A Choice in Fate

A Choice in Fate

Welcome to Ever After, a land where all your choices have been chosen for you. 

My name is the Fairy Godmother. 

But, please, just call me Fara. That’s what my family called me before I became a Fairy, anyway.

See, from birth, my future was already predetermined. 

After twenty hours of strenuous labor, my mother gave life to me. Within five minutes of my birth—while the midwife was still cutting my umbilical cord—the Fates appeared. 

“Your daughter,” they said, “will be the next Kind and Generous One. She will be the savior to all those who suffer gravely.” 

At least, that’s what I’ve been told for my entire life. 

It is said that my birth was celebrated for days and weeks. 

“Fara Charis of Crystal Mill was chosen!” shouted both peasants and aristocrats, as if being chosen was worthy of the greatest honor and respect. As if it was to be envied and desired. 

I’ve met many interesting heroes such as Robin Hood, Peter Pan, and even the Genie. Some went on to become significant figures in history, others not so much. 

But each and every one of them will tell you this: being a hero sucks. 

***

The three Fates are nothing but danger. 

I’ve only met them once—that one time being my birth—but everything I’ve read and heard about them has been incriminating. They hand out destinies that are curses in disguise and help that doesn’t help at all. 

Despite how the Fates insist that they have a sacred formula for choosing heroes, it’s more likely that they draw sticks to choose. As far as I can see, no aspects or qualities connect us heroes. The differences between all of us are too significant and numerous to brush off. 

So, with a pluck of a stick, your life could be worlds apart. 

Often, I wonder what it would be like if I wasn’t chosen. I'd be a normal civilian, free to decide who I want to be. 

Nobody except for the chosen understands how suffocating Fate is. It encompasses every aspect of your life until there is nothing left for you to decide on your own. Its expectations are so astronomically high, you’re unsure if you can ever climb down. 

Ever since I learnt to walk, I’ve been going to Ever After Academy, a school that specializes in “Fate.” It’s ridiculous. Only children chosen by the Fates are eligible for enrollment. But, there are people more worthy; people who actually care about helping the world. The rest of us are groomed into these holier-than-thou vessels of magic and generosity. I’ve seen my classmates become so condescending and cruel, they trap their parents in towers as high as the clouds. I’ve seen my friends laugh and dangle power in front of those desperately in need. 

At the same time, I’ve seen children break under the pressure inflicted on them by professors at Ever After Academy. 60 hours of studying per week. Mountains of homework. Unendurable tests. 

I know this because that was practically my life until my eighteenth birthday. My parents expected a magnificent Fairy with polished manners and perfect grades. Even if the stress wound up killing me, it was my Fate. I had to follow through with it. 

After I graduated, though, I never fully felt satisfied or complete.

How could I when I missed out on my entire childhood?  

I remember staring outside the windows of the Academy, a jealous burn in my stomach. Children with giant grins on their faces ran, sang, and danced while I wondered when it would be my turn. 

It took me a long time to realize that it’d never be my turn. 

I had a Fate which meant I didn’t get to have fun.

Above all, I didn’t get freedom. 

***

I’m a money tree, an ATM to the Fates. 

You should know that my magic is temporary—meaningless. It fades after a week. 

None of my “clients,'' however, know this. They’re under the impression that I’m saving them forever.

Just another trick up the Fates’ sleeve that I was taught to follow. In the high, protected walls of the Academy, I praised the Fates. I believed they were gods; the majority of the Ever After population seemed to think so too. 

I can’t pinpoint the exact date when my beliefs changed, but it was eye-opening to realize that the Fates weren’t all that superior. It seemed like I was the only one whose ideas changed, though. Everyone else seemed content to nurture their admiration of the Fates. 

Perhaps, it was because I was the one taking money, hearts, and first-born children away from needy people. 

A million toes and fingers wouldn’t be able to represent how many lives I’ve ruined. Ironic, isn’t it? A hero who does the exact opposite of her job. 

I rub my temples, leaning my elbows on my desk. 

I have a headache just thinking about my next client: Cinderella. I sympathize with her, but she’s not the only one who needs help. 

Her problems are genuine, but so are mine.

I wanted to have fun as a child, but I had to study. 

I wanted love from my parents, but they wanted perfection. 

I want to go to Prince Charming’s ball too, but I’m a Fairy Godmother. Destined to always help others, but stay on the sidelines. 

It’s my Fate.

***

Stupid Fates, I think to myself while I’m pulling on my ridiculously huge and puffy uniform. 

What monster decided to put fairies in ball gowns as big as mansions? And by monsters, I actually mean the Academy. They chose my gown, my hairstyle, and my wand for me before I could even speak. 

They did it for one reason and one reason only: control. If heroes ran free, who knows what threats they may pose towards the Fates and therefore the Academy? But by keeping us under their dominance, it is vice versa; the Fates are the ones posing threats to the heroes. 

They instill too much terror in society, so nobody dares to speak out against them and their heinous system. 

But one voice can change it all. 

***

“You cruel, vindictive woman!” a rail-thin young woman in gray tatters of clothes screams at me. “You have all this power and you refuse to use it?”

“Yes,” I calmly reply. “Yes, that’s true.”

“Why? Why, why, why?” Cinderella wrings her hands in front of me, tears springing to her eyes. “Why me?” 

I grip her wrists, urging her to calm down. “Listen, girl, it’s not about you or your family. Don't take this personally. I’m doing this because it’s the right thing.”

Cinderella shakes her head, her face wet and eyes puffy. She clutches one of the pillars of her gothic revival styled manor. “I—I don’t understand. Why now?”

My eyes shutter. A good question. “Because the Fates are out of control. Because I should’ve quit a long time ago. Because I should’ve had more courage.”

I do feel somewhat bad for Cinderella—her case was truly devastating. But she doesn’t need my help. She is the epitome of resolution and creativeness and she will find a way to escape from her wretched stepsisters. 

But me? I need to escape my Fate. 

Everywhere I look, people are living their best lives. Marrying princes, shooting arrows, and making giant ice castles in the middle of snow-capped hills. 

So damn it all if I want to live. Damn it if I don’t want to be a Fairy.  

***

My name is Fara. 

I am not a Fairy Godmother anymore. 

I’m just a regular woman.

I explored deserts, rainforests, and oceans like I always wanted to. I married and had children. I put down my wand without a morsel of regret. 

It didn’t come so easily, however. I hurtled through hate, prejudice, and “eternal damnation.” While I didn’t come out unscathed, I survived. 

The Fates could suck it. 

No one, especially not the Fates, expected such an outpour of quitters across Ever After Land. Heroes-in-training, even, stood up to the Fates in their own way. Walking out of classes, refusing to submit assignments, and failing tests. 

Times have changed. 

One of the multitude of changes include our new queen: Her Royal Highness Cinderella. 

Another is the new status the Fates have been neglected to. They lied to us, fooling us into thinking that Fate was inescapable. But now that such a feat has been accomplished, their words mean nothing. Their names are spoken with derision and disdain. 

I was never satisfied in life by following my “Fate.” I suspect that I never would’ve been happy if I hadn’t taken a leap of faith and broke away. 

So, what did I learn after everything? If you want something, don’t wait around for destiny to hand it to you on a silver platter. 

Fight for it.