"Everything you want, you may have," the enormous, glowing Being said to her as she sat in her bed. She gazed at the stars that peeked through the crack in her curtains.

  "Everything?" she echoed, not really paying attention to the Being that had always been there, but no one except herself had been able to see.

  "Whatever your heart desires is what you're supposed to have," it continued.

  She turned to face it. "I know what you are," the girl said. "You aren't blue and shaggy, but you're my imaginary playmate, aren't you."

  The Being laughed. "No, I'm more real than anything in your life."

  "Oh," she replied, half disappointed. "But, my parents don't have one of you. Does that mean you are going to disappear when I grow up?"

  "No. I'll always be there, no matter what," the Being said firmly. "You can always count on me."

  "OK." She closed her eyes, falling asleep, never afraid of the dark with the Being to light up the room.

  Years later she still spoke to the Being. It hadn't left , and she had grown to trust it.   

"Did you know there's such a thing called boys? And that I'm supposed to marry one one day?"

  The Being laughed. "Of course. Haven't you watched your parents? They were a girl and a boy once, too."

  "No! Not them." She wrinkled her nose. The idea that her parents could have at one time been so small shocked her.

  "Of course they were. Somewhere out there are boys you will meet and fall in love with."

  "More than one?" She shook her head. "But that's not right. There's only supposed to be one. And he's called Prince Charming."

  "Wait, you'll see," the Being replied.

  The girl didn't believe him. In all the fairy tales she had heard, there was only one Prince Charming.

  Many years later, when the girl began to take on the form of a woman, she looked at all her peers, and wondered why they had such difficulties doing the things that all young people were required to do.

  "Isn't that strange? They look like me, but they have trouble doing the same things I can do. It doesn't come easily for them. I wonder why."

  "Because," the Being said, "they don't hear their imaginary playmates anymore."

  She laughed, disbelieving.

  The Being continued, "Besides, everyone is not like you. You're all unique, and so you will do different things well."

  She was silent for a moment. "But, I do too many things well. They hate me for it. They're intimidated by me. But, I'm afraid of feeling superior, too. I don't like those people that think they're better than everyone else, either."

  "That's because you do things because you like to do them, not because they will make you look good if you do them. Doing what you love is what makes your life easy. That, and listening to me." The Being leaned closer to her. "Never feel guilty for all the blessings in your life. Blessing are available to all if they truly desire them."

  "You mean, not just me, but every one can have what they want?"

  "Of course. It's part of being human."

  Suddenly the girl's attention was caught by a handsome boy walking into the room. Their eyes met, and a flash from the girl's eyes to her heart struck her. The boy blinked once, then walked away to his desk.

  "That's him. That's my Prince Charming," she said, nudging the Being in the ribs. "I recognize him."

  "So it is."

  The girl stood to introduce herself.

  "Wait, wait," the Being admonished gently. "It's not time for that yet. There are other things to do."

  She sat back reluctantly, not convinced, but since she had trusted the Being this far, she'd wait.

  The girl watched the boy, and noticed that while she was turning into a woman, the boy, though he was beginning to look like a man, was still a boy.

  "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe this isn't Prince Charming," she muttered, disappointed at the lack of progress.

  The Being spoke. "You know he is. But he isn't yet. Go do something else. When he's ready to meet you, so will you meet."

  The girl shrugged, a little contemptuous of the boy who hadn't yet grown up yet. She grew impatient waiting. Boys were so fascinating! She met another boy, all dark angles, brilliant and shadowed at the same time.

  The Being said, "Yes, he is one you will fall in love with..."

  And with that, the girl ran to the boy, promptly fell in love, and the Being wasn't heard from for years. She was so happy, gazing into Darkly Handsome's eyes, walking hand in hand with him, traveling everywhere together, that she didn't notice that the Being had been gone for months.

  "Being," she called one night, one of the few nights when she wasn't dreaming of Darkly. "I was wrong. This boy, he's my Prince. How could I have ever thought the other boy could be?"

  She listened for a reply, but there was none. She shrugged. Now that she was grown, now that she had her Prince Charming, why would she need the Being anyway?

  One day, as she walked into class hand in hand with Darkly, she saw that the boy was carrying the books of another girl. She stood still for a moment, staring at the couple, an unbidden protest coming to her thoughts, "But, that's not right! He's my Prince, not hers!"

  Very faintly, in the back of her mind, she heard, "Oh, really? What about Darkly Handsome?"

  Was that the Being in her ear? Guiltily she turned back to Darkly. That Being. Why did it pester her now that she was perfectly happy?

  "Why are you sticking your tongue out?" Darkly asked.

  The girl shook her head. "Was I?"

  Darkly pointed to the boy and the other girl in front of them. "Don't they make a nice couple? Almost as perfect as us."

  "No one is as perfect as us," she replied.

  And so life continued for the girl and the boy---another year passed, and in that year the boy started behaving more like a man. The girl took notice, but every time she did, she firmly squashed it with a thought of Darkly.

  That last year of school, she and the boy had many classes together, so the girl had plenty of time to observe the boy. She saw that he was good at things like she used to be, when she had been still listening to the Being. And she saw that the boy was happy, and enthusiastic, and believed that nothing bad could ever happen to him. She had to admit to herself that Darkly wasn't like the boy at all---he was dark for a reason. And she saw that the boy was more like she used to be, before she became involved with Darkly.

  What had happened to her? How had she gotten here? This wasn't where she wanted to be. More and more, her thoughts focused on the boy, and how wonderful he was, and how Darkly didn't compare.

  Then she became angry. How could she think such thoughts? She had a perfect relationship with Darkly. How could she be so disloyal? This was all the Being's fault! She had known who the boy was, but the Being told her to love someone else! She should never have listened to it. The Being had brought her to this!

  "So, leave Darkly Handsome," the Being stated.

  The girl looked around wildly. "Is that who I think it is? Leave me alone! You got me into this! You set me up."

  "It only looks that way. I told you you could always trust me," it replied, calm as always.

  "Then where have you been?" she asked accusingly, anger rising from her stomach to her chest.

  "Here, I'm always here." It tapped her chest.

  "No, you weren't! You left me."

  "I was still here."

  "I'm not leaving Darkly." She crossed her arms tightly.

  "It's time to move on," the Being said gently.

  The girl shook her head. Her face curled around unexpected tears. "I can't move on. I don't know how anymore."

  "So trust me, and we'll do it together."

  She stared at it, then flopped on the bed, dejected. Her stomach clenched at the thought of leaving Darkly. If only she had someone to help her!

  She flipped onto her stomach suddenly. "It's the boy, isn't it? He knows how to move. I can move with him." Relief washed away her anxiety.

  The Being shook its head. "He's ready, but you're not, are you?"

  "But, with him by my side I can do anything!" she protested, warming to the idea.

  "You're not ready for that. Move on. You have to go without him."

  She frowned, growing impatient. "Then why is he here? Now's the perfect time. After this year, I'll never see him again. I'll miss my chance. I have to move now."

  "Trust me. You don't need him. You don't need Darkly. It's time to travel alone."

  But the girl wouldn't listen. She couldn't leave Darkly on her own. She needed help. She went to visit the boy.

Click here to read more....