipped out into the hallway. Very slowly, she tiptoed down the hall to the stairs, where one by one, her feet pressed on until they touched the floor.

The first place Amai looked around was the parlor, then the living room. Dim candlelight gave just enough light to see. Walking around, Amai turned her attention to the Christmas tree. To her relief, and confusion, her precious doll was standing perfectly still under the towering branches.

"My prince, there you are! How'd you get all the way down here?" Kneeling to the doll's height, Amai's confusion heightened when she saw his arm. The ribbon she had tied around it was gone, and it was fully reattached, like it never broke. "What... how did your arm..."

Chime!

The clock struck its last call for the midnight hour. Amai, with the doll in her grasp, started to turn around back to the door, when she spotted something about the clock.

The minute and hour hands were... glowing. Sparkling, actually. Golden light grew stronger and brighter as sparkles flew out of the clock and around the room.

Amai backed up. "What?" The sparkles wrapped around the legs of the chairs, the decorations on the fireplace, and the Christmas tree behind her. A flurry of them grazed her feet, then climbed up around her body. When they circled the top of her head, her entire being began to shimmer.

"What's happening?!"

Closing her eyes, Amai tightened her grip on her doll as a sensation rippled through her, one she couldn't figure out. Somehow, though, the doll in her arms seemed to change, almost like he was growing in her arms.

After a minute, Amai opened her eyes. When she did, she had to blink to make sure she wasn't imagining things.

She... she had shrunk! Her size was just two or three inches shorter than her doll prince, which stood up right next to her. The tree towered over her, its branches creating shadows over her head. The furniture was also huge, it would be impossible to climb up to the cushions.

Amai took a few steps forward, awestruck. "How..."

DONG!!!

A loud, deep ringing from a bell rushed into Amai's ears. Whipping to look at the source of the sound, she noticed a little door appearing from the bottom of the clock.

Coming out of that door in lines of two were shadowy figures. They looked like soldiers, but their skin was ashy gray, and they were surrounded by a blackish mist. About twenty of them entered, spreading out in the living room. They peered around furniture and looked in corners, on a search of some sorts.

Amai backed into the shadows under the tree in fear. These things terrified her, and she didn't care to know what would happen if they spotted her.

Unfortunately, they did.

"Hey! Over there!" One of the shadow soldiers called out to the others. Two of them raced over towards her, their hands outstretched to grab her. Tripping over her feet while trying to back up, Amai stared fearfully at the oncoming men.