If Belle was my friend

The other day, I asked Belle to tell me about her childhood. We sat next to the fireplace, each with a pile of books beside us. Her husband had just gone off on a hunting trip and we were simply enjoying each other’s company. I asked her to tell me what it was like growing up in her little town.

She told me it was a pretty quiet village. Nothing unusual ever happened, just the same ‘ole thing day by day. She had pretty much everyone’s routine memorized. There weren’t many kids to talk to that were her age, and the ones that were her age, showed no interest for the things she loved. Instead they teased her and called her names.

She was a curious little girl. Always looking for an adventure in the great wide somewhere. To explore the worlds her mom had told her of at bed time. That is, before she died. The villagers tried to snuff out that curious little fire. They talked about her behind her back, but she never paid them any mind. They said the only good thing she had going for herself was her beauty. She wanted to be so much more than that. She was glad she had her father as she told him absolutely everything.

She recalled a time he took her to the village library for the very first time. It was a tiny place hidden in the corner of the village, right next to the sweets shop. It was there she was introduced to a new friend, the librarian. He let her borrow any book she wanted and made sure to tell her first if a new book arrived. She remembered her eyes lighting up as if the world had just been handed to her. Her mind grew and her curiosity magnified with each book she grabbed.

Every day after school, she ran to the little book shop and took it to the fountain nearby to read and read until the sun began to set. Her only companions were birds and fish and the occasional sheep that crossed late in the afternoon on their way to the stable. She didn’t mind the solitude, she has happy in her little world. As the years passed, the only thing that made her restless was the same burning desire to go out into the unknown. She would see life passing by as her old classmates grew to marry someone and begin families of their own. Though that never really interested her. She didn’t want to be chained to a home for the rest of her life with the demands of the role of a wife and mother.

She cared little for what was happening around her and wished for the life she found in her books. Belle told me it had actually become a hindrance to truly living her life. She would have died a lonely life in that village had it not been for the moment that completely altered her world. It led her to finding her now husband, who was able to offer the world she yearned for. She told me of trips they had made to the eastern kingdoms and the richness of the culture she discovered there. She recalled another time they went together to a land where wild animals roamed freely and of this magnificent creature who was as tall as a house with a nose longer than anything she had ever seen. It had white tusks that shot out from its face. She marveled at the beauty and strength in this creature.

As we continued talking we lost track of time until one of the castle attendants came to interrupt to let us know that our dinner was served. We looked at each other with a smile and chuckled as we rose from the carpet and made our way to the dining hall.

All the while, I marveled at her story and wondered when mine would begin to unfold. I thought about all the times I had let myself hide away in my own little world. Not wanting to let people dim my light while allowing myself to dim it from others. I was different, but I never let anyone see why. I kept to myself for so long it was all I knew. Belle taught me something with her story. Unless you let something interrupt your routine and your fictional reality, you will never truly begin to live the life you’ve always dreamed of.