"Today, Daddy took that doll fishing.

I stayed home."

xx/xx/xx

Everything was silent in the operating room. There was never any noise in the operating room. It was important for everything to be quiet; good little girls were always quiet. Ellen didn't do much except squirm in her seat impatiently. It had felt like it'd been hours.

"Aya!" Came the startling noise as the door flew open and there stood Garry, smiling and happy from his little trip. "We're home~!"

Aya froze, her knife inches from a very delicate part of her patients face. Her eyes narrowed sharply, but otherwise she didn't move. "Garry, darling, I told you that I'm busy today. You know how I hate being interrupted during surgery."

Garry beamed, not minding the scolding. He never minded the scoldings. Even when Aya was really mad, he just smiled and agreed with her. "We caught a real haul today. The fish were really biting."

Aya looked closely at the face she was working on, before sighing and placing the scalpel on the tray, turning to him. "Welcome home, Dear."

Ellen twisted in the tall chair. "Hi Daddy!"

"Ellen, sit still." Aya scolded, as Garry smiled at her.

"Hi Ellen. Aya, can you come change Ib? You know how she feels about me doing it."

Aya turned back, waving off her husband and grabbing a towel to wipe off her hand, before plunging it into the exposed stomach of the patent. "Honey, I really need to finish this. You know my work is time sensitive." She pulled out something red and squishy, which Ellen knew immediately was the intestines. "Can it wait?"

Her father turned pale, then a tint of green, pulling himself back into the doorway. Why he always came down there when he knew what Aya was doing, Ellen never understood. Still, there he was, shaking at the mere sight of viscera. "N-No… I mean, no, it doesn't need to be… It's nothing that need to interrupt your project. I'll… go."

Ellen watched her father run off, terrified, before turning to her mother who chuckled her eyes shinning with endearment. She dropped the squishy flesh and wiped off her hands again, this time staining the white towel with a deep red. "Ellen, why don't you take a break and go help your father."

Ellen frowned. It wasn't really a question and it wasn't like she really wanted to stay down there watching her mothers boring surgery, but she didn't really want to do it. Still, she pulled herself to the end of the chair and dropped about a foot to the ground. "Yes Mommy." She said, hoping to be praised. Aya was too busy with her doll.

Sad, the little girl climbed up the stairs to the main room, and hurried to the dolls bedroom. It was the room in the center, with no windows. The bedrooms were newer then the rest of the house, although they had long since lost their new feel, Although Ellen didn't notice. She just stepped into the doorway and peered inside. "Daddy? Which dress?"

Her father looked up at her, his face lighting up in a way that made her feel loved. "Ellen! What a good girl. Come in." Ellen approached, looking at the doll on the bed as he rushed to the wardrobe and pulled out a dress, handing it too her. "Would you change her into this one? You know how she feels about me changing her clothes."

Ellen frowned. "It's just a doll."

Garry flushed. "Wha… What a terrible thing to say about your sister! Ib, she doesn't mean that. Why! Elle, calling Ib just a doll, is like calling you just a girl! You are not just a girl. You're a very special girl."

Ellen flushed, looking down at her shoes with a smile.

"And Ib," Garry told her, laying Ib down comfortably on the bed. "Ib is a very special doll."

Something about the way he smiled at the doll made Ellen sad. But she ignored it, holding up the dress against herself and spinning to the vanity mirror. It was lovely. The fabric was soft under her hand and the dress lined up against her perfectly. She liked the dress she was wearing but red was so pretty. She would look beautiful in red.

"Why can't I wear this dress, Daddy?"

"Because that's Ib's dress." Her father answered, like it was obvious.

Ellen frowned. "But I like it. I want a red dress. I want to be pretty like Ib."

Garry frowned, before getting up and kneeling next to her. "Ellen, are pretty already." He took the dress out of her hand and looked at her in the mirror. "See?"

Ellen frowned looking at her reflection. She looked sad, she thought. "No…"

Garry frowned, then rubbed her head. "Well, I think you're pretty. And you don't need a red dress to be pretty." He took the dress and placed it back on the bed. "You look very pretty in the dresses Aya made for you."

It wasn't that her father liked the clothes that Aya made for her, it was that Red was Ib's color and she wasn't allowed to wear it. Ellen wasn't allowed any of the nice dresses that her mother made for the doll, because she was Daddy's favorite. She knew that, but she made herself smile for her father like she believed him and he smiled back.

"I'll be right back." He told the doll before leaving the room.

