Title: Tale II
Prompt: "Running Away"
Character(s): Henry Mills
The idea of running away from home never struck Henry until Miss Blanchard gave him the book. She, like everyone, believed his troubled mind - be it a result of childish resentment for his mother, or a mere identity crisis because he didn't know his parents - needed to be preoccupied; at the very least, she was "nicer" about it than anyone on Mom's payroll. Sheriff Graham in particular was patronizing to the point of exasperation and he did it all by never saying anything.
Henry hated that.
Regardless of the intention behind it, Henry took the book off her hands and in one night reached the end of the tale without pause. How he could be so enthralled by what was, for all intents and purposes, an unnumbered revision of the lives countless fairy tale characters, remained a mystery to him at first. However, the more he read between the lines of the story, the more he simply read the book, things began to click in quick succession. The clock, his mother, the missing daughter, Miss Blanchard, Snow White; it was all too much of a coincidence to believe anything otherwise.
He knew the ramifications of his actions the moment he confided Dr. Hopper, but for whatever reason, Henry didn't care. His mother could huff and puff all she wanted, but it wouldn't stop him.
Once he got everything in order, he was gone and when he got back, things would be better.
They had to be.