Page 18 of Barbie: Dreamscape

Well, darn. That would have been a pretty good Fate to have. I glance down at my pink feathery heels with a pang of sadness as I turn away from the table. I’m done with this book and all the things I’ll never be.

I shift my attention to the sheets of paper in my hand and chew my lip.

Solutions are sometimes just a question away. I know that, of course. I’ve spent my entire academic life figuring things out. This is the one challenge I just… seem to have given up on. Because it seems hopeless. There is no solution.

Unless, I think… I make one.

My mind starts to turn.

The Fates don’t make mistakes…

But—

What if they did?

I’m valedictorian. I aced every test I was ever given. Being Fateless… it just doesn’t make sense.

Either they made a mistake… or they’re wrong.

Fate is final.

But what if it isn’t?

What if I could find the Fates… and make them change their decision?

No one knows what awaits outside of the pink mists, except for Robin, and she never talks about it. All the citizens of Heartland are told is to never venture past them. And I’ve never wanted to—whatever is out there is so terrible, it killed my mother.

Now, for the first time… I wonder what exists out there. If I might find the Fates. And convince them they were wrong about me.

Maybe one of the books in here has the answer.

I lift one of Callie’s notebook pages and whisper, “Where do the Fates live?”

Nothing happens.

Did I do it wrong? Or does this library not have that answer?

I think of another question. “What lies beyond the mists?”

This time, the paper transforms, becoming a faerie who buzzes away in a flash. For a moment, I revel in how cool it feels to do a little magic myself.

Then I remain at the table, patiently waiting.

And waiting.

The faerie never returns.

Strange.

I whisper the same words into a second page. The faerie flies away.

I wait. And wait. But she doesn’t return, either.

There’s only one page left. One question to ask.

“What lies beyond the mists?” I ask again.

And this time, when the third faerie races away—