The snow fluttered down on the water beneath the Ever Winter bridge, disturbing the reflection of Audra Lewis that was visible. She was a striking sight with tendrils of her ebony hair being teased by the wind and her ivory cloak waving out behind her. Standing there on the bridge, two red roses held reverently in her gloved hands, her arresting beauty was marred only by the look of absolute misery that she wore.

Audra stepped closer to railing and lay her hands on it, still keeping the delicate blooms in her grasp. She started to cry softly, her lower lip trembling as she dropped the flowers into the river below and for a brief moment, she considered joining them. After all, what was left for her now? Only a year had passed since her parents had been killed on this very bridge and the entire world had turned upside down and inside out in that short amount of time.

Despite all her efforts to straighten out the debts her parents had left behind, she was homeless, helpless and penniless. She had no dowry to offer and the only man who ever expressed interest in marrying her was so repulsive she couldn’t bear to think of wedding him, much less bedding him. The very notion was enough to make her shudder with revulsion and consider suicide as a viable alternative to marrying that toad.

“You shouldn’t think such thoughts,” a somber voice said, cutting through the silence that only a winter night could possess. Audra spun on her heel, lowering the hood of her cloak with one hand as she searched the surrounding area for the source of that melancholy monotone. There was nothing but the wind to greet her, which made the disembodied voice’s next statement all the more unnerving. “Why are you crying?”

Audra swallowed her fear and swiped a hand across her damp cheeks. “Who are you?”

“A friend,” the voice answered.

“I don‘t have any friends,” Audra muttered, more to herself than to her unseen companion. “What are you? If you‘re some kind of demon--”

“Must you humans always vilify the unknown?” The voice replied, sounding slightly more irritate than it had been moments earlier. “I am no demon…and I‘m insulted at the insinuation. Indecensed, even.”

Audra stared at the empty space in front of her, trying to recall any of her finishing school training that would cover this particular situation. “You’ll have to pardon me for my presumptuousness, I’ve never spoken to something that I can’t see.”

“Just like a mortal,” the voice replied with a sigh. “If you can’t see it, then it isn’t natural.”

It took conscious effort on Audra’s part to keep from bursting into hysterical giggles when the absurdity of the entire situation finally hit her. I’m going insane, that’s all there is to it. Stress and grief have finally fractured my mind so completely I’m talking to myself.

There was a sudden puff of wind, which ruffled Audra‘s cloak as the voice spoke once more, this time even more short-tempered than before. “Oh for mercy’s sake. Look here young lady, I’m not a demon and I’m certainly not a figment of your imagination. You‘d think someone as bright as you are would know a fairy godmother when she saw one!”

This time Audra couldn’t contain her laughter at the irony of the voice’s statement. “But I can’t see--”

A blindingly bright flash of blue light exploded out of nowhere, forcing Audra to shield her eyes against its strength. When she dared to move her arm and blinked the stars away that were haunting the edges of her vision, she was surprised to find…

Absolutely nothing.

“Damn stupid useless borrowed magic!” The voice shouted. “The second I get my hands on Artemis I’m going to wring her scrawny godly neck!” The tirade paused. “Rather, the second I have hands again I‘ll wring her scrawny godly neck.” There was another violent gust of wind, together with an angry huff from the invisible…whatever it was. “Since tangibility seems to be out of the realm of possibility for me right now, I suppose you’ll have to just take a leap of faith.”

“Oh, I’ll take a leap,” Audra said quietly, “But it won’t be one of faith.” She turned her attention back to the river beneath the bridge, figuring that now that she was penniless, homeless and insane, there was really no point going on anymore.

“Didn’t I tell you to stop thinking like that? Oh, you orphans are all alike, I swear. ‘Poor me, poor me, wah, wah, wah‘.” The sarcasm in the voice was razor sharp. “Listen up, you’re not going to kill your idiotic self until I’ve at least had my say.”

Audra giggled. “Why should I listen to a voice that isn’t there?”

“A better question to ask might be why not. What have you got to lose? I’ll tell you what: Nothing. Especially if your assumption that there’s nothing left for you in the world is true.”

“But it is true!” Audra insisted, stomping her foot.

“Says you.”

“I’m not going to listen to some nameless, faceless whatever you are that doesn’t know what it’s talking about!”

“Hey! I might be faceless but I do have a name…furthermore, I’m not an it! Did you not hear the words ‘fairy godmother’?”

“Fine, fairy godmother. Why are you haunting the Ever Winter bridge?”

“To keep stupid little lunkheads like you from killing themselves over trivial matters. Part of the job description, you know. ‘To assist those in need, to make wishes come true, that‘s the fairy godmother‘s creed and‘…something, something blue. I forget the rest.”

“I’m sure that speech instills a great deal of confidence in you from your charges, godmother.”

“I’m seven hundred years old, what do you want from me? I’m bound to be getting a little forgetful.” The voice made an ‘ahem’ noise. “But that’s beside the point right now, isn’t it? Right now, you need some magic--which I seem to be a bit short on at the moment--so we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way.”

Audra narrowed her eyes and turned again to look at the expanse of empty space behind her. “Do what the old fashioned way?”

“Turn you from pauper into princess, naturally. That is generally what we fairy godmothers do. Where to start is the hardest thing, of course, since I’m sans body, wand and…well, power, obviously.” An unimpressive blue spark erupted out of thin air. “All I’m good for right now is lamplight, it seems. Not to worry, though…I‘ve got a plan. Stay here. I‘ll be right back.”

Audra was incredulous. “You must be joking.”

Silence.

“Fairy godmother?”

More silence.

“Wonderful…even my imaginary friend walks out on me.” Shaking her head, Audra turned to look back at the river and wallow in self-pity once more. Without that pesky voice and its unseen owner lurking over her shoulder, it was easier to do so. She lost herself in watching the ripples on the water that were created by the few snowflakes that were still falling and heaved a sigh of absolute melancholy.

The sound of hoof beats reached Audra’s ears, shaking her out of her reverie, softly at first and then getting louder. It was nearing midnight, for heaven’s sake. Who would be out and about on a romantic carriage ride at this hour? It took Audra all of two seconds to realize that those hoof beats weren’t the steady ‘clip clop, clip clop’ of a leisurely amble; the racket coming from the road was a full blown galloping horse with a buggy in tow.

The source of the din burst from the woods to Audra’s left and started barreling towards the Ever Winter bridge, or more importantly, barreling towards Audra. In her panic, she didn’t notice the horseman who was trying to regain control of his mare, only caring that there was a large animal with an even larger cart heading straight for her. Now, in a situation such as this one, the fight or flight instinct comes into play whether we want it to or not, and Audra was no exception.

Since fight wasn’t an option, she chose flight.

Unfortunately she flew right over the edge of the bridge railing.

The last few seconds before she hit the icy water were taken up by one thought and one thought alone: This suicide thing isn’t as glamorous as I thought it was going to be.