A groan came from the corner of the barn and Sonia turned rounded and watched Eric slowly wake up.

He stretched his left arm, then right, then left leg, then right, then arched his back like a cat.  He groaned loudly and rubbed the sleep away from his eyes.  Sonia grinned and looked back down at the journal she was writing in.  If only there was a way she could come back here and visit frequently, she thought.

Sonia closed the journal and shoved it into the bottom of her backpack along with the pen.  She would rather die than let Eric read it.

Eric tiredly turned to Sonia.  

'Morning,' he stated then flopped back down on the hay stack.

Sleeping on hay wasn't exactly comfy but it was better than grass.

'Morning,' replied Sonia grinning.  'How far away is the Library from here?'

'About an hour walk,' answered Eric.  'We should probably stop by the markets and get some new clothes.'

Sonia glanced down at her clothes and agreed.  Running away from a beast in a forest then sleeping in a barn hadn't done any good for their clothes.  Her trousers were ripped and her t-shirt looked horrendous.

'I don't have any money,' she stated.  

'Don't worry sweetheart, you can pay me back another time, on the condition that I get to choose what you have to wear,' he stated whilst grinning profusely.  Oh no, thought Sonia, this would not go well.

'Anything but dresses,' begged Sonia, 'I hate dresses!'  

'Anything?' asked Eric, his left eyebrow was raised and his grin was now wide enough to reach one ear to another.  Sonia rolled her eyes, grabbed some hay and threw it at him.  The hay pathetically only flew through the air for a few inches.

*

The village of Alexandria was beautiful, thought Sonia half an hour later.  Cobblestoned streets.  Homes made out of stone and thatched straw roofs.  Flowers pots sat on almost every windowsill.  

The village centre was beaming with life.  Markets filled the village square, selling clothes, trinkets, vegetables, meat, books, jewelry: everything you could think of. 

Children danced and played with the water fountain situated in the centre of the village square. 

Old men sat on wooden stools at the edge of the square smoking cigars and reliving memories of the good old days.

Then there were the creatures!  A goblin of some sort with long pointed ears and short thin fingers sat at a stall dealing cards to a group of loud drunk men.  A woman with long silky blue hair sat at a spinning wheel, spinning wool with her nose that was of an elephant's trunk.  A stall in the corner of the market had a few miniature pony unicorns for sale.  

Sonia felt as though she was dreaming.  This was incredible.  It was like she was in a medieval fantasy movie.  She turned to Eric who was smiling at her.  She went to open her mouth to describe what she was feeling but there were no words.  

'Come on,' simply said Eric.  He placed his hand on her back and gently guided her forward.  They made their through the food stalls first.  Eric had only mentioned several hundred times how hungry he was whilst making their way to Alexandria.  After declaring he could eat a horse, Eric settled for some fruit and chocolate croissants.

Sonia browsed through the stalls eating her croissant.  Books, fountain pens, fabrics, healing crystals - you could buy anything!  For a while Sonia examined snow globes with real fairy dust the stall sign said.  They were beautiful.

'One for five gold coins or two for seven!' the stall owner explained.

'Oh, no thank you.  I'm just browsing today,' said Sonia.

'Browsing?' the owner said shocked, 'who browses these days?  You must buy!'  Sonia laughed, shook her head and slowly walked away.  Eric joined her and nudged her side.

'Those telescopes over there are amazing!  You can see Jupiter so clearly!' he exclaimed.  Sonia looked at where Eric was pointing and saw a stall filled with brass, gold and silver telescopes.  The owner wore robes and a pointed hat with silver stars sewn on top.

'Why do you want to see Jupiter?  You could probably find a book about space travel, read yourself into it and visit Jupiter?' laughed Sonia.  Eric stopped in his tracks and stared at Sonia.  His eyes grew wide with realisation.

'That is a brilliant idea!'

Sonia laughed and together they made their way towards the clothing stalls.  Ladys with pretty skirts and silk blouses surrounded the clothing racks.  Sonia made her way towards the trousers stall. 

'Oh no you don't, I choose remember?' grinned Eric.  Sonia groaned.

