Once upon a time...
There was a little boy named Dean Winchester. His parents doted on him and he, in turn, loved both of them. He was a bright and inquisitive little boy, getting into everything he could possibly get his hands on. He liked to play make-believe games in his backyard where he would often pretend he was a brave knight protecting the beautiful princess in the castle, who just happened to look very much like his mother as she went about her daily routine inside the house.
Sometimes, when little Sir Dean's father was busy working in the garage, he would let his son sit in the front seat of the family's 1967 Chevy Impala and pretend he was driving it. During those times, the young Master Winchester would forget all about the dragons and perilous adventures in his backyard and become the world's fastest racecar driver. And his father would smile and laugh as he watched his son spin the steering wheel madly around in circles while he made revving and roaring noises to enhance his imaginary story.
The year that Dean turned four was a special year. His parents signed him up to play t-ball and just before the season started, there was a new addition to the Winchester clan. Dean had wondered what was going on as his parents frantically worked away in the spare room, painting it and filling it with all kind of strange furniture that his father brought down from the attic. But, like every young boy, he had more important things to occupy his mind and he would soon forget about what his parents were doing. Then one day, his father rushed him to a neighbor's house across the street and just left him there. Dean watched from the neighbor's window as his father and mother got in the car and sped off down the street, away from him. He didn't understand it; his parents always took him with them wherever they went. Why were they suddenly leaving him with people he barely knew?
Dean threw himself on the floor and proceeded to have a very uncharacteristic temper-tantrum. Poor Mrs. Myers couldn't get him to stop - no matter how hard she coaxed or what she tried. Dean just cried and cried and cried until he finally exhausted himself and fell asleep on the floor. Mrs. Myers didn't want to risk waking him for fear of re-igniting his terror so she simply covered him with a blanket and left him on the floor. When Dean woke up just over an hour later, he ran to the window and looked out at his house across the street. But there was no sign of either his mother or father and Dean was sure that his parents had left for good and for some reason he was going to have to live with this new family. So, with tears in his eyes, Dean walked around the house until he found Mrs. Myers and he quietly asked her if she was going to be his new mommy.
Mrs Myers smiled at him before she embraced him in a monstrous hug. "No, Sweetie," she said, "Your Daddy will be back for you soon. And then you'll get to go see your Mommy at the hospital. They'll have a special surprise for you there."
Dean furrowed his little brow. If his parents had a surprise for him why didn't they just take him with them when they went? But, Mrs. Myers had said his father would be back soon to get him, so he ran back to the window to await his father's return. And when John drove up two and a half hours later, there's exactly where he found him. Dean jumped up and down when he saw their car pull into the driveway and watched his father get out. As soon as he heard the doorbell ring, Dean dashed to the front door, almost tripping over his shoes in his rush to get there. He could hardly wait for Mrs. Myers to open the door before he sprang into his father's arms.
"Whoa, Sport!" his father laughed as he swung him up to his shoulders.
"Where's my surprise, Daddy?" Dean asked excitedly. "Mrs. Myers said you have a surprise for me!"
"We sure do, Dean!" replied John as he ruffled his son's hair. "We're going back to see Mommy and your new baby brother at the hospital!"
Dean was confused. A new baby brother? Where did that come from? But he was excited about it anyway. They were going to see his mother and, now that his father was back, Dean had everything he wanted once again. And, if the only thing it took for him to have them both back was a new baby brother, then that was okay with Dean. On their way to see his mother and this new brother, his father stopped at a store and the two of them went in to buy the baby a new teddy bear. Dean found one that was bigger than he was and he convinced his father that it was just what a new baby needed. So they loaded it into the car and drove to the hospital.
When Dean walked into his mother's room, her face immediately lit up into an enchanting smile. Dean leapt onto her bed, giving her a great big bear hug. Then he asked her about this new brother and his mother pointed to a funny-looking see-through box that was sitting on a table beside her bed. Dean cautiously walked over to the little box and peered in at the little baby squirming and kicking inside it. The baby was wiggling all over the place and making the craziest noises he had ever heard. Still, Dean was curious so he put his hand into the box to carefully touch his new little brother. And when the baby grabbed his finger and pulled it toward him, Dean decided that this new baby brother was going to be okay because he already wanted to play with him.
As the summer months passed, Dean took to his new role as a big brother with pride and enthusiasm. It was obvious that he adored his little brother and he loved to get his storybooks and sit beside Sammy's crib and read the stories to him. And whenever he could, he told Sammy about all the fun they'd have when he got bigger and finally be able come out and play with him.
But then in the blink of an eye, Dean's fairytale life changed forever...
