Chapter One

Summertime came and it was a nice, quiet, clear sky morning in the First Kingdom. Men worked, women were harvesting, and all children were playing. In the Castle, every one was sleeping, as maids were tidying everything up for the day. Well except one person. Rapunzel. Eight-year old Rapunzel, tip-toed downstairs in the kitchen. The chefs were making the Royal's breakfast. She crawled on the ground towards a counter with a plate of some biscuits. A sneaky smile came upon her face as she snuck one and hid it in her cloak. She crawled slowly back out, into the dining hall. Maids were setting up. She hid behind a statue at first and made her way out without anyone noticing her. Her parents didn't like that she was leaving in the morning, not telling them where she's going and returning back at noon.

As she exited the castle, she went to a huge flowerpot of hydrangeas. She snuck her hand in the bush of flowers and pulled out her big, brown, worn out boots. She tied the lasses and began and ran to the gates. She opened them as quietly as she could. She stopped and chuckled when seeing a sleeping guard near by. She passed through the gates and was finally in the village. She smiled at her success, once again.

Rapunzel began to walk towards a plain field, straight from her home. And there, was a hill. Over that hill, was when her adventures felt real. No one went past that hill for years. Everyone said it was dangerous and no one should trespass. But she always went over the hill anyway. But this was different.

She began to walk until, she spotted the kids playing. She wanted to join the group too. The children loved letting new kids join their games. I was fun. They played Tag seven times, in different ways. Soon one kid decided to play Hide n' Seek. Rapunzel learned how and a girl covered her eyes and began to count.

"1...2...3..."

Rapunzel looked around and ran towards an alley of wooden homes. Down there, were a stack of barrels.. As sneaky as she was, she knew it was a great hiding place. She sat in a spot surrounded by barrels and waited to be caught.

"13...14...15..." She heard the girl continuing to count.

She looked around her surroundings. When she suddenly saw someone near by. A boy. The boy was hiding in the stack too. He sat there, with is knees tucked to his chest and his head buried against them. He was small, he looked weak and poor; his cloths were worn out and his brown hair was a mess. She was curious. She quietly and slowly crawled to the boy. She kneel beside him.

"Hello." she said at last. The boy's head jerked up and blinked for a second. He gasped and scooted backwards. He was frighten. "It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you."

Then, the boy sat up straight and his brown eyes stared at her green ones.

"What's your name" she asked.

He still sat there without saying a word and he then murmured.

"-gene." he looked at Rapunzel. "My name is Eugene."

"Eugene...that's a cute name."

He gave a little smile and looked more calm. "What's-what's your name?"

"My name's Rapunzel."

"The Princess?" Rapunzel nodded. His eyes lit up with amazement.

"So Eugene, how old are you."

"Ten."

"I'm eight, so I guess we're two years apart."

He smile and it fell silent again. Rapunzel didn't hear the girl counting anymore.

"I'd never seen you before. Do you live in the village?" she asked, breaking the silence.

Eugene shook his head. "No"

She was confused. "Oh...Do you live in one of the other two kingdoms?"

"No." he then pointed to the forest near the castle. "I live deep in there, in a small house. You'll never find it. It's impossible."

"Nothing is impossible for me, Princess Rapunzel, The greatest female explorer that ever lived."

He tilted his head."Explorer?"

"Yep. Every morning, I wake and I go on adventures. I pretend I fight bad guys and become a hero."

"It sounds amazing." he looks away. Her company made him feel a little better and felt less alone. She was a really nice girl."Could you tell me a story about one of your adventures?"

"Are you kidding." the boy looks back, seeing her smiling. "I would be so happy to tell you one." And she began to tell one of her stories. He listened and didn't care if it was too long or to detailed. He loved them. When she done, he wanted hear more and so she did. She was enjoying her day. She liked this boy. She had finally found a friend.

She was going to tell more but then the girl peeked in the barrels and giggled. "I found you two." she squealed and ran away.

Rapunzel sighed knowing that it was time for her to go. Little did she know, that Eugene wasn't playing at all. He was hiding. But from what?

"Well I guess this is goodbye." he said.

"No it isn't." she lean in and whispered, "I'll be hiding here again at the next round."

He chuckled and then watched Rapunzel reaching into her cloak, pulling out the biscuit.

"Here take it. I don't want it."

Eugene shook his head and pushed the bread back towards her. "No thank you. Im not that hungry."

She smiled. "No...take it. I really want you to have it." she place it in his hand. He slowly pulled it away feeling the softness of the bread. "Thank you."

She got up "You're welcome. Will I see you again in a couple of minutes?"

"Of course. I'm not leaving any time soon. I don't have to go home till evening."

"Really?...lucky." she walks out of the stack and looks behind. "See you soon." they waved to each other and Eugene stared at the kind princess running back to the group of kids.

Just a minute later. The next child was counting. He was counting a lot faster then the last. Rapunzel began to run up the alley again towards the barrels, finding Eugene not hiding in there. He was gone. Rapunzel looked for the boy, worried. Where had he gone? She decided to just hide and see if he comes back. But he never did.

The clock chimes twelve times. It was noon and Rapunzel returned home. She hid her boots and went inside. As always her parents were disappointed with Rapunzel returning home late again. She apologized and walked upstairs to her chamber.

She sat on her bed and thought of the boy. She couldn't think where he could of had gone. She met her first friend and now she might not see him again.

She like that boy and how he listened to her stories and smiled at her generosity. She wanted to remember that boy. How nice he was. It was the only way.

She got up and went to her table and pulled out a paper, a feather pen, and a ink bottle. She dipped her pen in the ink and wrote something. She looked at what she had written.

'Eugene'

Eugene...does that name sound familiar?

I apologize, but the story really doesn't start till next chapter. This was a flashback/dream. I'll have next chapter up as soon as I can.

Thank you so much. And don't forget to review. They're treasures to me. :)

*Smiles* ~ DreamGirll