This is a fairy tale with teeth and claws.

Sometimes you don't know what you need until it's gone

But sticking to rules just because they're there does not make them right. You need to learn when the rules should be broken.

Obeying orders just to obey is the mark of a person who has ceased to think. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.

The familiar was usually invisible; how many people really noticed everything they saw?

The grief in her green eyes slips then hardens and, for an instant, Pendleton sees the woman she has become and has no right being, not at sixteen.

As the dog sprinted back, Jack said to the girl, "Sweetheart,honey, why do you have to be so hateful?" "Why not?" Ellie said. "It's not like being good ever got me anywhere.