I love tradition. No, i don't just love it. To me, it's the most
important thing in the world. It has been that way almost all
my life. Since i was a little boy.
You see, my father was anything but a person who cares
about tradition. Mentally, he remained an angry teenager all
his life. A rebel with no cause. Trying to make the world a
better place when he could not even make his family a better
place. I rarely saw him, most of the time, he was in jail for
minor crimes, leaving my mother to take care of me and my
siblings. The poor woman, god bless her soul, struggled a
lot in her life, having to both work to make a living for us and
be a housekeeper at the same time. Curse you, father, why
did you even start a family? Could you not see that you were
not suitable to being a father? I hope you're rotting in Hell
right now.
After my mother's death, i swore i would never be like father.
I was determined to be a true man, one who would respect
traditions. Because, if we don't try to keep our ancient habits,
values like family and solidarity will eventually fade. I mean,
things have been the way they are for centuries because they
work well and serve a purpose. Do you think that all the previous
generations were just idiots who did things the wrong way and
it is our job as smarter than them to change? Of course not. My
father was the perfect negative example of that.
I did not want much from life. Just a job or a business that would
give me enough to live in dignity without harming anyone and
a loving family that i would support in every way. Oh, how i
craved a family. A wife i would be true to. Children to whom i
would be the father that my own father in blood (yes, just in
blood) never was to me.
However, somewhere in the way, somewhere in this voyage
called life, i got it wrong. I got so devoted to keeping every
tradition, every protocol, every little thing coming from the past
generations, that i forgot to live the present. I forgot to live my
life.
Who would imagine old age comes so suddenly? You just wake
up one day and realize that your youth went by and you did
what with it may i ask? Nothing! I wasted my best years without
having any social life, without ever experiencing the joys of falling
in love, marrying and having a woman by your side, someone to
share your problems with.
After those realizations that came with my elderly life crisis, i
underwent some changes. I became more jolly, more friendly,
more kind to people, i even earned a reputation as the nicest
man in Corona's capital. I knew it was too late to start a family,
but i was determined to let bygones be bygones and make the
most out of the life i had left.
And then... then SHE had to come and upset my hard earned
inner peace. Rapunzel. The lost princess. With her free spirit,
her innocence, her spontaneity, her blonde hair, her charming
green eyes and, most importantly, her disrespect to what i had
fought all my life to preserve: tradition. She is so annoying, so
irritating, so exasperating, so stupid, so... perfect!
Oh, my dear Punzie (i would never call her Punzie out loud).
Why could we not have met in a different reality? Why couldn't
i be some young prince who saved you from the tower you were
imprisoned, married you and lived happily ever after?
I tried so hard to convince myself that i dislike that woman. But
who could ever dislike that blonde angel? Oh, gosh, what would
ever happen if someone knew about how i really feel? I figured
it was for the best to never take any chances, to make sure that
no one will ever suspect that i... darn, i can't even say it in my
own head! Letting people believe that i dislike their lovable
princess is preferable to letting them know that i'm a sick, old
perv.
Don't get me wrong, it wasn't easy to be rude to her majesty.
I felt bad for hurting her feelings, but i had no choice. I shouldn't
risk getting exposed. Alas, i kept throwing back at her all her
gifts, like the green scarf and the chocolate sculpture.
When she disguised herself and came at my shop, introducing
herself as Misty, i instantly knew she reminded me of someone.
When she couldn't help it and she started defending the one
who had made the chocolate sculpture, i looked at her suspiciously
for a moment. I no longer had any doubt that it was her! How
did that naive creature think that i couldn't see through such a
childish trick?
For a moment (when i gave her the suspicious look), i was
about to expose her and kick her out of my shop once more.
Next fraction of a second though, i thought of something crazy.
Why not playing dumb? That was a good opportunity to spend
some time with that dreamy creature. Even if my feelings somehow
got revealed, i could make an excuse by saying i was in love
with whom i thought she was (Misty), not with the real princess.
Ahh, that was the best day of my life. That girl is so inspirational.
I even fulfilled my dream of winning the gopher grab thanks to
her. I will treasure the moments i spent with her for as long as i
shall live. Even if she hadn't managed to save my life, i'd have
died in happiness. Maybe it'd have been better if she hadn't saved
me.
When she revealed her identity, i felt that, since she had saved
my life, i at least owed her an explanation for why i disliked her.
I didn't exactly lie. I just told half the truth: that her disrespectful
attitude to traditions drives me crazy. Her sad eyes when she
heard my accusations were like a punch in my guts. I sighed and
tried to make her feel a little better by giving her a little praise too.
When she finally asked me: 'So, are we friends or not?', looking
at me with those wonderful eyes, for a moment, i thought of being
like 'the hell with reason' and telling her the whole sickening truth.
No, no, no, have i gone out of my mind?
Can you imagine what would have happened if i had told that? In
the best case, she'd have felt pity for me. In the worst case, she'd
have freaked out and told her dad, who would have subsequently
arrested me or even executed me.
Her declaration in the end of the day that she had come to dislike
me too was painful but also a relief. I'd rather she dislikes me than
she pities me.
Being in the age i am, i have started wondering what comes after
death. Who knows, maybe, in some kind of afterlife, i can be young
again and find another dreamy girl. And live with her all the stuff that
i missed in this life.