Bob, the Second Reincarnation of RUMPLESTILSKIN
by Count Von Bloodletter
A beautiful woman sits within her chambers. The torchlight shimmers
a radiant reddish glow upon her raven-black hair that drapes in front of her
face, hiding her from the outside world. She is alone. Beneath the hair that
drapes before her face are two eyes, eyes that have seen little more then
the inside of her chamber. Tears fall down her face like blood from an open
wound. She cries because she is wounded, not because of a cut or scrape, but
because she is alone. She is secluded within a thick stone chamber, hoping
one day for release. She wanted to see the world. She didn't want to be alone
anymore.
She took in a deep breath, once her lungs were filled with the damp, humid
air she released it back out into the chamber. She slowly crept over to the
only window in the chamber. She looked past the foggy window, decorated in
a rusted-old bronze frame, and looked out into the night sky. She saw the
stars. They were brilliant tonight; each one seemed to hold a sense of knowing
and wisdom. Or at least, she thought they did. She began to daze, as the stars
seemed to hold a bit of relief from her cruel life. As she looked up at each
individual star, she saw a light flash before here eyes. It was a shooting
star. She closed her eyes and immediately wishes, knowing she didn't want
to be kept within this vile chamber anymore.
"I wish I could be rid of this dreadful chamber, I want to be free,"
she whispered under her breath.
A strong gust of wind engulfed her, emerging from nowhere, knocking her on
her back. She slowly supported herself as she leaned forward enough to see
something she had trouble believing. Before her stood a two foot tall man.
Well, she wasn't sure if it was a man or not. It bore many features of a man.
It was drenched in torn, dirty brown and gray cloths for clothing. Its skin
was almost scaly, but then its eyes were a bright blue. The eyes out of anything
about it, made it seem human. It looked at her and grinned, showing all of
it's broken, pointed, obscenely designed teeth.
"Beneath a shooting star, I've come here from afar," screeched the
creature.
"What do you want?" asked the girl, not knowing if to be afraid
or to be glad of the presence of another.
"You made a wish you wanted true, you wanted your life to be anew,"
spoke again the creature; it had a kind of sick-poetic sense to its speaking.
"You're here to help me?" hoped the girl, regardless of the unusual
situation.
"Yes, but for a fee, for a fee I will help thee," squealed again
the creature, this time grinning even bigger, showing even it's disgusting
back teeth.
"A fee…" the girl said while pondering the concept, "I
have nothing to offer."
"I will give you three days to guess my name, but if you don't guess
it right I will not be to blame. If you guess it I will grant your every desire,
but if you can't guess it then I'll toss you in the fire. I will kill you
and take your carcass for myself; I will stack you upon all my riches and
wealth. Tell me girl, do you want your wishes to come true, do you want your
world anew?" it explained, now revealing its wickedness.
The girl thought to herself. She had three days to guess his name. Surely
in three days she could come up with his name. How many names could there
be? She wanted her freedom. "I accept your offer," she finally said.
"I will see you upon the next moonlit night, then you will start to guess
my name right. If you can guess what my name be, then you will be free,"
as it finished its final words it disappeared with a gust of wind, just as
it had made its introduction before.
The woman took a minute to reflect, as she pondered upon these weird events.
She thought about the obscene appearance of the creature, the description
matched a type of creature they spoke of in myths, goblins. She thought it
was a goblin. She crawled upon a stack of hay in the corner and laid down
to rest.
When she woke in the morning she started making a list of names that the goblin
could be called. She used a stone she found on the floor, and she used it
to carve in the wall. While she wrote her enslavers had slipped some food
under the chamber door for her, but she did not eat. She kept writing names.
Jake, Joe, Ken, Miguel, Michael, Ben…there were so many names she could
choose from, and she listed as many as she could think of. By the time nightfall
came she thought she was ready; she thought she had his name.
She looked out the chamber window, awaiting the goblin's appearance. She began
to lose hope of her freedom. She let out a deep sigh. As her breath left her
body, she felt a slight itch upon her shoulder. The itch started getting stronger;
then it became a surge of sharp pain. She screamed and whirled around, to
find it was the goblin's hand upon her shoulder, tightly squeezing it with
his taloned-claws.
"If you cannot guess my name by the third night, you will be tortured
by my candle light. I'm back for you to try, but if you fail you will die,"
screeched the goblin, apparently having fun with itself. Its eyes still shined
blue, but with a deviant tinge to them.
"Adam, Aaron, Alfred…" she went through her list, each few
had a response from the goblin in his sinister tongue and hoarse voice.
"Nope, nope, tis not what I be called, soon over you the maggots will
have crawled," it said every time she was wrong.
The woman began to worry, she kept guessing wrong. She was now afraid and
intimidated. The goblin was taunting her, telling her in a rhythmic way of
how she was going to die in his hands. Her body chilled and her arms were
covered in goose bumps. She reminded herself over and over; you have two more
days to guess, two more days…
"One night down, two to go until you die, until the next night I say
good-bye," with that the goblin once again disappeared.
This night the woman couldn't sleep; she stayed up all night, frightened,
continually working on her list. The more she thought about the more terrified
she became. Her eyes poured out tears as she wrote. Not tears of loneliness,
but tears of extreme fear. Being alone didn't seem so bad anymore. Being enslaved
almost seemed all right compared to the wrath the goblin promised. Hours passed
by as she wrote upon the wall, carving with rock after rock, until she was
almost out of rocks. Her hands bled from how tightly she clenched the rocks
as she wrote. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she changed from scared
to angry, to completely hateful of the goblin.
