The Truth Embarks a New Beginning

"Fairytales"

I used to read love stories like it was the air I needed to breathe. 

Like my life depended on it. 

Romantic stories where a dashing young prince saves a maiden in a tower and instantly marries her. 

The type of stories in which happy endings seemed to be an understatement. 

As I aged; however, those stories turned dark. 

The happy endings just became endings. 

The savings became nothing but financial. 

And the dashing young prince became a middle-aged man in a mid-life crisis trapping an insecure lady in an unhappy marriage. 

Marriage itself became a drawn-out task in which the words "I do" really meant "I have to". 

But I'd still read those stories. 

I'd still remain hopeful. 

Even if the dashing young prince stayed out all night drinking to come home to a tired young maiden sick of his bullshit. 

I remained hopeful.

Even if the air became thick with toxicity and the unspoken words became deafening, 

I remained hopeful. 

Because I believed that happily ever after was just around the corner; perhaps a few feet away from the bar. 

I believed that one day the prince would set aside his drink to come home to the maiden he loved. 

I believed that one day he'd be by her side when she needed him most rather than a five-hour plane flight away. 

And I believed that one day he would open his eyes rather than his mouth and see that she was the one he had been looking for all along. 

But sometimes life doesn't work out like fairytales. 

Sometimes there are too many maidens in towers or glass-boxes who need saving, that just one isn't enough. 

Sometimes a drink at the bar with your buddies is better than starting an argument with your wife about where you've been. 

Sometimes a casual fuck is better than kissing your spouse goodnight. 

And sometimes driving her into a casket is better than driving her home. 

So I wonder, now that I see clearly and know that there is no such thing as true love, 

why did the maiden stay with the deceiving wolf? 

And why did the wolf not let the maiden have her ending?