Prologue - Never Judge a Book by it's Cover
I'd read my fair share of books and novels in my lifetime - always envious of those happy-endings and triumphant victories. It was something you never got used to; the happiness of being able to get away from life for a few moments, which suddenly morphed in to longing or regret when you finally left the imaginary and returned to the less then bright reality.
I always tried to be optimistic with my hopes and dreams, but that little part of me kept telling me how unlikely it was that I would achieve the fairytale future I so longed for. How could you really expect to be given something so perfect, so right, as it would surely put you out of sink with the rest of the less-than-perfect world than surrounds us.
One day - I kept telling the small part of me - I will prove you wrong, I will succeed. I never could have guessed how right my feeble attempts at persuasion were (as I, myself, did not truly believe them), and never-ever could I have guessed how this perfect future would come about.