Melissa smiled reassuringly, leaving the story going for her and turning back to watch herself.  Knowing that Miyu was enjoying the tale made Melissa enjoy it all the more, and she relaxed to turn her attention more diligently to the story.<br/><br/>The princess was running scared now, really starting to understand the true difficulty of her journey.  Her feet were starting to bleed from the glass heels, she was frightened and desperate, and the rips and tears forming in her dress were starting to be the least of her worries.<br/><br/>She came across a gnome whittling a pair of shoes in the forest, and fell before the stump as her legs finally gave out.  "A princess," he said, "a princess fair.  Dear me, what could have caused such a scare?"<br/><br/>As she explained her predicament, she kept on massaging her legs, her eyes focused upon the wooden shoes, which now seemed infinitely preferable to the wretched things currently upon her feet.  Although he didn't say overly much in response, everything he said was in rhyme, sounding cryptic and whimsical.<br/><br/>"A trade?" he finally said.  "Sounds ever so fun."  His grin grew a bit more devious.  "But once I start trading, I can't stop at just one."