Lene awoke to the smell of bacon the next morning. Her eyes were still bleary as she sat up in bed and brushed her dark curly hair out of her eyes, but she could hear the sound of an egg being cracked followed by the sizzle of a frying pan. "Mmm… brekkers!"

Crouched on the hearth over a cast iron skillet, Nick glanced over his shoulder at the sound of her voice. "Mornin', sunshine. You seemed kinda tired today so I let you sleep in."

Lene looked out the nearest window and saw that the sun was already up and shining brightly in a clear blue, sky.

Rising from the fireplace, Nick walked over to the table, skillet in hand. "Hey, can you believe it--I found a chicken outside, a real frickin' chicken. I followed it for like twenty minutes 'til it went back to its nest, and there were all these eggs!"

"You chased a chicken?" The little girl giggled, throwing back the quilted covers and hopping out of bed.

"Just for you, kiddo. Now come here and have some before it gets cold." He tipped the contents of the skillet onto a wooden dish and passed the plate and a fork to her. "When you're all done eating, I think I found a way to get to that castle."

"Oh," Lene said, her mouth full. She wished they wouldn't have to take off so soon, especially since they had found a nice place to stay with plenty of things to eat. The cottage was cozy and welcoming, and with the late morning light filtering in through the windows the room was bathed in a warm, golden glow. If only she could find a way to keep Nick's mind off that castle.

"Geeze, kid, slow down. You're, like, eating your own hair," Nick said, reaching over to sweep a loose lock of hair away from her plate.  He dipped a wooden cup into a bucket of water beside the table and passed it to her. "Here, you thirsty?" 

Nodding, Lene took the cup from him and drank with a loud slurp. Nick rose from the table and began to pace around the room as he talked. "So I was walking all around the valley this morning. This place is like a painting, I can't believe how green the grass is and how purple the mountains are. I mean, are mountains even supposed to actually look purple? I don't remember. Anyway, if you keep walking down the valley, you come to this pass through the mountains, and through there I could see the castle. It doesn't seem so far away as before either, so we must be getting close I think, like no more than a few days away."

Lene mumbled something, which made Nick stop pacing and turn to look at her. "What was that?"

"I said… Do we have to go? We just found this place, and it's nice and has lots of food, and it doesn't feel scary like every other place we've been to. I like it here." She held her breath, waiting to see how Nick would respond.

He smiled and walked back over to the table to take a seat on the chair beside her. Reaching over, he put one big hand on her head and mussed her hair. "Yeah, I like this place, too. We don't have to go right away, but you know we can't stay here forever, kiddo."

"But why not? There's chickens and there's eggs. We could have eggs everyday!"

"Because we don't belong here. This isn't our home." He smiled patiently and told her, "I'm sure they have chickens and eggs back in the World where I'm from, and the key to getting back is that castle. We have to go there."

"Says who?" Lene stuck out her lower lip, giving Nick a huge pout.

"Well Arthur, for starters. Remember him, from the forest? He said that the castle is some sort of doorway between Other World and my world. And also… well, you. Ever since you were old enough to talk, you've been insisting that we have to go to that castle."

It was true. Up until now, she'd only been speeding along the process that would take Nick away from her. Well, that was going to have to change. Somehow. "I don't remember," she lied.

"Okay, if you say so… either way, you should finish your food and we'll take a walk down the valley. Maybe seeing the castle again for yourself will help jog your memory."

Lene pushed the food around on her plate sulkily, trying to prolong breakfast as much as possible while she watched Nick from the corner of her eye. He went around the little cottage, magically unlocking various cupboards, drawers, and closets looking for anything that might be useful to them on their travels and piling them neatly into the center of the room. She had no idea how she was going to convince him not to go to the castle, but instead to stay here in Other World with her. Crying had never seemed to convince her parents to change their minds once they had made a decision, but would it work on Nick?

He was just digging around in the closet when he made a shout of discovery. "Hey, check it out!"

Lene hopped off of her seat to go take a look as Nick dragged a large black trunk out into the main room, its lid wide open. Peering inside, she saw the gleam of wood amidst folds of dark velvet cloth, which Nick pulled out to reveal a beautiful classical guitar. The bright cedar top of the instrument had been detailed with elaborate marquetry along the edges of the body and around the sound hole, while the fretboard was done in richly hued rosewood marked with gold frets. The tuners were gold plated and carved ivory, finely shaped into round tuning keys.