'Please don't pick something awful, I know that grin of yours!'  Eric laughed and took Sonia's hand then dragged her towards the dress section.  Sonia groaned even more.

'I hate dresses!' she moaned.  Eric pretended he couldn't hear her.  He dragged her into the centre of the stall where a pretty lady wearing an extravagant hot pink dress stood eyeing the two children with suspicion.

'Ah!' spoke Eric.  'Mademoiselle, I was wondering if you could assist my poor girlfriend here. Unfortunately we encountered a horrendous beast in the forest last night and lost our luggage.  We are in desperate need of a change of clothes.  Do you have a dress that might suit her?'

The lady immediately relaxed her shoulders and opened her arms wide.

'Ah!  Poor children!  How scared you must have been!  My name is Adeline and of course I have a dress that would suit your friend,' Adeline declared.  She turned to Sonia.  'And shoes!  You need new shoes!'  Sonia looked down at her holey and dirty shoes, she looked at Eric.  

'New shoes too please,' he said.  Adeline studied Sonia and placed her hands on her hips.

'You must be, what?  Five foot six?  Sixty-five centimetres around the waist?  Come girl!  I find you a pretty dress and shoes to match.' She dragged Sonia by the wrist and shoved her into the changing room.

Twelve dresses, five shoes, two mini tantrums and thirty minutes later Sonia nervously walked out of the changing room and into Eric's gaze.  She waited for his fit of giggles to come but it didn't.

'You look beautiful,' he said.  Sonia blushed and looked down at the dress she was wearing.  It was white, with a pattern of flying birds all over.  It had lace detailing at the top over her collarbone and shoulders.  The dress came to her knees and flowed nicely at the bottom.  She wore brown sandals that had a simple strap over her ankle and another over her toes.  She felt girly, but comfortable.

Eric had got changed too.  He now wore shorts and a linen navy t-shirt.  He was still staring at her.

'You look good too,' she told him.  Adeline, the dress stall owner, clapped her hands together.

'You two are simply wonderful!' she said with delight.  Eric paid Adeline and the two children left the stall shyly smiling at each other.

'Do you like the dress?' asked Eric.

'I do,' smiled Sonia, 'I usually hate dresses but I like this one.  Adeline is a very good sales assistant.'

'I'm glad you like the dress, it suits you very well,' commented Eric.  Sonia once again blushed and rolled her eyes.  Sonia looked around at the stalls and noticed a stall selling leather notebooks.  They looked incredibly beautiful.

'Can we please have a look over there?' she asked Eric.  

'Sure,' he replied.  They walked forward and just as they reached the stall something sharp gripped Sonia's wrist and yanked her backwards.  It was an old lady.  Her back was hunched, her teeth was yellow and her grey greasy hair was bald in some places.  Sonia went to yank her hand back but the lady tightened her grip.

'Let me go!' demanded Sonia.  The old lady cackled.  Eric stormed forward and shoved the lady backwards.  She let go of Sonia's wrist and stumbled into the stall behind her.

'She said let go you witch!'  The witch regained her posture and cocked her head at Eric.

'Five gold coins and I can tell you your future,' the witch offered.  Eric snorted.

'How about no gold coins and get the hell out of here!  You're not welcome here.'  The witch cackled again.  She was thoroughly enjoying herself and now that a small crowd had gathered around the growing scene she thought this was hilarious.

'Over protective of the girlfriend I see!'

'She's not my-'

'Don't fool yourself boy!  Now girl, do you want to know your future or not?'  Sonia shook her head, too scared to speak.  The witch shrugged her shoulders.

'Shame, poor shame,' the witch muttered to herself.  Eric placed his hand on Sonia's back and guided her away from the scene.  Witch's were awful and filled with dirty tricks. 

'Let's go,' he told her.  Sonia nodded and walked away with him.

'Oh, Georgina Jane!' the witch yelled after her, 'what you seek, you will not find!'  The witch cackled again and as Sonia turned around to look at the witch one last time she realised she was gone.

'Don't listen to her,' insisted Eric.  'Witches are nothing but a nuisance.  Come on, we better head to the Library and get you home.'