Chapter 5

The cave was an opening to a meadow. It was surrounded by a high wall of rocks and a mini waterfall came down at a corner. Beside a streaming river was a tall tower. Awestrucked, I stared at the view for a moment.

After all that travelling in the woods for hours, I was glad that someone lived here, other than the brothers Prancer and I had just encountered.

"C'mon, Prancer. Let's go look for help," I said, looking back at him and turned around again to head straight towards the tower. Prancer trailed behind me with silent footsteps as we walked. When we got near the tower, I looked up. I had to arch my back a little and the back of my neck cracked a little at the motion.

I walked around the base of the tower; it doesn't seem to have a door. Then how could anyone get up there? I glanced back to where Prancer and I came from. I do hope that the brothers aren't living here.

"Wind, take me up!" I said, lifting my arms up on either sides of me.

Waitaminute.

I don't have my staff.

Aaand... I can't fly. I'm human.

With slight embarrassment, I dropped my arms and turned towards Prancer. "Prancer, we have to see who's in that tower," I said, walking towards him. He stood still and stared at me. I touched his back. He plopped down on the ground on the green grass and turned his face away from me.

I stared at him with disbelief. "What?! Oh, come on! It's not that high..." But I knew it wasn't about the height. Knowing Prancer, he probably wanted carrots. Why did North had to spoil him?

He looked at me from the corner of his eye, then looked away, pretending he didn't hear me and got distracted by the white butterflies fluttering about his head. I was about to go around the tower once more when all of a sudden I saw a black figure coming through the cave where Prancer and I had entered. I quickly walked back to where Prancer was and put my finger on my lips, indicating immediate silence. He snorted in response, telling me that he understood. Thank goodness we were out of sight, just behind the tower.

I slowly crept up to the side and watched the hooded figure stop at the edge of the tower, exactly parallel with us. The figure adjusted the basket in its arms and looked up. "Rapunzel! Let down your hair!" the figure shouted in a sing-song voice. It was a woman.

High above us, up in tower, came a response: "Coming, Mother!" The voice sounded like it belonged to a young lady. Almost immediately, along tumble of cloth gracefully cascaded down in front of the Hooded Woman. I squinted at the object to take a careful look. It was golden, but it didn't look like cloth.

Is that HAIR?! I mouthed to myself. I looked up. it couldn't be. The tower was way up and if the mass of hair belonged to the girl that called from the top of the tower, it was probably about 70 feet long. 70 feet of hair. That's ridiculous.

The Hooded Woman made a loop of the hair and put her foot in the middle of it. Slowly, she rose up, like being pulled on a lever. I closed my mouth when I realised it was wide open with astonishment. Well, at least I'm pretty sure the brothers don't live up there. But, you may never know. I watched the Hooded Woman rise higher and higher until she was able to climb through the window, and I turned to look at Prancer nibbling at some grass.

"Prancer," I said, folding my arms across my chest. he looked at me with a vague expression and flicked his tongue out at me. He looked away. I raised an eyebrow. No, really. Did he just stick his tongue out at me?

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Fine, then. I'll get up there myself," I said, kicking a pebble out of the way and thrusting my hands into the front pocket of my hoodie. Prancer snorted in response. I grunted.

"I'll be back in three days, dear!" It was the Hooded Woman again, but this time she was coming down hitched on the 70 feet of... hair.

I watched her step off the loop and her dark cloaked figure skimmed across the meadow like a ghost, before I could even get to her to ask for help. I didn't know what to do now. Should I get help anyway? Whoever was living up there sounded pretty young. I was afraid I would scare her or something and she wouldn't let me up. Then, it occurred to me that the Hooded Woman climbing up and down the tower might be her mother. I ran towards the cave in frenzy at the sudden change of mind, but only to be disappointed after I realized that she was nowhere to be found and I didn't want to risk getting lost in the woods again. I heard her say she would be back in three days.

Might as well take refuge in that tower. I needed to eat.

I made my way back to where Prancer was. "Prancer," I said. He didn't even look at me. I frowned and looked up.

I could hear thousands of things around me; the musical babble of the stream, the soothing sound of splashing water from the waterfall, the sweet and mysterious songs of birds flying overhead; but somewhere high above me, somewhere in that tower, I hear singing more beautiful than anything else.

I gave Prancer one last and necessary glance and cleared my throat. I took a deep breath and shouted at the top of my lungs in a high and girlish voice, "Rapunzel! Let down your haaaaaaiiirrr!"

Prancer looked up at me with alarm. I grinned at him. I managed to mimic the voice of the Hooded Woman almost pretty well. So those three hundred years of practice of mimicking voices didn't go to waste after all.

"Coming, Mother!"

My grin grew wider as the long rope of... hair... came tumbling down in front of me.

Just like the Hooded Woman earlier, I took the hair in my hands and made a loop. I placed my foot in it and gently tugged on it, indicating to whoever was up there in the tower to lift me up.

"Later , bud," I said to Prancer. He stared at me, his head following my direction as I rose higher and higher above the ground. His face was priceless. Why do stuff like these always happen when I don't have a camera?

At the last tug, just as I was about to reach the window of the tower, deep inside me I wondered if this was actually a good idea at all, but all traces and strings of thoughts disappeared when I saw what was right before my eyes.

She was the most beautiful girl I have ever seen; her features were perfect and not a flaw was to be seen.

And the long golden tressels of hair? It was hers.