Once upon a time, there was a ten year old girl named Gwendolyn Nightshadow (but we will just call her Gwen). Gwen very rarely opened her eyes. It's not that she was sleeping, for sometimes she just closes her eyes and concentrates. She keeps her eyes shut because she can imagine anything and be anyone with them shut. With them open, she had to face reality. Instead of facing the reality of her fairly well life, she daydreams. The only time when her eyes are wide open and she is fully participating is during Christmas. Gwen believed that anything could happen on Christmas. And so it did.

Gwen's Stepmother was horrid. She was not horrid in the way that you are probably thinking. She never locked Gwen in a cellar or only fed Gwen bread crumbs. The Stepmother was horrid because she did not believe in magic. She would literally pick Gwen up and drop her outside. "Get some fresh air!" the Stepmother would shout. As soon as Gwen found a nice, magical spot to sit down, her eyes would shut in an instant. The Stepmother would look out the kitchen window and sigh. "I worry about her," she'd say. "She's always in a world of her own. She needs to face reality." Gwen's Father would just nod.

Father understood Gwen. Father believed in magic. He'd watch his daughter sitting in the backyard by the garden with her eyes shut. If her eyes were not shut she was reading a book (of fairytales, of course). Gwen didn't mind the bees that flew by her or even the rain. She just sat silently and thought.

Stepmother wanted a regular child. She wanted a child who would go to school and play with her friends, so she sent Gwen to a boarding school. "This will straighten her out," she said.

"Gwen doesn't need to be 'straightened out'; she is fine the way she is," Father replied. Alas, his statement meant nothing to Stepmother and Gwen was sent away to boarding school.

The boarding school that Gwen was sent to was not your average boarding school. There were absolutely no vacations. The children had to stay at the school during Thanksgiving, Easter, and even Christmas. Gwen chose not to participate at school. She stayed in her dorm and daydreamed.

Gwen had a roommate. His name was Richard Morgan, but everyone called him Stumpy because of his dimwittedness. Stumpy admired Gwen. She would sit on her bed with her eyes shut every single day.

Gwen rarely spoke to him, but when she did, she would speak of the most miraculous things. She told Stumpy one day, "I always thought that little children were able to fly. I read in a book once that all babies were half birds, so they're capable of flying. I bet no one believes this because they haven't seen it. I just don't understand that. I've never seen Santa, but of course he exists." She shook her head and continued, "All babies can fly. Once you are able to stand and babble, you forget. Some people don't forget, though." Stumpy leaned in closer, enthralled in Gwen's voice. Gwen continued, "I think the people who can still fly live with the birds. They follow the birds and become a part of their family. Of course, they can't be seen by humans. Humans would want to turn them into an experiment. So, they stay hidden and the other birds bring them back food. I'm sure there are a lot of bird-humans in New York or Florida. I shall visit them one day."

All Stumpy could say in reply was, "Wow."

Gwen nodded and shut her eyes. She folded her hands across her stomach and lied peacefully.

Stumpy got onto his own bed and tried to copy her.

When Stumpy shut his eyes, he saw what anyone would see. Darkness. "Well what's so special about this?" he thought: "How can someone keep their eyes shut like this all day?" He opened his eyes and peeked at Gwen. She left out a gentle sigh. He shut his eyes and tried again. Nothing. He stood up and decided to go to class. He thought, "There is no use trying to daydream. I simply cannot!"

While Stumpy was in class, he was extremely unfocused. His mind began to wander. While he was in science class, he decided that he was going to take Gwen to Manhattan (where he was from) to see the bird-humans. "Yes," he thought: "I can see it now. Gwen will be so happy to be able to see the bird-humans. She'll be so kind and gentle to them. What if they don't know how to speak? Gwen and I can start a secret school just for bird-humans." He let out a sigh and shut his eyes. This time though, he saw the bird-humans. He saw them at a school, with Gwen in charge. Gwen was teaching them how to speak and write.

SLAP! Stumpy opened his eyes. A large ruler lied on his desk. The science teacher picked up the ruler and dropped it again. SLAP! "Wake up you unruly dunce!" he shouted.

Stumpy kept his eyes open for the rest of the day, but when he got back to his dorm he fell across his bed and shut his eyes. "Oh Gwen," he said aloud: "We can start our own secret school for the bird-humans. Isn't that just a grand idea? I came up with it all by myself!"

Gwen opened her eyes. "Do you believe in Santa Claus?" she asked.

Stumpy was surprised by her random question, but quickly answered. "No, of course not. Everyone knows it's your parents who put presents underneath the Christmas tree."

Gwen was taken aback. "You can't be serious," she said: "Stumpy, Santa is the most kind and caring person in the world. If he wants to spend all his time just for one night, then allow him to do that. What a shame it is that no one believes that one man can go around the world in one night. He isn't that difficult to believe in!"

Stumpy nodded and agreed in an instant. He wasn't going to bring up that one year he actually saw his parents putting presents underneath the tree. He decided that he was going to believe anything Gwen said.

Gwen continued, "Who told you that parents put the presents underneath the tree?"

Stumpy's eyes widened just at the thought of the girl who told him. "Her name is Blaise," he said.

Blaise Mooring was the oldest girl at the boarding school, and the meanest. She was horrible to the younger children and often told them things that made them feel hopeless. When Stumpy told Gwen about Blaise, she nodded and said, "Perhaps she had something happen in her life that made her feel hopeless, which is why she wants everyone else to feel hopeless."