For Jackunzel Week '14!
Rapunzel was a reader. But, not just a reader, a mermaid, a musketeer, a dancer, a soldier, a fairy, a wizard and above all else, a hero.
The make-believe magic words gave her was her strength, power and source of hope. They defined her days in the tower as vicarious adventures but adventures nonetheless. She rode her broom, the sink was her cove, the bed was a boat, the window was her portal to another universe.
"Look Pascal," She pointed to a tree, "I'd bet you three pies that tree can talk and walk." She paused for a moment, "Don't you think so?"
Pascal bobbed his head which she took for a nod.
"Hmm, do you think they'd carry me off if I asked?" She wanted to believe they could, as she did with most things she saw in and out of her tower.
The sky, she'd say, was an ocean too high to swim in, but should she reach far enough, she'd touch the water and fall over onto the other side.
The long hours of the day soon became night and Rapunzel found herself staring out the window again, this time with her feet dangling over the edge. She had her eyes on the moon. So many characters from all the worlds she'd visited in the pages of books had spoken of it. It took on many shapes, many people but it seemed to be adored by most. Love songs came from the circle in the night, she almost felt forlorn looking at it now.
"Do you think," She asked Pascal, who had already fallen asleep,"If I were to touch the moon… would it sing me a love song?" Her voice was dreamy when she asked it.
Sitting on the rooftop, just above Rapunzel was a boy holding his hand over his mouth. He expected to laugh at the question but funny enough, he smiled instead.
He'd only just come to the tower; for a moment he was sure the girl was going to jump from the tower and had instinctively reached for her when she stepped onto the ledge but when she sat down, he became curious. He'd loved heights but he also could fly and because of this the fear of falling to one's death was taken of the equation (mostly). This girl was dangling 70 feet in the air without a care in the world.
She had started to hum, "If I could have wings," She pressed her hands to her cheeks and giggled, "I'd fly to the moon and over all the oceans, and find all the hidden treasure in all the stories for the sake of finding it!"
She jumped up so quickly, she startled Jack; he nearly lost his footing.
"And then I'd find all the lost empires and all the lost tombs and sing with all the mermaids of the world!" She listed her hands into the air and started to twirl.
Jack leaned in closer, partly terrified she'd fall, partly entranced by all she had said.
Jack didn't know who he was but he knew where he'd been. He'd seen tombs and empires, and mermaids, creatures he'd never thought existed and then some. He'd had plenty of adventures but he longed for someone to tell his stories to, or better yet, someone to have adventures with.
I could show you, he thought.
By then, Rapunzel had sat down and had started to sing.
Without thinking, Jack had floated down to her and took a seat next to her. She hadn't noticed at first, she was too lost in her own melodies to notice and he was so use to being unseen to even say hello.
The second she opened her eyes she let out a gasp and fell back into her tower.
For a moment, there was no sound between either of them, and then, Rapunzel had slowly crawled up to the window and looked at him wearily. Her mother had always taught her to fear strangers.
Jack was already up in the air, he'd frozen the ledge in a panic and was about ready to fly off without a word when he noticed she her hands. They were still covered in paint from earlier but she was now using them to feel the frost he'd created. She looked up at him and smiled, no longer afraid. Strangers were dangerous, strangers would hurt, but characters from books weren't strangers, they were her friends.
"Jack Frost," She said softly, but still loud enough for him to hear.
"Yes?" He said in a whisper.
She let out a sigh, as if she was meeting a prince. To Rapunzel it was more than that, all the days pretending trees could talk and skies were oceans had left her so enamored with dreams that she could hardly believe it wasn't a dream now. Storybook characters, fantasies, fairytales those were home to her.
In her mind, it was an honor to meet Jack Frost.
"Will you come back again?" She held her hand to her heart scarcely believing she was having such a calm conversation with a stranger from her stories.
He nodded.
"Meet me at my window," She said kindly and he nodded once more before flying upward to the moon.
While Rapunzel squealed from the possibility of her new friendship, and ignoring the possibility of her once again having a vivid dream, Jack Frost couldn't help think that it was Rapunzel who was shaping up to be the hero. It was not because she had seen him when others couldn't but rather her dreams that would take her to far off places and her kindness that showed a willingness to help anyone she met.
We'd have the greatest adventures, he thought before shaking the thought away and flying off into the night with a smile on his face.