J.C. Hannigan says fairytale marriages aren’t forever.
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Once upon a time, there was a handsome prince and a beautiful princess. They met at a ball and felt that instantaneous, world-altering connection. The fell hard and fast and deeply for one another, and everything was beautiful. The world around them flourished with potential.
Everyone in the kingdom and beyond thought they had the most perfect of relationships. He was attentive and romantic, she was kind and compassionate. Fairy tales were written in their honor, and people came far and wide from every corner of the world just to watch them interact with each other. Their love was so pure, so innocent.
One day, the prince asked the princess to marry him. Of course, she said yes — she was in love! They had a beautiful wedding and started a beautiful family together, and they took over the vast kingdom, as princes and princesses are bound to do.
But then…darkness started to creep into the beautiful home they made. The prince-turned-king was stressed about the kingdom he ran. It wasn’t as easy as his father made it look, especially not with his family depending on him to do right by everyone. The princess-turned-queen was shocked by motherhood — by how isolating it was. She loved her babies, but she missed adult interaction, but the king was ever so exhausted by days end that he didn’t have time to listen to the queen’s constant babbling about trivial things.
When the babies started to get bigger, the queen thought she should pursue other interests. She felt as if she bored the king, and she didn’t want to bore him. She wanted to be the alluring, exciting woman he fell in love with, so she started painting again — a hobby she had before becoming queen. These paintings were full of the beauty and light in which she saw the world, and they made people feel wonderful. Everybody loved her paintings, and people from all corners of the globe wanted to own such a beautiful creation. Naturally, this meant the queen was always painting, and the king got temperamental because he believed she should be focusing all of her attention on the little princes and princesses — and him, of course.
So he started to make cutting comments, trying to redirect his queen to be exactly what he thought he wanted her to be. Resentment started to grow, and dark clouds in the sky held the sun hostage. The queen began to hate painting — it was no longer relaxing, no longer a beautiful way for her to express herself. Her paintings turned as dark as the sky. Weeds overtook the once stunning gardens in the palace, and nobody sang praises of their love anymore.
They were fiction.
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Photo Credit: Unsplash
This post was originally featured on Sarcastica.