Once he was gone, Ellen took the dress again and held it to herself. It was so beautiful. She wanted it so badly. She twirled, watching the red spin with her. If she could just wear a dress like that, she knew that her parents would love her. She would be beautiful…

"Are you almost done?" Garry called.

Ellen scowled, before throwing the dress down and yanking the clothing off the doll as hard as she could manage, somehow hoping to provide the corpse with some kind of pain. Ib got to wear the pretty dresses. All of the dolls got to wear the pretty dresses. All the dolls got her parents attention. All they talked about were the dolls! She wanted to be pretty! She wanted their attention! She was a good girl! She did everything they wanted and still all they ever talked about was the stupid dolls!

When she finally managed to get the dress all tied up, she took a step back. She hated the doll, but she was beautiful and her father would be pleased with her. She opened the door and Garry stood waiting eagerly, like a child.

"Finished? Oh good!" He rubbed her head as he passed, making Ellen beam with pride. "Your sister is so good to you, Ib." He picked her up, straighter out her dress a little before setting her at the vanity and started brushing her hair. Ellen picked up a brush and did her own.

"Do you think that Aya's been acting strange lately?" Garry asked after a minute, having moved on to trying to work out a braid. Ellen batted away his hands and did it herself.

"No, why?"

He looked startled and Ellen looked away. He hadn't been talking to her anymore. "Well… I think she seems strange." He smiled suddenly. "Ellen, how old are you?"

"I'm seven, Daddy. My birthday was last month."

"Almost the same age as Ib…" He whispered. Ellen waited patently for him to continue, but if he had a reason for asking that question he didn't elaborate. Instead he just handed Ellen a bow for Ib's hair and watched as she finished off the braid.

…

At lunch time, Ellen always made sure to eat her vegetables first so that her mother would praise her. Most days she asked for seconds, even though she didn't like them. It didn't always work. In fact, the more she did it, the less her mother seemed to praise her and Aya was exceptionally distracted. She was humming and swaying at the counter and when Ellen asked for seconds Aya just put her plate next to the sink. Garry was chatting away with the dead-eyed doll at the table, so Ellen got more herself.

"Aya seems so happy lately." Garry said, eating everything that Ib didn't like off her plate, which seemed to be everything since she became a doll he would say sometimes.

Aya laughed, finishing the last of her clean up. "I am. And would you like to know why?" Garry nodded eagerly, but Ellen just continued eating. She didn't really care what it was if it made her mother so distracted. "I'm pregnant!"

Ellen dropped her fork.

Garry took a moment to recover from the sudden outburst. "Another baby?" He said cautiously, not sharing in his wife's excitement. "Congratulations." He went back to eating.

She barely seemed to notice. "Yes. Another baby. A boy this time." She touched her stomach. "I know it."

Ellen gasped, feeling her lungs harden inside her making it hard to breath. Aya continued, she already knew what to name him. A boy would be much more help in the lab. Garry continued with his food. Neither noticed as Ellen clutched her chest and labored to breath. Finally she began to cough, so violently her whole body shook with it. She pushed herself out of the chair tumbling to the floor as her weak legs failed to support her. She began to crawl, trying to escape her parents, her life, everything.

She only made it about an foot or so before she was scooped up by her father. He put her against his shoulder and patted her back firmly as he carried her to her room. There her mother put a cool wet cloth over her forehead and brought her medicine. The attention was nice, but hard to appreciate while she felt like she was dying.

Eventually the fit passed and she closed her eyes, feeling exhausted. She hated being sick. It mad Aya mad with her. She couldn't play outside. She couldn't get out of bed. She hated being sick. More than she hated the dolls. More than she hated being ignored. She hated her own body.

"She's sick again?" She heard Garry whisper. She tried to tell them she was still awake, but she was too tired to move.

"Not 'again'," Aya said with a pitying sigh. "She's weak like my mother was. She would get sick like this a lot when I was young." She crossed her arms, looking away. "Ellen seems to have it even worse… She will probably end up bedridden for life before she even turns fifteen."

Garry nodded, looking out the door to the doll waiting for him in the kitchen. "Will you make her into a doll? Like Ib?"

"No." Aya dismissed immediately, before snapping her mouth closed. "I mean, I love her. I do. But I don't think I will. She won't be able to leave, so it's fine." She left the room, her husband following her out. "It's fine."

Once the door closed, Ellen rolled to her side, tears burning her eyes. Sick forever. Bedridden. And her mother, who didn't even love her enough to preserve her and save her from her suffering. It was because she wasn't beautiful.

