Little Dream Catcher (Non SW Sci-Fi Fan-Fic)

I had a weekend assignment in my english class (Sci-Fi as literature...go figure)
Anyway. The assignment was to take a 'fairy tale' and rewrite it as a sci-fi story.
I found a short and not too well know story to use and here is the result.
As always comments are welcomed.

Little Dream-Catcher
aka: The Little Match-Seller (Hans Christian Anderson)

As she wandered the snowy, darkened, streets of the village she knew it was time to leave. They had all turned against her. Some called her ‘bewitched’ while others said she was one of the predatory gods who demanded such tribute as to keep them in perpetual need. It amounted to the same thing for it meant she was unwelcomed except by night when she might find a morsel of bread or cold stew left for her by one of the few kind hearted old women in the village. They weren’t brave enough to take her in, after all what was said about her might be true, but they did what little they could.

She had been outcast since reaching puberty three years ago. It had started with the visions of people’s secrets and dreams of the future. She made the mistake of telling people about them and at first they laughed. They called her "Dream-Catcher" but soon became afraid as her visions proved to be true and her dreams became reality. No one wanted to be near her for fear she would "steal their futures". She didn’t understand their fear; all she wanted to do was help them. Their fear of her was too strong though and they had driven her out.

She shivered in the bitter cold, soaked from a fall into a partially frozen watering trough. She was dressed in a grimy spring dress, ill-fitting slippers, and an open knit shawl. It was all she had. Light and warmth spilled out of windows around her and smoke rose from chimneys along with the smell of foods she could only remember dimly. She spent a more or less peaceful hour crouched in the lee of a large woodpile seeking some shelter but ran off when someone came for more firewood. Making the rounds she collected what she could still find under the deepening snow and made for the clearing.

She stumbled through the bitter storm toward the Sky-Ring at the outskirts of the village. It was used by the gods to come and go, but recently others had come. They said that they were friends and that they fought the cruel ones who pretended to be gods. Some of their weapons were like those of the gods and some were more fearsome. They called the gods evil and had a name for them. She hadn’t heard it clearly from her hiding place, but it sounded like G’old. She didn’t understand how the yellow rock could be evil, but the strangers had spoken truth. She could sense it...

The villagers had been afraid that the strangers were sent to test their loyalty and told them to leave. One of the old women who left her food, however, had spoken to the yellow-haired one about her. She could see it in the old woman’s mind and she recalled a dream she had last night about that particular stranger. She could tell from his reaction that he wanted to help her. She could feel that he wanted to, but the others frightened her so much that she hid from him. He came into the woods and called to her saying that they had to leave soon. He told her he understood and could help her, wanted to help her. She remained hidden, though she was close enough to see things in his mind as he spoke. Horrible things and beautiful things swirled there. She did not understand them all, but she knew he spoke truth.

The next morning she had almost decided to go to him when she heard the sounds of the Sky-Ring Altar and knew she was too late. She rushed to the clearing that held the god’s gateway and watched as the strangers stood at the altar and touched certain parts. She could see pieces of the alter glow with power and how the last thing they did was touch the red stone at the center. Once the Sky-Ring had stopped moving the doorway to the god’s realm opened and the strangers began step through. Before leaving though, the yellow-haired one had wrapped something around one of the light sticks he carried and placed it under a rock near the altar. He had looked around before doing it and she thought he might have seen her.

...She had to look under that rock. She knew whatever was there was meant for her, to help her leave and follow him. He must have known she had been watching from her hiding place, though he didn’t reveal her to the others. She was glad because the others were warriors, and the big, dark one even bore a mark of the gods upon his brow and carried one of their judgment staffs. Though still afraid her courage had finally risen to match her desperation and she was ready. She kept thinking of the things she’d seen in the stranger’s mind. There was warmth where he was, and food…and acceptance. Once more she resolved to leave and follow him. She stumbled and fell in the snow just then; spilling the food she had collected from the village. Rising slowly it took her several minutes to master her shivering and stumble across the clearing to the Altar.

Her hands were stiffening as she turned over the rock and found the light stick. A piece of paper with markings on it had been wrapped around it. There was only one control on the light stick so she was able to turn it on easily. Using it to look at the paper she saw it had symbols written on it that matched those on the Altar. Standing was both difficult and painful, but she managed it. Using the light to compare the paper with the Altar’s symbols she pressed the first one and it sank beneath her hand. She heard the Sky-Ring move in response though in the storm she could not see it. The symbol glowed and she imagined it was giving off heat to warm her by. Quickly she pressed the next few symbols, each lighting up and moving the Sky-Ring as before. It took all she had left to press the final symbol and then the center stone as she had seen them do. Collapsing into the snow beside the Altar she heard the Sky-Gate open.

She had stopped shivering now. The storm didn’t matter anymore. She saw a light come from the doorway and fly over to her. She knew she would be safe, that he had come for her.

"Little Dream-Catcher they call you. How little they know." Said a voice from the light, a female voice.

She struggled to speak, confused, but words would not come.

"Oh, do not worry little one. I have come to take you where none of this matters, if you want to go."

All she wanted was to be with the stranger who’d left her the Altar’s key.

"My child. Where I will take you he will be one day as well."

She wanted that. She liked the voice in the light. She knew it was time to leave and wanted to go where he would be. Slowly the light faded and a woman knelt next to her in the snow.

"My name is Oma and I have come to guide you onward. They fear you because they are not ready to understand you. Soon you will understand everything." Gently Oma lifted Little Dream-Catcher in her arms and stood. Glancing at the Stargate she shut it down with a thought. Then both of them were engulfed in light and they ascended far above the stormy night.

The next morning a woman found the food lying at the edge of the clearing and saw only an outline left in the snow beside the Altar. It showed the shape of a girl reaching toward the Sky-Ring. She ran back to the village and told what she had seen and all were afraid. Little Dream-Catcher had gone to the gods…and the villagers had mistreated her.
FINIS