Once upon a time, there lived a strange little man named Rumpelstiltskin. He was a traveler by birth, having already been gifted with the ability to walk on his own feet after two weeks of living. In his old town, Rumpelstiltskin would con his infant friends with pieces of paper with crude writing; getting them to sign and earn something with odd exchanges. As he grew older, he went from stealing candy from babies to gaining money from other children his age. What his colleagues got in return were usually petty material goods, maybe a pretty dress or a sword. Many years had gone by, and the little man was only getting better with his craft. Not only was he making deals with older folks with desperate needs, but wealthy nobles and even members of royalty.

Infamous personalities such as King Midas had signed what Rumpelstiltskin now uses to make his deals; the magical contracts. These were pieces of paper that granted casuals the ability to practice magic without being wizards, fairies, witches or warlocks. Being the devious man he was, Rumpel had been able to use these contracts to give others great powers with a grand cost. This led to Midas to accidentally turn his own daughter into gold, with no means of reversing the spell. Not without a sneaky exit clause, which was to guess his name. Despite these mishaps, his reputation was only made greater with other famous figures behind his back. He would continue making deals with other monarchs, peasants, and creatures wanting something for themselves.

Despite his successful ventures, his most shameful moment would not come from a foreign land far from the European continents. Deep in Persia, the lonely King Jalal was looking for a queen to keep him company during his final years. He was someone who had treated his position as more than a simple monarchy. He wanted to live life in providing his people with nice living conditions, and play some mini-golf. Spreading the word, various women in Persia had arrived at the palace. All of them claimed to have had a special skill or quirk. One juggled fireballs, another tap danced, and one even claimed to be a fortune teller. While impressed, none had that spark Jalal was looking for. He truly wanted to love someone for their inner beauty along with the special skills. After several visits, a young woman named Zareen had arrived with her father, a local miller named Roshan.

Zareen was a timid young woman, often taking silent strolls and buying goods for her father. She hardly spoke to the townsfolk, and only talked to Roshan when he was making flour. Sometimes Zareen would help with producing the flour, but usually chose to read a small selection of books. She was fascinated by her country's history in particular, and would take in the atmosphere of the streets where various emperors once walked. While romanticizing her home, she had been challeneged many times to properly communicate with her surroundings- often resulting in embarrassing outcomes. One particular incident had her try to talk to another young woman who received her father's flour. The failed small talk trying to discuss the weather led to muttered speech patterns and an awkward stare.

This sudden event of being forced to communicate with a king was the biggest challenge for her timidity. Awestruck, Jalal and Zareen had forgotten how to communicate, both flustered at their gazing eyes. In an attempt to break the tension, Roshan introduced his daughter as a flour maker. Believing the kind was unimpressed (he was still taking in the radiance of Zareen), he quickly came up with an extreme lie that Zareen could spin straw into gold. This caught both the king and the daughter off-guard, and the second-in-command quickly took Zareen into a nearby house where piles of straw and a spinning wheel were set up. Because of the abrupt task at hand without trying to speak for herself, she broke into tears.

Having an admiration for Persian architecture and lifestyles, Rumpelstiltskin was taking a stroll through the palace at his own will. He eventually found Zareen crying her eyes out, and hatched an idea to use her as a part of his magical transactions.

"Who are you?!" cried Zareen

"Only the one who can solve your problems. Watch ya got?"

"I've been trying to spin this straw into gold. It's impossible!"

"Really? Oh come on! That's child's play! I've done it all the time back in my youth when I was much smaller than I am now."

"..."

"I know, I never really was the tallest person alive. Anyway, I can help you. So long as you sign this."

Rumpelstiltskin took one of his contracts from his travel bag, which stated that he'll spin the straw into gold. But there was a catch; Zareen would have to give him her only necklace. It was made of the finest Persian silver which contained a breathtaking moonstone in the center. Filled with joy, Rumpel quickly snatched them as soon as Zareen signed the contract. Once he got his payment, he went to work spinning all of the straw into gold, and as soon as the deeds were complete, he vanished. During the procedure, Zareen had fallen asleep and woke up the next morning to find the room full of golden straw. King Jalal was amazed upon this sight, and opted to spin even more straw into gold inside a different room.

Once again, Zareen broke down in tears, which Rumpel had heard from a distance. On his feet, he returned to the palace to tell her that he'll assist again, in exchange for her prized ring. A ring that was made from the finest Persian gold. It was a symbol of her love for her father, who had spent all of his hard working money from flour making to buy her that exact ring. Wanting to keep her promise with the small man, she gave him the ring and woke up the next morning to find even more gold than before. However, she was tasked one last time to spin larger piles of straw into gold. If Zareen is successful, she would become the new queen of Persia. Having lost her prized valuables while still being forced to spin straw into gold, she felt even more hopeless than ever. Was she doomed to remain silent and never speak for herself?

