single idea.I wasn’t worried, though. I’m a pro, after all, not some dilettante who writes only when the muse provides encouragement. I must have churned out a dozen alien-encounter stories over the years, maybe more. I didn’t expect much trouble coming up with another. Hell, at eight cents a word, I probably could have written an entire novel by Thursday.inalienable Rights ….” Inalienable rights! My God, I’d stumbled onto a can’t-miss premise!By mid-afternoon, I had completed my research and kicked around the various elements of the story long enough to produce a workable synthesis. I sat down at my word processor and started typing:Had you met him but a week earlier in his native Virginia, you might have judged him a seminary student. He loped in the fashion of a young colt, and his face seemed altogether too boyish for its 33 years. But now his features showed the strain of failure. For four days, he had remained secluded in this Philadelphia hotel room, seeing only servants and speaking to no one. He had been asked to write a document explaining to the world why he and his compatriots had thrown off the shackles of a distant despot and forged a new nation. Though he had dreamed for years of this moment, he could think of nothing to say now that it was upon him. Thomas Jefferson slumped in his chair, cradled his head in his arms and wept like a child.“Why do you weep?” an oddly metallic-sounding voice asked. “I can sense that it serves no plausible purpose.”Jefferson whirled around at the sound of the strange voice, and recoiled in fearful shock upon discovering its source. There, in the chair near the head of the bed, sat – or hovered, to be precise – a creature the likes of which he had never seen before. It had no eyes, no ears, no mouth – nothing, indeed, recognizable as a faceyuck.The good news was that I was going to be paid reasonably well for this drivel. I planned to open with an introductory section establishing who Vothar was, segue into a flashback about the quest, then return to the present and close with a kicker. Piece of cake.I sat down at my trusty word processor and began writing something along the lines of: Once upon a time, in days of yore, et cetera, et cetera, there lived a great prince called Vothar the Brave, son of him, father of her, servant of this goddess, drinking buddy of that god, and so on and so forth, and basically the most famous person in the history of history. But Vothar now lay on his deathbed, with his loyal wife, Melea, by his side. And as he awaits his summons to the land of the non-living, he ruminates over the events of his life. In his mind’s eye, he sees his coronation and his great battle against the Western barbarians and his victory march through the grand halls of Goroholla. But clearest of all the images is his memory of his immortal single combat with the half-man, half-dragon beast, the Anodyne.Bang, zoom, to the flashback. Like Jefferson, Vothar’s got an entire nation waiting for him. And like Jefferson, he’s discovered he’s not equal to the task. In fact, he’s so terrified of the Anodyne, not to mention his army of nasty, little (and as-yet-unnamed) creatures, that all he’s been able to do for the past four days is pound down endless goblets of highly intoxicating mead and relieve his bladder. He’s just begun weeping in despair when an alien appears and says to him, “Hey, big guy, what’s the downer?” Together, they kill the Anodyne. Vothar rescues Melea, returns triumphantly to Kronos, is crowned king of the land and lives happily ever after.swats a universe – home run for all you retrograde 20th-century types – and is lionized as greatest man in the solar system.By the time I finished cranking out the story, I was too tired to come up with a snappy postscript. I didn’t bother going to sleep, though. The clock read 5:31a.m., so I figured I’d be hearing from Bill Miller in a few minutes. The phone rang at a quarter to six.“Eighteen cents a word,” he said without preamble.“Twenty, or don’t even bother.”“Nineteen.”I hung up. The phone rang. I picked it up.“Okay, twenty cents, you highway robber,” he said. “Here’s the deal: I showed the edited stories to my publisher, and he really liked them. Except he wants to see a horror story, too.”“You mean an alien-encounter horror story?”“No, a straight horror story.”“I haven’t written a straight horror story in forever.”“Look, I’m begging you, Jerry. Please. You want to do killer ghosts in Toyland, that’s fine. You want to do Anne of Green Gables meets the Wolf Man at Mandalay, that’s fine too. Just give me a horror story, any horror story. You’ve got until tomorrow.”I thought it over. Miller must have thought I was negotiating. “All right, already,” he said. “Twenty-one cents a word.”I kept thinking. “Sweet Jesus, you’re a hard case,” he said. “Twenty-two cents a word, and that’s absolutely, positively my last offer.”And then it hit me. “Tell you what,” I said. “Make

