A Rotten Fable

When she was 5 her dad read her a fairytale story;
'Once there lived a girl called Sleeping Beauty,
she was always asleep.
One day she woke up to a prince's kiss and lived happily ever after'
And that's how the story went.

That was the year she went to school for the first time
and she cried for her mum to take her home.
The year her baby brother was born with no hair
and they had to take him back to the hospital because he wasn't well.

When she was seven, her mum read her a fairytale story;
'Once there lived a girl named Snow White who ate a poisoned apple.
And then she was always asleep.
One day she woke up to a prince's kiss and lived happily ever after'
And that's how the story went.

That was the year her parents divorced
and her little brother sat by the clock in the morning,
waiting for her to wake up so they could play a game

When she was thirteen her brother was scared, so she read him a story.
'Once upon a time there lived a girl called Cinderella,
She was always made to do the housework, until she was saved by a handsome prince and lived happily ever after.'
And that's how the story went.

That was the year her friends at school were mean
and she didn't want to play with her brother any more.
The year she started high school and people changed.

When she was 17 she threw the storybook away.
That was a year of doing stupid things.
When her first boyfriend wasn't what she expected.
The year of regrets and of growing up.

It was the year she paid for a holiday with her first wage.
The year her brother didn't talk to her much any more
and she missed how he used to pester her

When she was 18 she finished college
and she never told that boy she liked him.

That was the year her friends were scared about going to university
but she was excited.
It was the year her mum was going to miss her,
the year her dad got on her nerves.

She lay in bed and imagined what life would be like
and this time she told herself a story;
'Once there was a girl who lived in an enchanted castle,
she was always asleep.
One day she woke up, but there was no prince.
The walls of her castle were covered in moss, and her canopy bed was draped in cobwebs.

The walls of her enchanted castle collapsed.'
and that's how the story went.

Once there was a girl who lived in an enchanted castle,
she was always asleep. One day she woke up.

She woke up.