Our Fairytale: Part III

Still waters, smooth as glass, reflected the single silhouette of two lovers who stood upon the overlooking bridge. He stood behind the princess, hands around her waist, as both looked out over the quiet lake that was as black as the night sky above. The princess leaned her head back and let her lips surrender to Robear's kiss. She smiled and wrapped his arms tighter around her waist like a familiar blanket keeping her warm and safe.

"So peaceful tonight," the princess said as she looked out over the lake.

"Always, my love," Robear replied.

Though the evening air was calm and settled, the princess's heart fluttered wildly within her chest. Months had passed since Robear's arrival and in that time the couple had spent nearly every moment together, yet still she was unsure where his intentions lay. She possessed a great hope, however, that the man she had given her heart to would cherish it always, and as the princess looked at her hand that held Robear's so tightly, she wondered if this night would see a ring placed upon it that rivaled in beauty even the stars above.

The princess turned around to face Robear and let her arms dangle loosely around his neck. "Do you remember the day we first met?" 

"Of course," Robear answered, smiling contentedly. "It was the happiest of my life." 

The princess smiled and looked deeply into his eyes, seeing her reflection in those dark orbs that mirrored so closely the peculiar bottle she had sipped from all those long months ago. That strange bottle with the elixir that promised eternal love. She could taste it even now as the memory of that day suddenly came roaring back.

She wiped the last droplets of the elixir from her mouth and turned to hand the bottle back to Baphomet, but he had disappeared. Her bedroom was quiet and empty save for the boisterous cheers of townsfolk outside her window. She looked outside to see the knight just arriving at the castle gates before running down the hall to hurriedly meet him. When at last she arrived at the castle entrance, the gate lifted to reveal a knight, tall and proud, who disembarked from his horse and walked confidently towards her.

"My lady," he said, taking the princess's hand and kissing it softly. "Through harsh and unforgiving wilderness I have ridden to arrive in your lands, though these hardships were but a trifle, that I might gaze upon a face so beautiful."  

The princess blushed and bit her lips softly to contain her excitement.

"Will you grant me the honor of being your kingdom's protector, for I come offering my service only from a desire to fight for that which is good and beautiful," the knight said, before adding as he looked into her eyes, "and here it seems I have found both."

Redder still the princess's cheeks turned as she replied, "Only if you will offer me your name gallant knight, that I may come to know you by a title more intimate."

"My name is Robear the Errant," he replied, a name that was forever seared into the princess's fluttering heart.

From that moment on, the princess and her knight were inseparable. Short strolls through the castle gardens soon became long walks throughout her entire kingdom where the two shared with each other all of their innermost thoughts and feelings. Hand in hand they were often seen within the kingdom, blissfully unaware of their surroundings as never far from each others' eyes did their gazes tend to stray. Their long walks led them to nearly every corner of the kingdom, to the old town of Charleston where they shared their first kiss. In the moment their lips touched, two hearts became one, and when Robear looked upon the princess's face he saw a smile wider and brighter than any he had seen before. It was a wondrous smile, a beautiful smile...the smile of a woman in love.

Further still their walks took them, to the kingdom's ocean boundaries at the beaches of Panama City where Robear first touched her naked body. The princess allowed his hands to caress her womanhood until at last her moans burst forth in unbridled pleasure as she collapsed into Robear's loving arms and held him close.

"I love you," she managed between heavy breaths.

"My sweet princess," he said, feeling her ample bosom heaving against his chest. "I am right here, always holding you."

Their exhaustion yielded to sleep, which yielded further still to dreams of love that endures forever. This was a love unlike anything either had ever felt before, full of depth and passion that transcended the earthly vessels within which their kindred spirits were trapped. Their bodies intertwined, as did their hearts, so that distinction between these two souls so in love became blissfully impossible.

When the snows of winter came, they retreated to the furthest reaches of her kingdom, to the town of Boston where the skies were cold and grey. The snows fell often, making the rolling fields appear like clouds upon which Robear and the princess playfully danced. He lifted her high, twirling her in his arms as the happy couple laughed and teased one another before collapsing to the ground where they affectionately gave themselves to each other. All was right with the world as they walked through those cold Boston streets, onto a bridge that overlooked a the lake's still waters.

