Once there lived an arrogant, spoiled prince. He was an only child, and was doted on rather too much by his father the king, receiving whatever he wanted. As he grew older, this upbringing made itself evident in his behavior. He treated those around him as if they were worthless, and never said a kind word to anyone. His father the king began to despair of his son's behavior, and became worried about leaving the kingdom in the hands of this selfish young man.

One day, the prince was out in the castle's courtyard, sitting next to the well and idly fiddling with a golden egg-shaped ball he had been given as a gift. He rather favored the trinket, often playing with it during the many meetings and court appointments that bored him so. He tossed it into the air, but missed catching it on the way down, and it fell into the well, clattering loudly as it went.

Dismayed, the prince stared down into the well, and cried out, "My ball! Oh, no, if only I could get it back again, I would give all of my fine clothes and jewels!"

A small duck that he hadn't noticed before flapped up onto the well beside him, and spoke. "Prince, I don't need clothes or jewels, but I can get your ball back for you. In exchange, I ask that you would take me back to the castle with you to live, and let me eat off your plate and sleep next to you on your pillow, and be my friend."

The prince stared at the little duck. She was clearly capable of retrieving his ball, but he certainly didn't want her anywhere near him, let alone his bed. But then again, she was merely a duck. Who said that he would have to honor their agreement after he had his ball back? He could simply use her to get what he wanted, then leave her in the courtyard. He simpered, "Oh, little duck, of course I will give you whatever you want, if you would only get my ball back for me."

The duck nodded, and said, "Don't forget your promise once I've gotten it back." The prince felt a little twinge of guilt as the duck hopped down into the well.

She came back up out of the water quickly, and flapped out of the well, holding the golden ball in her beak. She deposited it on the wall, and stopped to catch her breath.

The prince snatched the ball up, turned around, and ran for the castle. Behind him, he heard the duck calling out to him in protest, but he paid her no mind. He had gotten back what he wanted, and had no further use for a dirty little duck. In fact, he forgot all about her until later that evening, when he was sitting down to dinner with his father, and heard a strange sound at the window. He looked outside, and there she was, beating her wings against one of the many glass windows lining the hall.

His father looked up too, and saw her. "What in the world is that duck doing outside our window?"

The little duck, having drawn their attention, perched on the windowsill and spoke through the glass. "Prince, please let me in. You promised that you would bring me back to your castle with you, and let me eat from your plate and sleep in your bed and be your friend."

The king looked at the prince. "Is this true?"

The prince fidgeted uncomfortably, and looked away.

The old king grinned. "Hmm. It appears my brat of a son has made a promise to you that he had no intention of keeping. But, as the king, I say that he shall be made to keep it. It will make things quite interesting."

In dismay, the prince snapped his head up to protest, but stopped when he saw the wicked gleam of delight in the old king's eyes. Something within him told him that the gleam was familiar. That he had seen it somewhere before, and it was imperative that he remember where.

Before he could grasp onto that string of thought in his brain, the king gestured for a servant to open the window, and the little yellow duck flapped awkwardly through it and into the hall. She landed on the floor in a gangly pile, and waddled over to the prince's chair. He stared down at her in horror as she hopped up onto the table next to him and asked brightly, "What are we having for dinner?"

The prince darted a glance at his father, and saw there would be no help coming from him. He glared at the duck and grumbled, "Help yourself. I'm done."

"Really? Thanks!" The duck happily dipped her beak down and began eating. She seemed to enjoy the rich meal immensely, making little happy noises as she ate. The prince watched her with a mixture of disgust and amusement. She certainly was an entertaining little thing, at the very least.

When she had finished, she looked up at him expectantly. "What should we do now, Prince?"

"What do you mean, what should we do? You already ate my dinner, what else do you want from me?" He stood up from the table and began walking out of the hall.

The little duck flapped after him with an indignant quack. "You can't get mad about that, you told me I could eat it! And besides, that was part of our agreement that you would share your meals with me!"

The prince walked a little faster, hoping he could outpace her.

"Hey, wait for me!" the little duck panted. "Where are you going, anyway?"

He glared down at her. "I'm going to bed," he snapped, hoping to get away from her by feigning exhaustion.

"Oh, that's perfect! Then I can sleep on your pillow next to you!"

The prince stifled a groan. He'd forgotten that part of the promise. He stopped for a moment, looking down at the eager little duck next to him. Her eyes shone up at him hopefully, and he felt his grumpy facade waver. Sighing, he relented, "All right, you win. Let's go to bed." Spontaneously, he reached down and scooped her up. Surprisingly, the weight of the little duck in his arms felt reassuring, and somehow familiar. He ignored the feeling, though, and walked to his suite of rooms in the castle.

After he had prepared himself for bed, he turned to the little duck to help her up. Instead, he saw that she had already made herself at home, and was fast asleep on his pillow. Smiling despite himself, the prince gingerly climbed into bed, laid his head on the pillow next to her, and drifted off to sleep.

But when he awoke in the morning, the duck next to him had changed into a girl.

Fakir removed himself from the story with some difficulty. The ending of it begged to be written: why was the duck now a girl, how would the prince react to this discovery, why had she been a duck in the first place, and so on with endless questions. However, this point was exactly where he wanted to end it, for this was where his duck changed back into a human. Having successfully exited the story, he opened his eyes.

He sucked in his breath when he saw Ahiru in front of him, still a duck. He turned back to his desk and buried his face in his hands, trying not to show her his discouragement. Where had he gone wrong this time? Had his control over the story not been good enough still? He'd noticed that he had started to lose control over the characters partway through the story. They had acted entirely too much like their actual selves, and not enough like a stuck-up prince and a cursed princess. Could it be that he simply didn't have the talent, the willpower to turn Ahiru back into a girl? Would he be stuck, loving a duck forever, with no chance of having his love returned?

With a concerned quack, Ahiru flapped awkwardly up into his lap. Uncovering his eyes, he smiled sadly down at her. "Yes, I'm sorry. I'm just tired, don't worry about me."

Using her wing, Ahiru quacked and pointed over at his bed.

He scooped her up with a sigh. "All right, you win. Let's go to bed." Smiling, he realized that it was exactly what he had said as the prince in the story. He glanced down at Ahiru. "Hey, do you want to sleep on my pillow for real this time?"

Happily, she nodded and fluttered over to his bed, settling herself down comfortably on his pillow. Chuckling, Fakir joined her, not even bothering to change his clothes, as he suddenly found he really was quite exhausted.

As he drifted off to sleep, he looked at Ahiru, and hoped that maybe she would actually be a girl again when he woke up.