The Princess' Tower

Once there was a princess who lived in a tall, tall tower. There were no windows, but there was one door...a locked door. Inside her room was everything you could imagine, except for two notable omissions: a mirror, and a key to the lock on her door.

She lived her whole life in solitude, reading, singing to herself, and writing her little stories, but she never saw anyone - not even herself, thanks to the lack of mirror. She didn't know what it would be like to talk to another person or to see their face. She didn't even know to miss human contact, because she'd never had it.

One day, surprising the princess out of her writing trance, there came a knock on the door. The princess looked at the door, puzzled, but she didn't understand that someone was on the other side until she heard a curious voice say, "Hello? Is anyone in there?"

Her breath stopped. Was this another person, like she read about in books? "Hello?" she quietly replied. "There's someone in here."

"Can I come in?"

"You could, but I don't have a key, and the door is locked."

To her infinite surprise, the door swung open, creaky on its unused hinges. From behind the door appeared the first human face she had ever seen...a remarkably handsome man who was, coincidentally, a prince. "The door's not locked," he said.

All the years of her life, she'd never really thought of escaping. She'd never tried the door.

"I didn't think there would really be anyone up here..." the prince said, staring in amazament at the princess. "I've always been told that there was a beautiful princess up in the tower, but I never thought it was true..."

"Beautiful princess?" she asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, beautiful princess," he replied, bemused.

"In this tower?" The princess didn't understand...beautiful? Her? She'd never thought about the way she looked, but now that there was someone to see her, she was suddenly self-conscious.

"Don't you know how beautiful you are?"

"Am I as beautiful as you?" she asked, gaping at his perfect features.

He laughed and touched her cheek. "More beautiful, definitely."

They talked for hours, about everything they could think of. The prince was impressed by how well-read the princess was, and she was in awe of all the experiences he'd had. After what seemed like only a few minutes to the princess, but was in fact hours and hours, the prince stood sadly. "I have to go. I have to be home before the sun sets," he said.

"You have to leave? But...will you come back again?"

"Of course...if you want me to."

"I do," she said sincerely. She had never enjoyed herself so much. How could she have lived without talking to anyone else in the world for her whole life?

"Then I'll come back as soon as I can."

But he didn't return the next day, or the day after that. As the end of the second week since he'd visited her approached, she was going insane. She spent whole days pacing her room restlessly, talking to herself in the abscence of anyone else.

"I can't take it anymore!" she said finally, throwing up her hands. "I have to go find him."

She approached the door, working up the courage to open the door that had remained closed to her for her entire life. The doorknob wouldn't turn immediately in her sweaty hand, but she got it open with a squeak, holding her breath as it swung open to reveal a stone staircase on the other side.

The princess walked down the stairs, not sure what to expect. When she reached the bottom, she stood in the entryway for a long time, feeling wind on her face for the first time in her life, staring into the light of the rising sun. She heard birds chirp and saw dry leaves floating in the breeze, whipping up in spirals against her bare feet. She hugged herself, surprised by the coldness of the early morning. She realized with a start that she'd been holding her breath since she'd opened her door, and she let it out with a noisy hiss.

In the distance, she saw the prince approaching, marching up a rocky path toward her tower. When he was close enough, she waved, her waist-length waves blowing back from her face.

"You didn't come back," she said sadly.

"I was very busy," he said, avoiding her eyes.

"Too busy for me?" she looked out at the world, the beauty of nature beckoning to her. "That's fine. I think I'm about to be too busy for you, too."

And she walked away, leaving him standing in the entrance of her tall tower. He had showed her the way out of her prison, but she could show herself the wonders of the world if he didn't care enough about her to come back and talk to her in her lonely room.

She saw beauty and strangeness, laughing and crying...she loved and lost, ran and walked, slept wherever she pleased and tasted all the fruits the world had to offer. She never looked in a mirror; she believe herself beautiful, and that was all that mattered.

She never looked back.