Free Ladle Rat Rotten Hut by Cameron Jace Page B

the ball, looking at the mug. It was a glass mug,
and it definitely caught my attention. “A glass mug,” I recited, rubbing my
basketball.
    “So you’re thinking what I am thinking? Cinderella?”
    “Not everything that is glass is Cinderella,” I said. “Her
item should be a glass slipper not cup. But it still looks suggestive to me.”
    “I always knew that this little peasant girl had something
to do with my daughter.”
    “Even though it does not make sense that Cinderella was one
of her friends in the cottage, I heard that you actually manageded to kill her
in the Dreamworld.”
    “I did,” The Queen mused proudly. “But someone is bringing
her back.”
    “How is that possible? I understand that once an immortal
is killed in the Dreamworld, they can’t be resurrected.”
    “It’s true, but there is a nagging human girl who found out
a way to rebirth the dead.”
    “What?”
    “I don’t know, Pete,” She sighed impatiently. “Somehow,
this nagging girl entered Cinderella’s mother Dreamworld and replayed the birth
scene again so that Cinderella is reborn from dreams.”
    “Cinderella has a mother?” Ok. That was a shallow question.
“So tell me how this works?”
    “Every hundred years when we surface to the real world, we
could trick each other into playing the old tales again. If done right, you can
bring the tale upside down, which means if Cinderella was dead, and you entered
a certain dream and manipulated her mother into rebirthing her, she becomes
alive.”
    “Oh,” I scratched my temple. “You mean the Dreamworld is
like a movie scene that you can replay every one hundred years?”
    “Close,” She nodded. “And if you play the cards right, that
movie becomes the truth for the hundred years after.”
    “Pretty damn confusing, I must say.”
    “Do you understand why I am looking for the Lost Seven now?
If I find them before Snow White does, I can rewrite the new truth in the
Dreamworld my way. So, do you still think this is Cinderella’s mug?”
    “Second thoughts, it’s doesn’t have to be?” I dribbled and
walked closer to her. “I think it is not about the mug. It’s about what was in the mug.”
    The Queen’s face shone brighter. “That’s the first thing
you say that makes sense. The mug might have been filled with a potion, a
drink, or any other item that could lead me to its owner. But how can I know?”
    “Can’t help you with that,” I said, turned around, and
swooshed again. Damn, that was brilliant. “Which brings us to the magic beans,”
I said impatiently. I wanted her out of my castle before midnight. “I don’t
remember the dwarves in the book talking about magic beans.”
    “Remember the phrase, ’Who ate my vegetables? ” Beans
are vegetables.” The Queen explained.
    “Oh. Then that’s an easy one. Who else has magic beans in
his pockets all the time?” I cocked my head happily.
    “Jack,” The Queen mumbled. “That little crook.”
    “He is a thief and a crook, but he is very lovable.”
    “You sound like you know where he is. In fact, you sound
like you have seen him recently.”
    “Of course, I did. But I can’t get him for you. Jack is
becoming so important in the Dreamworld these days.”
    “Why is that?”
    “He is the only one who can climb out of a dream,” I
mentioned. “You know how many Dreamhunters need a guy like Jack? He is all
business, and he is doing fine. I don’t think that waking up every one hundred
years tempted him at all. He is still in the Dreamworld, getting paid very well
to save Dreamhunters who get stuck in dreams.”
    “But climbing out of a dream is prohibited in our
Dreamworld.”
    “Yeah. So is eating a young girl's heart and liver.”
    “At least I know where he is now.” The Queens looked happy.
    “But please, when you find him, don’t squash him like a giant
would do to him?” I threw the basketball away. I got bored easily, just like
Dracula.
    “Which brings up to the last item,