The Swan and The Pirate

The Arrival

My whole life, my mother and father had told me that I was destined to play my part in a fairytale one day, just as they had done. And I was going to be sent to a school in Northern Ireland, called the School for Good and Evil. I was excited and had waited my whole life to live my own fairytale, and today was the day I parted with my loving parents.

"Oh, I'm going to miss you my darling," my mother wheeped as she wrapped her arms around me in a gentle and warm embrace. Her blonde hair hung loose alongside her back. She smelled like roses, per usual. "That's enough Odette, you need to let her go," my father laughed. "Don't rush me Derek!" my mother replied. "This might be the last time we ever see her, if things go badly," she said gently as she pulled away with a now serious look on her face. "Remember to behave nicely and do your best in your classes," my father said in a very serious tone. "Yes father," I replied. I understood their concern. Afterall, not everybody get to have their Happily Ever After and have to serve as something else in someone else's fairytale. But I was determined to get my very own story.

Both my parents hugged me for the last time. "We love you, mon amour," my mother said. "I love you too," I replied as we all pulled away. I felt the ground shake beneath me, and I knew it was time. I grabbed my luggage and prepared to be swallowed by the ground. I smiled at my parents. My father stood with this arm around my mother, who looked like she was at the verge of bursting into tears. I felt the rumbling of the ground get closer and saw a couple of small cracks break out from the grass. I waved at my parents for the last time before the ground opened up and swallowed me whole.

The trip was actually quite nice and fast, and before I knew it, I was emerging from the ground. In front of me, I saw a gorgeous school. The School for Good. That was where I was heading. Across from the School for Good, there was a stone brigde that led to the School for Evil. It looked the like polar opposite of the good school. It was dark and gloomy, and in the sky close to it, there were Stymphs dropping Nevers into the sludge that surrounded the school. In the middle of the schools, there was a tall tower. That was where the School Master lived.

Around me, there were other Evergirls sprouting from the ground with their luggage, just as I had. All of them had gorgeous dresses in all sorts of happy and light colors. All of them looked exactly like what I had imagined. I looked over at a couple of fairies that grabbed my luggage, and myself, and started delicately flying us over to the school. The shimmering waters reflected the shining sun. Everything on this side of the lake was utterly perfect and beautiful, and I felt sorry for the Nevers that had to live in that horrible school of theirs. But it was at my school I was going to be taught how to be a real princess, and maybe even find an Everboy to fall in love with.

The fairies had dropped me off at the School for Good and they had taken care of my luggage as well, sending it my my dorm room. I had been informed that I was staying in a room with a girl named Reena, and that is who I stood talking to (along with two other girls named Beatrix and Milllicent). "Who are you all the daughters of?" I asked them after I had told them mine. "The sultan of Shazabah," Reena replied proudly. "I'm the granddaughter of  The Miller's Daughter," said Beatrix. "I'm the granddaughter of Sleeping Beauty," said Millicent. "It's a pleasture to meet you all! I love the fairytales of your families!" I complimented. They all smiled and complimented me in return. The start of new friendships.

Suddenly, we started to talk about Nevers and I understood that these girls were as shallow as a cup of weak tea. "Look at her. She's so ugly," Beatrix laughed as an Evergirl with bushy eyebrows and crooked teeth walked past us. Probably the daughter of Beauty and the Beast. "She's so not going to get her own fairytale." "Maybe she'll be turned into a sock. Or a broken piece of cutlery," Millicent taunted. "Or maybe a disgusting beast! Like her father!" Reena burst out laughing. "Beauty isn't all that matters though," I tried. They all looked at me in utter seriousness. "It does if you're a princess," Beatrix stated. "Right, right," I agreed, snapping out of my mindset and remembering that we're supposed to dislike anyone who dares to be different. Even if they're Evers.

"There is going to be a welcoming with all the Nevers and Evers in the Theatre of Tales in a little bit," Millicent said, breaking the silence. "Oh yes!" Reena said. "I can't wait to see all the Nevers." "I wonder if they are all ugly. Just like their parents," Beatrix joined in. "Of course they are," Reena replied as we all started to walk. "They're Nevers." All of them laughed. Including myself. I thought about what my parents had told me, and that is was best to try fitting in instead of saying what I thought was right. From now on, I was going to find Nevers repulsing. End of conversation.