Chapter I

The princess had been lonely a long time. He had cast a rather potent spell all those years ago that kept her captive within those cold tower walls. She could see out the window, see the country, the changing weather and the world swirling around, but could feel none of the joy. She was so sad, so completely sad, just the way the evil prince intended her to be.

Certainly she had been visited in that tower by a steady parade of well-wishers, doctors, court jesters, friends, and family who ministered to her pain, seeking to draw her out, hoping to gain a steady foothold against the sadness. Sometimes the darkness would temporarily withdraw and for brief periods of time the princess was visited by feelings of contentment, happiness, and sometimes even a hint of joy. These visits were always over too soon, and the evil spell quickly reclaimed her, ferreting out all traces of calm, or creativity, and certainly ending any sense of a connection with others. Our princess locked in the dark tower, surrounded by happy sights but the happy places as distant as if she were living on the moon.

One evening as the princess was looking out the tower window and thinking again of throwing herself through the opening to crash far below on the rough stones lining her prison, she had an epiphany. She thought it might be possible to simply begin walking down the winding steps leading out of the tower, carrying herself to a safe and better place. She had an idea that the spell could be broken only by a habit of making her own happiness, day in and day out over a very long period of time. She knew that she had become habituated to her own sadness and that she was terribly broken. The princess realized that no one could fix her brokenness, no one could save her from the tower, no one could save her except for herself.

She made a plan that upon waking the next morning she would smile. It was a beginning. After smiling she planned to be happy to see the child that lived in a room just outside the tower & thought it would be pleasant to make a lunch for this child to take to school. After smiling and being happy to see the child and making the lunch, the princess thought it might be lovely to chose something pretty to wear for her first day of happiness.

On the morning of the first day of happiness our princess awoke and remembered the plan. She smiled, tentatively. Then rising up from her slumber she greeted the child with a rather more convincing smile. Lunch made, beautiful clothes selected, she steeled herself to meet the enemy, any enemy that is, that might appear in the form of a disappointment or cold weather or well, a disappointment taking on any form at all. Then, leaving the tower expecting the evil spell to cause buckets of rain to fall, to soak her spirit and her beautiful costume, the princess was surprised to find the sun shining, the daylight bright – casting a shimmering sparkle over the lake and over the township. The first day of happiness was well underway. She had a sense that she would need days and days of happiness to undo the spell and to free her, finally from the darkness of the tower.