Narrator (Buffy) in italics.

Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, lived a beautiful little girl...and her widowed father.

“It’s beautiful.” A ten year old girl said to her father. The girl had longish blonde hair and green sparkling eyes neither of these like her father where he had brown hair with brown eyes.

Okay. It wasn't that long ago. And it wasn't really a faraway kingdom. It was the Sunnydale Valley. It looked faraway .because you barely see it through the smog. But to me, growing up,
The Valley was my kingdom. I was my dad's best friend. And he was mine. Being raised by a man put me behind in the makeup and fashion departments. But I never felt like I missed out on anything. I was the luckiest girl in the world. My dad owned the coolest diner.
I loved hanging out there. Diet was a four-letter word here and grease came at no additional charge.
At Hal's, everyone felt like family.

“Oh, yeah, I have drinks.” A dark haired man said…Riley.

“Happy birthday!” A woman with curly blonde hair said…Joyce.

“Make a wish, princess.” Hank the girl’s father said.

What did I need a wish for?
I had amazing friends and the coolest dad.
But I guess my dad thought I needed
One more thing: Harmony.

“I am so sorry.” Harmony whispered after tripping and falling into the arms of Hank.

Along with my new stepmother came
Her twin daughters, Cordelia and Anya.
My out-of-step-sisters.
But as long as my dad was happy, so was I.
We were going to be one big, happy family.

Two months later
The newly married couple and their three children came running down the step’s out side the

“Cheese.” The photographer said and took the picture. Just as he was taking the picture Harmony dropped her flowers and the girl bent down to pick them up so she was out of the picture.

“One's enough.” Harmony said.

Unfortunately, this was no fairy tale.

''He took her hand, and he kissed it.
Then he swooped her up onto
His horse. And the beautiful princess and the
Handsome prince rode off to his castle...
...where they lived happily ever after.'' Hank and Buffy were lying on Buffy’s bed where Hank was reading her a story.

“Do fairy tayles come true, Dad?” Buffy asked.



“Well, no. But dreams come true.” Hank replied.

“Do you have a dream?”

“Yeah.My dream is that you'll grow up
And go to college...and then maybe someday you’ll build
Your own castle.”

“Where do princesses go to college?”

“They go...where the princes go. They go to Princeton.
But, Buffy, you know, fairy tayles aren't
Just about finding handsome princes. They’re about fulfilling your dreams...and about standing up for what
You believe in. As I always say, never let the
Fear of striking out…”

“-Keep you from playing the game.” Buffy interrupted.
“-Right.” Hank smiled. Then suddenly Hank turned serous. “Just remember, if you look carefully, this book contains important things...that you may need to know
Later in life.” The ground beneath them started to shake.
“-Earthquake.” Hank screamed and pulled Buffy and himself into the doorway.

-My kingdom crumbled during the Northridge earthquake.

“Help! Help!” Harmony shouted.

“Don't go.” Buffy said holding onto her dads hand but he let go.
“I’ll be right back.”

I lost my best friend that day. From then on, the only fairy tales in my life...were the ones I read about in books. Since my father didn't leave a will, my stepmother got everything.
The house, the diner,
And to her dismay, me.


Chapter 2

“Buffy.

Buffy.

Buffy!

It’s breakfast time.

So bring me my breakfast.

Buffy!” this is what Buffy woke up to like every morning Harmony shouting things over the intercom that she put in Buffy’s room. Her room was really the attic but it was her space…her sanctuary.



“Careful, ladies. Look for the eyes.
One, two, three, bicycle. And feint. Magpie, magpie, magpie. Flap and flap and flap. Mary Lou Retton!
Palm tree and palm tree.
Lady Liberty. Lady Liberty. Around the harbour. Around the harbour.
Circle Line tour. And hurricane.” Lorne shouted instructions at the two girls in the pool.



“Can you believe how extraordinarily Gifted my girls are?” Harmony asked him.



“Absolutely unbelievable. Really.” Lorne said sarcastically but Harmony didn’t notice she just smiled.

“Buffy!” Harmony screamed again.
“Find each other. Look in the eyes.” Lorne continued to tell the girls in the pool.

“I’m coming.” Buffy shouted to her step mom. In her opion harmony was just a ditz but she had to do what she said or no house, job or money for Princeton.
“One, two, three and four...and right, left, up and down.” Lorne continued.

Buffy arrives at the lounger where harmony was with her breakfast.

“Is this the Norwegian salmon I asked for? I need my omega- s.” Harmony said in her typical valley accent.


“Only the best.” Buffy replied.



“I can tell. You know, it costs a fortune to fly
That stuff in from Norwegian.” Harmony said taking a bite out of it; Buffy just rolled her eyes and bit her tongue.

“What are you doing just standing there?
Get to work.” Harmony ordered.

“I can't go to work now.
I’ve got a big test I have to study for.” Buffy told her.

“Listen, Buffy. People go to school
To get smarter...so that they can get a Job. You already have a Job.
So it's like skipping a step. Come on, get going.” Harmony said to Buffy. Buffy knew there was no use responding so she ran back to the house to get ready. As she was running along the lawn the sprinkerlers came on and she went to turn them off.

“No, honey. Leave those on. The lawn looks a little brown.” Harmony said when she saw what Buffy was doing.

“Harmony, we're supposed to be conserving
Water. We're in the middle of a drought.” Buffy shouted back.

“Droughts are for poor people. Do you think J.Lo has a brown lawn? People who use extra water have extra class.” Harmony replied.