Sleeping beauty

Once upon a time; many, many years ago, there was a wonderful kingdom, where people were happy and lived in harmony. The rulers of this kingdom were a young king with his lovely wife, whose subjects loved deeply because they were fair and generous.

One day, the news about the king and queen having a son was spread, and everyone felt like celebrating the happyness of their monarchs.

The throne heir was borned in a winter day, although it was extraordinarly warm, maybe as a way to welcome the newborn.

The baby was a healthy boy that was soon loved by her mother and father tenderly.

Several fairies went to the queen's bed side in order to honour the birth of the child with their powerful magic. One of them gave the boy an angel voice, so when ever he felt like singing everyone would stop to hear him and felt delighted by his. Another fairy, granted him with a generous and sweet heart, so he would always be gentle and good with his subjects, and loved by all people. And finally, the last one gave him the most incredible gift: a beauty far beyond anything humanly imaginable, so pure that would hypnotize the eyes of every living creature.

The king and queen were so happy about the gifts from the fairies, that they invited them to have dinner in the castle with them. But as they were leaving to the dinning room, the oldest fairy arrived, late because of her age. This fairy, annoyed because they had not waited for her arrival, sent an evil spell over the boy. She told the monarchs that if the prince couldn't find the love of his life before the age of twenty five, he would fall prisoner of a profound sleep from which he could only be awakened by the kiss of a woman who would trully love him, and that he could love back.

At first, the king and queen were scared, but soon they realized that a beautiful and tender criature like their son could never remained unknown of love; and to prove their point, they stablished that they would called him "Prince" until he could find a woman who loved him and named him.

As years went by, the Prince grew out to be a handsome and healthy young man, whose angel voice could capture all ears and whose golden heart could be love by all his people. The young prince had a lot of beautiful and rich girls loving him, willing to become his wife, but he could not sincerily love any of them.

And so the years continue to pass, until the Prince reached the age of twenty five. And one night, during a dance ball, he collapsed on the floor and felt asleep, prisoner of the spell from the old fairy.

That's how the king and queen became aware of their mistake: with all his virtues, the prince could be easily loved, but, yet, he could not love.

Sadness came upon the rulers and its people, and the kingdom quickly withered and sank into oblivion, hidden within the deeps of the forest whose thick trees soon covered the castle and the young "Nameless Prince".

And the story tells that the Prince still sleeps his profound dream, waiting for the woman that could love him and bring him back from the spell, able finally to give him a name.

But since that time and today, many years had passed away, and it's been long since ladies stopped searching for the "Nameless Prince". And the story has become a legend no one believes, because the castle within the woods was never found.

My name is Bella, I'm seventeen years old and I have heard this story plenty of times from my grandmother and other inhabitants of this city, because it has became a typical tale of our region.

The forest, in where the charmed prince and his castle are supposed to be, I have known since my tender childhood, when I used to play there with my friends. And now, in my youth, I always travel throught it as my passion for photography takes over me.

I'm not a special person, I have never been one. I'm just another human being walking the troubled paths of life. I don't own any special glitter. I wasn't touch by the magic wand of a fairy grandmother. And I am not certainlly an exotic princess from the West.

However, with my sweet seventeen years on me, I felt that day that fate had placed its gentle hand over me.

That spring afternoon, I walked into the woods with my digital camera hanging from my neck. It was barelly past midday, but by those things of photography and loneliness, the hours passed by in an instant and soon it was getting dark. As the sun began to go by the horizon, dying the sky with oranges and purples, I decided to head back. But as I tryed to return, I found myself in a strange place and completelly lost.

It was a rather odd moment, since I have known the woods since I was a child and almost like the palm of my hand. So I decided not to lose my calm and began walking, sure that I would soon find a way back to civilization.

I walked for the longest time. I would say it was hours, but I could not precise the time since my watch misteriously stopped working. Nevertheless, I would say that not even a second went by, because life seemed to stop in that instant, and the sky remained on twilight for the long hours that I walked the forest.

Finally, when I thought my legs could not carry me any more and I was begging to lose hope, I saw a clearing of light coming by the branches. I began running towards the brightness and I was soon marbled when my eyes found the landscape ahead: in the clearing there was a fabulous castle whose beauty not even time and abandoness could have corromped.

