Hands on his knees, the prince panted breathlessly. Boy, I must be more out of shape than I realized. He thought and glanced behind him proudly. He smiled. 10 miles hike, not bad for an out of shape guy.

“Princess, my love,” he shouted, “I have come to rescue you.”

“Shh, not so loud,” out poked the princess’s head from near the top of the tower, “are you trying to wake the whole kingdom?”

With his head tilted up, the prince suddenly wanted to cry. “Why does the guy always has to be the one trudging through woods and scaling towers? All for the sake of catching a babe.” He muttered.

“Are you okay?” The princess asked, sensing his emotions.

Shaking his head, the prince responded, “Yeah, I mean, yes, my princess.” He inhaled a sharp breath, stepped back, and began analyzing the tower, searching for an entrance. He’d thought about scaling but it simply wasn’t an option. The princess is just an ordinary girl, after all. There’s nothing magical about her, no wonderfully soft long blond locks like Rapunzel.

It must be my lucky day, he thought as he squeezed pass a small opening in the grate. “I’m coming, princess.” He sang as ran up the stairs. Round and round, he ascended, running became walking, walking became crawling. By the sixth round, his legs have turned into jelly as he dragged them like cement step by step.

By the eighth round, his legs had turned to stone. He couldn’t move anymore. He didn’t want to move anymore. He slumped down onto the step, contemplating, is it even worth it? There are plenty of princesses in the surrounding kingdoms. Why did his family had to have him get this one? She’s not even that pretty. He stared up and saw the flights of stairs spiral upward.

How many more are there?

He got up. “Now, where were we? Ah yes, is she worth it?” It took him a second to decide. He shook his head and ran down the stairs, exited the tower, and back to the woods, not knowing he and the princess were separated by six flights of stairs.

#writephoto