Trapped and unloved.

…

Mother often told the story of how her father loved her so much that he tried to turn her into a doll. She always said that though she loved her father, she was afraid and had ran away. She talked about how Maria had saved her and took her away to live her own life and now she tried to make it up to him by continuing his work.

Ellen wasn't afraid. Aya had told her that story for so long that she looked forward to becoming a doll, to finally having her father and mother love her like they loved Ib and Maria and all the dolls in the hallway down stairs. She would finally be able to wear those pretty clothes. She would be able to go out with Daddy, fishing or camping instead of being stuck in her room.

Now, she had nothing. A lifetime of pain and hatred. Stuck in the shadow of that doll.

Ellen opened the door and looked at the mindless toy laying in it's own bed. It was weird that it got it's own bed. Weird that it got it's own room. Weird that it got all of the nice clothing. Weird that it got all of her parent's love and affection when it should have been her! She wanted it! Ib hadn't even wanted to be a doll, but she did! She wanted the attention. She wanted Daddy to brush her hair, and Mother to make her beautiful dresses, that she couldn't damage because she couldn't play anymore. She wanted their love. That was all she wanted.

She took Ib by the hair and threw the doll on the floor. It was so pretty with it's pretty little smile and it's pretty little face. "Stupid doll." She kicked it but the dolls expression didn't change and she got angrier. She kicked it into the wall but still nothing. "Ugly doll."

Furious, she reached into her pocket for the knife she'd gotten from Aya for her birthday. Sitting down on Ib's legs she plunged the blade into the dolls stomach. The blade piercing flesh with more difficultly then she'd expected, despite knowing how her mother had made her.

"Ugly Doll!" She screamed angrily, pulling and yanking until she ripped a wide clear hole in the dolls stomach. She stabbed the dolls heart, feeling bone break under her as she put all her weight into it.

"Ellen?" Garry called, opening the door having heard Ellen scream from the other room. His eyes widened with horror, parts of his fragile mind still able to break even after all that time, but Ellen didn't notice. She simply raised the knife again, aiming for one soft, pretty eye.

"ELLEN NO!" Garry shrieked, grabbing her arm, barely registering that it brought the knife closer to him as he pulled it from Ib. Ellen screamed angrily, kicking and punching as Garry pulled her off.

"Let Go! LET GO!" He shook her arm as she screamed and clawed at him with her free hand.

"Ellen! Drop it!" He shook her violently until the knife came free of her hand and dropped to the floor. Immediately he tossed her carelessly onto the bed. He grabbed the knife, which he would put somewhere out of reach until Aya scolded him, and picked up Ib running out the door. "Aya!" He screamed, "Aya! Help!"

Ellen screamed after him but it quickly turned into a cough and she collapsed trying to get off of the bed. She reached for the door, but she couldn't call for help. The coughing racked her body and she could do nothing but submit to her fit.

…

Aya opened the door to make sure that Ellen was sleeping soundly. The girl was supposed to be punished for her actions, but this soon after her fit it was too risky. She was worried for her health. She closed the door.

"She's asleep." Aya said, returning to Ib's room where Garry was observing the new stitches on Ib's stomach. He looked at Aya, his anger quite visible, before he lowered the shirt and stroked the dolls hair, tucking her into bed.

Aya sighed, walking around him to sit on the edge of the bed. This wouldn't do. She couldn't have Garry being mad. But still, he was easily tamed now. It would be fine. "I don't know what's gotten into her. Why would she do this? Doesn't she like my dolls?"

Garry scowled, pulling away as she tried to pet his hair. "What a terrible thing to do."

Aya frowned, "Honey. I fixed it. She's all better now."

Garry looked at her, but his eyes were distant. "Yes. Thank you, Aya."

She smiled. "I always fix it. Don't I?" She reached up and he didn't move when she ran her fingers through his hair. "But still… I don't understand. How could she call my dolls 'ugly'? I never make ugly dolls. I take such pains to show her beauty. I try to show her how important it it to preserve such beauty-! She never seems interested." Gary continued to observe Ib, not paying attention. "Garry!"

He jumped and she noticed that she'd grabbed his hair sharply. "Y-Yes?"

She scowled, drooping her hand and looking away. "It must be your genes. She doesn't take after my father at all."

"My fault?" He repeated, weakly.

She stood up quickly, her hands clenched. "Yes!" She glared at him. "Yes, it must be! You don't encourage her! My mother was always supportive, but you hate my work! Why don't you encourage her? Why don't you… read her those books I bought!?"