Robear felt the princess's arms dangling loosely around his neck and said, "There is love in your eyes."

She smiled, though only for an instant until she noticed the first gleam of a tear beginning to moisten Robear's eye. "There is sorrow in yours. What is wrong my love?"

Robear sighed and said, "You asked me only a moment ago if I remember when we first met, which of course I do. But I wonder if you remember that day quite as vividly."

"Vividly?" the princess asked, unsure of Robear's unusual questioning. "The moment my eyes first saw you was the happiest of my life and will forever be my most treasured memory. Of that day I can recall everything, to the minutest of details."    

"Then do you recall my answer when you first asked me my name?" he asked.

"Robear...you told me your name was Robear," the princess hesitantly replied.

"No, my love," he said. "I told you that my name is Robear the Errant."

The princess reflected on his words for just a moment and seemed to recall that peculiar moniker being mentioned, though never once in their long months together had Robear ever asked her to call him by this name. "Your prompting has reawakened my memory, but what significance do such titles matter? After all, all knights carry monikers that those closest to them bypass out of informality."

"All knights carry their particular monikers for good reason though," Robear replied "and I fear that mine may yet lead only to your pain, for I am an errant knight, prone to wander throughout the land in search of greener fields to ride. Though others have settled in a good land with a respectable woman, my heart is ever set on the horizon, where my dreams are like mirages dancing across the desert sands."

The princess's brow furrowed as her face suddenly became stern and alarmed. "You frighten me with you words, for there is fear in your voice. What are you afraid of Robear?"

 

Robear looked past her face, to the horizon where distant trees swayed in the wind like exotic dancers beckoning his company. "I am afraid that I will leave you. I am afraid that I will hurt you. I am a wanderer my sweet princess...I am lost."

Robear began to remove the princess's arms from around his neck when she suddenly held him tighter and pulled him close. She pressed her face to his so that to look anywhere else was impossible. "When you feel lost, think of me and I will always come to guide you back home. I love you Robear, despite all of your flaws, despite all of your misgivings, because I know that in your heart you are a good man and you will always come back to me, just as I will always come back to you."

Robear smiled, as did the princess, and the winter snows enveloped them as they fell asleep in each others' arms until at last only silence remained.

But the silence was shattered by the sound of beating hoofs tearing off across the bridge. The princess woke suddenly to see Robear mounted high atop his steed as he rode across the snowy plains.

"Robear..." the princess whispered in disbelief at the sight of her true love abandoning her on that icy bridge in Boston. 

A note left in the snow beside her simply read: I came to offer you my sword and shield, but my love I cannot give. I dare not fall in love a woman so beautiful, for I have but one heart to lose.

She tried to run after him but slipped on the ice, collapsing to her knees in despair as Robear rode further and further away. She began to cry, her tears falling like innumerable snowflakes into the lake beneath the bridge. When her first tear touched the frigid waters, it turned the water to ice, sending crystalline despair in every direction until at last the entire lake was frozen solid. Everything was cold. Everything was dark. The princess's heart was breaking when finally she remembered Baphomet's cautionary warning and tried in desperation to call out Robear's name. But her efforts were in vain, for before her tongue could utter even a single word a great slumber seized her. On that saddest of days in Boston the princess's heart was broken and she fell asleep,  while the only man she ever truly loved disappeared over the horizon.

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Though our story seems bleak, there are more parts of our fairytale left to tell that I will be writing in the coming days. I hope that you will keep reading to find out if the princess will awaken from her sleep. You may already know the answer. 

Writing this part of our fairytale was magical because with every moment Robear and the princess shared together in some memorable location, I was able to be with you again in each of those places. As I wrote of their first intimacies together, I held your hand again in Charleston and felt your touch as we shared our first kiss. I was with you again in Panama City when we laid beside each other and succumbed to temptation as the ocean waves outside our condo crashed against the beach shore. And I twirled you in my arms one more time in the streets of Boston as the snowflakes fell around us and settled softly on two souls madly in love. In my mind's eye I can see you even now, smiling brightly as we hold each other close and surrender to a kiss. Remember how you felt when we shared these special moments together Ornela...please remember.

