Just a Damsel in Distress

You used to be my everything, though to you I was nothing at all. I was just another girl living in her own fantasy world. The world in which you were the king and I was the queen. Together we would have ruled our kingdom in the woods, away from it all. But it was just a dream that should be forgotten, yet it will forever be the scene keeping my imagination alive.

You were the perfect guy. Everyone was in love with you, but no one loved you as much as me. I spent years of my life watching your every move, waiting for you to suddenly realize that you needed me. You never did need me though. You could have gone your entire life without ever meeting me, and that would have been okay with you.

I spent years as that lonely damsel in distress. I was locked in my tower hoping and praying that one day you would hear my cries and come rescue me on your white horse. The sad reality though is that you heard my cries, but you were always out saving other girls.

The first time I saw you, I knew you would be the love of my life, whether or not you ever wanted to be with me at all. I called out my window to say hello and you sent a beautiful warm smile back to me. The sun glinted off your eyes in just the right way and you kept me company from below for a little while. But as the sunset began, you rode away and soon enough you had disappeared into the night.

The storm clouds rolled in once you were gone and it was something the kingdom had never seen before. I couldn’t help but cry. You had given me my first taste of love and I wanted, I needed more. It couldn’t come from just anyone though, it had to come from you.

The next time I saw you, you held a bouquet of roses for someone special. As you stood in front of my tower, I prepared for you to begin your climb to rescue me. But as I looked out my window, I watched a girl in a beautiful gown join your side. You presented her with the flowers, and she fell to her knees in tears of joy. As I watched from above, I began to cry too.

“Isn’t she lovely?” You called up to me, showing off the pretty girl.

“She’s beautiful.” I responded, feeling my heart shatter into a million pieces, yet you were still my love.

As time went on, you visited me more often. Each and every time, I did my best to be the fairest of them all. I wished to be the princess you saved from her terrors and whisked away into a better, happier world. You never saw it though. To you, I was just a lonely girl who needed a friend. But I needed so much more.

You often stayed for a quick chat and then rode off into the sunset with some beautiful girl, someone I could never compare to. I knew a couple of them. One girl had been my friend, so when her time came to be loved by you, I let it happen. I did not want to destroy her happiness. She was from a wealthy kingdom where beauty was everything. She was a delicate flower sitting pretty in a world of constant battles. One day you came along though, and you saved her from the horrors all around.

We spent the most time together then. Whenever you needed advice on how to advance your love for the girl, you came to me. You knew me to be honest and true, something that was often impossible to find in your world. As much as it pained me to see you with another girl, I knew that if you were happy, one day, you may thank me.

You and the girl did not last forever though. We got to talk more after that. Everything I ever did was to make you love me. I begged for you to stand outside my window, singing love songs about whoever may be in your mind. I would never know if they were to me, but it made me happy to know they could be.

“My sweet love, if only you could see, you are the most beautiful, the girl I truly need.” You sang, filling my heart with love.

Just when I was ready to give in and ask you to save me, release me from my tower, another girl appeared. She was someone once known to be part of the village’s brothel. I could not believe you had found such a girl and actually fell for her ways.

In that time, I had met a few princes from kingdoms far and wide, ones who were willing to rescue me. I kept prolonging the escape from my tower though, still waiting for you to realize it was your last chance. I didn’t want to be saved by just anyone, it had to be you.

One day when you came to visit me, you asked me something I never thought possible.

“Should I leave her? I thought it was love, but there is a force holding me back from continuing down this path with her.”

“Do what your heart tells you. And I think you know what that is.”

The next day, she was out of your life and would not return, but she believed I was the reason. Maybe I was the one who changed your mind, but you still did not tell me if I was your true love.

When we were saying goodbye one night, I felt in my heart that it was time to ask if you would save me. After countless times forcing myself to be the girl of your dreams, you finally told me you felt something. But it was too late. This was goodbye for real. So much time was spent becoming the fairest in the land, but we still could never be. You unlocked my door and rode away, leaving me with freedom, yet forever to be imprisoned by my broken heart.