These are prize winning stories!!!!!

I'm serious! I seriously think they could win prizes. The second would win a prize for the Lamest short story on earth, and the first would win a prize for the most unoriginal short story on earth. LOL. This challenge was sooooooooooooooo hard!!!! I wrote one and hated it, so I wrote another one except I dont like that much better either. Tell me which is better! Or worse!

Princess Katarina strolled in the garden, pretending to look casual as the gardeners looked on. Her heart was racing and she took deep breaths, she had just barely escaped her mother and her personal seamstress. The Queen was determined to make Katarina's afternoon miserable. Katarina smiled softly to herself, she was always trying to escape from dress fittings and this time she had succeeded.
With a jolt Rina realized there were no more gardeners around, in fact she was quite alone. "Where am I?" she murmured to herself. The trees were more wild than the ones in the carefully manicured garden, almost resembling a forest. Quickly she looked behind, she could still see the castle turrets but it seemed far away. "Strange," Rina shrugged and continued walking. Suddenly there was a strange humming sound in the air and Katarina found herself falling, falling…..

Katarina suddenly found herself in a strange room, full of wooden shelves and books. 'Where on earth am I?' she thought, quite bewildered.
"Excuse me," Katarina walked over to a girl standing in front of a shelf. "Can you tell me where I am?" she asked.
"This is ," the girl said, looking puzzled.
Katarina racked her brains, but she'd never heard of it. "I've never been to that country before," she said, wondering how she'd ever get home.
"Its just a town," the girl said laughing. "In England. How come you don't know where you are?"
"England!" Katarina exclaimed, her face lighting up. "I do know where I am after all. Is the castle of FFF anywhere around here?"
"Yes, its five minutes walk away," the girl said. "Just go outside and you'll see it, you can find your way from there."
"Thank you ever so much," Katarina said gratefully and walked out of the building smiling. When she saw the castle however, she stopped dead in her tracks. Oh it was her castle alright, the build and lands around it were unmistakable. But everything else had changed. The tall tower was gone completely, the shorter one was still standing but missing its top. Half of the front had fallen away, leaving stones littered across the ground and the inside clear to see. And the inside was nothing more than crumbling half walls and mossy ground.
"What on earth?" Katarina gasped. Had she been knocked out in the forest and an invasion had destroyed her castle? But that wouldn't explain the thriving little town and the feeling of well being here. So what had happened?
"Impressive, isn't it?" the girl from the library had joined her outside, staring up at the castle with an affectionate grin. She apparently had mistaken Katarina's shock for wonder. "Been here all the way since 1305." Katarina gulped, that was ten years before she was born. Twenty five years made the castle she knew still relatively new, what year was it here?
"This may sound strange," Katarina decided to risk it and ask. "But what year is it?" The girl gave her an even odder look but answered.
"2010, what other year would it be?" This was too much for Katarina, she gave a faint sigh and fainted.

"Hey, you alright?" Katarina blearily opened her eyes. The girl from the library was kneeling over her, behind her was the castle. She quickly shut them again. "Why'd you faint like that?" The girl asked.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Katarina said.
"I've seen some pretty strange things," the girl said. "So I wouldn't think you were that crazy if you told me you came from, say, 1325, or that you had stumbled upon a way into this time and you had no idea how to get back." Katarina stared up at the girl in amazement.
"How did you know all that?" She whispered, sitting up. "You must be a sorceress!"
"No," The girl said, looking surprised. "You were out cold for a few minutes, and when you started to wake up you said something like, 'Yes Mama I'll get my ball gown fitted now.' And there's this old legend about the castle, that there's a time portal somewhere. But even with your weird clothes and everything that happened, I had no idea it would be true!"
"Well it is," Katarina stood up and stared off at the castle. "And I have to get back, somehow. Can you help me?"
"I'll try, but I don't know how." The girl said. "And, by the way, my name's Jen."
"Its nice to meet you, Jen," Katarina said smiling. "I'm Katarina." They walked back into the library and looked around for a moment, neither of them had any idea what to do. "I have an idea!" Katarina said at last. "Why don't we go over to the castle, and try to find the spot where the time portal was."
"All right," Jen agreed and so they walked to the castle, every step they took made Katarina feel more and more nostalgic. This was what her proud castle was going to look like in the future!
"Here's where the gardens were," they had gotten to the back of it, the land was wild and rocky. "I just started wandering, but in a pretty straight line…" They walked for a while, always keeping the castle in sight but steadily getting farther and farther away from it. "I don't see how I could have gotten this far away!" Katarina exclaimed at last, frustrated.
"Do you think asking anyone would help?" Jen asked. "They would probably think we're crazy, but some old people might know more of the legend."
As they were walking back to the town Jen voiced a thought she had been wondering. "Did you like living in the 1300's?" She asked. "I mean, was it fun being a princess?" That gave Katarina something to think about. Finally she answered, slowly,
"It wasn't always fun, nothing is. But it was my home, and my world. This world is so different." she looked down on the town, at the cars and the pavement. "I could never survive here, even if my life at home was awful. Which it certainly isn't." Jen nodded in agreement and they continued on in silence.

