It was noon the next day when she woke up. Lucky that it was a day off for her, so she could have some space to herself and take things slowly. She got out of bed and saw her cat around the corner. He seemed not so eager to see her these days, didn't he? He just glanced at her and then turned his back at her. She had been so preoccupied with her own things recently that she had not paid much attention to him at all. Today, she followed him until he curled up in his usual resting place and began to stroke his head and back. Only then she realized that he had gotten slimmer and noticed signs of fragility as he aged. He looked at her in wide eyes, receiving her without any resentment and it warmed her to feel such unconditional love. She could not help but to shake off her thought that one day, she would have to lose him. Upon that thought, she left him as he curled into a ball and closed his eyes.

It still brought her to tears whenever the radio had a melancholic song on, but it was not pain anymore. She did not know how to describe it...... the music just struck a chord with what she was feeling. She regained composure soon enough and started to clean up her room. With such chaos, she just could not get any work done. And so she thought, things were normal again and she was ready to move on. She had lived all her life up till now with passion in her work, hope to put the haunting shadow of her unhappy family behind, and courage to face the various challenges and setbacks that life holds. With or without him, she would still stay true to herself.

She flipped over a story book, in preparation for her lessons with some young kids. The illustration of Snow White and the prince caught her eyes. She had never believed in 'happily ever after'. Perhaps, she had secretly hoped that there would be a prince to save her from her troubles. She put up a bitter smile and closed the book. Reaching for a blank sheet of paper, she started to draft the outline of an adapted version of the fairy tale. Okay, this time, she would make Snow White the heroine who saved the prince. The kids were creative and enthusiastic enough to sort out the details, so it would be fun. She could not help smiling wryly at this idea. She was not foolish and unlovable afterall.