Once Upon He Was Mine (Good Girls Series #4)

Prologue

"Once upon a time," I started and opened the book I was holding. The kids focused on me as I stated the phrase that piqued their interests.

Why are people's interests being taken by that phrase?

Once upon a time,

"In a far, far away land, there was a girl living alone. Though she has her father, she still feels so alone because she has no friends. Yet she still manages to live the life she wanted to be." I paused for a moment.

Why do people like hearing "Once upon a time"?

Do they? Yes, secretly.

Because people tend to admire impossible things more than what the petty reality is showing us.

People love to look at the joyful lies rather than the truth that our eyes see the most.

People enjoy fiction more than bitter actuality.

"Then he met the prince that made her fall in love. The prince that came from another kingdom and was a godson of the princess' father. He is tall, has a tan complexion, and has an attractive smile that makes the princess' heart pound in glee."

Because in imagination, things were better. Situations were under our control.

"The prince once lost his interest in love because of a maiden that broke his heart. But when he met the princess, he realized that love isn't impossible to strike him again." The children looked at each other with smiles. They were all excited to hear more which made me smile too. "But things didn't go easy on them, without a single trace, then they knew that the princess is sick and has no longer time to live. The prince cried and prayed, he prayed for three years and it helped lengthening the princess' life. One day, the prince decided to talk to the king to hold her hands for the rest of their lives. The king didn't want to, but when he looked at his daughter he could see the happiness in her eyes which convinced him to say yes. And with that, the prince gave the princess a kiss."

But no matter how mesmerizing the lies, we should never live there. Because lies are lies. Lies weren't true, lies will be more painful than the reality is after you've woken up.

"With that kiss, the weak princess' strength got back. She became healthy again. But the prince got sick."

"Hala! Kawawa naman!" I heard a girl commented which made me chuckle, sinaway naman siya ng katabi niya.

"The princess cried in guilt, she realized that in order to regain her health the prince should take all the ailment she has first. She did what the prince did, she kissed him but the sickness of the prince was still there. Until one day, she woke up feeling so heavy again. The maids announced that she's sick again. Instead of being sad, she became happy because she thought that the prince must be fine by then. But she's wrong." I smiled bitterly after realizing what happened next to the story of the princess and prince.

Then I looked at the children.

The prince died because he can't handle it anymore. He can't handle the pain and sadness. And after that, the princess killed herself because of so much guilt and misery. The end.

The children were waiting for me to read the next pages of the book. But I can't fulfill their excitement because they might be hurt with the reality that the protagonists died in the end.

Yet, I heaved a deep sigh and smiled at them as if nothing happened.

"The prince has a high fever that makes her worried. She called for a servant and summoned him to find the greatest healer in the kingdom as early as he could. The servant didn't fail, he found the healer and cured the two of them. After they were healed, they got married and lived happily ever after." I smiled, the children jumped in happiness after hearing the last phrase.

Happily ever after

We all want a happily ever after in life. We all want a relationship that will last long and will last forever.

But there's no such thing like that in real life.

And now, I realized.

People's attention were gotten after hearing "Once upon a time" because they know that a "happily ever after" is waiting in the end.

But that's not the case in reality, that's why we prefer fairy tales.

Because the ending that we all wanted is to have a family, successful life and die together in the end. Which will never be mentioned in those.

"Ang ganda po ng ending! Gusto ko rin pong magsulat ng libro tapos isusulat ko 'yong gan'yang ending," the little girl said. I smiled and pinched her cheek.

"Little did you know that the author of this book hasn't experienced happiness ever after." The children gasped, I beamed and looked down on the book I am holding.

"Huh? Bakit po?" the kid asked. I heaved a sigh and put the book back on the shelf.

"When you grow older, you should read this book again and understand every word written here," I said, trying to be energetic while saying that.

"Po? Bakit po?" they asked. Nag-umpisa na silang mag-ingay kaya sinaway agad sila ng Teacher Demi nila.

"Kids, you deserved to be happy," I whispered, but made sure that they could still hear me. "And reality can't give us the genuine happiness we want to have."

Because there's no such thing as a happily ever after. Because the author of that book, only experienced to utter...

"Once upon he was mine"