1. The Princess and the Faithful KnightOnce upon a time there lived a princess who was too beautiful and kind to her subjects.The poets and artists were all in praise of her beauty and their works were inspired by her. Once a charming prince from another kingdom came to meet the princess and soon they became friends and slowly they fell in love.Once he took her to woods to show her the most beautiful rose in the world but as soon as she touched that rose she went into a deep sleep.The prince cheated her and took away all her riches and ran away. The king sent his people in search of her daughter and finally found the sleeping daughter.The advisors told that princess will be awake only after the course of the poisonous rose ends. King was deeply worried about her fate.He announced that any charming prince who wishes to marry her has to come up to kingdom and wait for her to wake up.Many came to the kingdom to fetch the golden opportunity but as days and months passed, they all went back. But a knight waited for her for 2 years when she woke up.He told her the entire story and she broke into tears to see his love for her. Princess was in full spirits again and they got married soon and lived happily thereafter. . Princess NaomyOnce there lived a beautiful girl named Naomy who was always troubled by her stepmother and two stepsisters. The royal ball was coming and the prince decided to choose a princess from his kingdom.On the day, stepmother went to the place with her two daughters wishing he would marry one of them.Naomi wished to go but she had to do a lot of chores assigned by her stepmother. She hurriedly completed the chores but later realized that she don’t have any beautiful dress or accessories to wear.Suddenly a fairy Godmother appeared before her who granted her wishes of a beautiful dress, a pair of crystal heels and accessories.She went to the ball and prince fell in love with her as soon as he saw her. He decided that princess Naomy will be his better half for the life. 3. Three Little PrincessesThere lived 3 little princesses Kimmy, Katie, and Kristen with their parents in a manor.There were butlers, maids, cooks, and lots of people to serve them. But both parents and kids were very humble and were really kind to all of them.Once parents had to leave to their grandmother’s place because she was ill.Parents arranged their uncle to take care of the kids until they come back. The uncle was a terror and was very rude to everyone. He treated the cook, maid, and butler very badly and shouted at them for no reasons.Kids were sad about seeing this and decided to teach him a lesson. They did some cooking in the kitchen, helped butler with his chores and maid in cleaning.Seeing what the princesses were doing, uncle was ashamed of himself. He realized his mistake and behaved well and kind to others thereafter.The Princess and the BricklayerOnce there lived a princess called Maggie who fell in love with a bricklayer, Kevin. She was tall, beautiful and kind and he was dark, tall and was never angry.She fell in love with his attitude and announced her love to the whole kingdom except her father who will be very angry.Kevin also loved her but didn’t have the courage to tell his love to her as he thought that he was unfit for her.One day, the princess invited Kevin to the palace and told her love for him in front of her father and they kissed each other.He was very angry at them and screamed at them. Later, the princess explained her love for him and told him that everyone is equal. King later realized their love for each other and let them live together .5. The Princess and the PeaOnce there lived a prince who was in search of the real princess to marry. He traveled across seven seas to many kingdoms in search of the real princess but came back disappointed.The queen was worried about his son and she also started looking for a real princess.One rainy day, a young lady came to them all drenched and dirty and her hair was not put up well but she claimed to be a princess. The queen was curious to find out if she was a real princess.She put a pea on the bed and then laid twenty mattresses on top of it, then a lot of feathers and again twenty eider-down beds on top of it.Queen invited her to sleep on it for the night. Next day morning when asked about the sleep, she complained about a hard substance that made her uncomfortable in bed.Soon they realized that she is a real princess as she is too delicate to feel a peanut under all these comforts. Both queen and prince were happy to find her and the prince got married to her soon 6. The Enchanted PrincessThere was a very pretty princess who wanted to meet her prince for life. She dreamt about him and drew his pictures. She lived with her friend’s deer, birds, squirrel, and turtles. She always sang beautiful songs.Everybody was fond of her but the evil queen was jealous of her. The queen thought to destroy her and freed an ogre to eat her.The ogre went chasing her and