Prologue
I never thought I would walk down my street - a veritable hive of activity and noise - and hear nothing.
Once Was, was a stronghold of creatures, you know the sort- dwarves, elves, princesses, animated trees, enchanted creatures, lot's of princes-you name it, we had them. Any creature from any fairy tale imaginable.
You used to wonder where Cinderella went to, where Prince Charming went, where Goldilocks and King Arthur, Robin-hood disappeared to. Where the Evil-stepmother went, where Jafar, Prince John and Captain Hook went. As a child you would peer into the woods and see if you could spy one, look under toad-stools for Tom-thumb and Thumbelina to appear. They left because none of them had a place any more. The changing world could not accommodate them any more and their magic no longer was sufficient. Then one day a queen offered them something they could never refuse...
So where did they go, and why?
That, is what I am going to tell you.
It all started out with a little girl, and all that she had ever wanted was her very own fairy tale...