Chapter 1

Holly was an average young girl. She had short blond, slightly curled hair, with a natural white stripe in the front. She had pale skin and sapphire blue eyes. She was often seen with her closest friend, April. April had long, straight brunette hair. Her skin was pale, slightly more so than Holly's. And her eyes were like a mixture of brown and green. April and Holly were both friends with Rose and her little sister, which they all called "Sparrow". And just like them, they were homeless. They had all heard that something was going on in town.

Holly walked up to a crowd of people. They were all standing infront of a trader and his cart of items he wished to sell.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls!", the trader announced, "Come and see these magical treasures that I have acquired!"

Holly just rolled her eyes. It was just another trader pulling a scam to take people's money.

"Hey Holly! What's up?" she heard a familar voice behind her.

Holly turned. And sure enough, it was April. April smiled sweetly at her friend. Holly just looked back in her casual "What do you want?" kind of stare.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Well, I heard all the commotion so I thought I'd check it out!"

"It's just a stupid trader trying to pull a stupid scam..."

Holly turned back around and saw Rose and sparrow nearby in the crowd. She made her way over, with April following close behind.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Holly asked.

"Oh, hey! Are you guys here watching this stupid thing too?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. It's all total rubbish. In'it?" Holly said, laughing a bit.

"Yeah..."

"And this my friends, is a magic music box. Turn the handle three times and you will be granted one, single wish! It can be yours, for only five gold coins!"

April and Sparrow both looked at the box in with an amused expression. Holly and Rose both rolled their eyes.

"There's no such thing as magic!" Rose declared.

Suddenly, a tall, elderly woman next to the smal group of girls turned to face them. She wore a hood over her head. She had red hair, and her eyes were white, showing that she was blind.

"We live in grim times indeed...if the young children are too world-weary to believe in magic. Most children your age believe eagerly." the mysterious woman said.

They all stared at the woman for a few seconds.

Rose then said, "Look, I can see your eyes are bad, but I'm telling you! That music box is rubbish!"

"That's what the seller thinks. He has no idea what he's stumbled upon. But you have an inkling, don't you? Some part of you wants to believe it's magic." She looked down at Sparrow. Then, she began to walk away. Rose looked down at her little sister.

"You...you really think it could be?"

The elderly woman looked back.

"For five gold coins you could have your answer..."

"For five gold coins we could eat for a week..." Rose responded.

The woman began to walk away.

"Listan to me Rose, at the end of that week, you and your little Sparrow would be no closer to your dream- no closer to the inside of that beautiful castle..." And with that, the woman was gone.

Rose looked down at her younger sister.

"What if it is true? I bet we could get five coins around town. What do we have to lose?"

Sparrow smiled.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Sparrow said enthusiastically.

She ran off, anxious to earn the music box.

"Hey, wait up little Sparrow!"

Rose turned back to the other young girls.

"I'll see you two later then...bye!" She ran off after her sister.

The two other girls waved goodbye to their friend and looked at eachother.

"Do you really think it's real?" April asked slightly excited.

Holly just shrugged.

"Who knows? They'll find out soon enough. C'mon. Let's go home."

April nodded and followed her friend home.