A beautiful but poor girl catches the prince's eye. The prince takes her back to his castle and they get married and live happily ever after.
Every little girl's fairytale dream.
But what if the dream becomes reality? It's never quite the same, is...
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My heart beat fast as I held my breath, hidden in the safety of the dark alleyways I was all too familiar with. I snuck through the darkness, the shadows forming around me protectively as I got further and further from the frustrated and volatile guards.
My steps were fast but completely silent, guarded from the eyes and ears all around me. I leapt over sleeping bodies, garbage and crates of junk as I weaved my way through the city in an almost automatic grace.
I'd done this a million times now. I got faster every time but the anxiety just never seemed to leave me, my mind running in circles, in pace with the rest of me.
I leapt over a drunk man, throwing up on himself, and around the siren lifting her skirt to a group of leering men, smiling seductively as they closed in on her.
I was so close to safety. I could see the crowds and the light off in the distance quickly approaching, but the tightness in chest didn't let up at all. I chewed my cheek as I saw the guard appear in the alleyway, blocking my only path. His beady eyes scanned the darkness, searching.
"Fuck." I whispered to myself, readying my body for the risk I had no choice but to take. I sped up until I was running at an all out sprint, everything around me beginning to blur as I pushed my body to its limits.
I ran towards the guard at full speed, praying quietly to myself. Part of me wanted to look around, look for another way, but I knew if I hesitated for even a second I might as well be dead.
Just before I crashed into the guard I turned sideways, held my breath, and slid right past him, my back skimming the brick wall behind me, his hair ruffling slightly with the breeze I'd created.
I didn't look back as I continued on, praying that I hadn't gotten too close. I ran to freedom, the knot in my chest finally beginning to unravel as I slowed and finally blended into the bright lights and crowds of people.
I breathed a sigh, lowering my hood as I weaved in between the stumbling, oblivious idiots that flooded the city every night. The music filled the air, giving the illusion of a happy, care-free environment, the stench of alcohol thick in the air, promising a night free of worry.
The bright lights and decorations hid the person getting beaten to death in a nearby alley. It hid the prostitutes lining the streets, calling to men, trying to make a couple bucks to buy food to fill their anorexic bodies, or soap to clean off the leftovers of their last customer.
At night, you couldn't see the extreme poverty. It was so easy to avoid your problems when you could instead look upon the painted festival people, with feathers in their hair and gems on their face, fluttering around the crowds.
The alcoholics who walked around like the dead during the day were now the life of the party, the people everyone looked to for a good time. When the sun sets, you can ignore your problems. What you can't see can't hurt you.
