Once upon a time …
River had always loved those words. They spelt out mystery, love, intrigue, princes and princesses, magic, all in those four little words. When she was small Simon would read to her. He would sit on the end of her bed and ask what story she would like to hear. River always picked a different one. She didn't really have a favorite, they were all wonderful. Simon sadly stopped reading to her when he thought she was old enough to read. River had been reading since a very young age. Simon had not known this though, and River never told him, for fear of having him stop reading to her. So River tried reading the stories to herself. All the magic and intrigue had left with Simon though, leaving River alone with nothing but words on a page. So River just sat, her tears slowly running the ink away, mixing the worlds together. Once she was at the Academy, the worlds ran together completely. Little red riding hood stayed locked in her tower, Snow White ran from the Big Bad Wolf. Nothing fitted. Nothing made sense. It wasn't right! River loved the words 'Once upon a time', but it seemed that her 'happily ever after' was slowly but surely slipping away.