in the cages of a fairy tale
Aika A
one.
The kingdom is at peace.
This is how it always start; peace, a calm before the storm.
I am born not princess nor hero nor monster;
just born on a quiet day
reaching up to the light.
I still do not know if this life
is a gift
or a curse.
two.
Tragedy will strike like it always does,
a lightning strike of despair that sends the world
into spiraling madness.
I will leave home.
There is always a journey to be taken
in every life by every person
to reach who they are meant to be.
I do not think I will ever know who I’m meant to be.
But you;
with bright eyes and hope
and belief strong enough to burn.
you will change the world.
I just hope that new world has a place for me.
three.
Heroes fall; this is the height of every story.
No matter how strong or brave, the villain wins the first battle.
The hero will fall.
It’s a curse, or a defeat, or a death.
The difference between us:
You are the light in the shadow, the hope of the future,
the sword in the stone.
You are the dragon and the tower and the dawn after a storm.
And I;
I am the poison and the kiss.
four.
Maybe we were not meant to be remembered
in myth or religion or even the fairytale we craft with our hands.
This doesn’t stop me from wishing for this
temporary immortality.
five.
The villain is defeated;
even now, the story doesn’t end.
The villain is defeated;
we keep living until the next tragedy comes crashing down.
I leave you behind --
we are on different paths of our own choosing
because fate is no match for us.
Goodbye is a kindness that I hold dear in my heart.
Forget the usual happy ending;
we are not happy, but we are free to live beyond the constraints
of a clean fairytale where
a princess is a princess
a hero is a hero
a dragon is a dragon
and they are nothing else.
You are the hero and the damsel and more vengeful than forgiving.
I am the danger and the saving and bound to no chains.
six.
I take this fairytale and twist it into something real;
Happily Ever After
never lasts, so I turn it to smoke and wave it away.
Beyond this, is a life I intend to live.
Aika is a college freshman in Arizona spending far too much time writing, reading, and buying pretty notebooks she'll never use. Most of her focus is on her identity as half-Okinawan and aro ace, but outside of that, she writes about fairy tales, myths, growth, and stories that often get ignored by media. She also enjoys taking on too many creative projects at once and crying over cute animals.