"Hello, is Mrs. Spindle home?" Jen poked her head into an open door of a little house and called in. A creaky voice answered them, saying
"No, she went off to the library again." An old lady of probably eighty came out to greet them, smiling. "And what did you want to ask her?"
"Oh, just a question about a legend," Jen smiled back.
"That would be her field of expertise," The lady said. "I know more about home things than legends, like making soap, or candles, or weaving…"
"Well thank you, we'd better be going!" Jen pulled Katarina out of sight of the door and started briskly walking, Katarina hurried to catch up. "She's VERY talkative," Jen said quietly, looking back at the quaint house. "If she started talking to you, because you're new in town, we'd never get away."
"Well, I'm not exactly new to town," Katarina said smiling. "But I get what you mean." They walked into the library and at once saw Mrs. Spindle, she was talking to the librarian.
"If I could interrupt," Jen apologetically led her away and started explaining the whole story. Mrs. Spindle listened attentively to the whole story and pursed her lips when it ended.
"Well," she reasoned, "Around where did you first find yourself in the library?" They couldn't tell if she seriously believed them or not, but Katarina led them to the spot.
"It was just around here, I remember that shelf, and my hand was resting here--" And suddenly Katarina vanished. Jen stared at the spot while Mrs. Spindle smiled.
"But she said the gardens were around the back of the castle.." Jen managed at last.
"Ah, but that's without accounting for magic," Mrs. Spindle said kindly. "Magic always turns you around. And don't touch that spot!" She said sharply, Jen had almost touched the wood. "Unless you want to get stuck in another century."
"How come you know so much about it?" Jen called after her.
"How do you think my sister knows so much about making things?" Mrs. Spindle said in reply, and then her face disappeared among the shelves. Jen stood there for a moment longer, wondering. Then she shrugged and continued with her life, always giving that spot a wide berth but keeping a careful eye on it for any more stranded visitors.



