November Winner, DiCamillo: Level IV

Mimi hovered in the shadows, out of sight. Her heart thudded wildly. She should never have come here; this was no place for fairies. But something horrible was about to happen and she had to do something to try to stop it.

The man below her shifted his weight. He was dressed all in black and carried a knife. Mimi's entire body had gone numb when she'd overheard him earlier that evening in the forest, bragging to his friends about whom he was going to kill. Mimi couldn't let his plan succeed. But what could a fairy do to stop a murder?

The man slowly opened the door in front of him and slid silently into the bedroom on the other side. Mimi followed. In a large bed laden with plush pillows lay a handsome young man: the prince. Mimi had fallen in love with him the first time she saw him years ago. Most nights she would come and sit on his windowsill, watching him as he slept. She longed to be with him forever, but a human prince would never fall in love with a fairy, no matter how much she wished it.

The man dressed in black crept towards the bed, raising his dagger high. Before she even realized what she was doing, Mimi was speeding through the air as fast as her wings would carry her. All she knew was that she had to save the prince. As the assassin leaned over the bed, Mimi flew to her prince and grabbed a lock of his smooth, dark hair. She yanked as hard as she could, over and over, screeching at him to wake up.

The prince swatted her away as he opened his eyes. Mimi flew backwards and hit the wall hard before sliding to the floor. Her head was spinning as she looked up to see the prince fight off the intruder. She smiled a little to herself through her pain. Maybe she couldn't marry her prince, but at least he was still alive.