Daphne stared at the crone in horror.

“Teach… teach me a lesson? What do you mean?” she stammered.

“I mean that one such as you should walk in the shoes of others, to understand how sheltered she has been. That is the only way for the self-absorbed to have their eyes opened, to realize how far beyond them the world extends, and how myopic they have been.”

As she spoke, the old women laid her hand on Daphne’s shoulder. As she stared coldly into the young girl’s blue eyes,her voice dropped to a harsh whisper.

“The time has come… for you to change.”

Daphne felt the weight of the old woman’s hand as the fire-lit room around her began to sway and shift in her vision. She glanced, horrified, at the teacup next to her, which the old woman had offered her as they sat at the hearth, and from which she had sipped.

“What have you done to me?” she whispered.

“Your lesson has begun, my girl. From this day forward, you will live out the years as others have: compelled to work, to struggle, to suffer. No longer will you live the life of the uncaring,unwanting royalty you were born into. No, from now on your life will be that of the masses. I curse you, child, to a life — to LIVES — through which you will toil.  Only then will you gain understanding of what it means for others to exist on this earth.”

Daphne swooned.  Her legs seemed to give out from under her as she crumpled to the ground.  The old crone, hazy, hunched above her, was the last thing she saw.

*****