Sunday 17 April 2016

Prompt 13 - the thirteenth guest

The truth is, I didn't really want to be invited to the christening anyway. All those fairies in pink and lilac, twirling their glittering wands, making airy wishes that won't come true. Too much hope can make a person sick - and I should know.

May she be pretty and kind and wise. And then what? She'll meet Prince Charming and live happily ever after? Are those guys for real. You know what, I was pretty and kind and wise (still am some might say) and look where I ended up. Alone, that's where. That's where we all end up. It all ends in death and darkness and oblivion. But they don't want to know that, do they? No-one wants to know that. No-one wants this much reality at the party.

They think that they can protect her, keep her in a sweet rural idyll, away from the harsh reality of life. But wherever she goes, it will find her. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day. She can sing to the birds and pick flowers in the forest all day long but no-one can stay there forever.

I wasn't going to curse her, not at first, I just wanted to tell the truth. But who wants to hear the truth?  Forewarned is forearmed, surely, but still they shut the door in my face, blocked their ears and shut their eyes. And this was all I wanted to say:

Don't listen to them Aurora.
Bad things happen to good people.
You can play by the rules and still lose.
You can do unto others as you would have
them do unto you and still get hurt.
By all means fall in love but just know that
you risk losing more than you can bear.
You can try to stay away from spinning wheels
but you will prick your finger anyway.
There is no safe path through the woods.
Spread breadcrumbs where you walk
and the birds will just eat them -
there is no way back.
Even if you're home before midnight
it can all still turn to dust.
An apple a day might keep the doctor away
or it might kill you. It's pot luck really.
Long blonde tresses are no protection
from blindness and a life in the wilderness.
Your romance might blossom on the land
or end up as foam on the sea.
Keep your eyes open.
Watch your back.
Love doesn't conquer all.
There is no happy ever after.


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