Michelle is standing in her family’s little workshop, full of dust from the day’s work, and her hands sore from all the work. Her father has again bragged to the town’s richest nobleman that she can make gold from hay. Michelle is now sitting in a cold cellar with a stack of dried-out hay in front of her, while she has a lump in her stomach, the feeling of guilt, almost. She knows it’s impossible, but the rumors have spread, and it’s too late to turn around now. 

   While she is fighting the tears running down her cheek and the feeling of guilt, she can hear a sound behind her. A little man comes out from the dark, and when he steps out in the light, his skin sparkles. He looks at Michelle with a grin smeared over his face. 

   He knows something she doesn’t. 

   He says he can help her, but everything in Michelle’s body says it’s not safe to trust him. However, when he asks her if she has something in exchange for him, she only hesitates for a second before she promises her first jewelry piece. 

  Michelle’s mother’s silver ring. 

  He lays his hands over the dried-out hay and mumbles some words Michelle can not understand.

  Overnight, the hay has turned into gold strings that shone in the light. It was a miracle, but Michelle has this feeling in her, a feeling that this is not her work, and the price for this is still not fully paid. 

  When the night comes again, Michelle can hear the same sound behind her. It is the same little man that steps out from the dark and sparkles in the light. This time his grin is even bigger. 

  This time, he wants more because Michelle is now even more valuable to the town. She promises him everything she can. Her grandmother’s old brooch, a promise to never tell anyone about him, and even her firstborn child. He accepts, and once again hay turns into gold overnight. 

  Years pass, and Michelle has a child, her first child. One of Michelle’s biggest loves in life, and this love makes her forget all about old promises. 

  One night, she hears the same sound from years before behind her. It’s the same little man. He steps out of the dark and into the light. He still glows, but this time he requires something that is his. 

  Michelle remembers now. 

  She begged him to not take her child, and he listened. 

  But he says that if she can not guess his name in three days, he will take her firstborn child. 

  On night three, Michelle finds him dancing around a fire by the river, whispering his name in the wind

– Rumplestiltskin. 

  The moment Michelle says his name the next day, he disappears into thin air. 

  She never saw him again, ever.