1503, ITALY

Dear Diary,

I never thought these words would come from my mouth—but I’m in love! His name is Leonardo da Vinci, but I call him Leo for short. He’s a painter, sculptor, musician, mathematician, architect, engineer, inventor, and writer! He’s what they call a Renaissance man!

I have to say, of all the trends I’ve started around Europe, I’m most proud of the Renaissance. Without it, someone like Leo may not have had the chance to show off his talents. He probably would have been burned at the stake, just like all the people in this world who think outside the box.

I was getting so tired of all that medieval craziness—it was all pillage this and torture that. It got old really fast, so I finally said, “Come on, guys, let’s spice some things up around here. Let’s create some new philosophies! Cook some decent food! Hang some drapes! Learn to enjoy life a little bit!”

They really took my suggestions to heart, because the Renaissance was in full force by the time I came back to the Otherworld. Every day they built better buildings, created better music and art, and discovered advances in science and medicine! And of course, the man leading the world into this new era was none other than my Leo.

We first met in a tavern—even those had improved! He bought me a drink and said, “I’d give my left arm to paint a beautiful woman like you.”

He was so charming, I melted on the spot. “Save your arm and just treat me to dinner,” I said.

Leo took me to his favorite spot in Florence and we hit it off right away. We had so many similar interests—which wasn’t a surprise, because Leo was interested in everything. We had so much in common, too. He also had a rocky childhood and knew what it was like to be ahead of the world he lived in. He was fascinated with my stories of the fairy-tale world and thought what the fairies and I were doing was very noble.

Leo is more than one hundred and fifty years younger than me, so I felt a little insecure. But we were so intellectually in sync, you’d never know there was that big an age difference.