Katrina G. Tarine.

That's my name. And I'd love it if it weren't for what that damn 'G' stood for.

Sure, I'd idly doodle 'Katrina' in bubble letters all over my school binder, and happily mark 'K. T.' on all my pens, but not the 'G'.

Never the 'G'.

Other, younger girls would love to have such a name to call themselves, but when you're a teenager in a sarcasm-plagued school, any chance to make someone miserable was grabbed and thrown back at you 'till it didn't hurt anymore.

It didn't stop hurting.

Haha, here I am rambling and you don't even know what my middle name is!

Katrina Grimm Tarine.

Yeah, Grimm. With two 'm's.

Oh...em...gee...I bet all yous are wondering why out of any name they could pick, my parents picked 'Grimm'. Well, besides being my middle name, it's also my brother's, my sister's, my mom's, and my grandpa's. Because it's 'Tradition', as Gramps likes to say.

'Cause, ya know, it dates back all the way to the original bearers of the name 'Grimm' themselves. That's right, I'm really distantly related to-you guessed it-Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm. The makers of 'Once upon a time...' and all that fairy tale junk.

But, lo and behold, when my so-many-greats grandma married and, gasp, realized her last name wasn't Grimm anymore, she started the tradition of making all the children's middle names 'Grimm', just to carry on the 'legacy of the Brothers Grimm' and yadayadayada...

So, here I am, stuck with a disease of a middle name, and watching the movie with the same dang namesake. That's right, I'm in the theater watching The Brothers Grimm. And, I have the urge to gouge my eyes out with a spoon. Okay, maybe not, but I kinda sorta really wanna leave in the middle of the movie, 'cause I think it's stupid. Just another fairy tale being shoved down my throat.

Gramps thinks I should be proud of my heritage. I was when I was younger, and my little brother sure is proud of it now. Calls himself 'Prince' all the time. Haha...just he wait until all his friends realize what sarcasm and ridicule is...haha...six year olds have no clue...

It's not a walk in the park, having a name like that. I try to keep it under wraps, say the 'G' stands for a cool name like 'Gallarie' or somethin'. But no, as is ‘tradition’ at my school, all students have to put their full name on their test cards that hang out in the front hall. And, so there it is again.

Katrina Grimm Tarine. Free for the whole school to see, and to mock.

Let me tell you, constantly being called 'Katrina the Grim Reaper' and 'The Ever Grimm Katrina' really starts to get to ya.

So, the movie's coming to an end, the heroes beat the villain (In this case, a Rapunzel-Snow White Evil Queen rip off), get the girl, nearly kiss each other...

Wait-WHAT? Oh. I did not need to see that. I've just been squicked. Seeing your great, great, whatevergreat grandfathers two centimeters from locking lips and exchanging spit would make you shudder too. Ooohh. Gag me with a spoon.

So, it's over. Whoo. And I'm in the car, oozing ill-temperedness, and Gramps is going on about how the movie was good, but quite wrong in some areas. Like, Jacob was really Jakob, and Wilhelm was truly the younger one...Blah, I don't care. And so I look out the frosted window, as yet another fairy tale flows from Gramps's mouth. Yay.

By the time we arrive home, my sister Cassidy is rushing towards the computer room, and Lan, the twerp of family, is begging Gramps to tell more of 'Jakob and Wilhelm’s' adventures'. I'm tempted to say that magic ain't real, and that Grandpa Jake and Will were really boring professors at some university, but I know what the outcome of that will be. So, I keep my mouth shut and make a beeline for my room, hoping that Sandra is still awake when I call her. But, no, I can't have any peace, can I?

"Katrina? Wouldn't you like to hear Snow White too?" Gramps calls, and I really wanna turn around and say, 'No thanks, I have a life, thank you very much.' but I also know what that outcome would be, so I keep quiet and march back to settle on the couch as Gramps begins rocking back and forth in the old rocking chair we bought at some flea market.

"Once upon a time..." he begins in that firm voice, one full of pride. I only wish I could feel the same way about that famous phrase.

And so I begin to to realize that, as he spins the wonderfully crafted piece that was Snow White, the only thing Lan cares about is the fact that, in his mind, the Brothers Grimm were brave knights who conquered evil and saved princesses. The only thing that truly mattered was the fact that he descends from the weavers of 'Once upon a time' and the masters of 'Happily ever afters', and that those famous words live on in him, and-deep down, behind that sarcastic and bitter shell of mine-in me.

I can't help but release one, lone tear.

"Aww! Grampy, look at Ka-tinnna! She's cryin'!" Lan yells, as he points to me. Gramps smiles.

"Now, is Wilhelm's little princess all sad about the story? They all live happily ever after in the end, you know."

He calls me that because, when I was about Lan's age, I used to always say I loved Wilhelm more, even though I had no idea what I was talking about. But, the nickname stuck, and I generally try to avoid being in public with Gramps, for fear of him calling me that in front of my friends.

I wipe the single teardrop off my face, and frown. "Yeah, Gramps, I know. I know this story like the back of hand."

I'm thinking real hard (Big surprise!) as I walk back down the hall to my room, but don't turn when I usually would. I continue past my doorway and walk into the computer room. Cassidy looks up and scowls, angry with me for disturbing her while she's typing. She's proud of her heritage, that's for sure. Declares she'll become a famous writer too, and always goes around calling herself -- and writing 'Cassidy Grimm Tarine' or 'C. Grimm Tarine' on all her school papers. She takes all the nicknames with joyful eyes and smiles, and sometimes I just wanna hit 'er.

"I've been thinkin', Cassidy." I say uncertainly.

"Oh, have you? Big surprise there." I saw that coming. I totally called it.

"About the movie, Cassidy." That makes her eyes light up. "Oh, that? I loved it! Didn't you, Katrina? All the action, and Grandpa Jacob was so awesome with his book and everything!"

"Never mind..." I sigh, and walk over to the bookshelves that house the numerous storybooks that Mom had collected over the years. She sees a book with the word 'Grimm' in it, and she'll snatch it up quicker than you can say 'That's seventy dollars, Mom.'

So I pick up a few books and hastily retreat to my room (I swear I see Cassidy smirk! The little...) and toss the dang things onto my bed. I can only pray that none of the spines have broke, 'cause I hear a sickening 'snap' and I know World War III would happen should any of the precious things be ruined. Gawd, Mom treats the stupid books like children, dusting 'em everyday and what not. I swear she talks to them sometimes...

So I crack open the nearest one, and read Cinderella to myself for the first time, because it's always just been told to me. I haven't been listening to Gramps and his storytelling recently, what with my resentment and all. But, I love it. From the 'Once upon a time...' to the glass slipper fiasco to the 'Happily ever after!' it's pure, well, awesomeness.

Before I truly know what I'm doing, I've finished every story in that book and am snatching up another, wanting more.

So I finish, and maybe now that I've read all of my ancestor’s stories, maybe I can write some too.

So I smile as I take out a pen, and write those four, famous words that are kept in the hearts of children all around the world.

'Once upon a time...'

Heh, no big deal.