Writing this part of our fairytale was also very difficult because I knew that it would end with Robear abandoning the princess. Imagining the princess standing there alone, watching the man she loves ride away until at last she could see him no more completely broke my heart. But there was something that the princess didn't know, something that she couldn't see through all her tears. Robear looked back. He always looked back. He never forgot his princess or the love of a woman so beautiful...just as I have never forgotten you.

We both love each other as deeply as two people ever can. Don't give up on me Ornela...I will not give up on us.

A Father's Struggle. A Son's Pain.

"Happy Mother's Day!" I enthusiastically say into the phone on this happiest of days. Though I am unable to be home to offer my mother these joyous wishes, I have faithfully called her every Sunday for the past decade just to see how she has been. On this special day I make sure to call early, as she and my father are enjoying their time together at my family's lake house.

"Thank you Bobby, that's very kind of you," she curtly says, a slight departure from her usual show of appreciation that is always rife with laughter and generous gratitude. She says nothing more until I inquire about how her week has been and ask if she and my father are enjoying their time at the lake, but her answers are all very terse, without description or elaboration. Something is wrong, I can sense it in her voice. Finally, she says, "Your father wants to speak to you."

She hands my father the phone and I hear his somber voice, "Hi Bobby, there's something I need to tell you..."

I don't remember all the words that followed. I don't remember his explanation of what would happen next or what this will mean for our family. All I remember are the tears, the tears that fell like raindrops from my eyes and formed puddles on the floor that I collapsed onto. All I remember is that single word, that most insidious of enemies that tears families apart and makes grown men weep: Cancer.

While I can do nothing to restrain my sobbing, he tells me that the doctors have caught it early, that there is a good chance of survival, but this does nothing to alleviate my heartbreak. This is my father, the man who held my hand when first I learned to walk as a child, who taught me to ride a bicycle and coached all of my little league games. He instilled in me the importance of hard work and never giving up on my dreams, and should I ever one day be blessed with the titles of husband and father, it is in his mold that I can only hope to follow. More than anyone else in my life, his presence has had the greatest impact and has completely shaped the man I am today. He is the lion of my family...and I love him.

As he speaks of the treatment options, he pauses to ask, "Are you alright Bobby?"

"No dad, I'm not..." I barely manage through the tears.

"Everything will be fine son," he says, his voice so calm and reassuring. And I believe him. I believe that everything really will be fine. Not because of what any doctor may say or the statistics they use to validate their prognosis, but instead because the assurances have come from the one man whom I trust more than any other, the man I love more than any other: My father, and if he is brave enough to be strong in the face of such adversity then I will pick up my sword to do battle beside him. He will beat this cancer. My family will beat this cancer. And after we have rid ourselves of this menacing enemy that seeks to tear my family apart, we will be that much stronger because of it. Together always...something that no disease will ever claim.

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I will continue writing our fairytale Ornela, I promise. I just needed to take a moment to reflect on some very difficult emotions right now. You are the first person I wanted to call after learning that my father is so sick, just to hear you say that everything will be alright, but I know I can't do that now. From a thousand miles away I just want to cry into your arms.

Our Fairytale: Part II

She fled from the castle window, wondering if the handsome knight had seen her face so fair and enamored. Only a brief glimpse had she stolen of the unexpected visitor but already her heart was captured. At his blond hair she marveled, for his sculpted physique she yearned, and in his brilliant blue eyes she momentarily lost herself, yet when the knight dared to look in her direction far above, only a silhouette did he see, a silhouette that cloaked her face and hid the unconscious smile that neither effort nor desire could restrain. Her smile radiated throughout the room, filling it with a brightness the afternoon sun could not hope to match. This man, this stranger who had come into her kingdom, who had come into her life so unexpectedly did the strangest thing imaginable to this young princess...he made her smile. He made her happy.

Collecting her thoughts, she retreated to the vanity opposite the open window of her bedroom and stared into the looking glass. For the first time that she could remember, the woman whose gaze met her own wore a smile that showed no signs of diminishing or abating. The princess took a deep breath to calm herself when she heard a voice behind her.

"When you breathe, all the world is humbled," a voice, deep and powerful, like boulders tumbling down a cliff side, coldly stated.

