I watched the prince dance from afar. He moved so
gracefully, and why wouldn’t he? He was born into this life, full of balls and
princesses and royalty. This was second nature to him.
I
shifted my focus to the grandly decorated walls, the marble columns, the high
ceilings and brightly lit chandeliers. I grew up within the shadow of the palace,
but this was my first time being inside. I suppose I should have considered
myself lucky; lucky to be the same age as the prince, lucky to be given this
opportunity to attend the annual ball. But maybe I would have been better off
not knowing what the inside looked like.
My eyes
drifted back down to the prince, my heart filled with the same longing I had
felt the first day I saw him. He came to my family’s bakery, once; he made eye
contact with me, thanked me sincerely for my pastries. My heart had fluttered,
my stomach filled with butterflies, mind filled with dreams of what could be.
In another life, maybe, but not this one. I could tell from the way he looked
at the girl he danced with.
Days
later, guards came from the palace with a proclamation. The girl who could fit
the slipper would marry the prince, and my heart fluttered once again, my mind
daring to dream a second time. It was a masquerade ball, after all—as long as
my feet were small enough, who could possibly tell the difference? This could
be the other life I was dreaming of.
But the
shoe didn’t fit. Of course it didn’t fit.
~~
Until later,
- Justyne
