Ametrine followed the sound of the voice.  Someone was singing in a voice so sweet, so musical it was almost mesmerizing.  She walked through the woods to a small clearing.

There Ametrine saw a beautiful girl with flowing waves of brown hair.  The girl had flawless sun gold skin.  She was dressed in a regal red gown.  She sat upon a rock by a small waterfall in a clear stream.  Birds flitted around her head.  Squirrels and rabbits sat by her feet.

Ametrine looked down at her own mottled skin.  She fingered the mole on her cheek, the bump on her nose.  A jealous rage filled her.  She ran back to her cottage.

A few minutes later Ametrine returned to find the girl still singing in the clearing.  Ametrine pulled the hood of her cloak over her head.  It helped to conceal her ugliness.  She approached the beautiful girl.

The girl looked up.  Her eyes met Ametrine’s.  She stopped singing.  She gasped.  She rose to her feet.

“Don’t be afraid,”  Ametrine cooed, looking into the girl’s emerald green eyes.  “I’ve come with a special treat for you.  I heard you singing like music to my ears.”

The young girl smiled.  Her cheeks turned pink.

“What is your name, child?”  Ametrine said.

“Isadora Calliwell.  I’m afraid I wandered too deep into the woods.  I’m not sure which way to go to get home.”

Ametrine had sucked in a breath at the girl’s name.  Surely she couldn’t be the Princess Calliwell of Lockridge Kingdom.  What on earth was she doing alone in the woods?  

A smile passed quickly over Ametrine’s lips.

“My dear, won’t you accept a bit of this chocolate cake?”

Isadora took the cake.  Chocolate was her favorite.  She began to eat.

When there was but a bit of cake left Isadora said, “I’m feeling quite sleepy.  I really should get back.”

Isadora started as Ametrine began to cackle and thrust off her cloak.  “You will not return, for now I shall steal your beauty.  I will return to Lockridge Kingdom to take your place.  You shall remain asleep in these woods forever.  The only way the spell can be broken is if a lonely old woodsman finds you and places a kiss upon your lips before ten years have passed.  There haven’t been any woodsmen around her for thirty years.”  She cackled once more.

Isadora fell asleep.  Ametrine placed the palm of her right hand against the palm of Isadora’s left hand.  She closed her eyes as the changes took place.  When she felt the change was complete, she opened her eyes.

Lying before her, Isadora now had the mottled skin, the mole on her cheek and the bump on her nose.

Ametrine stretched out her arm and saw the flawless sun gold skin.  She reached up and ran her hand through her new wavy, brown tresses.  She laughed.  It was not a cackle.  She sang a line and goosebumps appeared on her arms at the sound of her now musical voice.

She ran out of the woods toward Lockridge Kingdom.