Rebecca sat slumped on the couch and stared at the spoons. They were old and a little bit rusted, but scrubbed clean until they sparkled. She jostled them in her hand and picked one out-- a memory sprung up and she closed her eyes. There she was when she was little, waiting for supper. Her mother had surprised her with the gift, pulling a tiny spoon out from behind her back and presenting it to Rebecca. "This was my spoon when I was five like you," she had said smiling. "Now you get it!" Her mothers words stayed clear in her mind, though the memory faded.
"Becca!" Rebecca's friend Jessica called from outside and Becca straightened up, stuffing the spoons in her pocket. "Are you coming with me to the library?"
"Sure," Becca pulled on a jacket and joined her outside. The walk to the library was cold, they walked fast and talked to stay warm. But when Becca saw the library she suddenly stopped, pulling Jessica to a stop with her. Huddled in front of the library was a group of women gossiping; prominent among them was the Mayors wife Marie.
"You want to go around the back way?" Jessica asked, watching Becca's face. For two years now Marie and Becca had been at odds, ever since Becca's mother, Marie's sister, had died.
"Yes," Becca said softly. After her mother Isobel had died, Marie had changed. Becca still couldn't understand it, that day they had argued ran in her head while Jessica walked in the library.
"When are you going to get going again?" Becca had asked Marie, two months after the death. Marie was now the sole manager of the soup kitchen she and her sister had started together, among other things. "You haven't done anything lately."
"And you know what?" Marie's face looked oddly cold. "I don't think I'm going to."
"What do you mean?" Becca was confused. "You cant just abandon the soup kitchens, the food drives,"
"But I can," Marie interrupted. "I can. What did Isobel get for everything she did? Her husband left her and she was killed in a car accident. I'm not going to make the same mistake she did."
"Mistake?" Becca's voice rose. "My mother devoted her entire life for bettering the situation of poor people!"
"Exactly!" Marie shot back. "I want to live my life to the fullest. I'm not going to throw it away!"
Becca choked on her words and stared at Marie, so different from the hardworking loving girl she had known before. 'Can anyone really change so much so fast?' she wondered to herself. 'She's giving up everything they worked for.' But Marie continued looking down her nose with a triumphant smile on her face, certain she had won. Becca just shook her head and walked away.
"Becca? Rebecca?" Becca became aware that Jessica was calling her name, and quite loudly.
"What? What?" she shook her head to dispel the memory and looked around her. They were standing in the library, Jessica's arms loaded with books.
"I said, are you going to get any books?" Jessica repeated, an exasperated look on her face.
"Oh, no, I'll just read the ones you have," Becca said faintly. Jessica shrugged and went to check out. Becca paused by the window and looked down at the group of women, Marie was still there, talking extravagantly.
"I just had this grand idea," her voice floated upwards. "I usually have a vase of roses on Christmas, and today I decided my centerpiece would be a rose made out of a ruby!" There were oohs and ahs from the crowd and Becca shook her head in disgust. What a waste. The town wasn't doing anything for their poor anymore, and the mayors family was having jewels instead of flowers! "And in the handles of the spoons," Marie went on "There are going to be diamonds and sapphires."
"Can you believe that?" Becca practically exploded as Jessica joined her by the window. "Marie's spoons on Christmas are going to have diamonds and sapphires in them!"
"I didn't know their family was that rich," she exclaimed, raising her eyebrows in surprise.
"Apparently they are," Becca said. "Their centerpiece is also going to be a rose made out of a ruby."
"The whole town will know by night," Jessica said mournfully.
"We should do something to stop it," Becca said abruptly. "Have you seen the state of the town treasury office? Its been ages since they did anything for charity. And its because of Marie." 'Everything was better two years ago,' she thought sadly.
"Do you think we could, you know, stop her from being so awful?" Jessica asked. "By something we did, some point we made?"
"I don't know if she would stop," Becca said doubtfully. "But we could make the point anyways. Someone should."
"What would we do?" Jessica started walking towards the back door.
"I don't know….something to do with the spoons and flower," Becca decided. They were quiet for a minute as the cold wind hit them, then Becca ventured, "Do you think, stealing them would be too extreme? We would put them in the charity box right away, of course," she added quickly seeing Jessica's face
"Yes its too extreme!" Jessica exclaimed. "What if we were caught?"
"We'd have to figure that out," Becca's mind was already whirling. "But it certainly would make the point!"
"It would." Jessica didn't seem very happy. "You'd have to come up with a fool proof plan though, if you wanted me to help. But do we really need to do it?"
"I think we do," Becca said quietly. "I don't know what'll happen if we do, but I know what'll happen if we don't. I'll continue being mad at Marie and she'll continue buying expensive needless things!"
The rest of the walk home was spent convincing Jessica to help her, at last she gave in.
"Alright," Jessica conceded. "How are we going to get in?"
"I think," Becca lowered her voice as they walked in "There's a way. Everything's locked up at eleven, all the doors and windows. If they're opened without a key an alarm goes off. But Marie has cats, and sometimes when mom was staying there she'd have to let the cats in late at night. Instead of unlocking the door, there's a code she'd put in and the cat flap would open." Already becca could see it. They'd sneak up to the house, dressed in black. Then she would reach her arm through the mail slot and key in the code, which she had memorized, and crawl through the flap.
"Sounds good," Jessica breathed a sigh of relief. "And they don't have any alarms that go off if you touch anything?"
"They aren't that hi-tech," Becca scoffed. "If we go late enough, say one or two in the morning, they'll all be asleep."
"So its set then." Jessica's eyes sparkled. "We're going in, on Christmas eve?"
"Christmas eve," becca confirmed, and the plan was made.