Garry looked around nervously, not meeting her eye. He squirmed like he wanted to hide, but he didn't move. He knew better then to run. "I don't hate you work. But I don't like those books. They're too violent for children."

"I picked them out for her!" She screeched and Garry cringed. "It's your fault! And now it's too late!"

Garry curled away, shivering. "Aya-… I-I'm sorry- I'll try harder-"

"It's too late! Shell never be like my father!"

"Aya-?!"

"Stop!" She held up both hands. "Go to bed. Now. I need to be alone." Garry glanced at Ib. He didn't want to leave her alone after what had happened, but he was to well trained to disobey her. He got up, whispered 'goodnight' to them both and left.

Aya threw herself onto the end of the bed and screamed in frustration. It was all worthless! She tried and tried, but it was like everything was against her. Ellen was worthless and she'd had another miscarriage.

She rolled onto her back, touching her stomach. She couldn't have any other children. She knew it. It was the fourth time. All boys, she knew. She could have no children but the one daughter who was a disappointment. Maybe it was her mother. He mother tormenting her from the grave for not handing over her father. She felt tears in her eyes. She was failing. Who would carry on her fathers work when she was gone?

"I'm so sorry…"

"What are you sorry for?"

Aya sat up startled, turning towards the open window and the man observing her. "Who are you!?" She cried before feeling silly. It had been many, many years, but she could never forget the pale fantom from her childhood. The pale man at the window hadn't seemed to have aged a day and he still wore a black suit. She couldn't help but be brought back to that day her whole life changed. She remembered her fathers laughter, her mothers anger, Maria's touch. "Oh, Ogre. I'm sorry." She wiped her eyes, hoping her tears weren't noticeable. "You startled me."

"Good evening, Mrs. Aya." He smiled, tipping his hat, his red eyes gleaming in the dark. "It has been a long time."

Aya smiled, charmed once again. "Mr. Ogre, it's so good to see you. Please come in."

"Oh no, I can't stay." Aya quickly stood up, moving to the window letting her disappointment show on her face. "I was just passing through. I thought I'd drop in to see how you'd faired after all these years." He held out a pale hand and took hers gently. His touch was colder then she'd though. "I expected to see you living happily. What is it that troubles you so?"

Aya held his hand tightly. He might have been strange, but he had been so much help to her as a child that she knew he was looking out for her. "It's… I can't…"

He smiled, but it only comforted her. "You don't have to say it if you don't want to, child." His eyes flick to her stomach. "I already know."

Aya touched her belly again. "You always did." She sighed. "I just… I wanted him back, I just…wanted to make him proud of me." Ogre nodded understanding. Aya hesitated, then tightened her hold on his hand. "Mr. Ogre… are you here… because of this? Can you help me?"

His smile remained charming and alluring. "I do think that I might have what you need. You do remember that I'm a salesman?" Aya held her breath. "It's a bit pricy. This will require more than just magic water. And I won't be able to promise a boy, or how they will turn out."

"But I could have another child?"

"I can promise another child."

Aya sighed, looking at him with gratitude. "Name the price. Anything."

…

Ellen didn't look up at her father when he woke up. She knew she had been bad, and she didn't want to see his disappointment. She was supposed to be a good girl at all times. She just sat in her chair eating breakfast while he called 'good morning' to them and disappeared into Ib's room.

Ellen watched as her mother happily hummed and placed another bowl of porridge at the table. She was still excited about the baby. Ellen didn't want to think about it. She ate her porridge. It was sweet.

"Ib?" There was a clatter from the room before Garry appeared in the doorway, pale and alone. "Aya-?" He asked, his voice cracking. "D-Did you move Ib?"

Aya brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, sitting down to her food. "No Dear, I haven't seen her since last night."

HIs gaze turned to Ellen and hardened. Ellen sank into her chair. "Ellen…" He walked to the table. "Did you hide Ib?"

She hesitated. She hated the doll but she was already in trouble for breaking her. The last thing she wanted was for him to hate her. When Garry slammed his hands against the table she jumped. "No, Daddy!"

He glared, clearly not believing her. Angrily, he stormed past them into Ellen's room. He looked under the bed and yanked all the clothing out of her closet. After he finished with the big hiding places he ripped out the drawers of her dresser and knocked the books off her bookshelf, becoming more frantic and furious as he went.

"Daddy, what are you doing!? I didn't take it!"

