Once upon a time there lived a man and his two daughters, the eldest was named Catherine and the younger, by five years, was Jeanne. They lived in a small cottage in the countryside of France. They were a very happy family, but the man was a farmer, and he could not afford any lavish gifts that his daughters were so deserving of. Jeanne, in comparison to her sister, was not terribly beautiful. Her older sister looked very much like their deceased mother, beautiful brown ringlets framed her face and her eyes a stunning shade of grass green. Jeanne had murky blue eyes and straight dirty blonde hair that, no matter what she did, fell into her eyes. Catherine's poise, even though they were simple country girls, was very good. Her grace was that of an aristocrat, and when Jeanne tried to mimic her older sister, she had always tripped and fell. Catherine was also very kind to everyone in their small village, winning the heart of everyone. Jeanne was very shy and she didn't like socializing with the village people. She was frightened with the notion that if, perhaps, one of the boys were to see her and ask her to play, they would think her a boy because of her lanky figure and shaggy hair that was kept short because of a time when she was young and her hair got stuck on some tree sap. She's been scared of the stuff since, also a reason why she refuses to lean under a tree to rest in the summer.

One year on Jeanne's tenth birthday all she asked for was a single lily. Her father, since it was such a simple task, went on a journey to find this flower that his precious Jeanne yearned for. Jeanne's father went from shop to shop looking for a lily and did not see one. He traveled all over his own kingdom and the two kingdoms over, the journey took him a week. He traveled back to his own kingdom and remembered the road that led into the dark forest which was filled with sounds of crows cawing and squirrels rustling about, as well as odd noises the father couldn't recognize. He kept walking along the long unpaved road and he saw a small pond with lily pads and one with a small water lily on it. Her father bent down to pick it up when a hand placed itself on his shoulder. He turned around and saw a monstrous thing. It was the size of a man but it looked like a mix of a fox and a wolf, it stood on two legs and was nearly two feet taller than the father, who was dumbstruck by the beast.

It snarled at the father, its teeth sharp as knives as its paws grabbed the man by his collar and hoisted him up to his eye level "what are you doing stealing from my garden" his, very human, blue eyes searched the man's own eyes for answers and he brought the man close to his own face.

The father stuttered out a response, his body trembling with fear "I- I was getting a- a l-lily for my daughter sir." He said, fearing for his own life as he tried to stare into the monster's eyes and not his teeth.

The monster's very annoyed frown went into a sort of sneer "Your daughter?" It said, sneering at the man "You don't say" The sneer pulled itself across the bushy features of its face, the sneer neatly curled around the monster's nose, into a grotesque smile that would make any sensible man run in terror.

The father nodded profusely "Y-yes, m-my daughter, s-s-sir" He said, spitting out the word sir, as if this thing could ever be human, he thought it would also help his chances of survival, maybe. His eyes full of terror at the creature's expression.

The creature paused for a moment and dropped the man from its grasp "You may have the flower" It says offhandedly with a wave of its paw. "If" It paused, looking at the man on the ground.

The father was taken by surprise as he fell back onto the dirt. He scrambled to his feet and looked up at the beast, brushing himself off. He quickly grabbed the lily and hurried off to his cottage, not bothering to hear what the beast had to say.

The beast brushed this off and went back inside its large, extravagant castle. The farmer would be getting something on his doorstep later; the beast would make sure of it. It called on one of its squeamish servants to follow the man.

The father rushed home, the present in his hand. He came to the door and knocked at it. The two girls were sewing serenely in the den of the cottage. They jumped a bit and looked at each other, happy smiles and nods were exchanged as they both got up and went to the door, opening it and grinning wider at their father. Their father smiled at them and embraced them happily.

"Welcome home, papa" They said and let him inside. They pulled up his favorite chair and Jeanne went to get him some berries they picked earlier. He gladly sat and rested, setting the water lily on the arm of the chair. Jeanne came back and saw it, giving him his fruit and smiling more happily than she was before, taking the lily she leaned over and kissed her father on the cheek "Thank you so much, papa" She said lightly and went to put it in a vase.

In the morning, an ominous note appeared by the vase.

Good morning, my dear farmer. I hope that you find the lily to your liking? I hope you do, because you left in such a hurry you forgot my warning. On your daughter's sixteenth birthday, I demand she come to my castle and work for me for the rest of her life.