The Storyteller

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl who lived in the woods near the village of the kingdom."

There it is again, the voice that she had been waiting for all day. Ever since she woke up alone in her empty room, she would always hear a voice in her head, telling her the same story over and over again.

"Are you listening?"

Yes, she always was. She had tried many times to talk to that voice that has been the only thing that accompanied her since that day, but it seems that the storyteller can't hear her.

"This girl had always dreamed of being the handsome prince's significant other."

She already knows almost every detail of this story. Even so, she has always listened attentively every single time she would hear her storyteller's voice. Although it doesn't make sense for her how she could hear that voice and only that voice, she is certain that her storyteller is talking to her.

"The prince's name is Red. It symbolizes power, he said."

She wasn't sure if she knows someone named Red but it felt familiar to her ears. Maybe it's one of the reasons why she never gets tired of listening to that story.

"One day, the prince was headed back to his castle when all of a sudden, the girl from the woods blocked his path and stood in front of him with both arms wide open. She introduced herself as his princess. The prince, being the jerk that he is, only laughed at the poor girl and pushed her to the side of the road as he made way for himself and his white horse."

How rude of that prince, she thought.

Sometimes it's better to focus on her storyteller's voice than the story itself especially when she hears how mean the prince is. She even imagines her storyteller in front of her, holding up a storybook but no matter how hard she tries, she can't form a face in her head that will fit that perfect voice.

"Everyday, the prince would wander around the kingdom and unfortunately for him, there's no other path to the castle from the village but the one that passes by the girl's house. She would always block his way and would even bravely offer to accompany him back to his castle. Not once did the prince agree to it. He can't be escorted by a young woman with such small frame! He thinks that she won't even be able to stand a strong wind.

"He would always have reasons to get the girl out of his way because she was getting extremely annoying. He even called her an eyesore. He wasn't nice and he's aware of that. Very bad. Right, Sophie?"

She automatically looked up, as if the voice was coming from somewhere above her but all she saw was the ceiling of her room. Her heart beat incessantly because of what she just heard.

It was the first time ever that her storyteller mentioned her name. Though she doesn't know why, her eyes started tearing up.

"Sophie, I hope you can hear me."

There was sadness in the storyteller's voice. It felt so close to her ears that she can hear her storyteller breathing.

She can clearly hear him, and how she hopes he can hear her too. Impossible, she knows.

"The girl did everything for the prince. She became a slave to him. She wiped his shoes even if he obviously jumped in a puddle of mud, she always cleaned his horse even its shoes, she baked cookies for him that he never tasted nor smelled. She could even swim an ocean and back if that is what the prince wants. There is only one thing that she could not ever do, and that is to stay away from the heartless, insensitive prince. If he's not ignoring her, he was making her life miserable. It was always one of the two things. The girl was hurt and Prince Red did not care at all."

Her face was all scrunched up. She hates the prince for his heart is so cold.

"Until one day, he went to the girl's house. The girl was beyond happy when the prince himself knocked on her door. She gladly opened up for him, only to get heart trampled on by what she saw. The prince came with a girl who was obviously a princess. Her visitors both entered the small house and sat on the wooden chairs in the dining area which was adjacent her wooden bed. The prince talked to her and broke her heart by ever word that he said. He introduced the princess as his fiancée."

This is the part that she hates the most. The prince was not only insensitive; he is inconsiderate, uncaring and unkind. He was unappreciative of the poor girl's efforts!

"Little did she know, the prince only did that to get rid of her. He wanted her to stop being so pathetic. The princess that he introduced to the girl as his fiancée was actually his best friend. They put up a great show in front of the poor girl whose heart was shattered in millions of pieces. In short, they succeeded in their plan."

She sighed. The prince's acts are making her heart crumble. The girl did nothing but serve him and treat him right and that is what he gave back. Her hate for the stupid prince did not lessen one bit.

"Then, the kingdom held a ball where everyone from the kingdom was invited. The girl thought this could be a good opportunity to talk to the prince. She was hoping that she could still change his mind. She didn't get the chance to talk to him, though. He was busy entertaining guests the whole time and she could never get near him with her filthy clothes. She could not take the stares of the people around her so she decided to leave when suddenly, there was fire and everyone panicked. The floor-length curtains were easily burnt by the fire which spread throughout the hall faster than expected. Luckily, everyone escaped.

