Once upon a time a child slept,
A prince to be exact. 
He dreamt of adventure and victory
Of friendship and love
And sometimes of only himself

 

But those dreams were rarely good
As long ago he was cursed by a spirit,
Envious of the baby's future life.

 

"Lost you shall be child, 
And with the help of others,
You will never be found.
You are the lonely key,
May you always be."

 

It was then that it happened.
The child was plucked from the pond of life,
A sleeping prince.
He dreamed and saw himself falling, 
Falling deep into a dark hole.

 

He spun uncontrolably
He called for help
He called for answers 

 

Not knowing where he was
Or if there was anyone who could help him
Not even knowing where he would land
Not even knowing when.
This must be his curse he would think
as he fell in the darkness.

 

But then he awoke
And the light cast away the dark dream
revealing the Prince's beautiful mother
The Queen.

 

The Prince loved his mother. 
Nothing could make him smile brighter
But nothing chased that smile away quicker
Than her daily greeting.

 

"Good morning, Princess."

 

And so he fell.
Into another sort of hole
Into another sort of darkness.
He couldn't make her see him
This must be the curse he would think
as he fell in the darkness.

 

He was her Princess
He didn't know what that meant
But he knew she was sure
And he knew he didn't have a choice

 

After all, the queen loved her princess
and did not have a prince.

 

And so the princess would go on
She would dress in a gown,
She would dawn her tiara,
She would read her fairy tales,
She would dance a Princesses dance.

 

And when she was alone
She would find a mirror
And tell the girl in it
that she was a beautiful Princess
Again and again.

 

She did this every day
But every night
She would get into bed
And before a moment had passed
He awoke in a dream.

 

Always alone 
At first, he didn't mind it.
He liked being himself with only himself
But no one can always be alone.
No one wants to be alone 
And who is left to blame for it
When you're all by yourself?

 

Every day and every night
Seemed to grow darker.

 

He found himself throwing
Himself into the hole
Wishing to find the bottom
Knowing anything would be better
Than the emptying loneliness.

 

This must be the curse he would think.

 

She found herself 
At odds with the Princess in the mirror.
She did not call her a princess or beautiful
But instead only stared,
Deeper and deeper
Feeling less than alone in a terrible way.

 

This must be the curse she would think.

 

But one night
As the boy fell through his dream
Tears fell behind him 
Giving him the first company he had known.
He watched them sparkle next to him
Like diamonds
pulled from the darkest
depths of the earth.

 

"Consider them a gift"
A voice said from somewhere unseen.
"Now you will be lighter
And stronger than ever before.
Perhaps they'll show you
That you can always find beauty,
even in the darkest of places"

 

The prince was shocked
He had never met anyone here
He had never been
anything but alone here.

 

The voice was a girl's voice
A familiar
And estranged voice.

 

"Who are you?"
He tried to call
But instead only awoke in bed
A princess.

 

The voice returned many times 
It said many things
And taught the prince many lessons.

 

"Strength lies in one's self.
Courage is not in facing one's enemies
but one's fears.
You are never alone when you are loved.
Love is without exemption."

But it never answered his questions.

 

And each day the prince would awake
And go on as a princess 
But as she looked into her mirror 
She did not tell the princess she saw
That she was beautiful
Instead, she smiled a faint curious smile.

 

That night the voice returned again 

"No one can tell you who you are."

 

When the prince awoke
He saw his mother
And so he went on as a princess
She would put on her gown,
She would dawn her crown,
She would read her fairy tales,
She would dance a princesses dance.

 

And when she was alone
She would strip her gown,
She would make a crown,
She would wave her sword,
She would dance her own dance.

 

And when she returned to her mirror 
She opened her painted mouth
To tell the girl staring back 
That she was a princess,

 

But instead of her own voice
She heard the voice from the dream
"No one can tell you who you are,
Not even you."

 

The princess was left without a voice.
Staring into the mirror
at the person staring back.

 

And so the prince slept
But he did not fall
He did not even dream.

 

And in the morning he awoke
He met his mother
He put on a gown
He dawned his tiara
He read his fairy tales
And he danced his dance.

 

When he was alone 
He looked into his mirror 
And he knew he was a prince.

 

No gown,
Crown,
Book,
Or dance
Could break his curse
For he was the lone key.

 

He could not make himself into a princess
nor could his love for his mother
or his mother's love for him.

 

He had found himself,
And had finally recalled the voice.

 

"You are a beautiful Princess."