The Rose Necklace

A "Beauty and the Beast" retelling.

Once upon a time, there was a boy in love with a Lilly. Not a flower, but a girl. It all started one beautiful autumn day. One autumn day that would change the boy's life forever. For on this day, he met Lilly, a beautiful girl with an ugly secret. A secret that threatens to destroy her if she cannot find a way to break the curse forced upon her. Filled with secrets, lies, and love, this short story captures the essence of the original fairy tale with an entirely new twist.
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"Hello, my name is Lilly. What's yours? Is that your mother? I only just came to live here with Ivy, and I don't know many people that come to visit her yet. Do you come often? If you do, we could be friends! Would you like that? To be friends? Why, don't you speak at all? And you should really close your mouth; it is impolite to stare like that."
Ivy called out to her from the doorway of the cottage. "Lilly, if you want him to speak, you must first cease speaking." Both of the women were laughing at the children, and Lilly blushed at the comment.
"Sorry! I just haven't seen anyone my age yet, and I got excited, which happens rather easily. It reminds me a bit of puppies I've read about that just get so excited that they- oops. I'm doing it again. Sorry," she said with a shy smile.
Adam, who had been standing there staring, just as she had pointed out, finally found his voice long enough to tell her his name. She beamed at him, saying that they would be great friends. She seized his hand and began tugging him toward the woods behind the cottage, shouting to Ivy and his mother, "We won't go far! Be back soon!"
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