Ever After and Beyond
Prologue, Part Three

The young girl stared with disdain at the meal in front of her. The plate that sat before her held two things: porridge and a spoon. With a sigh, the youth pushed them both away from her. She hid her face in her hands, letting the locks of hair that framed her face fall in front of her—locks so blonde, it looked as if they were made of gold.

“You’ll want to eat that before it gets cold,” came a gentle voice from behind her. Startled, the girl turned around, nearly falling out of her chair. The tall, red-haired man who had addressed her grinned impishly, taking the sack that hung lazily around his shoulders and throwing it down. Streaks of gray in his hair were a clear indicator of his age. “Good morning, Goldilocks.”

“Father!” cried Goldilocks, leaping from her chair and throwing her arms around her father’s waist. Her father chuckled heartily and got on his knees so his tiny daughter could hug him more easily.

“You’ve gotten so big!” he mused, trying to remember how tall she was when he last saw her. “And what’s this?” the father asked, fingering the ratty old cloak that was draped around Goldilocks’s small frame.

“It’s a hood that mother gave me!” Goldilocks stepped away from her father and did a little dance, twirling the cloak about her like a cape.

“Goldy, eat your supper!”

The voice, sharp and unexpected, came from upstairs. Goldilocks and her father shared a knowing look as footsteps pitter-pattered down the stairs like a gentle rain.

“It’s only porridge—!” the woman shouted as she appeared in the kitchen. Her reaction to the man in the kitchen was only separated from Goldilocks’s by age. She shrieked in joy and threw her arms around his neck. “Jack, you’re back!”

“Indeed I am, Jill.” Jack pulled himself away from his wife. “Only for a little while, though. Soon, I’ll have to return to the mill.”

“Jack is nimble and Jack is quick, but Jack can’t make time for his own family!” Jill pursed her lips, folding her arms across her chest. Jack smiled and brushed a few strands of golden hair away from his wife’s face.

“You know I love you,” Jack leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. “Both of you.” he added, bending over to do the same to Goldilocks, who giggled and toyed with her cloak.

“How long are you staying?” Jill demanded, forgetting her anger momentarily.

“Not very long. I can stay for supper, but that’s it.” Jack shrugged helplessly.

“We’ve already eaten.” Jill retorted. Glancing at the table and the uneaten porridge, she concluded: “Well, I’ve already eaten.”

“How about a story, then?” Jack suggested. Goldilocks nodded fervently, tugging on her mother’s old cloak. “Do you want to hear the one about your mother?”

“Jack—!” Jill warned, but Jack grinned at her. She rolled her eyes and rubbed her forehead.

“What?” Goldilocks bounced up and down. “What story?”

“The story of how your mother once went up against a wolf!” Jack beamed, placing a hand on Goldilocks’s tiny shoulder. “In fact, the very cloak you are wearing figures heavily into that story.” Goldilocks’s eyes were wide as she tried to speak.

“Oh, really, Jack!” Jill playfully toyed with Goldilocks’s hair. “If you’ll remember, we lost that cloak a long time ago.” Goldilocks’s smile waned, and she cast a dejected look at the floor.

“Perhaps old age has made me forgetful,” Jack winked at Goldilocks. “However, isn’t this the very cloak I brought you from the giants?” Goldilocks snapped her head up, grinning from ear to ear.

“Jack, don’t encourage her!” Jill shook her head, smiling in spite of herself. “Goldy, you haven’t even finished your supper.”

Goldilocks jumped up on her chair, dragged the porridge back in front of her and began to gobble it down madly, much to the exasperation of Jill. Placing her hands on her hips, the frustrated mother scolded Goldilocks.

“You can’t just eat like a pig!” she reprimanded, wiping away bits of porridge from her daughter’s chin. “You’ll give yourself a stomach ache!” Shaking her head, Jill went over to a bucket, peering into it.

“What’s wrong?” Jack asked, walking up behind her.

“We’re out of water again.” Jill sighed, hoisting the pail over her shoulder. “I’ll have to get some for Goldy. If she eats porridge without water, she sometimes gets a bit of a headache.” Jack blinked at this tidbit of information.

“Well, let me help you,” Jack offered, opening the door for her.

“Nonsense; the well isn’t far away.”

“But it takes two to get the water from it.”

“Very well,” Jill nodded, walking into the night. “Goldy, we’ll be back soon. We’re off to fetch a pail of water. Stay right where you are, and don’t go running off!”

Jack followed Jill and shut the door behind them, saying a goodbye to his daughter. With a mouthful of porridge, she managed something to the effect of “Goo-ba!”

A few minutes passed, and Goldilocks had finished her porridge. Feeling stuffed, she crawled down from her chair and wandered around the house aimlessly. She ran to her mother’s room and sat in front of her full-body mirror, idly playing with her long, curly locks. She posed in front of the mirror for a few minutes before running down the hall to her room. She dug a ratty blue ribbon out from under her own bed and returned to the mirror.

Hastily, she tied it into her hair and strutted for the mirror once more. She decided that she looked ugly with the ribbon, untied it, and tossed it in a corner. Trotting downstairs, she climbed into a giant red chair in front of the fire, waiting for her parents to return.

They never did.