Waking Goldilocks

Once upon a time, a little girl with auburn locks lived in a cottage by the woods. Every afternoon her mother stroked her long curls and smiled, and her father told her how pretty she was, and as shadows closed in around the cottage, the little girl closed her eyes and counted the brush strokes and remembered that everything was alright. No one was surprised when the little girl grew up and became a model and set out to find her way in the world. She had no idea what she was looking for, but she found it, and soon everything was working out splendidly. When she met her true love he was, well, just right. He placed a perfect diamond on her trembling finger and whisked her off into happily ever after and she thought things could not be more perfect. But she was wrong, because before long they were expecting twins and things were even more perfect. Oh yes, everything, was just right. But sometimes the old shadows crept back into her dreams, and when she awoke, she wondered if she deserved it all. And sometimes she thought that maybe, just maybe, everything was a bit too perfect. Alas, when the worst thing imaginable happened and she longed to go back to the cottage in the woods, it was too late - the cottage had disappeared and now the shadows had completely filled her dreams. Her heart was broken and she was alone with two little girls - with curls like her own - and she knew nothing would ever be perfect again.