Once upon a time, there was an extraordinary girl who was able to move from the realm of the Fae to the realm of the living. She was not of this world, nor was she of that. At most, beings from the realm of the living mistook her for one of the Fae people. Her light eyes, and her dark skin was an oddity. The Fae people shared similar thoughts. For she was too sweet, and too honest to be one of their kin. She was what you called a "Witch."

"How much is for that do-hickey?" Rose's mother called beside her. She's pointing at an old pager from the 90's. The garage seller doesn't even give it a glace before calling, "Fifty cents for everything on that table."

"What about this old book?" Rose shouted out. This time, the owner turned towards the mother-and-daughter duo. He shrugged and replied, "Uh, I don't care for books. Take all you want, I don't want them around."

Rose gave a satisfied smile, folded a little corner of the page, and tucked the thin paperback under her arm. Her arm reached out for the next book on the pile.

Rose is not the biggest fan of fairy tales, or at least the washed out versions of fairy tales. She often found herself lulled to sleep by the happy-ever-afters or the true-love's-first-kiss scenarios going on with Hollywood. Rose's true fascination was brought out when a tale would emphasize the dangers of magic and spells. She craved the beauty in curses, and horrors of blessings. Rose found the irony in loving the villain, because without them, there would be not tale to spin.

With every lost realm, forbidden land, elusive inhabitant, guardian of ancient grounds; Rose found herself drone into this old world of fairy tales. Some would say that she was in love.

The witch lived life peacefully in both worlds. However, she was unable to control her power to move from realm to realm. This resulted in her interaction with both realms. To the witch, everything was well. Everything was not well at all. Upon the witches retreat into the realm of the Fae people, the beings of the living plotted her demise. To them, the witch was a threat, a bad omen awaiting its inevitable coming.

The people were weary of the witch's developing power. Often, the witch would disappear into a nothingness, only to appear once again. This nothingness is what they thought they feared. The beings of the living had thought that a world surrounded by nothing a fate most cruel. With every interaction with the witch, their fears grew more and more. But what the beings didn't realize is that their true fear was not of the nothingness.

Once again, the witch vanished right before a crowd of people. Putting their plan into action, the people threw dry wood and grass into the perimeter the witch stood. It was only a matter of minutes before the bright-eyed creature would return. The bravest lad stepped forward when the people were done with the pile, and held a single torch in his hand.

They waited.

Rose sighed in content as she pressed her finger to the sentence that caught her attention. "This nothingness is what they thought they feared," the teen repeated. Rose nodded in mutual agreement. She decided to write down quote and its page number in her inspiration journal.

An unnatural light emits from the space the witch stood. The witch reveals herself to the people of the living unaware of their nefarious plan.

The boy drops the torch onto the pile below, and a mighty fire bursts underneath the witch. In horror, the witch looks down, and sobs as her clothes catches fire. Her anguish cry echoes loudly throughout the town, and the cheers of the people grew silent.

For people of the living had thought they feared the nothingness of space the witch created. They feared her sudden absence; they feared a fate worse than death. They feared the unknown force that moved the witch from realm to realm. They feared loneliness.

Yes, this was the greatest fear of these people. They will not come to realize that what they truly feared was the loneliness of separation. The loneliness of never really belonging to one world. They feared the separation of their loved ones. They feared the witch girl because in her, they saw something that can happen to anyone.

Despite the witches wailing, she did not burn. No, she did not hurt. She had thought that she found a place that accepted her, a place where she belonged. Now, she realized, she was only an ominous presence. A tale passed down from parent to child. "The witch will take you to the nothingness."

And with that thought, the witch takes the ashes, and smothers her dark face. Her face was covered with coal, and her eyes burned bright, and with her new found angry, she took all of the children. She took the innocent children of the town, and lifted them. With a bright flash of green, the witch and the children had gone to the land of the Fae.

The witch then realizes this was the first time she had full control of her ability.

Unable to contain herself, Rose began reading the book aloud. She read carefully, yet lively. She read as if the events in the book was of life, and not of fiction:

"And in the land of the Fae, the witch rested. The children, unaware that they are no longer home, began chasing one another. The witch wipes the ashes off her face, and sighs.

She sits, and watches the human children run and play with the Fae people. She had once thought herself as human, but evidently she will not be accepted as such. In time, the Fae people bore of the children, and depart into the deeper parts of the realm.

Then, the sun sets upon the world, and the witch sends the children back to their mothers. For the greatest pain in the world is a lonely child.

The witch stares into the night sky of the Fae's world. She realizes that she does not belong in either world at all. For she cannot bear to live with the curses and murmurs of the Fae world, and that she will not be accepted in the realm of the living.

So the witch ascends into the heavens that watches both worlds. She ascends higher, and higher until she cannot see the top of houses, nor the tips of mountains. Higher and higher she goes, until she too becomes the nothingness of the sky."

Rose read the last paragraph in a soft whisper. Her eyes wide, and a slight grimace adorned her face. The tale ends the same way most fairy tales end: crappy. Usually, Rose is satisfied with the ending, but she felt a tug at her heartstrings during the end of this story. Surely, the witch could have at least kept the children as punishment to the townsfolk.

Rose, with her infinite wisdom, grabbed a pencil from her bedside table. She wrote:

The witch then learns of other worlds, of other realms. For the realms had always twinkled silently above the lonely witch, waiting for her to visit them. The witch looks upon the brightest star and ascends towards it. There, she will see that even in nothingness of the dark, there is a light."

Rose frowned, and tossed the paperback onto the bedside table. "That was too cliché for my liking," Rose mumbled under her breath.

Oh well, it's sort of a happy ending. Rose stretched and yawned. She tossed her covers, and flopped onto her bed. Her eyes glare at the ceiling above her. "She too becomes the nothingness of the sky," Rose said bitterly. She had something to complain about to Kanaya in the morning. Rose's ending kicked the original ending in the groin.

Then, the teen's eyes began to fall shut. She attempted reach for the nightlight before she clocked out, but Rose immediately fell fast asleep. It seemed as if a spell had lulled her into bed. The room began to shake violently. A soft glow of green light emits from the paperback.

The paperback falls onto the floor. It flips to the last page of the story. The small passage that Rose had wrote underneath the story shines a bright purple light. Then, the light changes to green, then to white.

A pair of green eyes opened.