Father Clark drew the woolen covers over his child, promptly departing with a tender press of his kiss upon her temple. He consequently made for the door before a timid voice intruded the interlude of silence, “Daddy, can you tell me a bedtime story?”
And just within mere inches of the doorway he was.
“Well… Why not?” Clark curtly answered and retrieved an abiding stool upon which he deposited himself. He then searched through the shortcoming of tales that immediately followed his train of thought. He wasn’t one to dwell upon fairy tales, after all.
But he began anyways. ”Once upon a time, there lived a princess by the name of Rue.”
The girl’s face opened with recognition, “Hey that’s my name!”
“Yes, my dear. So anyways, the fair maiden was kept within the boundaries of a quaint tower. And there, she would weep sadly to herself with diminished hopes of a savior—“
“Can’t she just leave the tower? Like, isn’t there a door or something?”
“No, there was not.”
“Then how did she get stuck there in the first place?” Rue proceeded to implore.
“She just did. Now, can I continue with the story? So, the damsel would reside by her window—“
Rue disrupted the story once more. “Why can’t she just escape through the window?”
The narrator quieted down, profoundly acknowledging the story’s flawed outline.
“…The impertinent, slumber-deprived princess who liked to undermine the logicality of the plotline would observe the world beyond her window and look for any means of escaping the captivities of her tower. She yearned to touch the blanket of grass below, the explosion of spring flowers, the heavy-set tree trunks. And she sought her freedom. So upon one curious day, she met a knight upon his noble steed. The valiant knight promised to free her from the limits of the tower—“
“But can’t she escape on her own? Does there always need to be a knight-in-shining-armor?”
“Well, okay. How do you want the story to continue?” Clark questioned gruffly. He seemed quite offended by the girl’s severe distaste towards the story.
Rue responded, “The princess reassures the knight that she does not need his help, and he leaves soon afterwards.”
“Fine. So what happens next?”
Rue simply shrugged her shoulders. “How am I supposed to know? You’re the storyteller.”
After releasing a heavy sigh, Clark recited, “And so, the princess began to artfully craft a rope out of her hair.”
“But the princess realized that her idea was stupid.” Rue gingerly added before meekly grinning.
“So she came to the conclusion that she would never indeed leave the tower. The end.” said Clark tersely.
“But I don’t like that ending.”
“The maiden, after much hopeless groping, discovered a door disguised within the grainy texture of the wall and entered the passageway to freedom. And she lived happily ever after.” The father concluded.
“But you said there wasn’t a door.”
“…Goodnight, child.” bade a listless Clark, and he exited the room.