I have lost everything. I have even lost hope. I spent a miserable night crouched in the hollow of a tree while the storm raged around me. The howling wolves kept me awake all night, not to mention the howling voices in my mind. I have nothing to give my children.

After two miserable years of poverty, my ship came in, but all the goods were divided before I even got there. My daughters thought they were returning to wealth. They asked me to buy them all sorts of dresses and jewels. It will be enough to get myself back.

I can hardly stand up; I am so weary. The falling snow has covered every path in the forest and the stones and roots underneath are slippery. I keep falling down. I am doomed.

What is happening? It was snowing just a moment ago, and now my horse and I are walking down an avenue lined with orange trees. They’re covered in flowers and fruit. Have I died? Is this heaven?

Beauty’s Father in Beauty and the Beast, Blue Fairy Book. Illustration by H.J. Ford