I wake up to the sound of light snoring beside me. My little sister had been up all night coughing due to her sickness and she had finally fallen asleep. I check her forehead to see if her fever had broken. She's been sick for a week and we were too poor to take her to a doctor. Her head felt cool and I watched for a moment as she slept under our thin blanket that we shared.

I got up and looked around our small cottage that we shared with our mother and father. Father was gone on his morning errands and Mother was at the stove making breakfast. I quickly put on my clothes and washed up before greeting her.

"Good morning Mother," I said as I hugged her from behind.

"Good morning Mel." She said smiling softly. " Your sister has finally fallen asleep I see."

I look over at our bed and nod. "She has. Do you still need me to go into the marketplace today?" I asked picking up my basket that contained what little money our family had for the week's groceries. 

Mother nods and I leave without having any breakfast. I know that we hardly have enough food for the 4 of us so I figured there would be more for my sister when she wakes up. I begin my walk to the marketplace and look off to where the castle of our kingdom was standing tall. We lived so close yet so far away to the royal family. I've heard that the King and Queen were generous and I oftened wondered what would happened if I made them aware of our family's situation. I also remember hearing that the Prince was around my age and began to think of what he must be like. What must it be like to live in a world where you never wanted anything you could not have?

I get lost in my thoughts and before I know it I have arrived. I began looking around for the things I knew my family had on our list, such as eggs, meat, etc. I gathered our groceries and paid for them all, thanking each vendor as I went along. Suddenly a glorious smell wafted towards my nose, and I recognized it immediately as my favorite, chocolate. I followed my nose to the baker's stall and saw that he had laid out a plate of fresh cookies. I started salivating and my stomach started to rumble. I didn't think it was very loud, but someone beside me began to laugh.

I turned to look at the rude person who laughed at my hunger and came face to face with the most handsome man I had ever seen. He was roughly my age and had softly toussled brown hair. His tan skin perfectly complimented his brown eyes and his smile made me melt. I saw him speak but no sound met my ears.

I snapped back to reality and responded with, "I'm sorry. What did you say?" 

He smiled and said, "Are you going to buy a cookie or just stand there letting your stomach growl like a bear?"

I blushed and looked down. I looked at the price of the cookies and saw that it was only a little more than what I had left, but I knew that we had to save where we could. I shook my head at him and gave him a small smile. I turned to leave when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at him and he handed me one of the cookies. 

"I can't take this. I don't have the money." I said looking down at my feet sadly.

He lifted my chin to look at him and said, "Don't worry about it, beautiful. I have it covered." I watched in shock as he paid the baker twice the amount of both of our cookies. The baker began to protest, but the stranger shook his head replying that the cookies were worth much more than the price. The baker smiled at us and I thanked the stranger once again. 

"Thank you so much for this, but I have no way to pay you back for your kindness." I said taking a small bite of my cookie.

The stranger smiled and took a bite of his own. "There's really no need to pay me," he said flashing me another one of those dazzling smiles. 

"Well may I at least know the name of the man who so generously bought me breakfast?" I asked inquisitively.

He looked off to the distance for a quick moment before he spoke and I looked to see what he was looking at but only saw the castle in the distance. I looked back at him and gave him an encouraging smile. He looked into my eyes and said, "My name is Kai."

My name is Kai.

The sound of his name resonated in my head like a bell. I smiled at him and told him my name was Melody. "Melody, a beautiful name for an equally beautiful girl." He said and in one quick motion, he grabbed my free hand and kissed it. My eyes widened in shock as a clock off in the distance began to chime. He looked off towards the castle again and quickly said goodbye and rushed off into the crowded marketplace. I tried to follow him with my eyes but he had disappeared too quickly. I smiled to myself and began my walk home. 

When I arrived at home, my little sister was awake, but refusing to eat. I passed the groceries to Mother and went over to the bed where she sat pouting. "Little one, why won't you eat?" I asked ruffling her hair softly. She looked up at me with tear filled eyes and told me about a nightmare she had. Something about a monster chasing us around and he had eaten me whole. When she woke and saw me gone, she thought it was real and was too scared to even move. I gathered her in my arms and began comforting her. Eventually she calmed down and was able to eat a little something. 

The rest of the day passed by quickly as I thought about Kai. I helped Mother with the housework without a complaint and even helped Father bring in some wood for the fire. My parents were happy with my new cheerful attitude but decided not to question it. As I laid my head down to go to bed, I looked at my hand. The spot where Kai had kissed me still tingled as I thought about him. Will I ever see him again? Would we ever get to share another sweet moment over a cookie? I fell asleep hoping to dream of Kai.

When I wake up, it's morning but my little sister is once again coughing. She's shivering too. I check her forehead and find that it's burning hot. I don't know how much more of this she can take. I quickly go get her a cold washrag and inform my mother what's going on. She and Father wake up and quickly attend to my sister. After she falls asleep, I set them down for a talk.

"Mother. Father. We need to get her to a doctor." I said sternly.

Father was the first to speak. "Mel, you know we can't afford it. We barely have enough to live on!"

"Father if we don't do something quick, there will only be 3 of us alive!" I said strongly.

Mother began to break down and cry. Father gave me a cold look for doing this to her and began to cry also. In between sobs, Mother said, "We are trying our best." 

"Well I have a proposition. Let me go get a job somewhere to bring home more money. I'm 19. It's time I did something to help this family." I said strongly. Mother and Father looked up at me and began to mull over my idea.

"Where will you go?" Father asked.

"No one is hiring." Mother said.

I looked at them both and smiled. "I shall go to the castle and ask the King and Queen for a job."

My parents protested, but eventually agreed. As morning broke, I said goodbye to Mother and Father. I went over to the bed where my sister lay and kissed her on the cheek. "I'm going to find a way to make you better. I promise." I gave my family one last smile and left without looking back.