Rumplestiltskin

The next Princess Tale is in the works!!! Rumplestiltskin, based on one of the Grimm Brothers' many fairy tales, centers on Gilda Aurelius, a shopkeeper's daughter, and a mysterious little man named Jack. I am going to try to have it finished by the end of April, but it may take longer than that. Here's an excerpt from Rumplestiltskin.

I slid off the stool and onto the floor. I'd been working for what felt like forever, and I'd made no progress at all. "This is impossible," I complained to the empty room. "No one can spin straw into gold."

"No one, says you?"

I jerked my head around. There, leaning casually against the wall, was a tiny man of some sort. Had he been standing next to me, I doubted he'd have come any higher than my waist. He had flame-red hair, and wore an elegantly tailored emerald green suit and top hat that matched his mischievously sparkling eyes perfectly.

"Who are you?" I shrieked.

He swept his top hat off and bowed extravagantly. "Jack Ryker, at your service. And you?"

"Gilda Aurelius," I told him...

"Well, Miss Aurelius, what was it you were saying about spinning straw into gold being impossible?" Jack asked.

"It is impossible!" I said. "I've been trying for the past three hours!"

"Nonsense!" Jack said. "You've just been using the wrong method, that's all." He grabbed a hank of hay, sauntered up to the spinning wheel, and sat down on the now-vacated stool. "Now," he said, "watch and learn." He did the same thing I had, but the strands that now twisted around the spool were made of solid gold.