Pt.1 Once Upon A Time

Imagine a place not perfect, but everyone loved you anyways. Imagine a place where everyone still believed in you. A world of sunny days running through meadows of flowers trying to be careful of snakes, but not really caring because you always seem to see them right before you step down.
An incomplete picture of rainy evenings, dancing under the big droplets, and watching your big bucket fill up inch by inch with clear, perfect water falling off of the side of your old, familiar, safe house. Never needing to bathe that night because nature took care of that chore for you.
Running bare feet, mud squeezing through your toes and the feeling of grass, soft, underneath you like a  pillow.
Imagine YOUR childhood memories at it's best.
Then...imagine your world fades.
I once new a girl with a childhood like that.
Now...imagine that girl.
And listen to her story.

Once upon a time,
In a land not far from here,
There lived a girl of sixteen,
Her beauty quite rare.

In this land of beating hearts,
There were also many woes,
None that you'd care to listen,
Only one she'd come to know.

For this girl the clock struck twelve,
And there, she was carried away,
Later found under a tree,
Torn and broken, there she lay.

Her defenses were mild,
She believed too much,
She was easy to devour,
The wolf hardened her touch.

Dressed in white,
With a touch of red,
We never knew what happened,
She never said.

Until she fell in love,
With a beautiful prince,
He held out his hand,
She gave him a chance.

Two years of laughter,
Two years of good cries,
Two years passes,
And then two years dies.

After two years was paid,
A dragon breathed fire,
He grabbed for the girl,
Her chances a thin wire.

We all heard the heart of the prince,
It pounded like a drum,
He grabbed for his sword,
We all saw him run.

Later she came back,
He never did,
Again, we don't know what happened,
She never said.

In fact, she never spoke again,
She just sat day and night,
The light she once held,
Never again bright.

There she sat,
A latern in one hand,
Under the willow,
Waiting for him.

Her dress, now, merely black,
Her eyes always a mist,
Long hair blowing,
A look hard to resist.

Beautiful back then,
Beautiful now,
Beautiful beneath the rain,
But beautiful how?

Some say she died with him that day,
She would never leave him,
She would forever stay.

Some say it's just her ghost that we all see,
That their soul's had somehow seperated,
that they're searching for each.

She never seems to sleep,
And she never, ever leaves,
Sitting and searching,
Beneath the willow tree.

I had my doubts,
A skeptic at sight,
Until I saw it myself,
On that memorable night.

There she was, sitting,
Blue eyes against the moon,
The latern in her hand,
And then I saw another soon.

It came from the woods nearby,
It seemed deep within,
Then it finally surfaced,
And brought the prince with it.

They stared hard at each other,
And then there was a smile,
The girl finally raised up,
It had been quite a while.

He held out his hand,
Never unsure,
The girl at last accepted,
Just as she did before.

She followed him into the woods,
I stayed a while there after,
They never  returned,
And then I heard laughter.

That was the last we saw of her,
I don't know why that night.
Why did it take so long,
for them each to catch sight?

Some say she died,
Some say she moved away,
Some say this town is now cleansed,
Though her footprints 'neath the willow stay.

I say they're finally happy,
Two souls finally at peace,
Them two, still together,
Two broken hearts at ease.

I tell you this story now,
To always remember the girl that's been.
I tell you a story of love,
That is never to be forgotten.

The End