Before I begin, I just want to give a quick thanks for everyone that's reviewed. I appreciate it a lot. In fact, I sorta forgot about this little collection until I saw a review pop up in my inbox this afternoon.

Title: Before the Prince
Characters: Utena
Word Count: 100
Rating: PG
Summary: The thoughts of a young Utena while she lies in her coffin.
A/N: I reread As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner recently. I wanted to try out that style in a drabble, though I don't think it worked that well.

My parents are dead. That's what the man in black said. Dead. Dead like Mama's roses. She told me roses represent love and love lasts for all eternity but how can that be? The roses. My parents. Eternity. They're all dead! My parents and the roses are in the coffins. There's a third coffin. Maybe it's mine. Maybe if I crawl into it, I'll die too. The roses died, once upon a time; my parents died, earlier; I'm going to die here, later; and those boys are going to die somewhere, tomorrow. Eternity's a lie. So is happily ever after.