Modern Day Fairy Tale

This is a story I wrote a few weeks ago. It just popped into my head one day while I was driving to get my hair done. I started furiously scribbling it down in a little leather journal that I keep in my purse while sitting under the heat lamps with foil sticking out of my head. I'm sure I looked like a crazy person.

I decided to post this story today because it has special meaning. You'll see why I thought it was appropriate to publish it on the blog today at the end of this post...

The Girl With the Texas-Sized Heart

by CJR

Copyright 2009

Once upon a time there was a girl with a Texas-sized heart. Ever since the Girl was very little, she dreamed of finding her One True Love and she hoped and wished and prayed very hard so that she might find him.  As the Girl grew, she gathered all her Hope and stored it away in her Texas-sized heart for safe-keeping.

One day when the Girl was a little older, she met a boy whom she thought was her One True Love.  With joy, the Girl carefully wrapped her Texas-sized heart filled with all her Hope and presented it to the Boy.  The Boy accepted her heart hastily and with the greedy foolishness that Boys sometimes have around a Girl with a Texas-sized heart.  But a little while later the Boy changed his mind and sheepishly gave back to the Girl her Texas-sized heart filled with all her Hope.  But the Girl, frozen with sadness and fear, did not reach out in time and her Texas-size heart filled with all her Hope fell to the hard ground, shattering into pieces, all her Hope leaking out and draining away.

Using as much strength as she could muster, the Girl gathered up the broken pieces of her shattered heart, now empty of all her Hope, and did her best to mend it.  Try as she might, she could not seem to mend her heart as it had once been; for you see, a heart that has lost all of its Hope quickly turns to ice.  Dismayed, the Girl took her now icy Texas-sized heart and stuffed it deep down inside herself where she thought that no one would be able to hurt it again.

For many years the Girl tried to live a normal life while ignoring the heaviness of her icy Texas-sized heart.  Every now and then, when the Girl found a safe place and a quiet moment, she would carefully take out her Texas-sized heart from where it was hidden and the Girl would try to feed little bits of Hope into it.  But he ice was still too thick and the tiny slivers of fiery red Hope just got wedged into the small fissures and cracks of the ice, never reaching the center of the Girl’s Texas-sized heart.  Soon the Girl gave up on trying to feed more Hope into her icy heart.

One day, the Girl was busy ignoring the heaviness of the icy Texas-sized heart that had become her burden when she met a Matchmaker.  Of course, the Girl had met many before who had claimed to be Matchmakers, but they had all been frauds.  Naturally, the Girl thought this Matchmaker was just like all the others so she ignored his offers to help her find the one who could help her to un-freeze her Texas-sized heart.  For you see, what the Girl did not know was that the only way for the Girl to mend her shattered, icy heart was for her to meet her real One True Love who could help the Girl find and feed more Hope into her Texas-sized heart.  But the Girl was stubborn from fear and hurt and she told the Matchmaker to leave her be. And he did. Or so she thought.

The Matchmaker, being wise and understanding the burden that was keeping the Girl from finding more Hope, went back to the place where he lived and did the Magic that only Matchmakers could do.  He worked very long and hard and finally, when he was done, he sat back, smiled, and waited for the Magic to begin its work.

Many days passed since the Girl met the Matchmaker and then one day, the Girl met another boy.  He was from a land far away but she could see that the Boy liked her for he was very kind to her.  But the Girl was weary and guarded.  The burden of her icy Texas-sized heart had made her very tired.  Nevertheless, the Boy continued to be nice to the Girl and, for some reason, she did not tell him to let her be.

Many more days passed and the Boy and Girl became friends.  The Boy could see that the Girl had a Texas-sized heart hiding deep within her.  He could see that it had been shattered and was delicately held together by the covering of ice.  For other boys, seeing the condition of the Girl’s heart might have frightened them into giving up on the Girl.  But this Boy would not give up, for the Magic of the Matchmaker had allowed the Boy to see something hidden deep within the tiny fissures and cracks of the Girl’s frozen Texas-sized heart: tiny, shining slivers of fiery red Hope.

So the Boy continued to be very nice to the Girl and soon the Girl noticed that the burden of her frozen Texas-sized heart was not quite so heavy anymore.  The Girl noticed that the more time she spent around the Boy, the lighter her burden became, as if the ice that had frozen her Texas-sized heart was slowly, slowly melting.  She even thought that one day she felt a bit of Hope flutter deep within her chest, like a newly born butterfly testing its fragile wings.

Then one day the Girl found that she could not feel the burden of her frozen Texas-sized heart anymore and she knew that it had thawed so much that the Hope had begun to seep into the cracks and fissures, healing and mending her Texas-sized heart back together.  When the Girl felt that her Texas-sized heart was whole enough, she took it carefully from the hiding place deep within her and timidly, cautiously offered it to the Boy.  For you see, the Girl knew she had found her One True Love.

At first, the Boy did not take the Girl’s Texas-sized heart and the Girl was confused and scared.  But then, slowly, the Boy reached deep within himself and took out his own Texas-sized heart, which had been bundled with a protective wrapping, for it too was bruised and beaten though not frozen.  The Boy held his bruised heart out to the Girl and said, “I will take your heart and protect it if you will keep and protect mine.”

And the Boy and Girl exchanged their patched-up, Texas-sized hearts and did not hide them away but displayed them proudly for each other.  Then the Boy gathered the Girl in his arms while Tears of Joy rained down from the Girl’s eyes.  For you see, that is what happens when boundless hope fills a Texas-sized heart to overflowing.

The Girl said YES!