The Narrator 

Aragones Castle Italy

A note from the Narrator – the use of the word reality reflects what is happening in a life at a point in time. There is no connection to a single truth in the use of this word. 

The reality is, she believes it will be over. She desperately wishes for a fairy godmother to appear, save her from reality. Fairytale is her way of coping: wishing to be saved as the damsel in distress and wishing evil and harm for the villain. This fairytale construct is comforting, consumed with revenge, and some would say immature. There is something sweet and pure about reality and something delicious and seductive about fairytale. 

Fairytale alongside reality, she swoons from one to the other.

Her reality makes perfect sense, so as narrator of this story I take command. There is so much being kept from her, with wickedness wrapped in what appears as politeness. The behaviour of the evil villain is similar to that earlier in this story. It is similar to a different villain in a different story. She does not want to believe there is evil. She anguishes in her search for proof, her need to gather evidence; behaviour is so slippery it can’t be grasped, quantified. This thing has become personal, and beneath it all she is hurt. 

Where is that dam fairy godmother? 

As narrator I am frustrated as she swoons from reality to fairytale. It is time I stopped my sweet protagonist from telling her fairytale over and over becoming a story on repeat, repeat, repeat. It is time to end this story. I let her move once more into doing what she does; thinking of every conceivable thing that could occur: reality and fantasy both. Finally the damsel in distress is with the evil villain.

What? 

I’ve lost control of my protagonist, her behaviour altered. I am proud of our protagonist, with calmness, a smile, a deep breath, listening, with a focus on reality. Dignity is her word for today. All of a sudden her fairytale reinstates itself in her heart and mind, as if on cue. Her smile in place she states clearly and gently to herself, ‘This isn’t the time for fairytale revenge. It is reality. I do not know what is to come.’ 

The words of the evil villain are said, her fate is sealed. She knows what needs to be done, most importantly she knows she is loved by many, respected by many more. That is reality, not fantasy.

She lives happily ever after 

Copyright The Narrator, June 2025. All rights reserved; this intellectual property belongs solely to The Narrator.