Out My Window

            Rapunzel looked out the tower window and sighed. When she was little, the tower offered protection and made her feel safe, but now- at the age of sixteen- it felt more like a prison. Will she ever leave this blasted tower, or will the window-sill forever keep life at bay. Rapunzle grabbed her brush and began to brush her long sun-gold hair. She cringed when the brush caught on a tangle and tugged on her tender scalp. It seemed like whenever Mother Gothel visited, her scalp took a beating. Well, what do you expect when someone uses your hair as rope? Rapunzel continued to gingerly rid her hair of its tangles, as she watched life pass by her window.

             Two years went by and Rapunzel was still in the tower. She was doing her chores, singing as she went, when she hears someone call out. “Hello?” the voice said. She gasped, was Mother Gothel getting sick, she sounded awfully deep. She ran to the window to see if Mother was alright. Rapunzel looked down and realized why she sounded different; it was because it wasn’t Mother Gothel at all. There at the bottom of her tower- looking up at her- was a man, a man with an odd shiny, gold hat.

            “Hello fair maiden! Pray, tell me your name so that I may know the pleasure of having it slip through my lips.”

            Forgetting what Mother Gothel had warned her about talking to strangers, Rapunzel replied. “My name is Rapunzel.” The prince repeated her, saying “Rapunzel. Tis a beautiful name for such a beautiful woman. I wish to say it always, to scream it from the very top of my castle, to-“

            Rapunzle interrupted him saying “Now you tell me your name!” She flashed him a bright smile filled with the innocent excitement of meeting someone new.

            “Prince Matthew! Pleased to make your acquaintance milady.” He said, accenting it with a flourished bow.

            “Prince? What a funny name.” Rapunzel muttered to herself. Rapunzel leaned out the window and called down “well, it’s very nice to meet you Prince.” She heard him chuckle. Had she said something funny?

            Prince Matthew looked up at Rapunzel and said “Please Rapunzel, call me Matthew.” He smiled up at her, causing her to experience butterflies in her stomach. She gasped and clutched her stomach, trying to decipher the foreign feeling. Prince Matthew called up to her, “are you alright milady?”

            She looked down at him and smiled. “Yes, I’m quite alright. Your smile made my stomach feel sick, but I’m okay now.”

            The Prince looked up at Rapunzel with a mixture of shock and mortification. “I apologize, beautiful Rapunzel. I had no intentions of making you feel ill. Could you ever forgive a humble- and handsome- man such as myself?”

            “Yes, I forgive you. It’s not as if you did it on purpose.” Rapunzel leaned against the window frame and sighed. Silence fell of the pair as they listened to the sound of the woods. Prince Matthew finally broke the silence. “May I give you a kiss Rapunzel, something that I could reminisce on during my journey home?”

            Rapunzel looked at him with a befuddled expression on her face. What was a kiss, she thought. Was it similar to a present? “How are you to give it to me from way down there?” she asked with wide blue eyes filled with confusion. The Prince tsk’d at her and said “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair. Then I shall climb up, just like I’ve seen the old woman do many a time.”

            Rapunzel shook her head furiously and said “oh no, that’s quite alright. I wouldn’t want you to become exhausted by climbing all the way up here. And besides, my scalp is awfully sore already. There are other ways to give someone something.” She looked around her room, picked up a book and threw it down towards him. He looked up at her, facial expression full of distress, when he narrowly dodged the book. She smiled and said there “There, see, no harm done! Now throw up what you want to give me.”

            Prince Matthew looked at her with an odd look, but then smiled and said “Do not be afraid. I am strong and fit, so I shall not be exhausted. Plus, I shall be gentle, so that no harm may come of your beautiful head.” Rapunzel sighed and reluctantly gathered her hair and tossed it out the window. She heard an oomph as her hair landed on Prince Matthew. She called out a meek sorry before he began the journey up her tower and she began groaning and moaning in pain.

            Finally, Prince Matthew pushed himself through the window and flopped to the ground. Lying on the ground and panting he said “Wow, that’s higher up than it looks.” He turned his head towards her and said “but it’ll be well worth it.” He got up and walked towards her. “Now the kiss.” He said.

            Rapunzel held out her hand to him. He looked at her hand, then at her and said “What are you doing?” Rapunzel blinked her eyes in confusion. “I’m waiting for you to give me my kiss.”

            Prince Matthew smiled and said “Yes, of course.” With that, he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. Before she could voice her surprise, he crashed his lips down on to hers. Rapunzel’s wide eyes slowly closed and she enjoyed the new feelings he was evoking within her. All too soon, he pulled away for a much needed inhale of air. Rapunzel looked up into Prince Matthew’s eyes and smiled.

            Her bliss was soon over when Prince Matthew had to leave, using her hair to climb down the tower, while she began groaning in pain once more. When Prince Matthew reached the bottom he looked back up at her. “I shall come for you again in a fortnight fair maiden, my beautiful Rapunzel!” He bowed and with that, he disappeared into the forest.

            Rapunzel sat at the window-sill, staring out at the world, long after Prince Matthew had gone. For many days and many nights, Rapunzel stared out her window, waiting for the day that Prince Matthew would come for her once more.