The princess turned around, seeing a creature before her that looked strange and unfamiliar. Though its torso was like that of a man, its head resembled a goat with two large horns that spiraled skyward in opposite directions. Instead of feet, the creature walked on two hoofs attached to muscular legs that extended upwards and bent backwards at the knee. Coarse hair like that of some feral beast covered its lower extremities, yet relented just enough to expose a chiseled midriff before continuing towards the face, growing longest over the chin. The princess recoiled at the unnatural sight before asking, "Who are you?"

"My name is Baphomet, an admirer of all things beautiful," the creature said, reaching out its hand to play with the princess's soft, dark hair that twirled like ribbons around its fingers. "So beautiful, yet so oblivious to the power she has over men, even to their detriment."

The princess retreated and fled to her bedroom door where she might escape the unwelcome intruder's presence, but finding that the door would not open she asked, "How did you enter my bedchamber when the door is locked and bolted closed?"

"Surely there are easier ways into a woman's bedroom than the proper route she has designated," Baphomet replied, walking towards her and leaving a trail of hoofed footprints that extended back to the open window.

"You frighten me with your words," the princess conceded with trembling voice.

"Your fear of me is misplaced," Baphomet said. "for I am but the second visitor your kingdom has entertained today who wishes to offer his services." The creature glided towards the open bedroom window, its feet never touching the floor. It pulled back the window's curtain and gazed upon the knight far below who rode through the cheering crowds. "You admire this knight who has just arrived with all the pomp and unfettered generosity of nobility."

The princess felt her cheeks warm and begin to turn a soft crimson, causing her to momentarily look away.

"He is indeed handsome," Baphomet continued. "and a handsome man will want a woman of exquisite features at his side, but surely more than beauty alone is required to capture his heart."

"What do you mean?" the princess asked.

Baphomet smiled, his thin lips curling upwards to reveal blackened teeth. "The noblest of knights make for the most discerning of lovers, for their tastes are tempered in equal measure by their wanderings. Beauty, kindness, and the keenest of intellects form the crown that must adorn a woman's head if she is to capture the heart of a knight so captivating as this Robear the Errant. Of these three qualities you possess but one, in abundance of course, but in solitude nonetheless. Are you really so vain as to believe that a knight of his stature would settle for a woman of your inherent deficiencies?"

Such considerations had not yet had time or reason to be entertained before the princess's still enchanted mind, but as the weight of Baphomet's indictment began to settle upon her suddenly troubled conscience she questioned her own justification for ever thinking herself worthy of the knight's love. "You are right, such a gallant man will never be mine and true love I shall never know." She covered her face with both hands and began to weep.

Baphomet drew close to the princess so that her tears fell within the shadow of his sharpened horns. He placed his arm around her like a shepherd reining in some lost sheep while the coarse hair of his neck bristled. "Do not despair sweet princess, for I have come this day to offer more than mere condolences and empty gestures of sympathy. No, what I bring you is something far more promising. When I saw you admiring Robear the Errant from the window my heart was moved with compassion, so much so that I have taken pity upon your most unfortunate predicament. For this reason I come offering a balm to soothe your lonely heart."

"You speak in strange riddles," the princess managed through her tears. "for I know of nothing to soothe a lonely heart apart from the taste of true love."

"True love's taste is sweet indeed, but sweeter still is the elixir that hastens its arrival." Baphomet opened his hand to reveal a  small bottle filled with a potion black as night. Within its reflection the whole bedroom seemed enveloped by shadow and the princess's face appeared stretched and contorted upon the bottle's rounded surface, though Baphomet's face remained quite unchanged.

"What mysteries are contained within such a strange bottle?" the princess asked.

"Only the reason for my visitation dear princess. In this bottle are the keys to your love's heart, an elixir that will make any man of your choosing fall madly in love with you. After only a few drops touch your lips, his own are sure to follow."

Her hand reached out to touch the curious bottle, as if preternaturally drawn by its own accord, before her virtue caused her to hesitate. "An elixir to steal a man's heart? Such a thing is not right. I will not force a man to love me, despite my deepest affections for him."