"Wow, this is gorgeous…" he whispered almost reverently.

"Do you know how to play it?" Lene asked.

"You know what, I think I do…" He gathered the guitar into his arms, positioning it in front of his body. As his hand moved over the instrument's elegant neck, Lene could sense magic rising off of it—very faintly at first, but the longer Nick held the guitar the more pronounced the magic became. It was a complicated enchantment, and Lene could only understand a little bit of it, but in a flash she realized that it had the power to make one forget. Her mouth formed a tiny 'o' of surprise.

Oblivion, the guitar sang in harsh discord as Nick gave the strings a light strum. They rang decidedly off key. "Wonder when's the last time this thing's been tuned," he mused aloud and began to fiddle with the tuning keys on the head of the guitar, plucking at the strings one at a time.

"Nick, don't…" Lene began, not sure if she should warn him. She had no idea why anyone would enchant a guitar to make one forget, but an opportunity seemed to have fallen right into her lap. Already she could see a glazed look coming over Nick's eyes as the spell took hold.

"There we go, I think I got it," he said and strummed again. This time the strings rang in harmony, and it was almost as though the sound swirled through the air and spun itself tightly around Nick, who was blissfully unaware. "Sorry, kid, were you saying something?" he asked, looking up from the guitar at her.

"Uh… Could you... play me a song?" she asked with a nervous smile.

***

Nick could play, all right. He knew countless songs that Lene had never heard, and his voice was so beautiful that she wanted nothing more than to sit and listen to him play all day. And that was just what they did. For hours Nick played song after song--pop songs, ballads, classic rock, even a few kids songs to entertain her--and Lene sat and listened, mesmerized by the beauty of it. It wasn't just the guitar, so gorgeous and melodious, that had captivated her but Nick's voice, too. At times it was so clear and pure, others husky and soulful, filled with deep longing.

Before they knew it the day had slipped away, and Lene's stomach was growling. Nick set the guitar aside with a laugh. "God, what happened to the time? Let's eat something, I'm starving." They cooked dinner together with some vegetables picked from the overgrown garden, while Nick chattered away about his new discovery.

"I can't believe this!" he enthused. "I feel like my memory's coming back to me. I know all these songs. I must be, like, a musician or something back home, right?"

"…right," Lene gave him a wan smile. Even though Nick hadn't brought up the castle since this morning, he didn't seem to have forgotten about going home either.

"Well, when we're finished eating, I can play some more for you!" he said excitedly. "Maybe if I play enough, I can remember more about who I am."

He played late into the evening by candlelight until Lene dozed off, unable to stay awake and listen any longer, and when she awoke the next morning he was playing again, still seated at the same chair by the window. She wasn't sure if Nick had even slept.

"Oh sorry, did I wake you?" he asked.

"Did you play all night?" Lene said in surprise, sitting up on the stuffed mattress. She grabbed the nearest quilt and wrapped it around her shoulders against the cold morning air.

"No, that's crazy!" Nick laughed. "But I couldn't sleep well, so I got out of bed a little while ago. Are you cold?" he asked, noticing her shiver. "Let me light a fire." Gently setting the guitar aside, he rose and bustled around the hearth, and before long a warm fire was crackling away.

Lene went out to fetch water from the well, leaving Nick to get breakfast started. Her breath rose in frosty plumes as she worked the well's lever, pumping water into the wooden bucket she'd brought from the kitchen. She felt a little unsettled by how Nick had looked when she woke up--as though he hadn't moved from his place by the window at all, just sat there playing guitar all night--but brushed the feeling aside. If the enchantment was working to make Nick forget about the castle, she should just let it do its work and not worry about it.

When Lene went back in, Nick was chopping some vegetables for breakfast omelets. "Do you like zucchini?" he asked, holding up a long green squash.

"Looks weird." Lene wrinkled her nose.

"Ha, well you're gonna eat it anyway," Nick told her and proceeded to chop it up.

She dragged the bucket over to the kitchen table and sat down, watching him cook. She observed in silence, listening to the rhythmic staccato of the kitchen knife on the cutting board. Nick was humming a song she didn't know.

"What song is that?" Lene asked him.

