| When she could speak, at first she only spoke haltingly. Her name, nothing more. She was in a shock. The kind goblin woman thought that Sarah was ignorant of her circumstances, so she started explaining. Well, "somebody" wished Sarah away to the goblins. And because that "somebody" didn't follow her to save her, Sarah had been turned into a goblin automatically. She had no chance. She didn't even see the king. He wasn't in the castle anyway, he had left for a visit. Magic had taken her without him. This was bad. Sarah hoped he would help her. She started asking how one would go about changing a goblin back into a human again, but the old goblin woman only shook her head. Oh no, nobody had ever heard about this! Goblins don't change back - they don't WANT to change back! Sarah would learn soon and she'd get used to it - this life was fine. It had lots of advantages. "What advantages?" she asked bitterly. The woman praised her. "You speak well! And your pronunciation is perfect. I'm sure you were just about to start school, weren't you?" "Eh... why?" "Usually only very small children come here. Mostly they can't speak yet. But we also have some older kids. For example Schar was seven, when he came here! Just imagine it! He can read almost everything! And he can count up to twenty! We need more educated people," she sighed. "Can you do anything?" Sarah nodded. "How old are you?" the goblin woman asked. Sarah opened her mouth, then closed it quickly. The answer "You know, I'm eighteen and I've just wished myself away to the goblins" didn't sound very... clever. "I'm old," she stated carefully. "Don't be ashamed," was the answer. "It took me long to learn numbers, too! So, if you can get up, come with me, I'll show you around. Boys will be glad we've got a new face," she gave her a wink. "We don't have many girls." |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|