Once upon a time, hidden deep within a wood a world away, there was a cozy little village called Bliss. Village Bliss was your typical, merry-minded community where the people worked and played and lived in perfect harmony. Here, everyone was greeted with a cheery smile and wished well on their way—everyone except Hope.

“Snake eyes! Raven hair!” the children taunted her day after day as she walked home from school.

“FRECKLE FACE!”

“Leave me alone!” Hope would always shout, pulling her hat down further over her ears, but the rowdy children never relented until she reached the safety of her own home.

“Mom,” began Hope timidly, “why does everyone pick on me?”

“Oh sweety,” her mother spoke kindly, “they’re just kids. They don’t know any better.”

“Yeah, but…” Hope paused, recalling yesterday at the market—the glaring eyes, the muttered words. “But the grown-ups do it too…”

“Hope, darling, what’s this nonsense? They treat you just the same! Now, put it out of your head and go play.”

“But Mom those kids are still—!”

“Go on, go on!” her mother insisted, shooing her out the back door.

“No, Mom, wait—!”

The door closed in her face with a loud whump! Then, the lock clicked into place. Hope could feel the glaring, glittering eyes on her back, even before she turned around.

“Hey, freckle-face!” called a chunky boy with bright blond hair.

Hope, her eyes sharp with anger, turned slowly to meet her classmates as they emerged from the shadows.

“Yeah, you, soot-locks! Ya wanna play a little game with us?”

Hope said nothing, for her jaw was clenched too tightly.

“Come on, girly! It’ll be fun!” another boy coaxed.

“We were going to play Good Hunting!” piped another.

“The only problem,” sneered the blonde boy slyly, “is that we need A WOLF!”

Suddenly, what seemed a hundred mud balls rained down on the defenseless girl from all angles. Howling with embarrassment and rage, Hope ran from her porch, into the deep, dark forest, the children’s echoing laughter biting at her heels. Farther and farther, she plunged into the forest until she could run no more. There, she fell to the ground and curled into a tight little ball, letting hot tears wash the mud from her freckled face. She stayed there, among the naked branches and piney trees, until the tears began to freeze on her face.

Hope breathed a shaky sigh of frustration and watched with green eyes as it condensed, coiling over, under, inside, out in the bright moonlight, before it disappeared.

With a secret smile glimmering in those green eyes, she picked herself up and followed her tacks back to the village just as it began to snow. From now on, she thought to herself, things will be different.

And, in some ways, they were.