Christmas eve came all too fast, and Becca stood in front of her mirror nervously. It was late at night, the house was quiet. 'Am I really doing this?' becca thought incredulously to herself. 'Am I really going to break into my aunts house and steal her spoons?' she shook her head, it sounded crazy but that was what she was going to do. 'Alright, lets go,' she sighed to herself and stepped away from the mirror, her black clothes making her merge into shadows. Silently she opened the door and looked around for Jessica, she caught sight of a gloved hand waving and joined her in the yard.
"You ready?" she whispered, her breath making puffs of white in the cold air.
"No and I'll never be," she smiled at their take on the cliché line and they quietly walked down the street. Marie's house slowly got nearer and nearer, Becca nodded at Jessica and they stopped at the door. It was just around the left corner, far away enough to not be taken for the front door and close enough to the road to have mail deposited there. Becca stuck her hand in the mail slot, feeling around for the code buttons. They were above it, and she had to stick her arm in further until she could reach. C A T S she punched in, finding it at last. A R E P E O P L E T O O "There!" Becca whispered in relief. "Got it." The cat flap opened with a metallic clang and Jessica crawled through it, just making it.
"Wow!" she exclaimed softly when she got inside. "You've got to see this!"
"I will," Jessica crouched down and wriggled through the flap. Her mouth opened too when she saw the sight. The dining table was all laid out, ready for eating. Moonlight streamed through a window, glinting off diamond spoons and making the ruby rose glow softly. A chandelier tinkled above and Becca closed her mouth self-consciously. "Guess someone redid their dining room," she murmured, all her memories were of a homely room with a plain wooden table and cheery blue walls. The mahogany table seemed to look down its nose on becca, and the beige walls spoke of grandeur.
"Lets get moving," Jessica spoke at last and they moved, quickly picking up the priceless spoons and putting them in Jessica's backpack. Then Becca took her mothers spoons out of her pocket, something she hadn't thought of before but now seemed right. She slowly moved around the table, depositing the old spoons in the place of the sparkly ones, while Jessica carefully took the ruby out of its vase. "All set," she whispered and they moved to the door, when a sound made them freeze.
"Who's that?" A voice called out from the corridor, and a hallway light flipped on. It was Marie. Becca looked at Jessica in panic, Marie was squinting at the dark dining room and would see them any minute.
"What are we going to do?" Jessica mouthed at Becca, but at that moment Marie saw them.
"Burglars!" She shrieked, Becca motioned for Jessica to go, Jessica dropped the ruby and fell to the ground, squeezing out of the cat flap. "Is that-- Rebecca, what are you doing here?"
Rebecca froze in her tracks, her eyes wide with fright. All thoughts left her brain except one-- 'What was I thinking? It was such a bad idea to do this! Except now that I have maybe I can do some good…'
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Becca said bravely.
"I cant think why you would steal from me," Marie gasped, noticing the ruby on the floor and the spoons spilling out of Becca's backpack.
"Oh really." Becca folded her arms and let the pack drop to the floor. She could feel her anger building up again, and she narrowed her eyes. "Maybe its something to do with how you've been acting for the past two years."
"I don't see why you should care about how I've been acting," Marie said faintly, still in shock.
"You're my AUNT!!!" Becca bellowed at her. "Doesn't family count for something?"
"Well if you wanted me to buy something for you, you only had to ask," Marie said, looking put out.
"No no no!" Becca shook her head in frustration. "That's not what I meant. I mean family. Isobel." Marie started at the name, and Becca continued. "Isobel was family too. And now you're acting like she never even existed!"
That quieted Marie for a moment, and she stood lost in thought looking at the moonlit table. Then she smiled a sad little smile and walked over to it, picking up one of the spoons Becca had put there. "I haven't thought about Isobel at all lately," she said quietly. "But I don't see the point, it brings back too many painful memories… so I've been wrapping myself up in buying things, and making my home beautiful,"
"And gossiping," Becca added.
"I said I was going to live my life like I wanted to, and I have been. But I really only did it to help myself get over Isobel. And now when I think about her, I find that I haven't." Becca was surprised to see tears glistening on Marie's cheeks as she stood still.
"I think we need to do something, to remember mom." Becca ventured. "It wont heal the grief, but I don't know, it just seems right. And you can go on buying things, but I just want to know that you still remember her. That I'm not the only one who wants her back."
"Of course you aren't," Marie said. "We all want her back. And she needs to be remembered. Tomorrow, I think I'll give these spoons and this flower to the poor, in memory of Isobel."
"Great idea, Aunt Marie," Becca said and smiled.

There you go, I hate them both and feel free to too!
Kelia