My Name was Supposed to be Elizabeth Ann

Once upon a time…

A good little girl waits patiently for her fairy godmother to return the voice her father stole then buried, unmarked, in the woods surrounding their condo.

In this version, they forget about her and she dies.

Or,

They remember her, but they sell her voice and keep the money. Then she dies and they take a cruise.

Or,

She isn’t good at all. She deserves it, all that singing. Who does she think she is? She kills herself.

Or,

No one dies. They all live happily ever after.

Fool.

Yes, you there, believing all that bunk.

Once upon a time, a waiting-for-no-one girl steals a shovel and finds her own damn voice.

The beginning.

*****

“In Which, Magic” originally appeared online in Issue 12 of The Mighty Line. Says editor-in-chief John Heggelund, “Michele Reisinger’s prose strikes like a bullet, subverting classic tropes to create a modern fairy tale in little more than 100 words.”