Good Knight

The Fable Keeper

Penelope lost her grip on Sir Theodore's wrists during the descent into the pages of one of her story books. She groped around to regain her grasp, but couldn't find him in the chaos. With nothing to hold onto, Penelope felt helpless. She felt herself get thrown left and right as if she were trapped inside a tornado. All within a moment everything was silent.

It was dark and quiet. Not an easy shock to come out of when you've fallen down a long distance in the dark like Penelope had. She gathered up the courage to look at her surroundings. She was in the strangest of places. It was too vivid to be a dream or a hallucination of some sort, which is why her heartbeat increased at the sight of enormous double wooden doors in front of her.

Penelope got to her feet and approached them. She hesitated to touch the handle. She thought of Teddy though and her desperation to get him back safe and sound. She reached for one of the handles and pulled it.

Locked.

There was no keyhole. Penelope became so frightened and frustrated, she shook the door so hard she could have broken it, but it was unbreakable. She cried, longing for her Teddy Bear.

"How did you get in here?" a voice asked. Penelope turned around to see a woman standing in the center of the hall where Penelope had landed. She was wearing a dark emerald green, fitted jacket made of lace, that was buttoned in the front with long coat tails that veiled out behind her. What looked like black leggings were tucked into knee high boots and on her head, dark brown hair. Penelope sniffled and wiped her tears away.

"I fell," she said. The woman seemed harmless enough. She certainly wasn't dark and looming like the Nightmares were.

"You fell?" she asked gently. Penelope nodded and pointed up. As she pointed, she looked to see where she fell from. There was a ceiling above them that looked much like the night sky. The woman followed her gaze and then smiled warmly at her.

"The shadows took my Teddy Bear," Penelope explained. The woman's expression changed. She seemed worried at first and then focused her attention on Penelope with concern. She came closer, cautiously so as not to frighten the little girl more.

"What is your name?" she asked, though she suspected she might already know.

"Penelope," the little girl replied. The woman made one light nod. The day that King Somnolent warned the dream world would come to pass, had now arrived.

"Penelope, here I am called The Fable Keeper," the woman explained. The little girl remained confused though. The Fable Keeper searched for words.

"Where am I?" Penelope asked. The Fable Keeper approached her slowly, then knelt down in front of her. She looked over Penelope's shoulder at the enormous double wooden doors, then met the little girl's gaze once again.

"You're in my castle, in the kingdom of Muse. Behind those doors is a universal place where dreams of all sorts can come and go from their world, to your imagination," The Fable Keeper explained.

"Did my Teddy Bear come here?" Penelope insisted. The Fable Keeper felt a twinge of sadness in her heart. She didn't know how to explain to her what may be happening. She wasn't even sure if this was the right Penelope. There could be hundreds of Penelope's in the human realm.

"Penelope, who is your Teddy Bear?" The Fable Keeper inquired.

"I've always called him Teddy, but the shadows that took him away called him Sir Theodore," Penelope replied. This confirmed The Fable Keeper's belief that the day had come. Her heart sank with grief.

"If your Teddy Bear is Sir Theodore, then you must be Penelope Pimm," The Fable Keeper said. Penelope nodded to confirm. "Penelope, I am so sorry, but the shadows who took your Teddy Bear are actually Nightmares. They did come through here to take him back to their home in the kingdom of Nix."