She filled out the necessary forms with more than enough truth "enhancers" to attract the right sort of true love and slipped it into the large wooden box on the table. A few beeps, boops and whoop-whoops later, the machine spit out a tiny piece of paper. Tansy snatched it away before Arial could get her hands on it. She giggled and eyed Arial. "FDS has done it again. You must go to clearing in the forest today. Your one true love will be there waiting for you." She tilted her head with a dreamy look in her eyes.
"That's it?" asked Arial. "Just go to the forest? I'm the prettiest fairy in all the land. Shouldn't my one true love come to me?"
"No," said Tansy. "You better hurry. You don't want your prince to leave." She turned Arial around and shoved her out the door. "Good luck." She gave her a squeeze and pushed her in the direction of the forest.
"This is silly," mumbled Arial. She turned around to head for home, then paused. What if the FDS was right and her prince was waiting for her. If she didn't show up, he'd leave. He could be a gnome king or a dwarf elder. Those were always good choices. Her sister had married a half gnome, half dwarf and she was very happy. But, what if he were a goblin king?
She shuddered at the thought. Goblin kings were disgusting, mean and nasty creatures. That almost made her turn and run, but the gnome, dwarf or halfling made her push on. She would bravely see what fate had in store for her.
She trudged through the forest thinking of all the jewels, pretty dresses and parties she would attend once she and her true love were married, but when she stepped out of the trees there was no one there. She eyed the forest surrounding the clearing. There was no sign of her prince charming.
Maybe he's running late, she thought, sitting down on a large stump. She smoothed her dress, fluffed her hair, then clasped her hands together and placed them neatly in her lap. He probably stopped to pick her a bouquet of flowers.
Arial waited a long time. The sun was going down and her backside was numb when she finally decided to leave. Branches snapped somewhere in the forest. She hurried back to the stump and sat down. This was it. Her stomach flip-flopped with excitement. There was more snapping, followed by crunching and thumping. Out of the forest stomped Ogden (or Oggie) the ogre. Techinically, he was a prince. His father was king of the ogres, but Oggie held no title. He was known far and wide for his lazy, clumsy and selfish ways. After one incident where he set fire to half the ogre village and almost burnt down the forest, his father had taken away his princely status. The big oaf refused to change his ways and became an outcast.
"Stop right there," shouted Arial, throwing her hands in the air. "Turn around and go back where you came from."
Oggie waved a small piece of paper in the air. "You are my perfect match. We will be married and have a perfect life. When father sees this, I will get all that is rightfully mine."
"No. You are not my perfect match and we most certainly will not be married," said Arial, hoping off the stump.
"The fairy said you are and we will," said Oggie, stomping over to her.
Arial's eyebrows came together in confusion. "What fairy?"
Oggie turned around and pointed. "Her."
Tansy stepped out of the forest and glared at Arial. "Prettiest fairy in all the land. Bah! Now you will be the prettiest fairy in the ogre village. Have a nice life, Arial."
"Tansy, wait," called Arial. Tansy disappeared into the forest without a glance backward.
Without warning, Oggie scooped Arial up into his arms. "You are mine now. Father will be so proud. We will have a big family with lots and lots of ogre-fairy babies."
Arial kicked her feet and fluttered her wings, but it was no use. Oggie was far stronger. He happily strolled back into the forest with his new bride.
To be continued...
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