Fairy Tale Endings
Prologue
By: Opal Soul
I love a fairy tale. Evil and good are stark black and white, and even though the fair maiden might run into some temporary trouble—oh, say a dragon, a witch, or an insensitive cheating boyfriend- her prince or knight would eventually whisk in to save her. She would know from the very minute she laid eyes on him that she was to spend every moment of the rest of her life loving him, and he would naturally reciprocate. They would ride off into the sunset together on his noble steed and begin an exciting and perfect new life together.
I've never been short on friends or family gladly telling me how silly or childish I am for believing in them. But, really, can you blame me? The world is hooked on fairy tales. Authors dress them up a little now, turning the princess into a "normal girl" who is "unaware of her beauty" and her prince into a business executive or the most popular guy in school. Dragons and witches are more often fatal diseases, untimely pregnancies, or saccharine cheerleaders. Without fail, though, the girl always gets her man. And they go to the prom together or to the movies or rip each other's clothes to shreds or something equally thrilling.
The funny thing about women, though, is that we will scurry out to the bookstore or the supermarket and buy the most terrible bodice-rippers, hoping with all our hearts that a handsome millionaire will suddenly bump into us, look into our eyes, and fall truly, madly, and deeply, but the moment something like that actually happens, it isn't what we want anymore. If it's happened to a friend, for example, we congratulate them—perhaps sincerely, but secretly wonder what he possibly saw in her to love so quickly. If it's happened to us, we're so caught up in the sheer wonder of it that we forget that real life doesn't end with a kiss, a night out, or even marriage. It begins.
Disclaimer: Standard. I'm neither the heroine nor the creator of the Sailor Moon fairytale—just a fan and hopeless romantic.