The Storyteller

Let me tell you a story. It’s a lovely one that you have never heard before. The beginning is simple and very common among most fairytales. It’s what you’ve been told your whole life. But the ending is not so simple.

Now, let us begin. There once was a girl who fell in love with a prince. She never thought he would notice her so she got a new dress and a fancy hair do. Then when she crashed his ball he fell in love with at first sight and proposed to her after their first dance. They got married and it was a merry time. This is something we hear our whole lives but there is a part two to this fairytale. The girl who is now a princess lives in a wonderful tower with many servants and her lovely prince. Happy ending? Wrong. The prince is always busy with spending time with his friends, playing polo and rugby, and he loves to throw exquisite parties where they celebrate him. That is something he just loves to talk about. Himself. If the princess tries to talk about her day then the prince talks over her or pretends to snore loudly and guffaws disgustingly. “Just continue to look so beautiful, darling.” That’s what he always said to her. Of course, she had no choice to look nothing but beautiful. The prince would literally shudder in disgust when he saw her without any fancy hair or makeup. There were nights when she had to be made up in bed so that the prince would sleep in the same bed as her. She had to get up at a ridiculous hour in order to look picture perfect so that when the prince woke up and looked at her he would say “Now there is the beautiful girl I love.”

The princess didn’t have many duties. She was no longer allowed to read and had to attend many brunches with women who would proudly criticize her clothing and say horrid things to her until she ran away crying and then they’re loud and nasal laughs would fill their beautiful and well tended to gardens. She would stand up to them only to be scolded by her prince and have him chide her like she was a third grader who deserved a spanking. The servants were no kinder whispering how she did not deserve all that she had and that she was ungrateful. All in all life was not as amazing as she had always dreamed.

But there were more troubling matters in the kingdom. In one of the far off neighboring villages, someone saw a large beast fly over the town. They said the wings were power and large, creating winds that would uproot the trees and send livestock miles away. It’s eyes were the things of the darkest and most terrifying nightmares. And it could incinerate a person to complete ash before they could even think to say a word of prayer to whatever deity comes of the top of their heads.

So the prince was on high alert, training knights everyday, and making sure to encourage the people to give their young boys to the king’s army so they could defeat the horrible beast. The princess was initially frightened, however, she remember stories of beasts as these. Usually creatures of extraordinary magic living in dark caves by themselves, last of their kind, and are treated brutally and mercilessly when captured. She knew her prince’s pure hatred for the creature, but it didn’t stop her from being completely fascinated in the animal. Then one night the prince had gathered his soldiers into his home for a party for the next day they would venture into a forsaken farmland where the creature was rumored to be resting. Only the creature was not in the farmland, it was waiting outside of the castle.

Then there was a loud boom followed by an earth shattering quake that shook the entire citadel and enclosed the hearts of everyone inside with a knee buckling fear that their end was near. The prince called the men to the castle’s door to meet the face of this beast. The servants rushed all women to the kitchen. The princess was both cautiously frightened but uncontrollably giddy. A creature of fairytales and myth! Here! Right at her feet! She hid in one of the pantries and took a secret staircase to the castle’s garden. And slowly she stepped onto the cold earth.

Her back was still against the cold stone walls of the castle. Her breathing slow and labored as she tried to still her rampart heart. She could hear the clinking of the soldiers armor, they were slow and cautious, yet they shook slightly in fear of being burned alive. Then in the distance was a faint wind that picked up and as she turned peeking into the center lawn of the castle she was the beast descending in a grace that both beautiful and utterly petrifying. The monsters wings cut through the air like a knife to butter. It’s eyes focusing on the soldiers like they were a meal and the animal had not eaten in weeks. And the creature’s roar sent a thundering tremble in the very soul of everyone in the lawn. The prince swung with great force, but the creature simply breathed and sent the army of soldiers flying backward as if they were fallen leaves. Many young nights poked at the beast but it remained unharmed. The prince shouted orders and directed the young men around the creature. The beast twisted and screeched as the army started to enclose upon it. The princess crawled into a bush and continued to watch, completely entranced with the creature’s fluid defense movements. Then the princess realized. The best was not here to conquer or kill. It had no desire to maim nor harm those who inhabited the land. Then why was it here?

Just as she contemplated this the prince screamed a loud order and then millions of arrows fell from the sky. They impaled the creature and stuck it down. The knights were running forward with a net. To entrap this creature. Is this right? Should we really entrap such a beautiful artifact of magic and fiction? Then in a split moment the beast’s eyes met hers. There she saw the creature's true nature. It was sad. It was alone. Ridiculed and hated by all and shunned for being different. That’s when she knew what had to be done. And as neurotic as she felt, she jumped from the bush screaming at the top of her lungs running towards the creature. The prince saw her and yelled at her to get away but it was too late. The beast went free. The soldiers finally ran away scared. The prince turned to the princess and screamed a harsh word to her and ran to her. He grabbed her around the throat and threw her to the ground. He kicked her over and punched her again blaming her for condemning his kingdom. She cowered in pain and tried to wipe her blood of her face. When she slowly turned on her back and looked into the prince’s eyes and saw his true nature as well. Then he raised his sword high above his head and slowly a smile full of wickedness took his face. Then a look of dread and surprise took his face. The dragon’s claw had impaled the prince through is back and through his stomach. Then the dragon flicked the prince over his shoulder as if her were a gum wrapper. The princess looked into the beast’s to see empathy. This creature knew how she felt everyday and how horrible and dejected she felt when she woke up every morning. Then the most amazing thing happened. The dragon gently place the princess on his back and took off. As she lie silently on it’s back, she could feel the cool air on her face, but also something else. Something that overpowered her and took root in her soul and spread throughout her being, warm and strong. Then for the first time in a long time she smiled and laughed. A loud joyous laugh convulsed her whole body with pure unadulterated glee.