The next nightfall had come, and she was not at the window. She stood back
in a corner of the room, hoping her location wouldn't allow the goblin to
grab onto her once more. She was at first annoyed, that the goblin had not
yet appeared, then her fear sank in again, she realized it would appear when
she least expected it. The ground beneath her shook, and again she screamed.
She heard its voice, but she did not yet see him.
"Second night of fear and pain, your death will be in vain," the
voice howled from all around her. She looked around her and noticed the walls
had begun to move. They wavered back and forth, and then they pressed forward,
forming the face of the goblin. Now the goblin's face was enormous, as the
stones created the image of the goblin. Each of the stones forming the goblin's
face began to bleed. They bled profusely, until the entire face was drenched
and stained in blood. It fell to the ground like a mild waterfall, flooding
the area of the chamber floor around it. The blood crawled closer and closer
to the woman, but then stopped right before her. It was the most terrifying
sight the woman had ever seen. Her heart pounded as though it was in her throat,
it was hard to breath.
"Guess my name and guess it right, or you will see a more gruesome sight,"
threatened the embodiment of the goblin, gurgling as the blood flowed through
the mouth made of stone.
The girl trembled in fear and screamed, "What do you want from me?"
The face within the wall had disappeared, leaving the wall as though nothing
had happened to it. The blood upon the ground formed into the goblin, and
solidified, causing the goblin to look as it did when first she met it.
The creature had now seemed calm, and gently spoke, "You wished upon
a falling star, I have answered you from afar."
The woman now calmed down and prepared to offer her new guesses to the goblin
of what his name was. She listed them, "Frank, Fred, Thomas…"
Her incorrect answer was once more answered with, "Nope, nope, tis not
what I be called, soon over you the maggots will have crawled."
After listing, what seemed like hundred of names, she eventually said, "I
don't yet know what your name is. I'll know tomorrow."
With that the goblin sank within the stone ground, it was quite a surreal
sight to witness. He would be gone until the third, and final night.
The woman knew she was not doing well at guessing his name, so she decided
to make up some creative names, names of mythological characters and merely
ones that made of combined words. She was determined to get his name today.
It was about the time the goblin had normally shown up, so she awaited his
arrival, once more in the corner of her chamber. Her window blew open with
a gust of wind, causing her to look towards the window. Upon the windowsill
sat the goblin. He looked down at his talons, playing with them. He looked
up at the girl and spoke, "Last chance to guess my name, it's now time
to claim your fame."
"Ares, Lucifer, Goblinman…" she listed many names she had created,
and then looked at the goblin, hoping for a response. The goblin gave no indication
of her being right.
"That's too complex to be me, smaller names are they key," hinted
the goblin, with a slight glint in his eye, "It starts and ends with
a "B", but it is different both ways to me. Reverse it is the key,
only then will you be free."
The woman thought of names that started with "B" and ended with
"B", she could think of only one, "Bob is your name, it's Bob!"
"Ah, but reverse is the key, now you will never be free. Now your fate
lies with me," the goblin spoke, condemning the girl to her fate.
She did not understand, she thought she had been tricked, and now she filled
with a sharp spike of fear. She realized that now she was going to suffer
a horrible fate. The goblin smirked, showing his mischievous fangs.
"Throat of air, now you close, your death will never be fair," it
screeched in a way that made her ears feel as though they were bleeding.
Suddenly her throat seemed as though it had closed, and she couldn't breath,
she let out a final moan as the air was squeezed out of her. The goblin released
a howl that was the most retched thing she had ever heard. It gave her the
worst splitting headache she ever had. She fell to the ground due to her lack
of air, and then reached up to nurse her head. As she brought her hand down
in front of her, it was covered in blood. She did not just have a headache;
her head was now actually torn open, it gushed and spurted out blood, it leaked
down her face as though it was rainfall. She lost her sight and now was blind,
due to the amount of blood fallen into her eyes. She could feel each surge
of blood that passed from her head, it was excruciatingly painful. She began
to feel dizzy; she had not even realized she was now lying on the floor, face
down, in a pool of her own blood. She felt pressure increasing on her back.
It was the hands of the goblin.
"Further down my talons shall reap, faster out your blood shall seep.
Your ribs crush into your spleen; you now forget what you have seen. Know
you did not die alone; know at least I heard you moan. You had a wish so you
shall die, as I remove your heart I say good-bye," the goblin whispered
his finals words.
Her back made a startling cracking noise as her bones had snapped. The goblin
had forced his demonic hands through her ribs. He forced them to clench her
heart. She no longer noticed that she could not see, she no longer noticed
the immense pain she was in. She now ignored the violent noise of the goblin's
voice. She now only focused on her heart, with the goblin's hands around it.
It beat once; then he clenched his grip. Her entire body stressed and tightened,
as her heart collapsed. The goblin's hands came together; causing the heart
to explode with blood, as though just a mere egg shell had been thrown, breaking
it open, releasing its yolk. She filled with a feeling of warmth, and then
she was cold as ice. Then she felt nothing. She was no longer sad about being
lonely. She would never care about anything ever again. She would never make
another wish, ever again. She was free.
Never trust a goblin. You see, the goblin's name was indeed, Bob, but his
name must be said backwards to be understood as the goblin's name. In English
Bob is the same both ways, but to the goblin's sensitive ears, it sounded
totally different when said backwards. At least, the woman didn't die alone.
She was finally free.