Once Upon A Dream... [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 3

"Now where's the fun in that. I'd much rather you guess my name," he said, smirking.

"Okay. I'll play your little game ," I said, crossing my arms. "Is your name Philip?"

"No."

"James?"

"Nuh-uh".

"Reid?"

"Nope," he said, popping the'p'. I let out an exasperated sigh.

"Harry?"

He shook his head.

"Francois?", I said, letting out a little giggle.

He scrunched his nose up. "Absolutely not! Do I seem french to you?!"

"Okay, okay... Is it... Rumpelstiltskin?", I said, with a mischievous smile.

"RUMPELSTILTSKIN?!!" He pushed me to the ground and started tickling me.

"Stop!... S-stop!", I said, between gasps. "No more or I'll pee!"

He chuckled, but thankfully he stopped tickling me. "I can't believe you called me Rumpelstiltskin. I mean, I'm not a short old guy who goes around making twisted deals."

Just then, we heard someone clear their throat from somewhere behind us. We both stood up ad turned around. A man stepped out from behind a tree. My prince looked shocked.

"Mr. Stiltskin!", he said, not looking very pleased.

My jaw dropped .Mr. Stiltskin? As in Rumpelstiltskin? Here? Okaaaay, this was starting to turn into a weird dream...

"Your Royal Highness", said Rumpelstiltskin, bowing a little. His bow appeared a little insolent, I might add. "And you must be Annaleise," he said, turning to address me.

"H-how do you know my name?", I asked, a little creeped out.

"Who doesn't? That's the question you should be asking, dearie," he said, giving me an eerie smile.

"Errrm...". Okay, weird answer. I guess that's what you get for asking a stupid question. I mean, it was MY DREAM. Of course everyone would know my name. I mentally shook my head at myself. These dreams felt so real that I kept on forgetting what they really were. Dreams. That's all they were.

"What, may I ask, are you doing here Mr. Stiltskin?", said my prince, looking a little miffed.

"Oh, nothing. I was just passing through and I thought I heard my name being uttered".

"We just mentioned you in passing," said my prince. "Nothing else."

"Very well. I shall be on my way then," said Rumpelstiltskin, after a moment of silence. He strode towards me and took my hand, to my surprise. "It was a pleasure seeing you, Miss Annaleise," he said, kissing my hand. It would've been charming if i wasn't for that eerie smile of his.

"Mine as well, Mr. Rumpelstiltskin," I lied. I felt chills go up my spine as he released my hand and took a step back.

"I hope you'll remember me the next time you're in trouble. I have a knack for sorting out problems and making deals," he said.

"And creating more trouble from his deals," my prince muttered to me. I stifled a giggle.

Rumpelstiltskin bowed stiffly at my prince and nodded at me. He almost seemed to melt into the shadows as he walked away from us and towards a cluster of trees.

"Creepy," I said as I shuddered a little.

"That's one way of putting it", said my prince.