The stars winked in the sky like sparkling diamonds as Rapunzel gazed outside the window of her tower. She heard a whispering in the wind and the tiny whicker of a horse. The silhouette of a horse dragging a rather large bundle reached the crest of the hill. Zel ran her fingers through her newly cropped hair, wondering if she should let her plans for escape give way to her curiosity. Sighing, she lowered her rope of hair that had been tied to the bed and climbed down. She approached the horse with caution as the moon peeped through the clouds. Her breath misted in the air as she gasped when she realized that the horse was dragging a human. She righted the man and led the exhausted horse to the base of the tower. Somehow, she managed to lift the man to her room by the time the sun began to rise above the horizon, painting the sky with shades of pink and purple. She climbed back down and led the horse to a nearby stream she had heard bubbling from her room at the top of the tower. Back in her room, Zel heard the familiar creaking voice of the old hag that brought her provisions.
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel" croaked the hag with the familiar chant. However, the next lines threw her off as the old woman spoke, "Let down your basket, my arthritis is acting up and my hip is frozen."
Zel couldn't believe her luck as she looked at the man lying helplessly on her bed. She fixed her hair like a wig and appeared at the window with her basket, which she lowered to receive her food for the week. As the old lady hobbled away, Zel scrambled down her rope of hair to check on the horse. This was exactly what she needed to escape as far as she could before the hag realized she was gone, but the going would be slow if she had to bring a disabled man along with her.
She continued to muse on her problems as she paced her room. She had checked on the man lying prone on her bed. She couldn't find any sort of identification, nor could she find wounds.
"Perhaps he has starved." Zel mused aloud as she tossed a shiny red apple up and down. She continued to pace and heard a low groan coming from the man. She walked to his side and leaned in as he began to whisper. Unfortunately, all Zel could hear was "Wa…" before the man's voice gave way.
"Maybe he wants water." She spoke softly. "It couldn't hurt him any." She poured the remnants of her water in to a glass and carefully trickled it into the mystery man's mouth. He moved his head, which rested on her hand and began to mumble. However, Zel was unable to make out his words as, once again, he slipped into unconsciousness.
Zel continued to nurse the man back to health, and eventually, he was able to speak to her. She learned that his name was Charles by his parents, called Charlie by his friends. A special bond grew between the young man and his nurse, but they couldn't put a name to it. With each passing week, Zel grew fearful that with the coming spring, the old hag's arthritis would wear off and she would discover Zel's secret companion. Finally, Charlie was well enough to travel, so the pair planned their escape for the following night.
Unfortunately, the following day, spring burst through the frozen grip of winter. The old lady came to the tower but asked Rapunzel to let down her hair instead of the basket. Zel panicked and dropped her long hair to the ground, forgetting to hold on to the end. The old hag knew that she had been duped and began to call up a hex that would send the tower and its inhabitants to some unmarked desert in Wantaria. Before she could begin the curse, a troop of soldiers burst over the hill. Shocked into speechlessness, the woman kneeled at the sight of the kings own shield. Zel saw Charlie's horse in the cavalcade and realized that he must have escaped and led the king here. She realized Charlie's noble name was exactly that as she stared down at what must be his father.
Before the witch could mutter her next curse, she was taken into the custody of the Kingdom's head wizard after Charles related Rapunzel's story.
Rapunzel discovered that Charles was the prince, yet he was not her prince charming. Charles' parents adopted Zel, and the two grew even closer. While Charlie and Zel remained unatttracted to each other, Zel fell in love with a man she had met while playing with her ball. It rolled into a pond where it was retrieved by a frog in return for a kiss. The two married and lived happily ever after. Charlie married Cinderella, but that didn't go too well, so he divorced her and married Barbie.