A Toy's Only Wish (Part 1 and 2)

Once upon a time there lived a princess fairy named Serraine. Her birthday came and all the other small fairies went to the ball. The princess got many gifts, but her favorite, was the one her mother gave her; a jack-in-the-box.
One night, she heard the jack-in-the-box singing:
Oh, I wish,
I could walk on the stars,
Oh, I wish,
I could run on the moon,
Oh, I wish,
I could be,
A real boy…
The princess thought about the song for a long time, and finally drifted off into a troubled sleep. She woke up late the next morning and the first thing she did was go to the jack-in-the-box. She opened him, hoping he would sing his song, however, all he said was, “BOO!”
“Oh dear!” cried the fairy, and she soon began to sob. She sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed. She wished she could do something, but she knew she couldn’t. That day was very gloomy. She wasn’t in a good mood at all. Most people noticed, but no one was brave enough to tell her, except her mother.
“Dear,” she said, “What is bothering you? Everyone can tell something is bothering you.”
“Oh, mom! It’s the jack-in-the-box you gave me. I think he’s sad!” the princess explained.
“How can a jack-in-the-box be sad? They have no feelings. All they say is, ‘BOO!’” her mother said.
“No, mom! This one is different! He can sing-beautifully! Mom, my point is, he wants to be a real boy and-”
“Dear… You know none of us have that magic. We can’t turn anyone into anything! We can only give people small things!” the queen said calmly. “Except,” she added, “Our one wish from the emperor.”
“Exactly!” the princess said.
“You want to use your wish from the emperor for an old
jack-in-the-box?” her mother exclaimed.
“Yes. And if you’re gonna make fun of me for doing it, I’ll never forgive you!” the princess said calmly and suddenly turned away. Tears were streaming down her face. I’ll run away tonight, she thought, since no one believes me. I’ll show them! She dashed upstairs, ran past the potion room, and stopped at her own room. She sat down on her bed and that night, she ran away-with the jack-in-the-box. She crept out the window and flew to the ground. “The jack-in-the-box!” she remembered. She flew back up and grabbed him, but as she did so, she accidentally pressed his button. “BOO!” he screeched. She gasped. And fluttered to the ground with him. She flew and flew for days, and suddenly, she saw something! “A city!” she exclaimed. She began to fly faster and faster and within minutes she reached the huge palace. “We made it!” she said to the jack-in-the-box. When she got to the guards she said, “ I wish to see his highness.”
“You can go in, but your lil’ toy here ain’t goin’” the first guard said as he snatched it from her arms.
“No! You can’t do that!” the princess cried.
“Oh yeah! Who said?” the second guard sneered. POOF! The fairy gave the second guard a jack-in-the-box.
“I said! And if you want one so bad, then that shall be yours!” she said as she snatched her jack-in-the-box back from the first guard. The guards stared in disbelief as the fairy marched into the palace.
“Oh!” the fairy gasped, and bowed down as the emperor came out of the bathroom. The emperor blushed, “What are you doing here?” he asked embarrassingly.
“I…umm… I…came to see you…Your Majesty,” she stammered.
“For what? Did the guards let you in?” the emperor replied, “Stay right here!”
“Okay… Yes, they did let me in,” she lied. The emperor went into a room and came back out soon.
“Follow me,” he said. He was wearing a silk purple robe. She followed him and soon discovered she was in the throne room. The emperor sat down.
“What did you come for?” he asked her again.
“I came to use my wish,” she replied.
“What is your wish?” he inquired.
“I want--” she began, suddenly a guard burst into the room, “You!” he exclaimed upon seeing the fairy, “Noyle, kick her out--literally!”
“Hold it!” the emperor shouted over all the noise, “What’s going on here?”
“She came in without permission, sir,” the guard that appeared to be Noyle replied boldly. The emperor turned to the fairy.
“Is that so?” he inquired.
“They took my jack-in-the-box!” she exclaimed angrily.
The emperor turned towards the guards.
“I hope this isn’t bullying I’m hearing about!” he roared, “I thought you boys were trustworthy enough to keep peace with the fairies! They are a wonderful group of people, you know, and I sure would like to keep peace with ‘em!” Noyle looked down.
“Sorry, Your Highness.” He bowed down. The other guard did the same.
“My apologies, sir, for our rude interruption.”
“Good enough. Your nurses trained you well. All your sins are forgiven!” he chuckled, “Get up now. I don’t believe in bowin’ down to everyone!” He grinned and Noyle stood up. “Pardel, you too. Get up now.” Pardel was embarrassed and he scrambled up. “You’re excused.” Noyle and Pardel scurried out of the room and the emperor and Serraine were left alone. Emperor Garfled seemed to be a nice dwarf. She was startled at the thought. A dwarf! I never knew what he was! A dwarf!

She looked at her surroundings. Lights flashing in the streets. Dwarfs passing through the streets shopping and coming in and out of “Dashkkan Melkkad,” in the fairy tongue “Dwarf Mall.” Serraine sighed. “It’s beautiful!” she murmured.
“Ah, yes ‘tis,” he said, “You see over there where it says, Dashkkan Innokke?” She nodded. On sudden thought he asked, “You know the Dwarfish tongue, no?”
“Oh, yes of course, it’s in my schooling. That means Dwarf Inn, correct?”
“Yes, little one, you are correct indeed. I was saying you could stay there for the night if you need.”
“I have no money. I didn’t think to bring any,” came the reply.
“Not to worry. Quadren, the innkeeper is very kind. Tell him I sent you there and he’ll let you in for free. In fact, I’ll go with you. I must talk to him about something.” She nodded in agreement and told him her story from beginning to end. About everything that happened since it was her birthday.
“Father?” This was a new voice. “Father? Where are you?”
“In here son! In the throne room!” Emperor Garfled called back. His son appeared, and upon seeing the fairy there blushed.
“Excuse me, Father, I didn’t know anyone had come!” he began to go back towards the door.
“Wait, son! This is…This is…” he stopped and looked at her questioningly.
“Princess Serraine, from Tonglurd, in the mountains.” She finished.
“Oh! I didn’t know!” Garfled said in astonishment. “This is my son, Prince Lurzdac.” His son blushed again. Princess Serraine came to one conclusion.
They knew something she didn’t know.