The Girl Who Knew

Tell Me A Story

"Time for sleep, Sweetheart."

"Tell me a story."

"It's late. Aren't you tired?"

"No. I feel awake. Super awake. Please? Please, Scarlett? Just one?"

Scarlett sighed. She couldn't actually remember any stories tonight, but otherwise the little girl would never fall asleep. "Once upon a time, there was a cruel, selfish prince- "

"Not that one. You already told that one. Tell me a new one." the young girl was insistent, her bottom lip out as she crossed her little arms.

Scarlett smiled at her act, but shook her head. "I don't have a new one."

"Don't you know any?" Seeing she wasn't getting results, the young girl smiled as sweetly as she could. "You could just make one up."

Scarlett hesitated, but nodded, trying to come up with something. Then she realized that maybe she did know a story - she had lived one, hadn't she?

Gray is going to kill me, but she's going to hear it sometime, she thought. She took a deep breath, getting ready to remember something she hadn't thought about in a long time. "Okay. In a world- "

"You have to start with once upon a time. It's the rule."

"Okay, okay. But no more interruptions, got it?" She waited until the little girl nodded. Then she began.

"Once upon a time, there was an entire world separated by color. There were three major and very well-known countries, and for the most part they were the ones who controlled everything. They were called Bleu, Rouge, and Jaune. There were quite a few minor countries as well, such as Noire, Blanc, and Marron. They were not seen as very important, and were often overlooked. For the most part, citizens of each country kept to themselves, and there was very little traveling, if there ever really was.

This story begins with a maiden named Ruby. Ruby had gotten married to a fine man called Fuego, an odd name in the country of Rouge. Fuego had been asked to accompany a few friends on an exploration across the Red Sea, and as good friends tend to do, he accompanied them to help with their journey. Of course, he talked to Ruby, his lovely wife, before agreeing. He cared deeply for her, and in asking for her approval, he ensured that she did not feel unimportant, for one of the worst things you can do to someone close to you is to treat them as if they are not important. You see, if Ruby had told him to stay, he would have done so with not a single complaint. But Ruby cared for Fuego, and so she told him to go with his friends and to have a wonderful journey. The exploration was to last for two years from the next day.

Four long years later, Fuego still had not returned, and Ruby was beginning to despair. She had not heard any news of her adventuresome husband, and she had almost given up hope of his return. She went into a well-known...well, she went to a place desperate people go to try to forget their problems."

"Where was it?" the young girl piped up.

"Don't worry about that. It isn't important." Scarlett was starting to regret her choice of bedtime stories.

"I wanna know."

"You will never be old enough to go there."

"Well, how will I know not to go in unless you tell me what it is?" she had a very satisfied look as she made the comment, knowing that she had won.

"It's called a bar. Now, hush."

"Anyway, when she went there, she met a guy who seemed nice, who had dark, dark skin, like the midnight sky when you take the stars away. She'd had quite a lot to drink, and so she did not remember him later."

"What was it?" the girl interrupted.

"What was what?" Scarlett was slightly exasperated.

"The stuff she drank."

"Memory-Eraser."

"Is that why she forgot?"

"Yes. Do you want me to tell the story or not?"

"Tell the story."

"Okay, then let me tell it."

"The next morning when she woke up, she had a terrible headache from the al- um, the Memory-Eraser, and she felt very, very sick. She thought that she had the flu or a bad stomachache.

But when, after a few weeks, she still felt sick every morning, she started to wonder if maybe it was something else. Just in case, she bought a few different pregnancy tests.

Every single one turned out positive.

To her dismay, Ruby was pregnant, and she was going to have a baby."