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"Tomorrow night when the moon is full, take your Magical Scroll, and the little blue bottle of tears from your hiding place, and go to the lake near your house."

"But there is no lake near my house!" The Chinchilla Princess exclaimed.

"There is, Princess, and so shall see, if you just let yourself believe."

"Now, when you come to the lake, sprinkle your tears in the water. Take off your pelt, wash it in the lake, and hang it to dry on a branch of the Old Willow Tree that grows there."

"But I will be naked and vulnerable without my pelt!" The Chinchilla Princess cried.

"All the better to know your own skin," Great Wolf replied, and she was quiet.

"Next, take your heart out and cleanse it in the lake, but be careful not to scratch it, and bury it in the earth at the base of the Old Willow Tree."

"But I will be empty without my heart!" The Chinchilla Princess cried.

"All the better to know the treasure it carries." Great Wolf replied, and she was quiet.

"Then, take your Magical Scroll, walk into the lake and dive down deep with your eyes wide open."

"But I can’t swim!" The Chinchilla Princess cried!

"All the better to learn to trust in the currents of life” said Great Wolf in a commanding growl.

The Chinchilla Princess took a deep breath. "I will do as you say, Great Wolf. What next?"

"You will know what to do, Princess. I can tell you no more, except to wish you luck. The sun will rise in a few hours and I must go. Return home now, for you have had a long night and your awakening has just begun. You must rest."

And with that, Great Wolf bowed before her and vanished in an instant into the trees.

..........

The next morning, The Chinchilla Princess awoke with a strange, complicated mixture of feelings...

She knew something momentous had begun, and this excited her, but she knew too that things that were the same before would be different now, and this made her afraid and sad.

She kissed her beloved woodsman good-day and shook off the sense that he looked different to her now, and went to work in the Big Bright City of Lights.

The Chinchilla Princess arrived at Weave & Weasel Inc., and as she walked along the halls towards her chamber, she noticed that people looked harried and drawn as they rushed around holding tightly to the sleek, black cases that carried their Magical Scrolls.

She went into her chamber and worked hard at her tasks all day, as she always did, but somehow now she felt her heart was not in it anymore. She felt sadder than ever as she canted and spun and bent and wove the Rules of the Agreed World.

Late in the day, Master Weasel came in to her chamber and gave her another task.

"Have this on my desk by morning." Master Weasel said, as he dropped a mountainous task on her table and left.

The Chinchilla Princess watched him as he walked away, and for a flickering moment was sure she saw him shrink and become small and dark, and a ragged tail appear between his legs, but she shrugged it off, and looked at her task.