My View

“I want to spend my time helping people,” said Ellaire when our tutor asked her what she wanted to do when she grew up. I rolled my eyes.

“What about you?” he turned his face to me.

I thought for a moment about giving an honest answer, but Ellaire’s was so overused that I couldn’t resist. “Hurting them. I want to hurt people.”

He didn’t appreciate that, and neither did Ellaire or the other girls. Truth was, hurting people was the same as helping them. At least according to most fairy standards. I tried to tell this to Ellaire when she confronted me about it after our tutor left.

“You didn’t really mean that, did you?” she asked me.

“Mean what?”

“About hurting people. You don’t really want to hurt people, do you?”

“No,” I paused dramatically. “No, I don’t. Do you?”

“Of course not!” she gasped. “What makes you say that, Ameline?”

“Because I get the impression you’re going to turn out like everyone else, or worse. And everyone else grants horrible wishes and cast pointless and potentially harmful spells on people.”

I could tell she couldn’t follow my reasoning: her expression said it all. One eyebrow raised, her mouth slightly open, and eyes bubbling in confusion. Even without that, I had known the girl long enough to know she wasn’t exactly intelligent.

“Forget it,” I mumbled as I walked out the door. I pushed my long black hair behind my ear and sat down on a bench in the park outside her home. The bench was green, my favorite color. Not that you needed to know that. After a minute of staring at the bushes in front of me and debating walking home early, I heard footsteps behind me. Casually turning my head, I looked to see Ellaire standing behind me.

She looked nervous, her little wings fluttering with anticipation. “What?” I asked a little sharply.

“Um… Ameline? I was just wondering what it is you really want to do then.”

I was surprised that she genuinely wanted to know. Others generally avoided me, even if they had a real question. I was fine with that. That way, I spent less time answering stupid questions.

“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “I also would like to help people, but not in the same way you want to. I want to leave them alone.” I want to leave everyone alone.

“In what way?” she asked. I was annoyed, I had already answered this question, but I tried again.

“Casting spells will only hurt them. So, I won’t cast any spells. Not on humans, at least. I actually want to study magic and experiment.”

She still didn’t get it, I could tell. But I let it go and so did she. She let out an, “Oh,” and turned back to her house. Though maybe I’m not being fair – I don’t understand her way of thinking either.