Guided by impulse, and great curiosity, I decided to get in. The interior was amazing. It was luxurious, and the halls were enormous and bright, with walls covered with ancient paintings. Details in door and stairs were made of gold, and the furnitures were high quality too.

I went upstairs, climbing fairy tail steps, made of the purest white marble and covered by a red carpet that could only belong to a king. Finally, I reached an endless hall, full of door leading, surelly, to the bedrooms. And at the end of the luxurious hall I could see I light that was surely not from natural source.

I walked ahead slowy, but without fear, and I was paralyzed as my eyes discovered where the bright was coming from. In front of me, lying on a royal and exquisite wooden bed, was a young man, sleeping a profound and undisturbed sleep that had been going on since years.

I got neared just to take a better look at him and I found myself fascinated by the sight spreading at my eyes.

The sleeping boy posessed a beauty imposible to describe, that captured my heart and soul in an instant. He had a power yet unprotected appearance, childish and mature at the same time. There was a warm heat coming from him of youth and life, and I felt like hugging him and cradling him in my arms as I suddenly desired to protect him.

He had short bronce hair, light as the eternal dream he was prisoner of. His eyes, even as they were sealed, held a sad gesture. His full pink lips seemed soft and tender, and I could guess then that his smile would be glorious.

He was naked, but... how could I ever described his nudity? It would be impossible using regular human words, because I think not even in the lenguages of the gods there are terms enough to portray his beauty. It was, simply and indeniably, perfect.

And his skin... Oh his skin! It was an inmaculate silk, adjusting to his anatomy in a way no fabric could, outlining his body in a way that could almost hurt the eyes.

In my mind, the sleeping young boy seemed like a heavenly and divine creature, and for a moment I wondered if I was not in heaven and between angels, since I could not trully believed such beauty could be found on earth.

When I could finally regain the use of my mind and reality snapped back into me, I remebered the old story my grandmother used to tell me when I was a child; and I had no doubt then that I was in the wonderful kingdom, in the fairy tale castle and before the famous "Nameless Prince".

My first reaction was to kiss him, but I hold myself. If all the ladies of his time, beautiful, lovely and refined, couldn't make him love them and, by that, save him from this fate; how could I, a simple and ordinary girl, awake him from his enchanted sleep?

Heartbroken, I raised my camera, took a single photo, to get with me the memory of his overwhelming beauty, and walked to the door.

But as I was walking from his bedchamber, I stopped on my tracks and return to my thoughts. I decided then that, for once in my life, I was going to go with my heart, instead of my mind. I was going to kiss the prince, not because I thought I could wake him, but because I wanted to give myself the selfish pleasure of caressing his sweet lips.

I turn on my heels and again approached the sleeping prince bedside. I sat by his side, and while I was marveled by the harmonious beauty of his face, I let my mouth whisper softly in his ears: "I love you".

And while my lips came down to his, I knew that was the moment I had been waiting all my life as a woman. That man was the one of my dreams, the main character of all my fantasies. And so, kissing him, was like reaching I long sought paradise.

When I got my lips away from his, I stayed looking at him, waiting for nothing, because I was sure I was not the one destined to save him and that the kiss had just been a gift for myself.

But, to my surprise, his face was oddly illuminated by a ray of sun coming throught a non-existent window, and his green emerald eyes opened, filling the room with the light of his internal fire. And it was then like if our souls had found each other after hundreds of years by which I had been looking for him and he had been waiting for me, loving each other throught time and space, like two beings from different eras and universes that finally converge in a single dimensional point, propelled by fate.

And while we were staring into each other eyes, finding ourselves after so many absences, I remembered the story my grandmother used to tell me; and looking stright into his emerald orbs, I told him:

"Your name will be Edward"

And we lived happily ever after.

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This is kind of a fairy tale love letter.

I wrote this (in Spanish, actually) for my husband when we met almost ten years ago.

I wrote a lot to him, and since then he has always been the main male character of all my stories and the true inspiration of my writing. He is also the only person that I have allowed to read everything I have written in my life.

I wanted to share this with you, since I love this old tale so much. And every time I read it I think of him.


Hope you have enjoyed it!