“... So the handsome prince took the beautiful girl by the hand, and he led her to his shining castle, far away; and there they lived, happily ever after. ...”
A
s little children, many of us loved to live in the dream world of fairy tales. We watched countless cartoon adaptations and listened to bedtime stories of damsels in distress, rescued by handsome princes from vicious monsters and certain death. Begging to hear the stories over and over again, we held our breath until all the loose ends in the story had been tied up, and the characters rode off into the sunset, where a blissful future awaited them. Inspired by fairy tales, children’s Christmas wish lists featured pink princess gowns and shiny plastic shields and swords, essential elements in the neighborhood reenactment of fantasies. Not frightened by the comparative monotony of real life, little children held high expectations for the future, dreaming of the day they could defeat monstrous dragons, or when a handsome prince would triumphantly come to their rescue. As we grew older, the fairy tales and fantasies began to lose some of their charm; we understood that these myths could not possibly be true. Still longing for a sense of perfection in our lives, we traded the “little-kid stuff” for dreams of career, family, wealth, and suc-
faith in H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 10
Fairy
