A Modern Fairytale ~

once,

in a mountain kingdom, far away, there lived a princess, 
and she sat each day at the very top of her stone tower, and looked toward the rising sun in the far distance beyond the highest peaks,
and some days, she would pretend that she was the sun, and that she could travel the world from the safety of home, 
but most days, she would wish for the time when the walls of her tower no longer would encompass her being.

for in her tower, the weather was stormy, and some days, her isolation profound,
so she lost herself in the books she found, hidden in the crevices and staircases within her rock walls
and they told of great tales of vast worlds she wished to explore, empowered heroines, fierce dragons, but also sometimes they talked of take-out chinese food and quiet family dinners, conversations between friends in a city bustling with life
and sometimes, she would play these conversations out in her head, and the silence was comfortable and comforting rather than sad

and in the moments-before-dawn light, she would glance over the mountain peaks, and her heart would wander past the boundaries of the world she had known

and she felt she could see the echoes of faded cityscapes,
within the almost real lights of buildings, illuminated by pinpricks of starlight 
she could see the families, friends, lovers, cities, possibilities, and above all, hope

and when the sun rose, and with it, the new day that chased the night from the sky, she would close her eyes and pretend that she was flying, 
but then the day called, and she grounded herself again to return to her tasks

~

for once when she was very young and foolish, 
she made a deal with an omnipresent being, 
and challenging his authority, said that she could name every colour in the world
said that life could be hard but she could understand it’s hardship
said that the world was a dark place but she could find light
and he was afraid
because the trials laid out before her were those that he felt would burn out her flame

and he was afraid
because he felt that within that burned out light, she would find the ember
and this ember would be that which could start a bonfire 
for all it’s passion and power
and he did not believe this could be so
without the destruction flame would bring
to the world so carefully known already 

and he pretended to congratulate her, 
but really, his thoughts were askew,
and he said to her, 
i have a task for none other but yourself, for in your folly you say this world is one that is familiar
the world is always changing, but i want you
to paint the colours of the sky, create for me a tapestry of all that is known,
and within that, find the truth that you need to face the hardships which are found within many

you will have all that you need to do this, but for one condition
because you challenged my notions of time; for saying time was eternity 
and eternity a moment of love,
you shall have all the time in the world
for twenty years, I will let you live
within my tower on the far mountain gate, 
and there, you will create from the silk of the river, and the clouds of the sky, 
from the earth of the forest, and from the song of your heart
a map like no other,
and this map will show you the way

and so she agreed, 
and at first, her heart was light, 
for she knew it’s purpose
but looking at the cool lake, in which the life of the world was reflected back 
she felt her heart gradually grow darker
as the sorrow she saw was that
which turned the fibres of her tapestry grey 
like ash

and she saw the despair
found in hunched shoulders and bright smiles
that could not reveal the depth within,
and she wished she could do more
and felt condemned in her role
for the world was so vast

and the tapestry she was making, 
so immense often she felt she could never understand it’s meaning

~
and so the days passed
the mornings within the words of pages
and the nights bathing in the clear water of the river by the shore
and sometimes, she would take her tapestry to the balcony
and by the light of the stars, try to make sense of the elusive

~

until, one day she awoke
and saw, upon her windowsill, a dragonfly
she had just finished a book about the dragons, 
and as her gaze fell upon this quiet being,
she saw herself reflected back, as clear as the mirror of her pool

and she watched the dragonfly fly over the hills and mountains
until it’s wings became the sun

and in that moment, she realized
that she defined her own path
and with this realization, and with the realization the dragon brought
a set of stone stairs appeared upon the edge of the tower,
but whenever she drew close, they faded again, like a mirage

and she felt sad
and she sat upon the edge of her tower, and the world which had been
swam before her gaze,
and her limits coloured her tapestry black,
and from there, the sadness within her eyes,
spilled out, and within it’s river, the lake of the world rippled,
and a fish jumped out of the pond, like a diamond
it’s scales the colours of her tears shed

~

and in that moment, a grave purpose overcame her
and her feet, uncertain, carried her inwards
from there, for a year and a day, 
she continued as she had been
but each evening, she wove from the greys of the tapestry,
a rope, for which she would escape from her tower,
and the bright colours of her discovery
reflected the dawn sky above

until, one day, finally, she was ready
and from that rope, she climbed over her balcony
she realized she still had ten years imprisoned,
but no longer would she let her fate be dictated by another
or so she thought,
and as she descended, 
she felt her wings, 
and realized that she was flying again

~

and touched down upon a city
in which all the people wandered about their business
but despite all the conversation, 
so little was truly said,
and she found more said in the language of the rising sun and the stars at night
and sleeping alone under a half hidden stone bench, 
behind the walls of a building with a stained glass sun,
she found she missed the tower she just had fled from 

she felt her life and her light within her
and felt unsure with the new day
and longed for the safety when everything was known

until, one day, as she was sitting in a park,
looking over the mountains at the rising sun, 
this time, looking towards her quiet tower,
and the purpose of the tapestry reflecting the world,
she felt a hand upon her shoulder

and looking up, she saw a young child
a boy, with dark hair, and quiet eyes,
in his hand, he had a flower, 
and he gave it to her, and left

and she glanced down upon the flower
and suddenly, the meaning became clear

for 

Author's Note

still unfinished
let me know what you think! all the best =)