"Hi," she said nervously. She didn't have human contact in years and was scared of the man. He whipped around paranoid he was going crazy and hearing voices or if he was trespassing


"Who's there?" he asked with a trembling voice.


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She smiled at his fear and thought what an interesting turn of events this is. The poor man's afraid of the ugly beast.


"You are allowed to stay here for one night, and eat whatever you want, under one condition. You must NOT touch a single rose. Don't even think of taking one home." With that, she quickly exited the room.


Her words must have sparked a curiosity in the man's head or it could be that her house was covered with beautiful, luscious roses that the man desperately wanted a rose. As he was going home, he passed by her rose garden and desired to take one home with him. After all she has so many. She won't miss just one will she? He took the smallest rose he could find. At that, all the roses died and he could hear a horrifying scream. He tried to escape but couldn't find the exit. He turned around and was face to face with Lily.


"I'm so sorry. Your roses are so beautiful. I had to take one. Please I'm so sorry."


"I'm sorry too. The roses were the only way for an exit. Without the roses there is no way in and no way out. Each rose is a part of me and when one dies, they all fall apart. You are stuck here until the roses start to bloom once more." She looked at him and saw the despair in his eyes and felt tears well up in hers. She pitied him and wondered if he was hurting because he didn't want to stay with such an ugly person.


"Um," Lily said timidly, "if you want, you can stay in a room while you're here. I don't expect you to stay outside with the roses until they grow."


He couldn't look at her but nodded. She led him into her house and went up one flight of the many. She led him into an amazing room.


"You can stay here until the doors open again. I'm sorry for this inconvenience. If you're hungry, dinner will be at 7:00 sharp." She quietly exited and left him alone with his thoughts. He was curious as to why she was being so kind to him and why she looked so sad. He was desperate to find out so he went to go look for the dining area. He got lost and was wandering around the castle aimlessly until at exactly 7:00 did he find the room. The table was all set so he sat down and waited for his host.


"What are you waiting for? Your dinner's getting cold." He heard her voice directly in front of him but wasn't able to see her. The other end of the table was dark but he knew she was there. He could feel her presence. He began to eat not knowing that he was so hungry. After awhile, when he was becoming slightly full he decided to make conversation with his host.


"Wow, this is amazing. Where did you learn to cook like that?"


"Mostly my aunt. She was an amazing chef. She taught me to live life for yourself but cook for others. I never understood what that meant. I still don't."


"Hm.. So, what should I call you? I mean, I'm going to be here for awhile aren't I?"


"You can call me Lily. It's odd how my name is Lily when I love roses. It's amazing how life can change someone. I always thought I'd be by myself forever."


"Oh, well my name's Paul."


"Okay Paul. I'm going to turn in. Paul? Would you ever consider marrying someone like me?" she asked. At that moment, she was thankful to be in the shadows because he couldn't see her fear and anticipation. Paul on the other hand, didn't know how to respond.


She saw that he was confused and scared and said, "Don't be afraid. Tell me the truth." He finally responded with a simple no and left the table. Every night, this continued.