"I'm trying to remember… it has this amazing guitar part that I really want to try and play." Humming a little more, he began to sing, "Guilty roads to an endless love… There's no control, are you with me now? Your every wish will be done…They tell me, show me the mea--hey!" he stopped suddenly. "That's it. The song is called 'Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely.' It's off of Millennium."

"Off of what?" Nick was saying a lot of things that she didn't understand. "Mill… m&m?

"Millennium. It was, like, one of the biggest albums of all time. We worked so hard on it, me and the guys…" he trailed off, his brows furrowing. "The guys… why can't I remember? I feel like I should." He set the kitchen knife down and walked away from the table, deep in thought, heading for the guitar across the room. "Maybe if I play some more…" At that moment Nick stumbled, tripping over the things he'd left in the center of the room while preparing their travel gear the day before. "Ahh! What is all this junk doing just lying here in the middle of the floor?"

"You--" Lene began but caught herself quickly, "I'll get it. I'll put it away." Nick didn't seem to have noticed. Already, he had picked up the guitar and was working his way through a difficult section of the song. /He doesn't remember. He forgot why he pulled all those things out/, she realized. 

There was a coat that looked like it would fit her, some warm clothes for Nick, and a backpack and satchel filled with matches and other sundries, including… baby powder? Lene had no idea why Nick might think they needed baby powder, but she stuffed it and all the other things on the floor in the closet. Out of sight, out of mind.

Nick was stilling working on his song when she was done, so she finished preparing breakfast and carried a plate of omelet and toast over to him. "Here you go."

"Oh thanks, kid," he looked up from the guitar and quickly set it aside. "Sorry, I got distracted. I can't wait to play it for you."

"I can't wait to hear it!" she said excitedly. Then in a more careful voice,"…So, anything you wanna do today, Nick?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. After breakfast, I was thinking of splitting more wood for the fire. I saw some logs and a hatchet out back. I think we need more eggs, too, so we should hunt down that chicken I found yesterday and see if there are any more of them out there."

Lene's heart skipped a beat. No mention of the castle. "Oh, anything else?"

"Not really. Maybe try to do something about that crazy garden. It's full of weeds. And play the guitar, of course."

It had worked. The spell had really worked! Nick had completely forgotten his plan about going anywhere, which meant that they could stay at the cottage together. "Thank you," Lene mouthed silently, looking at the guitar leaning against the wall. Whoever had enchanted that guitar, and for whatever reason, she owed them one.

***

They spent the next few days tending to the little cottage and its garden. Walking around the meadow, the two of them found a stray cow and her calf, which they led back to the cottage and tethered to a post, as well as a dozen chickens with nests full of eggs. Lene kept Nick away from the far end of the valley, which she knew led to the castle, but he didn't seem very interested in wandering far from their new home anyway. In fact, as the days passed by, Nick didn't seem particularly interested in anything but playing guitar and going through the motions of eating and sleeping.

Lene didn't notice at first, as she was busy tending to their new livestock and playing house. She had named the cow Daisy and the calf Sunshine, and she spent hours each day brushing their coats until they gleamed. Since Nick was busy working on his music, Lene talked to her new animal friends instead and told them how terribly excited she was that she and Nick were going to stay in the cottage forever, and that he would always be there to play games, tell stories, and sing to her. 

But it wasn't long before Nick's withdrawal became so pronounced that there was no missing it. Sometimes when Lene called his name, Nick would have a far off look in his eyes, as though he weren't hearing her. His favorite place became the seat at the kitchen table closest to the window, where he spent days playing song after song. When we wasn't playing, he passed the hours absently staring off into the distance, just holding the guitar in his arms. Lene took care of everything else--watering the farm animals, tending the garden, and preparing their meals by herself.

By the end of their first week staying at the cottage, she knew she had made a huge mistake. She had to draw Nick out of his stupor somehow. Maybe if she got him talking about his life again?

Lene called to him from across the room, but it was difficult to get his attention. "Nick… Nick…! …NICK!" The last time she spoke very loudly, walking up to him and waving her hands in front of his face.

Nick blinked. "Oh, sorry, kiddo. I didn't hear you. What's up?"

"Nick, tell me a story. One about those guys you made music with? The mill m&m guys," she said.

"What are you talking about?" He smiled at her quizzically. "Hey, I got a great idea. How about I play you a song instead. Have you heard this one?" And he launched into a poppy, upbeat tune, singing without a care in the world.

