The room was on fire. In a way, it reminded him of when he'd gotten home from school to see the apartment he'd lived in had burned down. Only he hadn't been in the building, while now, he was in the middle of a burning room.

"HELP!" he shouted. "SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!"

He had no idea if anyone was here, if anyone could hear him.

He hadn't had a nightmare in months, so he supposed he was due for one.

"H-Henry?!"

Someone was here! But how did they know his name?

"Can you see me?!" he called out. "Where are you?!"

"I'm over here! I'll come to you… just stay there Henry!" the woman called back.

His name again. He wondered how in the world the woman could have known that.

She appeared before him suddenly, the flames moving out of her way, like she could control them. Henry shivered, but was glad that some of them were away from him. Taking in the woman's appearance, he noticed that she was dressed in a beautiful white gown, with long ebony hair, and red lips.

Just like…

"Snow White?"

She stared at him and smiled. "Yes… I'm Snow White. How did you know that?" she whispered, looking as if she'd known him for years.

"You look like her. Well, the way the books describe her anyway. Dark hair, reddish lips, a dress that looks like something out of a movie… only difference is your hair's a lot shorter in the movie I've seen."

When she didn't look confused as to what a 'movie' was, Henry had a feeling this wasn't an ordinary dream.

Instead, she laughed quietly. "Yes, I suppose that's right. The story in that movie is… vastly different from the truth. Really I think the only things that are the same is my hair color, the poisoned apple, and my stepmother being the reason I ate the apple to begin with."

Henry stared at her. This sounded interesting.

But first… there was something bothering him.

"How did you know my name?" the boy asked.

The question seemed to cause a reaction in the woman, and Henry knew something was up at that moment.

"It's a long story, Henry," she said softly. "A very, very long story."

"Is this just a dream?" he asked. "And don't lie to me. I have a thing with lies."

Snow White laughed a little, before her face became somber again. "No Henry. This isn't a dream. Well, not really. You're really asleep and this is really in your head but… as far as this conversation it isn't something your subconscious has made up or anything."

"But how? You're a fairytale. You can't be real…"

He was too old to believe in these things, wasn't he? But this felt so real, and though he'd felt something like this before in his dreams, even this felt different.

"Anything is possible, Henry," she said softly. "You must always believe that."

"So if this is real… if you're real… how do you know me?" he asked, swallowing tight. He wanted to believe more than anything that this was real – because if it was that was the best thing to ever happen in his life – to have one of his mother's favorite fairy tale characters be real – she needed it after the life she had. Maybe Snow White could help his mother out, make her be happier, like her movie was.

"I'm - "

But before she could answer, he faded away.

Henry took a deep breath as he opened and rubbed at his eyes, finding himself back in his bedroom, hearing "Charley's Girl" muffled from his mother's room next door.

"Henry! Hurry up and get dressed! I need to drop you off early today!"

"Okay Mom!" he called back as he made his way to where he'd set out his clothes the night before. As he changed, Henry couldn't shake the feeling that the dream he'd had was real – and he hoped he would see Snow White again.