Rumpelstiltskin knew this would be a great opportunity to gain even more riches, being aware of Zareen's quiet and naïve nature. But once he arrived, she had no valuable items on her. With more optimism, he agreed that he will spin the straw again, on one condition- if she were to be married and have a child, it would belong to Rumpelstiltskin. Needless to say, Zareen was appalled, and almost declined such a horrendous deal. Hesitating, she agreed with the man and soon enough, the entire room was filled with more gold. Ecstatic, Zareen waited for King Jalal to ask her hand in marriage, and she got what she desired. After their marriage, she was able to get to know Jalal beyond his royal exterior, and the two truly became star-crossed lovers. With her newfound role, she was able to gain newfound confidence in her communication- even going as far as to be a spokeswoman for her father's business, which now saw record sales of flour.

Zareen couldn't be any happier, with a wonderful palace life, successful family business, beautiful husband, and an even more ravenous baby infant's name was Yasmin. Unfortunately for her, Rumpelstiltskin appeared out of thin air, demanding the child to be his. Having just remembered the contract, she decided to fight back and decline such an offer; the very act she walked out on in order to marry King Jalal. She had finally found her voice, and with her child on the line, she had no choice but to unleash her wrath. Being the sneaky devil he was, Rumpel promised that she could keep her first born, so long as she could guess his name. At this point, he never revealed his identity, with his previous deal makers only breaking the exit clause or suffering the consequences of their wishes. Bent on keeping her beloved offspring, Zareen ordered a messenger to go around all of Persia to collect as many names as he could.

The messenger returned to the palace with a long list of names, including Cyrus, Bahadur, Firuz, and Moses. None of these were correct, and after three days, it appeared that Zareen would have no choice but to give up her child. While on a stroll of shame, the messenger went through an empty area with abandoned buildings. To his surprise, he found Rumpel inside one of these houses with a funny looking goose.

"I'll tell ya Fifi, nobody is going to guess my name at this point. I can say it to you though my little goose. Rumpelstiltskin is the name, and conning filthy casuals is my game!... No, that doesn't sound good."

Rumpel was still talking to himself about how he could use his name for a catchy slogan; he failed to realize that the messenger was hearing him not too far away. After listening to the man's tangents, he ran back to the palace to tell Zareen his real name. She was thrilled to hear this news, and rewarded the messenger a kiss and a large amount of gold. All she had to do now was say Rumpel's name right in front of his face. After a few hours, he returned to give her three more attempts to guess his name. Being aware of his name, she purposefully guessed the name wrong two times, asking the names Heinz and Walter. Finally, on her final guess, she said Rumpelstiltskin.

Shocked, Rumpel yelled and screamed, banging his head on the stone walls and attempting to split himself in two. This failed horribly, and the little man was still alive. He furiously ran out of the palace, and flew as far away from Persia on his goose Fifi. Although it was a terrifying sight, Zareen was glad to know that she'll never see that creep ever again. She continued to live life with Jalal and her daughter, who would grow to be a bright, intelligent and ambitious princess of Persia. In despair, Rumpel immigrated to the outskirts of the kingdom of Far Far Away, where he resided in the Crone's Nest in hopes of gaining his old reputation back. His next scheme was to use his old "customers'' and make faux recommendations to lure in desperate folks. This ended up getting the attention of the king and queen, who were wishing to break their daughter's curse.

Both of them arrived to speak with the man about their dilemma, and opted to sign one of his magical contracts. Before they could, a nobleman alerts them that their daughter Fiona was saved. Once again, Stiltskin fell into shame and self-hatred, being angry at whoever saved this princess. This was his one chance to try and get back to the top as a great conman, and it was taken away from him. It was Persia all over again, but this time, it wasn't a queen who screwed him over, it was an ogre. An ogre by the name of Shrek. Thanks to him, the entire kingdom of Far Far Away was at peace, with other shady criminals now being out of the question. Rumpel was now living in poverty with his goose Fifi, and was living in a cramped egg-shaped carriage.

It seemed to mark the end of Stiltskin's success story, but his prayers for a miracle were answered on a day when Shrek had a meltdown at a local family eatery. He was dissatisfied with his life, wanting to go back to "the good old days". Taking this opportunity to make him sign a magic contract, Rumpel tricked the ogre into giving him the day he was born. That way, Fiona would remain locked away in the tower, and the king and queen would give him the entire kingdom of Far Far Away. Once Shrek went to an alternate universe where he wasn't born, Rumpel was able to turn the kingdom into a wasteland, and made the palace a Persian-inspired castle; a style of architecture he borrowed from King Jalal's own home.

Unfortunately for him, this reign didn't last very long, as after 24 hours, his world was destroyed by Shrek and Fiona. They shared true love's kiss, thus breaking the contract and returning the man to his normal reality. Luckily for Shrek, he returned a more thankful individual, and ended up turning in Rumpelstiltskin for years of conning everyone he came across. Now Stiltskin is constantly being trapped in cages and always failing to escape. His only time of freedom was when Donkey accidentally killed one of his witch friends, Griselda. The two were apparently engaged for marriage, and he wanted to murder both Donkey and his tour guests.

Like most of his recent schemes, this fell hard, and he was once again locked away; this time in a more permanent prison. A life sentence, Rumpel would never see the light of day again, being forced to rot in jail. He would be reminded of his moments in Persia when Zareen and her now eight-year old daughter Yasmin visited Far Far Away for flour shipments. Only the voice of the queen was heard, and he tried to get her attention. She also heard his voice from afar, but thought nothing of it. This was his last hope of trying to gain attention from people of his past.

The End