Prompt: Ship
Character: Lorcan (Lorcan/Lily)
She arrived on her ship of Dreams
Fading into sight over rolling waves
Red hair flying
Brown eyes sparkling
Laughter ringing out for all to hear
And you were
S
P
E
L
L
B
O
U
N
D
Weren't you, Darling
As you watched the ship
Sailing closerandcloserandcloser
Her dreams calling out to you
ReachingTouchingEmbracing your heart
And you believed
For the first time in your life
In miracles
And you believed
In your mother's crumple-horned snorkack
And when she alighted in your arms
You believed in
Happily Ever After
~:~
She was Fairytale-Girl
And you played the part of Knight in Shining Armor
And you would ride together
Across plains of Makebelieve
Through forests of Pretending
And rest in Fairytale Glades
And it was Happily-Ever-After perfect
And she was your princess
And you lived for the tinkling of her laugh
And the magic of her lips on yours
And while the two of you lived in her world of
M
A
K
E
B
E
L
I
E
V
E
Her ship lay forgotten
In the turbulent waves slamming into the dock
And you pulled her up onto your horse
AgainandAgain
And you saved her from the evil WitchesandMonstersandVillains
You were her Knight in Shining armor
But, darling
A Knight is no Prince Charming
~:~
And so the days went on
And you continued to play
And you continued to pretend
One Real-Life Fairytale adventure after another
But you were a realist
Weren't you sweetheart
The only realist in a family of dreamers
And you were tired
Tired of playing
Tired of pretending
Tired of always playing the part of Chivalrous Knight
And tired of saving the Damsel in Distress
Because, let's face the facts
Insults are not witches
Rumors are not monsters
Defeat is not a villain
You are not a Knight in Shining Armor
And your Princess is more than capable of saving herself
~:~
And so you wake up
The world of dreams is fading
And she is fading with it
Tears fall from her eyes
Turning to diamonds on the grass
As she reaches out to you
One last time
And she's begging
P
L
E
A
D
I
N
G
For you to come rescue her
And you want to
As reality comes back into focus
You want to run back
And take Fairytal-Girl back in your arms
And stay in her land of Dreams
And live Happily Ever After
But Reality is now sharp and clear
And she is Forever out of reach
~:~
But you watch her
Out of the corner of your eye
When you think she's not looking
And you remember what it felt like to hold her in your arms
And you find yourself lost in dreams
Again
But these are a different kind of dreams
Aren't they darling
They are the BeautifulBrightLarger-Than-Life Dreams
That will only ever exist in your imagination
And guess what, Sweetheart?
She's not really there
And she never will be
For the Princess has caught another man's eye
And she waits in her tower for him
DayafterDay
And he's Prince Charming
Riding his white stallion to the rescue
He sweeps her off her feet and takes her back to the ship
And you watch as Prince Charming sails off with your Fairytale-Girl
And you watch
The boat is no more than a dot on the horizon
And still you watch
Even when the boat has disappeared into the setting sun
You watch the place where your brother sailed off with the girl you
MaybePossiblyKindof
Loved
~:~
But you can't blame him, really
Can you, Darling
He was always the dreamer
These games of heroic knights
And rescuing princesses
Always came naturally to him
And even as you look at it realistically
Try to dull the pain with logic and facts
You can feel reality slipping from your grasp
And you can't stop the searing anger and pain
From simmering in your veins
~:~
And you sit
DayafterDay
As the gray waters roil beneath the docks
Keeping a weathered eye on the horizon
For now it is you that needs saving
And you stay there
Watching
Waiting
For your Fairytale Princess to return
But sweetheart
She's never coming back