This was bad. Nick seemed to have no interest in anything she said. What if one day, he just stopped responding all together? As Nick sang, the setting sun shone in through the window and casted orange and gold beams across his face. Somehow the light had a sinister glow to it from the guitar's spell, which swirled around him, and Lene could see the enchantment for what it really was--a curse. She had to do something about it.

"I'm going to the bathroom," she announced, though Nick wasn't paying attention anyway, and grabbed the lantern off the hook by the door. However, instead of heading to the outhouse she walked over to the fence where Daisy and Sunshine were tethered. The big cow mooed gently and swished her tail as Lene approached.

"Hey, girl…" she whispered, reaching for the rope attached to Daisy's collar. She untied it and gave Daisy a firm smack on the rump. "Go!" With a start the cow took off at a run into the fading light of the meadow. Lene summoned up her best tears and then headed back into the cottage, bursting through the door.

"Nick, Nick! Daisy's goooooone!" she wailed. "I went to check on her, and-and she wasn't… she wasn't there!" Her loud cries broke through Nick's daze.

"What happened, kid? Calm down." He blinked several times, as though trying to bring the world into focus.

"I don't know, but…" she forced the tears out, "Daisy wasn't there where I left her. What if something bad happened to her?!"

Nick set the guitar down. "It's okay. She couldn't have gone far. Why don't you stay here, and I'll go look for her? Make something to eat while I'm gone."

Lene nodded, sniffling loudly. He took the lantern from her and went out into the night to look for the wayward cow. As soon as the door shut behind him, Lene went to the window to watch until Nick was out of sight. Then she ran back outside and around to the woodpile, where he usually split timber for firewood. There, wedged into an old stump was a large hatchet, which Lene planned to use to make kindle out of the cursed guitar and set Nick free. She grabbed the handle and pulled.

Nothing happened. Nick had driven the hatchet into the tree stump too deeply. Gripping it with both hands, Lene braced her foot against the stump for leverage and pulled again. Still nothing. Her hands slipped and she fell backward, landing on her bottom with a hard thump. This was no good. She rubbed her bottom as she climbed to her feet and looked at the hatchet with determination. Just because she was nine years old didn't mean a farm tool could get the best of her.

When Lene grabbed the handle once more, she closed her eyes and focused on pulling the hatchet out not only with her hands, but with her will. Slowly, the blade wiggled free from the stump, and she stumbled back nearly landing on her bottom again.  Lene managed to keep her balance, though the hatchet was much heavier than she had expected. No time to waste, she marched with determination back into the house and stood before the guitar.

It looked perfectly normal, albeit exceptional beautiful, leaning against the wall where Nick had left it. Who could've known that such an innocuous-looking instrument harbored such a powerful curse? Lene knew though, and she had let the enchantment take over the mind of the person dearest to her. It was time to undo her wrong. She closed her eyes, hoisting the hatchet high above her head, ready to deliver a crushing blow to the instrument. Lene willed all of her power into the strike and was just about to swing when, all of a sudden, the axe handle was wrenched from her grasp.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Nick shouted, throwing the hatchet aside. His eyes were blazing with a look she had never seen in them before.

Lene shrank away from him. "I…"

He ignored her, gathering the guitar into his arms possessively. "What is WRONG with you? What the hell is freaking wrong with you?!" Angrily he stomped over to the kitchen table, grabbed a wooden chair, carried it to the far end of the room, slammed the chair down in the opposite corner facing the wall, and pointed. "Sit down!" he barked. He looked so furious the veins in his neck were standing out.

Lene scurried over to the chair and sat down. "For how long?" she asked meekly.

"Until I say so! No supper for you, and don't you dare turn around until I say you can get up," Nick said imperiously. "And if I hear so much as a peep out of you, I'll be so mad, I don't know what I'll do!" Before long, Lene could hear the sound of furious strumming as he vented his anger with music.

Dinner that night was awkward and silent. Nick ended up bringing her a hunk of bread and some water, but he only grunted when she said thank you. The bread tasted as dry as cotton in her mouth. Lene bit her lip, trying to fight off the tears that were genuine this time. She regretted ever letting Nick play the stupid guitar. She had wanted him to forget about the castle, but he had forgotten about everything else, as well. How much longer before Nick forgot about her, too?