A/N: Yeah, I know this has probably been done a million times, but hey, the idea popped into my head when I was laying down on the couch a second ago… so here you are.
Touch of a Fairy Tale
I've never much believed in fairy tales. Yes, of course I did when I was little. Didn't everyone? I grew up in the 90's, for Pete's sake. We lived and breathed fairy tales back then, what with Disney pretty much ruling the world of little kids' movies. But now that I'm seventeen, I figured I grew out of the whole Disney princess thing a long time ago.
Boy, was I wrong.
Let me backtrack a little. I live on Long Island, on the end closest to the city. You know what city I'm talking about, and if you don't, you're not from New York. Anyway, my story goes like this.
I was born in April of 1993. I was christened a few months later. Don't ask me why; I don't know. My mom never told me, and frankly, I was a baby at the time. So… oh well, I guess. Before you ask, no, no evil fairy put a curse on me that day. I don't have a fairy godmother. I have a regular godmother named Penelope who I don't see very often. Big whoop.
The real trouble started a few weeks ago.
I was walking home from my bus stop after school. The snow on the ground had become slush and I was trying not to get my feet wet, so I was kind of dancing on top of it. I was almost home, when some old crone passed me on the sidewalk, shoving me into the fence near my friend Matt's house. Angry, I called after her to watch where she was going. She turned around, and she looked PISSED.
"Excuse me?" she screeched, her voice like nails on a chalkboard.
"I said, watch where you're going! You almost made me sprain my ankle!" I answered.
"I don't think you want to talk to your elders that way, kiddo!" she snarled, revealing yellow teeth. I cringed.
"Kiddo? Really? Ugh, forget it. Bye!" I turned quickly and raised my arm in a half-wave. Something told me to get away from this woman as quickly as possible.
Before I knew it, she had zapped my hand and started muttering nonsensical gibberish. I stood frozen on the spot, my back to her. I felt like my blood had become ice water.
"The next time you treat someone with disrespect, you will fall into a deep sleep until such time as you share in true love's kiss… and may it be soon, you little wretch!" the woman whispered, each word pounding into my head until I felt sick.
And then she was gone. Her hold on me had ended, and I was free to go home. I took deep, ragged breaths to try and calm myself before I went inside.
True love's kiss? Who am I, Sleeping Beauty?
I put the spell out of my mind for a while, trying to keep my sanity in an ever-changing world. Nothing stayed the same in my life for more than a week. One week I had Driver's Ed on Thursday and Saturday, the next week I had it on Wednesday and Thursday, the week after that, it was over, the week before that, I had All County during Driver's Ed… it was nuts. I tried to keep my cool no matter what, afraid that the spell might actually be real (I wasn't thinking about it directly, just the whole "don't disrespect anybody" part). This worked fine until the following Monday.
Monday started out as a pretty normal day. I got up before the sun came out, exhausted because I can never seem to fall asleep on Sunday nights, ate breakfast, brushed my teeth and put in my contact lenses, the whole shebang. That's a funny word, isn't it? Shebang? Anyway…
Third period (roughly 9-ish to 9:45-ish), we had a fire drill in the freezing cold. I thought, fine. I went outside with the rest of my class and see my friends Danny and Matt, so I walked over to say hi. They were with this guy Ian who I just… I don't know what my problem with him is, but I just hate him. A lot. And no, it's not the kind of hate that's really love but you don't know it. Nope, I just hate the guy and I don't know why. Maybe he did something to me in a past life. I don't know. I just hate him.
"Hey, guys," I said to them, trying my best not to grimace at Ian's horrible ugliness. I'm sorry, but it's true… the guy looks like a pimply rat. Maybe that's why I hate him. I mean… I don't like to be shallow, but right in my gut is this absolute hatred of Ian… plus, he's ugly. Again, I'm sorry, but it's true.
"Hey, Daria," Matt responded with his ear-to-ear grin. I didn't like Matt as anything more than a friend, but even I have to admit he has a fantastically dazzling smile.
Danny just grinned at me. I felt my heart take a flying leap into my throat. See, Danny's the one I've liked since… oh, three years ago. He's cute, nice, and everybody loves him. I'm no exception. What's not to love? He's got this adorable mop of curly brown hair, chocolate brown eye, olive skin… he's gorgeous!
Matt is… considerably less adorable, with his Irish, pale freckled skin and bright flaming orange hair. Alright, so his big blue eyes draw me in and his smile gives me butterflies, but… come on, I've known him since I moved here! He's my best friend!
Anyway, Ian said something stupid… I don't really remember now what it was. Maybe I just think everything he says is stupid, but that's not fair to him. But eventually in this conversation, something in my head snapped.
"Ian, SHUT UP! I F-KING HATE YOU!" I shouted. Matt started laughing- he loves when I get like that. Stupid jerk. I hate him sometimes. Danny just looked concerned for Ian's safety. Personally, I hate when that happens to me- this uncontrollable rage comes over me. It feels like I'm not in control of myself anymore. And this time… I really wasn't.
My vision went blurry, then my head started pounding. I don't know how I got through the rest of the day, but the next thing I remember is coming home on the bus and laying down in my room. I could feel the old woman's words shooting through my head. Then I fell asleep.
