Once Upon a Time: EDITING

Rapunzel

My name is Rebecca. However, I was soon renamed Rapunzel. Why? Because I absolutely LOVE that type of lettuce! What else do I love? Well... painting! And since I got stuck in a tower, that about everything I COULD do. I can tell you though, I didn't stay in that tower long. How did I get there in the first place? Well, to answer that I had better start at the beginning...

I'm an orphan. My father was lost at sea, and my mother died at my birth. So, I was taken in by my aunt, who had never married, and was a witch. She lived hidden away in a tower, who's only exit was by climbing down the virtually sheer rock face, or magic. Don't ask me why, because I have NO clue.

Trina, my aunt, had planned to keep me as an apprentice, but I was only good at painting, cooking, and other non-magical activities. She kept me anyway. However, there were consequences.

One was the fact I could not leave since I was not capable of climbing the face of the tower. Another, was the fact that Trina left to do whatever she pleased, and I got stuck doing the cooking and cleaning. Still, that didn't take all day. So I had time to paint, at which I became an expert.

Now, you must be wondering how I got to liking rapunzel lettuce. Well, among having fun, Trina always brought back food, and one day she brought back rapunzel lettuce. I tried it, and since then, I cannot eat a meal without that DELICIOUS lettuce. Hence, my nickname.

Another thing you should know, is that yes, I have blond hair (regular blond), but it's not any longer than the middle of my back. Where the myth of my REALLY long hair came around, I have no idea. Not to mention, I have brown, not blue eyes, and I did NOT wait for someone to rescue me from my tower. NO WAY! I did it myself...

Anyway, you can imagine just how boring life could get in that tower. My aunt wasn't really mean, but I wanted to lead a more adventurous life. So, as soon as I turned eighteen, I deemed myself ready to take care of myself, and I began training myself to climb (my only means of escape). I started just shimming up the posts that supported the ceiling. Then, I worked my way up the walls, until finally, after three months of practice, I believed myself reading to climb my tower walls.

I waited until my aunt left, then climbed out the window, with my satchel of food and belongings on my back. I inched forward to find my first foothold, then handhold. I made rapid progress until about halfway down, where I could no longer find any holds. I could see plenty down below. Taking a deep breath to calm myself, then I let go and let myself fall. When I was level with the holds, I thrust out my hands to lodge them there, but I missed. I panicked; I was falling to quickly to see whether or not there was anything else to grab hold of to save myself from certain death!

I thrust my arms, hands, legs, feet, anything, desperately looking for a hold. Suddenly, I caught hold of a vine with one hand, stopping my fall. Gritting my teeth, I heaved my other hand into a hold next to the vine, and then continued much shaken from my fall. Soon, after about a half-hour of hard climbing, I reached the bottom. Nervously, I stretched one foot out to touch the earth, then the other. It was the first time I had ever walked on the earth. All those years in the tower, I could only look at the earth from my window. I was overjoyed now to stand on it.

I took off running, not really caring about the direction, as long as it was away from that frightful tower!

Unfortunately for me, I had not thought through what I would do once I got OUT of the tower and, to make matters worse I could see dark clouds building on the horizon and hear thunder. Pretty soon, the rain started, not a light rain but a downpour. I trudged through it, wet to the skin and freezing. I had now arrived in a pine forest, floor carpeted with pine needles. The bows met overhead forming a sort of cathedral aisle. The sound of my footfalls was completely muffled and the trees blocked most of the rain. At the end of the aisle, there was a light, like that of a great fire through frosted windows.