The Raven and the Reindeer

by T. Kingfisher

“I did the same thing when I was your age,” said her grandmother. “I daresay I wasn’t like other girls harder than anyone else ever was. I was so unlike other girls that I wasn’t even like myself, except on Sundays.”

“In all the old stories, the only thing that ever won was love. And occasionally a good sharp knife.” “I’ll take the kitchen knife with me, then,” said Gerta.

Feeling bad about feeling bad was not significantly better than feeling bad in the first place.