Two Inches

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!"

Rapunzel sat bolt upright in her bed.

"Oh my gosh," she muttered, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face. "This is the seventh prince in three days."

"Rapunzeeeeelllllllll!!!!"

Rapunzel rolled her eyes, but forced herself to call back.

"Just a moment, my sweet prince!"

This was spoken very sarcastically, but the prince didn't seem to notice, or if he did, he didn't comment.

Lowering her feet to the freezing floor, the girl threw the blankets off her body and stumbled across the tower. She didn't bother changing from her pajamas, or brushing her long golden tresses. Hundreds of princes had come seeking to save her. What made this one special enough to cause her to pay closer attention to her looks than usual?

Rubbing her still sleepy eyes, Rapunzel did a double-take at the old clock in the corner of the room.

"ONE O' CLOCK IN THE MORNING!?!?!?" she exploded. She stalked over to the window of her tower, and placing her hands on her hips, she glared down at the poor prince, abandoning any honeyed tones she might have had ready.

"What is WRONG with you!?" she yelled down.

The prince smiled awkwardly, not expecting this greeting from the "sweet" princess.

"I have come to seek your safety and your hand!"

"Right." Rapunzel muttered. "Just like the hundreds of other princes the kingdom has sent. But none of THEM have ever succeeded in making it to the top and rescuing me. What makes you think you'll be different!?"

The prince did not answer, just stared up at her expectantly. Sighing, she gathered up her golden tresses and tossed them to the ground. Her head jerked at the prince's weight, but grinding her teeth together, she ignored the pain. She had to go through this so often, her head was kind of used to it anyway.

"Soooooo.... what kingdom are you from?"

This was always the awkward part. Making converstion while the princes did their best not to slip on the silky hair.

"Nowhere you're familiar with, I'm sure.... a fair princess like you."

Rapunzel rolled her eyes. She hated the compliments. The ones who gave them didn't really understand what they were saying. No one had ever before seen her up close, only from a distance, so how could they know she was truly beautiful? No prince had ever reached the top before, and if there was ever one who did, he would be sadly disappointed.

"How do you know I AM fair?" she said grumpily.

"Well, that's how it's been told for twenty years. When the BEAUTIFUL princess Rapunzel was an infant, a woman by the name of Gothel stole her from her crib, and locked her away in a tower, held by a spell. She could only be set free by the hand of a prince, and then the two would marry and Mother Gothel would perish for all of eternity."

Rapunzel sighed and put her chin in her hands.

"I'm not very pretty," she murmured.

"What was that, princess?"

Rapunzel hesitated for a moment before announcing.

"I. AM. NOT. PRETTY. The only thing beautiful about me is my hair, and quite honestly, if I ever am rescued from this tower, I'll be chopping it all off the first chance I get! You have no idea what a nuisance it is!"

The prince's jaw dropped, but he continued to climb.

"Surely you are not as ugly as you say," he responded. "You're only being modest."

Rapunzel frowned.

"I would rather be ugly and have a prince marry me for love, than be beautiful and be married only for my looks."

"Ah, but is there truly any love left in this world?"

Rapunzel stared out the window. Was there love? Maybe not. But a girl could hope.

"So, if you ever get out of this tower, what are you planning to do first?"

Rapunzel jumped, startled. The prince's voice was near. Very near. Peeking out the window, her eyes bulged. He was but eight yards away from her. Most of the princes would climb about  a third of the way up her hair before sliding back to the ground.

"Hello? Are you going to answer my question?"

"Oh. Um, what'll I do first?" Rapunzel shut her eyes. "I'll meet my parents. And then, I'll just look. Look at the grass, the flowers, the sky, the kingdom. I'll just look, and be amazed."

"Well, as soon as I free you, which I will, I'll be looking too. And the scenery will be much better than the outdoors. The scenery will be a gorgeous girl with long golden hair."

Rapunzel rolled her eyes, feeling sick to her stomach. This was not the guy for her. Flattery falls from the lips of fools, she liked to say. It was easy enough to croon over someone's looks, but if she couldn't find a man who would love her for her inward beauty than quite frankly, she wouldn't mind staying in the tower.

Glancing around, something shiny caught Rapunzel's eye. Reaching out her hand, she grasped the object and brought it to the window sill. It was a knife. She looked from the prince, who was now only about three yards from her, back to the sharp weapon, then to the prince again. Suddenly, an idea struck her. Giggling, she took the knife and held it close to a strand of her beautiful golden hair.

"Priiii-iiiince!" she called in a sing-songy voice. The prince looked up, ready to smile at her, but instead his eyes widened in surprise as his "wife-to-be" sliced through about a third of her hair with the knife.

"Stop! Wait!" he shouted, frantically grabbing at his loosening ropes. "What are you doing!?"

Rapunzel held up another chunk of hair.

"I'm saving the two of us from a marriage without love," she replied. Bit by bit, she sliced off more hair, all the while with the prince desperately trying to scramble up to the top of the tower.

Finally, when he was about a thumb's length away, Rapunzel lifted the last strand and held the knife close.

"Don't worry, this fall won't kill you. You'll just... be a little bruised."

With a final parting smile, the girl cut the last of her hair, and the prince fell through the air. He had only been two inches from the top of the tower... that is, two inches from the girl that every man in the kingdom coveted.

Rapunzel watched as the prince landed with a soft "ffmph" onto the now lifeless pile of hair. She couldn't help but grin as he stood up, dusted himself off, and screamed "YOU'RE NUTS, LADY!!!!"

Turning from the window, she sighed and blew an uneven, choppy piece of hair out of her face. Two inches. That's how close she came to being freed. Two inches. Wow. Still, she knew that when the right prince came along, he would love her enough to find a way to save her, even without the use of her beautiful golden hair. And he would undoubtedly come even closer than two inches away.

After all, love can't be stopped by a mere tower.

And that's the truth.