I am the Queen, you’ve read my story to your children and many of them have pretended to sleep for a year only to have the Prince wake them up. This is a different story but it still involves the dwarfs.

The dwarfs were good to me, they looked after me even while I slept for such a long time, they tell me they were looking for the perfect wedding gift for me when they found everyone asleep with the sleep growing as they went. I put off my wedding to travel with them and find out what was causing it.

We found the castle and dealt with the thorns, fire still burnt them. The old lady didn’t want to us to interfere but it is my kingdom and that year’s sleep taught me many things…I woke the sleeping girl with a kiss. She looked at me the same look my stepmother had all those years ago and I knew.

I am the Queen and will not tolerate this behaviour in my kingdom, I will not have someone rule me. The old woman was courageous, she used the spindle as I knew she would, the girl is no more because of her actions. Somehow the wedding does not seem so urgent now, there are others like this beautiful girl, the people need protecting from them.

I am the Queen, I have the skills, my wedding can wait.

Thank you to Neil Gaiman for providing inspiration in The Sleeper and the Spindle published in The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year Volume Eight edited by Jonathan Strahan