The princess turned to unlock her bedroom door and flee from its chambers, but before she reached the entrance Baphomet raised his arm, causing the locked door to violently swing open and slam against the adjacent wall. The unexpected crash echoed loudly down the empty hallway like some forlorn lover crying for her companion. The princess paused, listening to the lonely echoes that reverberated throughout the castle. In all her years, those halls had never received a single visitor, nor had her bed ever been warmed by the body of a man whose love also thawed her heart. She was alone and afraid...afraid that she always would be gripped by the pangs of loneliness, never knowing love or happiness.

Without hesitating, she approached Baphomet and seized the bottle from his hand, preparing to drink its contents in one decided gulp until he momentarily stopped her.

"A single caution, fair princess," Baphomet said just before the princess drank. "With the promise of love there comes also a warning that you would be wise to heed. Though this elixir will make the man of your choosing fall in love with you, give your own heart away carefully, for should it ever be broken you will fall into a deep sleep from which you will never awake."

In the bottle's mirrored surface the princess could see her own reflection, as only a solitary face stared back upon her. From the streets below she heard the crowds cheering wildly, chanting the brave knight's name repeatedly until at last she could stand it no more and dashed to the open window to see for herself that most desirable of men. She saw him there, riding tall and proud atop his steed, waving to all the enthralled spectators as if always they had adored him, until at last he turned his gaze to her, skyward towards the castle window where the fated lover's eyes first met. He smiled at her, she smiled back, and thus sealed their fate forever.

The princess felt several large fingers curl around her shoulder as a voice whispered in her ear, "Simply say his name and drink...true love awaits."

"My white knight," she whispered as the elixir touched her lips.

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I have a surprise for you Ornela. Until now I have only told you that I am in love with you, but I am going to give you something at the conclusion of this story that will show how deeply for you my love truly runs. This gift is the most precious thing in the world to me, and as I place it in your hand I do so with no expectations, only the hope that you will ask me to see you again.

Our Fairytale: Part I

Once upon a time there lived a princess who was the most beautiful woman in all the land. Of her beauty it was said that no man could look upon her face without falling in love as his heart would soon be swept away by the tides of exuberance. Yet she was a lonely princess, for her beauty was matched only by her isolation. Every day from the highest tower of her castle she would watch the crowds of citizens far below as they milled about the kingdom. Children played in the cobblestoned streets, laughing and running free, while married couples of all ages proudly watched over their families. The kingdom was full of love. Old couples held hands and shared adoring stares that the years together had only strengthened while those whose love was just beginning to blossom snuck away to some secluded corridor to indulge in the tender elation that only new romance can offer. All this the princess watched from high above, in a castle with halls that echoed with the footsteps of only a single inhabitant, for she was all alone. 

One day while sitting on the window ledge overlooking her kingdom she noticed a commotion near the city gates. Citizens scuttled about with great excitement and crowded around the tall, iron gates that were just beginning to rise. Though their numbers were large, the crowd soon parted to allow an unknown knight to enter. Clad in the armaments of battle, the knight rode atop a midnight stallion, his silver armor reflecting the noonday sun like a great mirror poised to rival its overhead companion. With both hands he lifted the heavy helmet from his head to allow long, blonde locks to tumble down his shoulders as a slight breeze sent them flowing wild and free. He shook his head like a lion airing its golden mane and smiled at the crowds that stood in awe of the unfamiliar rider. Old women blushed while young nubiles pressed closer, only curtailing their giddy murmurs when the knight raised his arm and began to speak.

"Far and wide I have traveled in search of a kingdom that I might serve, for I am an errant knight whose only home has been the open plains, whose only companion has been my steed. But I have heard rumors of a beautiful princess who dwells within this land and I come to offer my service to her, and her alone. To her I offer my sword, my shield, and my life, if she would but ask it of her humble servant."

Uncertain whispers abounded throughout the crowd at the proposal of such an unusual offer, for never before had a knight ridden through their gates, let alone one with such altruistic intentions. After several moments of silence, an old man finally asked, "And what is your name curious knight, that we might tell our princess of your offer?" 

"My name is Robear the Errant, a name that your princess will remember always," spoke the knight, and glancing skyward towards the castle he first laid eyes upon the secluded princess who had overhead all of the stranger's words.

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I'm writing our fairytale Ornela. I hope you enjoy our story.