He ignored her, moving on to the rest of the house making a complete mess as he went. He turned everything over and went through every drawer and cabinet. He even searched his own room, despite having been in there since he last saw her. "Where did you hide her!" He started screaming.

Frightened, Ellen hid behind her mothers skirt. Aya, on the other hand, remained perfectly calm, watching her husband destroy their house, allowing him his rage. It would be easiest to deal with him after he'd spent most of his energy and was tired. When he headed to the basement, she followed.

It wasn't surprising when he knocked over one of the dolls, but it was going too far. Aya calmly cut off his screaming with a sharp slap that knocked his face to the side.

Garry blinked. For a moment the pain seemed to break through the eternal daze he couldn't shake. He remembered a sharp slap from a small hand dragging him back from madness once before. He remembered tears. This time it was his tears as he looked at Aya. "Ib…" He crumpled to the floor. "Ib… Aya! I… I can't-!"

Aya moved to him, pulling him close. Garry grabbed her, holding her like his lifeline and cried against her skirt. HIs whole body began to shake with the sobs. All the built up tension from the last eight years he had been to oblivious to notice began to wear away.

Aya shushed him, running her fingers through his soft hair. Her silly, gentle-hearted husband. She'd known he would hurt, but it had to be done. "My Darling… I can fix this. Remember what I said? I'll make everything better. I can fix this." Garry continued to cry, holding onto her tightly.

"Daddy?" Ellen called from the top of the stairs where she'd stayed behind. He looked so hurt, crying like a child. "It wasn't me, Daddy." But as she spoke, he glared at her, his eyes lacking even a ounce of the usual kindness she saw there. "It wasn't me."

…

Ellen was punished firmly, or as firmly as she could be in her condition. She received a few spankings and was given as many chores as she could handle, as well as an hour of corner time very time Garry threw a fit. Aya told her it was 'tough but fair' punishment for the mean thing she did to Daddy and it would stop as soon as she told them where she hid the doll. Ellen didn't know where the doll was and thought that it was not at all fair. But getting upset got her sent to bed early with only something yucky for dinner.

Aya orchestrated the punishment, not sure what her poor husband would do. He on the other hand spent most of his time either in bed or digging up the yard looking for the missing doll.

In her free time, knowing his efforts were frivolous, began working on a new doll. She had to take apart three other dolls, breaking her promise to them for eternal beauty. They would become part of a new beauty. She was willing to make that sacrifice when she began to see the change. There was something growing sharper in his eyes everyday that he couldn't find Ib. It was directed at Ellen most days, but sometimes it would shift to her. Somedays he seemed confused, like he didn't remember living there.

Then one day she found him at the edge of their clearing gazing out with that sharpness. She realized that for all her torturous and manipulations, it was only Ib that had been keeping him there. There was a part of him that had already realized that he wasn't afraid of what she would do to him if he ran. Without Ib he didn't have anything left to lose. She would have to work faster.

But she had trouble. It took weeks to carve the small skull into the right shape from memory, and the skin had to be carefully treated to look right. Everything came out perfect except for the eyes. It was the one thing she couldn't replicate and the thing that would most give away her deceit. Dyes and oils either didn't take or looked completely unnatural. She needed a pair of those rare red eyes.

She kept the doll a secret, hiding her in the downstairs office. The longer she took to fulfill her promise the more distant he grew and the more she began to remind him what the world would think he'd done to the girl if he left, of the punishments for disobeying her. It only pushed him farther way. She feared the sanity in his eyes.

Ellen grew cold as well. As her punishments continued, she stopped speaking to them. She stopped helping her mother in the dungeon when she could. She stopped asking to go fishing. Neither of her parent's noticed.

The baby grew quickly in her belly. She began to show in a months time. Kicking by three. She was concerned, but the movement soothed her. Her baby was alive and she had one more chance to make things right. She would have a son, he would learn her work, her father's work, and she would finish Garry's doll. Then everything would be right again.

The baby came early, much to early to be natural but Aya was the only one to notice. Garry and Ellen stayed in the basement, out of sight while the nurse was there. Neither of them liked it. Garry stared at Maria most of the time, he did that a lot, just stare at things for a long time. Thinking. Aya said it made her nervous. Ellen didn't care. She wandered around, finally getting sometime to play by herself.

When Aya called for them, Ellen followed her father upstairs. "Aya?" Garry asked when he opened the door. "Did you have your boy?" Ellen felt her lungs tighten.

But Aya shook her head. She looked tightened, sweaty, but she smiled like not having a boy was the best thing in the world. She just hummed her song to the sleeping bundle. Garry and Ellen risked glancing at each other.

