Prologue:

 

 

Once upon a time, there were two sides. From the very beginning, they were dubbed as good and evil. Two sides, two stories. Keep that in mind as this thrilling tale continues.

Evil has always been considered the bad side, the wicked side—the side that houses the worst villains imaginable; the ones who dabble in dark magic; the ones who lock princesses away so that they are never able to see the light of day again; the ones who bend the minds of dragons to their will; the ones who send them to kill all those that they encounter; the ones who curse princesses; the ones who are vile; the ones who are despicable, awful, cruel, gruesome, and every single thing in between. But are they? Truly, are they all those things on the inside? Were they always those things from the very beginning? The answer is, and always shall be, a resilient no.

Good has always been considered, well, the good side, the pure side—the ones who do what is right in the face of evil; the ones who overcome obstacles to save each other; the ones who seek something that can only be found if you have always been good, if you have always kept the clearest of consciences. They are the heroes, they are resoundingly pure, and their lifelong goal is to always defeat those who are considered wicked. But, I ask again, are they truly all those things on the inside? Are they always good? Truly? Every second of every day, they hold no jealousy for their own, they house not an ounce of guilt? And were they always good from the very beginning?The answer is, and always shall be, no.

You might be thinking that this whole theory is bizarre, though every ounce of it is the truth. Good is not always good, and evil is not always evil. There has always been a line between the two sides, but the black and white of the world shall always be smudged. This will never differ. No one is truly good, and no one is truly evil. There is a balance.

And no one knows this more than me.

After all the turmoil in my life, I can tell you that this is true. There is good and evil inside of me, and there is no denying that. And I am no longer as pure as I used to be, and I will never be as pure as, well, snow again. Believe me, I have tried my hardest to search for it for the rest of my life, but I will never retrieve it after, well, life happened.

I encourage you to think of it this way: people did not choose which side to be on, but instead, the world chose for them. The world decided whether they are good or evil, and it decided the same for me. But even if you were branded as one side or the other, that is not your whole story. You weave a tale of both sides.

And this is a key factor that you must also take into mind: you can write your own story, or you can allow the world to write it for you. People can change. I changed. In fact, I drifted past the line more than once, but I eventually found where I was meant to be.

No matter whether good or evil, you will find your happily ever after. Now whether it exists for everyone, that is your opinion. But I believe that it is out there for me, and for you. That’s good enough for me.

Once upon a time, I was good. Once upon a time, I was evil. Once upon a time, I didn’t know what I was anymore. Once upon a time, I lived happily ever after. Though, when I got to that point, I realized that it wasn’t the end of my tale.

It was just the beginning.