Tribute to Once Upon A Time’s “Dreamy” Episode

Grumpy did not start out that way. Once he was called Dreamy; that was the name with which he was born. Once he was in love. But dwarves can’t love. Dwarves can’t marry.  Dreamy learned this harsh truth when he was barely past his first birthday and he ventured out of the mines to be with Nova and watch the fireflies on the hill. They dreamt of sailing the kingdoms together, but Poppa set him straight. Dreamy returned to the mines to become Grumpy.

Standing in front of the diamond deposit, Grumpy took a deep breath. His nose shone bright red, irritated from inhaling the dust caused by his pickaxe against the ground as he swung. He straightened with a groan. More than anything else, he longed to see her face again, hear her voice, sail the kingdoms. Grumpy swung again. He heard Sneezy sneeze and Sleepy snore in the background. He’d heard tell of a man—he was a man once, rumour had it—that would offer you your most deepest desires. For a price. Maybe he should venture to the surface again. Seek him out.  But it had been so long.

Grumpy straightened up once more, righted the cloth hat on his head and scratched the dirt from his beard. Nova. There she was in his thoughts again. Her sing-song voice, star-lit eyes, ruby lips. Nova. Who was he kidding? Even a man that spun gold from straw couldn’t give him what he wanted. And even if he could, the consequences for his love were too great. She would lose her wings. People who would rely on her as their fairy godmother would be left hanging.

The best thing for Grumpy to do was to accept his lot in life and make the best of it. But he didn’t have to like it. “Hi ho,” Grumpy said, passionlessly. He swung the pickaxe again.

The above piece was written as an exemplar for my Writers Craft students to demonstrate how to write a character sketch using a formula called “The Five Facts of Fiction” and detailed in http://www.ttms.org/say_about_a_book/facts_of_fiction.htm.

Thanks to http://thetelevixen.com/2012/03/ouat-dreamy/ for the graphic.