"Or so they thought."

She can't help but feel bad for the girl who had a golden heart.

"The prince immediately looked for his best friend, the princess. He was on his way back to the hall when he saw the girl in crummy clothes already entering the burning hall. The guards were fast to hold the prince back. Now, two people are endangered. Inside the hall, the girl looked for the princess behind the suffocating smoke. She found her easily because she heard her call for help. She ran to her and carried the princess up to the entrance of the hall. The princess might not be heavy but the dress was and it made it harder for her to move one step after another.

"Already coughing from the smoke, the girl tried her best not to falter. She has to save the princess for this girl needs to live for her beloved prince. She saved the princess but she got stuck inside when a large post fell in front of her. She almost died in that incident."

There was sorrow in his voice. She felt more than sad too. That was always what she felt every time she would hear this part. Usually, the story ends here and she doesn't know why. She was curious about the rest of the story because it could not end there. She knows there is more.

"And until now, she's not yet awake."

Not yet awake?

Yet again, her heart was racing and her breathing quickened. It's as if she knows what's coming but in truth, she has no idea. She could only wonder what the storyteller means.

"Sophie... Please wake up. Eight months is too long already. Wake up, please."

His voice broke. Is he crying? She doesn't know. She was unaware of the hot tears that were rolling down her cheek. She can feel something pricking her heart and she doesn't know why her body is reacting that way.

"Sorry, I was such an idiot. Sorry, I ignored all your efforts. I pushed you away."

He sniffed. He's crying and it pains her. It was getting hard for her to breathe. Why?

"You saved Leigh because you thought I loved her and I'll get hurt if she died that night. Yes, I would but you, you were the one who almost died! You're the one who got trapped inside our burning house! This is all my fault! If only I wasn't such a coward to admit that I already fell for you, this wouldn't have happened! I'm so sorry. Please wake up!"

She wants him to stop crying. Even she can't help her tears from falling.

It was only then when blurry visions came to her mind. She is the girl in the story.

"Every time I tell you that story that I made, I get hurt to bits. My heart is ripped out of my chest. So wake up, sweetie. Wake up! We need to have our happy ending."

Now she remembers everything and the only thing she can do is...nothing.

That night, she went to Red's house to talk to him about her feelings but since there was a party, she wasn't able to find him easily. Then everyone started screaming and all of a sudden, she was enshrouded by black smoke. She looked around her and saw everything getting eaten by the fire. Before she could escape, she heard someone call for help. Since she knew the voice, she tried to follow it and found Leigh, Red's best friend and whom she thought was his girlfriend, on the ground coughing. She immediately ran to her and helped her to get out of the house. She got the chance to push her outside the door before she got trapped inside and a huge block of wood fell on her head and knocked her unconscious.

Remembering everything did nothing but break her heart. She felt helpless. Whatever she tried to say, wouldn't get heard by Red. Please wait for me. It's not yet too late for their happy ending, she hopes.

Then, she cried herself to sleep.



"SOPHIE, NO! Hold on, sweetie! Please don't go! Don't leave me! No! Sophie!"

What is happening?

For a second, she had the energy to open her eyes. She wasn't in her empty room anymore, and she wasn't alone. Her heart jumped in joy when she saw her handsome prince looking right at her, only that tears were streaming down his face. She smiled weakly at him because it's all she can do.

He was holding her hand tightly, never letting go of it. It was painful to see him breaking down. If only she could open her mouth and tell him how she loves him, but she couldn't. She was too weak to even hold his hand back.

The next thing she could see were people running towards her. They were wearing white and were saying things that she couldn't understand.

Her vision was becoming fuzzy. Before it all faded to black, she focused on one thing that was clear to her, Red and her love for him.

Is this it?


A few moments later, Red could only hear one thing. It wasn't her heartbeat. It wasn't her voice. It was but one long beep.

Red felt all the blood leave his body. His heart was already beyond broken. It was then when it hit him, she will never hear his voice again.