Short story - English

I always had a problem sleeping ever since I was little. Skipping a nap or being active all day did not help. I was weirdly energized all the time. My parents were confused, exhausted and did not know what they should do until my beloved grandma Allie suggested reading bedtime stories. Bless her soul, her advice worked. One night just when I was done brushing my teeth, my mom came to my room and asked me if I were interested to hear a story before I went to sleep. I saw nothing wrong with it so I nodded my head, wiped off my mouth and headed straight to bed. That night my mom read me a story about Cinderella. I felt so relaxed listening to her soothing voice telling about the fairy godmother, white dress and prince charming and gradually her voice weakened and before I knew it, I, for the first time in a long time, fell asleep. The bedtime story reading became a habit. Mom would read me a different story every night; Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, The Little Mermaid and many, many more – you name them. Those stories were my childhood. Even after I grew up and became a teenager I would still lie in bed at night, close my eyes and imagine how I would meet MY prince. White dresses, prince charming, talki…

“Georgia, are you done daydreaming?” My best friend Chloe snapped me back to the real world, looking rather weirdly at me.

“Oh I am sorry,” I said before taking a slurp to my ice coffee.

“What is it?” she asked.

“What is what?” I asked her back, pretending that I did not understand what she just said while still slurping my ice coffee.

“It is the third time today I caught you daydreaming. What is it?”

I put my ice coffee down. “I was just recalling my childhood, you know, and how I used to imagine my meeting with my prince charming,” I told her while playing with the cute orange straw that went with my ice coffee when I bought it.

“But haven’t you already met your prince charming Matt?”

“Matt is a good guy, great in fact. He cares for me, prioritizes me and most of all – he loves me,” as I answered her, I turned my head to the left through the window and my eyes began wandering around, without really looking at something, “I know I am one hell of a lucky girl to be having a great guy like that as my boyfriend but I…” I sighed. “I am not sure I can have a future with him,” I looked back at Chloe and lifted my shoulders.

Matt Jefferson and I started dating five months ago. He is a very lovely guy with the brightest smile I ever knew. We met each other at the local bar one Friday I fell immediately in love with him and his smile. The only thing that bugged me a lot lately is the fact that he is five years younger than me. I am 33, and he is only 25. I already have a fixed job while he still struggles with his studies. It was not a problem at first but as time passed by I began to be more aware of our age gap. Even though a lot of people admired me and my young body, I couldn’t help but feeling insecure whenever I look at Matt’s friends and their young bodies. I told Matt this one day and he just laughed at me; saying that he did not even look at his friends that way and that there was nothing for me to worry about.

Matt is very popular and has a lot of friends. I often found two, three papers with some girls’ numbers in his pocket every time he went out to the town. I showed him those papers and he only asked me to throw them away. One time I went to the town together with him and I could feel some of his girlfriends raised their one eyebrow when Matt introduced me as his girlfriend. I could feel their disbelief, seeing Matt with me. I am only an old hag compared to those girls anyway. My insecurities arose and my confidence fell apart, and these had a critical damage to our relationship. I became moody and get mad easily. Every single thing he did irritated me so we have been fighting a lot lately. It broke my heart but I could not help it.

“Georgie, I know this is tough for you. But you really should stop listening to other’s opinions about your relationship with Matt. A relationship consists only of two people, not two, not three. It is only you and him,” Chloe held my hand, griped it tightly. “When you found out about the age gap, little did you realize that someday you would come into this situation, right?”

I hated to admit it but she was right so I nodded.

“Then I believe the reason you are still with him until today is exactly the same reason why you still believe in fairytales, right? It is hard to let go of that fairytale dream with prince charming riding on a white horse, white dresses and even castles because almost everyone, including me, has a smallest bit of hope that one day it will come true; and in your case, it is to have a happy ending with Matt, right?”

I was speechless for a second and smiled at last. Chloe always knew what to say. She smiled back at me.
“Now, go and do whatever you have to do!” she said to me and smiled. I nodded and kissed her cheeks goodbye. I grabbed my bag, went out and grabbed a taxi. Once inside, I searched for my cell inside my purse and saw a message. It was from Matt.

I may not be able to be a prince charming riding on a white horse you dream about since it is kind of impossible to find a white horse here in Manhattan. But we can always live like Jack and Sally if you want. We can celebrate Halloween on Christmas and do whatever you want me to do. ;)

I smiled.

No need trying to be a prince charming. You are already one.

P.S. Becoming Jack and Sally is actually a better idea than Cinderella. I’m on my way home.

 At the end, faith is a funny thing. It is never what you expect it to be. Maybe it is not about castles, beautiful dresses, balls, prince charming or even a happy ever after ending. Maybe the most important thing is the happiness you are feeling right now. Because sometimes, you just have to be bold and take your chance as it comes while still keeping your faith.