I was five years old, the day I saw her first.

It wasn't like I actually spoke to her – she was too far away, you see. I was at a fair with my family, and my older brother lifted me onto his shoulders so that I could see the ferric wheel. I watched it with awe at first – the way it spun round and round, a continuous cycle. I thought it was beautiful.

I thought it was beautiful until I saw her, anyway. Because when I saw her, nothing could compare in beauty.

There she was – climbing up the side of the ferric wheel with ease. That was the first thing I noticed, and I shouted out, pointed, yelled for someone to get her down. Then I noticed the eerie glow that emanated from her. Beautiful, yet eerie. Like the sound of thunder getting closer and closer. Then I snapped back to reality, I squirmed against my brother's arms – what was a young girl doing, climbing so high? That couldn't be safe! I shouted for him to get me down so that I could help her, but he held me fast.

'Santana, what are you talking about?' He lifted me off his shoulders so that he could look directly at my face. 'There's no one climbing the ferrice wheel. That's impossible.'

'There was a girl,' I insisted, trying to look the other way and see her again, but too many tall people were standing in front of me. 'There was, Max. I saw her.'

He watched me with some concern; put a hand to my forehead.

'Jeez, Santana, you're burning up,' he said worriedly. 'Come on, we're going home. I think this is all just too much excitement for you.'

I screamed, wriggling against his grip, trying to get free. That girl had to be around my age – I couldn't just leave her! No one else could see her because they weren't looking, but I saw her and I knew that she needed help.

My brother didn't hear my complaints. He held me fast as he turned and walked in the opposite direction. I craned my neck desperately and I saw the ferric wheel once again, but to my astonishment, the girl was gone.

Did she fall down?, was my first thought. I lifted my head further, trying to see the ground below, but I saw nothing. Oh no, please don't be hurt.

Please.

It took me many weeks to accept that the girl wasn't real. I watched the news with some fervour, desperately listening for news of an injury, of maybe even a death. But I didn't hear anything. I'm not sure why I was so determined to prove that she wasn't a figment of my imagination; maybe to prove something to myself. I couldn't stop myself returning to the scene a few weeks later, watching the deserted ferric wheel and searching for some sign of the girl.

But she never appeared.

Eventually, I told myself I must have imagined her. I must have imagined her sleek, cat-like form climbing up the side of the ride.

Just because it seemed real, I told myself firmly, doesn't mean it was.

There was a lot of other evidence to prove that she didn't exist. The way she glowed, angelically, perfectly. No one really glowed except in fairy tales, so she couldn't be real. Right?

I was a child, though, and I couldn't stop my passionate imagination from going off on a tangent, imagining her to be some kind of angel, or fairy princess – but deep down, I could feel the reality of the situation bubbling dangerously. She wasn't real, and that was that.

Four years later, I saw her for a second time – and this time, we spoke.

Author's Note: I've had this idea for months but been unable to find characters to fit it. I know this is super short, don't worry the chapters will get longer. I've written a few chapters already so I'll be uploading them as much as I can. Please take a moment to review and tell me your thoughts, I really do appreciate it.