For a long time, Teresa believed that she was on the verge of a miraculous transformation. Soon. Next year, no later. Or, if not, then in a year. But by the age of thirty-six, her hopes for a happy turn of fate had almost faded. And this must happen, the “prince” on a white yacht invited her to his place for dinner. But the sails on his ship weren’t scarlet at all...

The story was published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 1994.