Once upon a tyme there was a girl. She had short, curly black hair that glinted with moonlight, even during the day-tyme. Her eyes were as green as the precious emeralds that hid in the belly of the mountain she called home. The girl with moonlight hair was born to a poor peasant family in the distant village, but had a wealth of friends and a loving family. Everybody loved her like a princess. As the girl grew up, the royal princesses who lived in the marble palace grew jealous. The townsfolk loved the girl with moonlight hair more than the jealous princesses. The jealous princesses also knew that if their brother, the sweet prince, decided to marry the girl, they would not have power, not become elegant queens. One day the jealous princesses disguised themselves as olde crones, rode into the distant village, and kidnapped the girl with moonlight hair. They brought her to the dank dungeon under the marble palace. The dungeon was said to be the darkest place on Earth, but the jealous princesses did not give the girl with moonlight hair a gas lantern nor a wax candle. Instead, they locked her in the dank, dark palace all alone with no light. The girl was sad and afraid and lonely in the dank, dark dungeon. Her hair became dull and her eyes grew cold. She wished someone would come looking for her, someone would find her, someone would rescue her. She missed her mother and her father and all her friends in the distant village. She missed preparing dinners for her family with her mother and picking pretty flowers with her sister. The girl lost track of tyme. She had no idea how many days, weeks, or years she had spent in the dungeon. She forgot her name and who she was. She only knew that no one ever came to visit her, that she was alone in the dank, dark dungeon. The girl cried often. One day she cried so hard and so long, her tears formed a clear puddle on the stone floor. She looked into the puddle, but could only make out a faint silhouette in the darkness of the dungeon. But the silhouette reminded her that there was something other than this dank, dark dungeon, that she was not alone in this world, not really. The silhouette gave her hope. The hope was like a flame, the sun behind a full moon, the full moon her black hair, glowing with radiant joy that filled her green eyes, making them sparkle like the precious emeralds. Her glowing moonlight hair was like a candle in the dank, dark dungeon. The girl with moonlight hair could now see an image of a lady in the tear-drop puddle. She stared at the stranger, the stranger that stared back at her. The girl with the moonlight hair and the staring stranger held each others gaze for a long moment. Finally, the girl with moonlight hair blinked… so did the staring stranger. Both of them looked puzzled. After a long while the girl with moonlight hair realized that she was the staring stranger. The staring stranger was the girl with moonlight hair. They were one and the same. It had been a while since she had looked at her reflection. The girl with moonlight hair studied her new self. She had grown up, become a beautiful young lady. Her green eyes, although sad with loneliness, glowed with determination. Her hair had obviously gained back its radiant moonlight, but had grown long and straight. It was also very knotted. The girl with moonlight hair sat back, crossed her legs, and began brushing her radiant hair with her fingers. As she brushed, gentle strokes, hands coaxing stellar knots out of moonlight hair, she sang. She sang a beautiful song her mother taught her. She sang a song in a language she did not understand, with words that felt strange on her tongue, like salmon dancing up a river, rippling cool water in golden sunlight. She sang away the knots in her hair and the tears in her eyes. But she could not sing away the loneliness in her heart.


The sweet prince locked himself in his room four years ago when the love of his life disappeared. ‘The girl with moonlight hair’, he called her. He had planned to search for her, far and wide, but the king and queen had pressured him to marry, forbidding him to leave the marble palace. He had gazed out his window, staring at the pretty girls who passed. None caught his eye, however, and he only dreamed of the girl with moonlight hair. One rainy day when no one was looking, the sweet price snuck out of the marble palace and took a walk. He strolled down empty streets as the sky cast down his tears, weeping for the sweet prince and girl with moonlight hair. The sweet prince walked and walked and walked until, finally, he reached the tall gate that surrounded the village. He thought about climbing over the tall gate and running away, but decided to wait a while longer for the girl with moonlight hair to return. The sweet prince, heart aching and feet soaking, trudged back to the marble palace. Upon returning home, the sweet prince heard singing, rising from far below the marble palace. The voice was clear and strong and beautiful, the words foreign and compelling and could only belong to the love of his life… the girl with moonlight hair. The sweet prince ran as fast as he could, ran faster than any man had ever run before. He ran to the dank, dark dungeon beneath the marble palace. He broke the lock on the heavy oak doors with his bare hands, made invincible by desire, and shoved the doors open.


Startled, the girl with moonlight hair stopped singing, looked up, was blinded by bright light streaming through open doors, stared at the figure holding them open… someone had come to visit her!


The sweet prince could not believe what he saw. Sitting on the stone floor in the dank, dark dungeon under the marble palace was not a girl with moonlight hair, but a maiden glowing with the intensity of a thousand full moons. The sweet prince stepped forward once, twice, three tymes, letting the heavy oak doors swing back and thud together behind him, shutting out the outside light. The girl with moonlight hair radiated enough light for him to see.


The girl with moonlight hair, answering to the call of destiny, stood up and walked slowly toward the sweet prince. The prince with golden hair and eyes the color of honey. Sweet honey…


The sweet prince and the girl with moonlight hair are married now, king and queen of the marble palace on top of the mountain who hides precious green emeralds deep within her belly. They host balls often. Everyone is invited and everyone who attends talks cheerfully and dances the night away. The jealous princesses were exiled, never became elegant queens, and everyone lived happily ever after.






The End