She was used to drinking peppermint tea in the late afternoon — a ritual of gratitude for the day that had passed, and a way to prepare for the night to come.

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That fairy talked incessantly about autumn leaves, and how her collection was growing absurdly large with each passing day.

The Elven King watched in silence as she chattered incessantly, describing her clever tricks for gathering those vibrant, orange, autumnal leaves. He then cast a spell over the forest, ensuring that for an entire year, autumn would never arrive, leaving the snooty fairy with no chance to collect any more leaves for her collection.

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Once upon a time, there was a little girl with hazel eyes and freckles that adorned her lovely, youthful face like stars in the night sky. Her name was Adora, and for her twelfth birthday, she received a beautiful doll with curly pink hair, whom she named Emily.

Adora took her doll everywhere she went. One day, while she was carrying Emily toward the garden, she was intercepted by her grandmother—a stern, superstitious woman—who told her not to take the doll there, explaining that the garden of that old house held ancient magic, and that she (the grandmother) certainly didn’t want to be haunted at night by a doll with such wild hair.

Adora stepped back and promised her grandmother that she would take Emily back to her room. Later that same day, at nine o’clock in the evening, the grandmother was at her vanity getting ready for bed when, in the reflection of the mirror, she suddenly caught sight of a lovely little girl with curly pink hair sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at her with a mischievous smile.