Dean had heard noises while he was lying in his bed one night; strange whispering that seemed to be beckoning him out of his room. And when he finally got out of his bed and wandered cautiously into the hallway, he came face to face with his father holding Sammy in his arms. As his father bent down towards him, Dean glanced quickly over his father's shoulder and saw his mother stuck to the ceiling in Sammy's room. And he thought he saw something else too: a sinister-looking man with glowing yellow eyes. But as quickly as he saw him, the man seemed to vanish into thin air and then his father had placed Sammy in his arms and Dean ran out of the house, away from the frightening scene.
After that Dean never saw his mother again. Daddy tried to explain that God had taken Mommy to live with him but Dean was pretty sure that the man he had seen in Sammy's room that night couldn't possibly have been God. He was far too scary. But Dean didn't question his father's belief because he quickly realized that it seemed to make Daddy feel better to think that Mommy had gone away with God. But Dean had seen the look on Mommy's face and he really didn't think she had wanted to go with him. And he was afraid that the scary man would come back for him – or worse – for Sammy. So every night after Mommy left, Dean climbed into Sammy's crib with him to ensure himself that Sammy was safe. And he was afraid to tell anyone about the man with the glowing yellow eyes, so he just stopped talking to everyone except his baby brother, telling him over and over again that he would always be there to protect him.
And after Mommy went away, they never again went back to their house. They lived with some of Daddy's friends instead. And Daddy stopped going to work. He started writing in this little brown book and started talking about strange things. Then one day, out of the blue, Daddy just packed them up and they left.
And this time Dean's fairytale family consisted of himself, Sammy and his father...
For a little while things went back to being somewhat normal. Dean started school and he made some new friends. Daddy even took him and Sammy to the park to play sometimes. Dean joined a soccer team and played for an entire summer with his brother and father coming to watch all his games. They moved into a little apartment and sometimes Dean even brought friends home to play. He liked to have his friends over but more often he found himself just wanting to be alone with his family. He liked to look after Sammy and teach him all the things he knew. He taught him to play baseball and kick the soccer ball around. Every night Dean read stories to his little brother just like Mom used to read to him. But his favorite part of spending time with Sammy was when the two of them would fall asleep in the big chair watching TV and Daddy would just cover them up and let them sleep there for the night. The chair had big over-stuffed arms and, with Sammy snuggled up close to him, Dean felt safe and secure sleeping in that chair; safer than he'd ever felt since before Mommy went away.
Daddy enrolled Dean in Tae Kwon Do classes. He told him it was so he could learn how to defend himself when he got bigger. And every night Daddy showed him other ways to fight and take care of himself. Dean enjoyed learning these skills and he soon forgot all about the imaginary dragons and monsters that he used to battle in his old backyard. Instead, he pretended that he was fighting the man with the glowing yellow eyes who had taken Mommy away. Dean poured all his energies into learning how to be a skilled warrior just in case that man ever came back and tried to take Sammy away from him. Because there was absolutely no way that Dean was ever going to let that happen.
Just before Dean turned eight, his father sat him down one night and told him that there were things out there that were capable of hurting him. Things that most people didn't even believe existed. But his father assured him that they did, because he had killed many of them himself. He told Dean about ghosts and spirits and the numerous other kinds of monsters and demons that roamed the earth trying to hurt and kill people. But his father's revelations didn't scare Dean because he had already determined on his own that there were things out there that defied explanation. He believed that because he had never forgotten what he had witnessed the night that his mother had been killed and he knew that the man he had seen could not possibly be human. But he had never considered that his father felt the same way and was a little bit taken aback when he told him that he believed something supernatural had killed Mom.
Dean had just looked his father squarely in the eye and replied stoically, "I know. I saw it that night too."
If his confession had shocked his father, Dean never knew because his only response had been, "Then you understand the kinds of things that I go out and hunt every night."
Dean nodded and point-blankly asked, "When will I be old enough to hunt with you?"
His father promised him that sometime within that year he would take him on a hunt. He wanted him to learn how to accurately shoot both a gun and a crossbow first. And he wanted him bone up his fighting skills too; it was very dangerous on a hunt and he had to make sure that Dean could protect himself before he took him with him. Dean wanted to know whether his father had found the thing that had taken his mother away, but his father only shook his head sadly and stared down at the floor.
"I'm still looking for it," was all he said before he looked up at his son and stated firmly, "But I won't stop until I kill it."
"Neither will I," replied Dean with sheer determination.
It was at that moment when Dean came face to face with his destiny. He knew what he was going to do with his life. And he now knew how he was going to accomplish it. He was going to help his father avenge his mother's death and he was going to make sure that nothing ever came to harm his family again.
And as Dean opened that door into his perilous future, his childhood slipped unnoticed out the window. And whatever had remained of his fairytale life disappeared along with it...
