I Don't Belong....And I Never Have.

One Upon A Time

"Once Upon a Time..." Mrs.Peters spoke softly,"These are the most magical words our world has ever known and the gateway into the greatest stories ever told. They're an intermediate calling to anyone who hears them-a calling into a world where everyone is welcome and anything can happen. Mice can become men, maids can become princesses, and they can teach valuable lessons in the process."

My adoptive sister Alex Bailey straitened up from where I sat. She had short strawberry blond hair,blue eyes, and a headband placed neatly on her hair. She was the smart one in the family. I was the black sheep.

You see, I was found on the doorstep the day she was born. Let me tell you how I look like, I'm a small short girl with waist long straight brown hair,my eyes are green with yellow in the middle. And if you look close enough you can see small streaks of red in the inside. I'm what you call shy, and I'm bullied. You want to know why? Look underneath my grey beanie to find out. I have pointed ears.(media)

"Fairy tales are much more than silly bedtime stories,"Our teacher continued,"The solution to every problem imaginable can be found in the outcome of a fairy tale. Fairy tales are life lessons disguised as colorful characters and situations. 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf ' teaches us the value of a good reputation and the power of honesty. ' Cinderella' shows us rewards for having a good heart. 'The Ugly Duckling' teaches us the meaning of inner beauty."

My eyes lit up at the Ugly Duckling, I don't know why but I always loved that story.

"Yeah, but we don't need a story to read about the ugly duckling. We have one right infront of us." It was my bully, Jake Prescott. He's been bullying me since I first came to this school. Some of his 'followers' snickered behind my back. Thankfully we were in the very back of the class so Mrs.Peters couldn't hear them. I don't want any trouble if I got Jake in trouble.

My heart skipped a beat when I thought I saw Mrs.Peters squint through her thick glasses our way.

"Sadly, these timeless tales are no longer relevant in our society." Sighed our teacher"We have traded their brilliant teachings for small minded entertainment like television and video games. Parents now let obnoxious cartoons and violent movies influence they're children.
"The only exposure to the tales some children acquire are versions bastardized by film companies. Fairy tale 'adaptions' are usually stripped of every moral and lesson the stories are originally intended to teach, and replaced with singing and dancing forest animals. I recently read that films are being created depicting Cinderella as a struggling Hip-hop singer and Sleeping Beauty as a warrior princess battling zombies!"

My head met the table as soon as she finished. People are really messing up fairy tales. "Awesome." I looked up aghast and glared at a the boy infront of me.

"I wonder if the world would be a different place if everyone knew the fairy tales in the way the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christain Anderson intended them to be known." Mrs.Peters said."I wonder if people would learn from the Little Mermaid's heartbreak when she dies in the end of her real story. I wonder if there would be so many kidnappings if children were shown the true dangers that Little Red Riding Hood faced. I wonder if delinquents would be so inclined to misbehave if they knew about the consequences Goldilocks caused for herself with the three bears.
"There is so much to learn and prevent for our futures if we just open our eyes to the past teachings. Perhaps if we embraced fairy tales as much as we could, it would be much easier to find our own Happily-Ever-Afters."

With little movement as possible I reached into my desk and took out my sketch book. I opened to the page which held a drawing of a queen with a floating jellyfish. While listening, I started sketching the last details.

"Let's see how well you all know your fairy tales,"After she said that a series of footsteps came and bounced around the room,"In 'Rumpelstiltskin' what did the young maiden's father tell the king that his daughter could spin hay into? Anyone?"