They moved closer to the bed to look at the baby with thin brown hair. "Does… she look like your father?" He asked.

Aya stopped singing. "Hm? Does she?" She asked in a strange tone they didn't recognize. She touched the baby's face. "Lets see if she'll wake up. Baby… Look at Daddy…"

There was a tense pause before the baby opened bright red eyes.

Garry gasped while Ellen stumbled back. Babies eye color took a while to settle, so it shouldn't be possible, but the infant's were an undeniable red. "Ib…! She looks like Ib…!"

"Ib." Aya purred, "Ib, is your name Ib, Baby? Did you come back because Garry was lonely without you?" Her husband fell to his knees and she smiled wickedly. It wasn't the child she wanted, but it was more than she could have hoped. She would do better with that one. This new Ib would have everything that she could want. Aya would be more subtle with her training, like her mother had with her. Ib would come to her work on her own. Ib would love her so much that if Garry every thought to leave again Ib would refuse. He would never be able to leave. Never again. "Would you like to hold her?"

Garry stood up immediately. "Yes! Yes… Please. Can I?" Aya held out the bundle and he took her with careful hands, holding her, cradling her head. "She's beautiful… Ib…"

Aya relaxed into her pillow, watching the child chain him to her forever. "I told you. I'd fix it. I always make things better." Garry's eyes shown with love as he rocked the girl back and forth, promising her the world, to teach her all the big words, to keep her from scary places, to never let anything bad happen to her.

Neither of them noticed as Ellen began to wheeze, then cough. Neither of them noticed as she ran from the room and collapsed in the living room, tears streaming down her face as she mourned and hated and accepted the new baby that she would always despise and the true loss of her parent's love.

Aya simply closed her eyes and went back to humming her song, while Garry rocked little Ib, talking about their first fishing trip.

…

Ellen turned the page of her book reading the gruesome description of corpse-dressing with disinterest. A light breeze came through the window, thought she was not supposed to have it open. It was bad for her health. She didn't care. She could die now for all she cared, bored of her books and completely alone. She hated her body, hated her parents, hated her life.

The baby was only a few weeks old and Ellen had already stood over her crib and wondered, if she was quick enough, if she could smother or choke or slit it's throat before her mother turned back around. She was sure it would get her killed but she would be happy just to take the little demon out with her. Her father hardly left the baby's side. Her mother was already making her beautiful red dresses that she could crawl around in. Neither of them looked at her anymore except to tell her when she was doing something wrong.

She couldn't stand it anymore. She put the book on her lap and smelled the air. Outside the grass was green and the sky was endless and blue. She'd never been outside their little clearing, but she knew that there was a place for her somewhere out there. Somewhere where she could be free to play. Where no one would tell her what to do. She imagined a castle, where her friends could come and visit her. There would be toys and pets and music and laughter. She imagined being loved.

"Hello, Miss."

Ellen jumped, startled by the voice. There in her window was a man, a strange one, in a suit smiling at her. She grabbed the blankets and pulled them up to her chin nervously. She considered calling her parent's, but she doubted they'd even come anymore.

"My apologies. I didn't mean to startle you." He reached up and removed his hat, bowing over the sill. He was bald. She had seen few men in her life besides her father and the ill assortment that had come for her mothers help, but none had looked as strange as him. "I'm a salesman. I'm on my way to check on a recent purchase and I happened to see your window."

Ellen brushed her purple hair back behind her ears. "Hello." She greeted cautiously. It was so strange to have someone to talk too who wasn't begging her to let them out of one of the cells downstairs. "My name is Ellen."

"What a beautiful name, for a beautiful girl. My name is Ogre." He replaced his hat. "Why are you in bed on suck a lovely day, Miss. Ellen?"

She looked down. "I'm sick. I have to stay inside. I'm reading a book."

He leaned forward. "Is it a good book?"

"No."

"A pity." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a book. The cover was made of leather with lovely golden symbols spending every inch. But it was thin. Thinner then she would have expected from such a beautiful book. "This, I'm told, is a very good read. And this book can grant the reader any wish."

Ellen gasped, her eyes growing wide. Between her mother and her father, Ellen was a true believer of the supernatural. And she needed a wish. Even just one would do fine. She touched her chest, almost feeling the sickness inside her.

"You seem unhappy, Miss. Ellen, so I'd like to give this to you. But I am a salesman." His smile never faded. "What do you have to trade?"

The little girl smiled wickedly.