Once upon a time,

In a land far, far away,

There was a grand palace by the sea.

It was old, and slightly crumbly,

With vines weaving their way around crumbling turrets.

And in the tallest tower,

There lived a princess.

You know her name, of course.

It’s Rapunzel.

 

Once upon a time,

Deep, deep under the sea,

There was a great coral reef.

The reef was home to many fish,

But it was also home to mermaids.

The king of the mermaids had seven daughters.

But right now, we’ll focus on the youngest.

You know her name too:

Ariel.

 

Now, Rapunzel had never left her tower

So all she knew of the outside world

Came from books her mother brought her.

She read tales of adventurers sailing the high seas.

And every night, she’d look out her window,

At the moon and stars lighting shimmering on the sea,

And lighting the way for passing ships,

And she’d dream of being one of the sailors.

And sometimes, she swore she could see mermaids in the water.

 

While Rapunzel dreamed of going to sea,

Ariel studied the land.

And while her sisters froliced with the fish,

And swam with the dolphins,

Ariel snuck away to search the sands

Scouring for human artifacts.

She collected tattered books

And knick knacks and bricker brack.

As you know, she was fascinated by human cultures.

 

One day, Rapunzel grew sick of waiting.

She cut off her long braid

And climbed down her tower.

And Ariel, who had been foraging the sea floor

Saw a human for the first time.

She wanted to go with her, wherever she was going.

But the human wanted to see the world,

And Ariel was confined to the sea.

So Ariel traded her voice to a witch for legs.

 

And on land, she found the human,

Wandering the shore.

She couldn’t speak,

But from the books she’d found

She’d taught herself to read and write.

So she wrote in the sand:

“I am Ariel.”

And the human read her story

As she wrote it in the sand.

 

Then Rapunzel spoke.

She told Ariel about her life locked away in the tower

And how one day she’d had enough:

Cut off her hair, and left the tower

Left her mother

Left the palace by the sea.

Ariel could only place a hand on her arm

But Rapunzel understood

And it was enough.

 

But nothing lasts forever

And their love was threatened

By the witch, who had come in search of Rapunzel.

She demanded Rapunzel return to the tower,

Brandishing her staff

And whispering an incantation.

But Ariel stood in the way of her attack.

The spell wrapped itself around her,

Rending her flesh.

 

But when Rapunzel started to sob,

Her tears had magic in them.

And they washed away the spells

Wracking Ariel’s body with pain.

But it also erased the spell

That had given her legs and taken her voice.

And the witch, seeing the magic in Rapunzel’s tears,

Fled, never to be seen or heard from

Ever again.

 

And Rapunzel was free.

But Ariel was once again trapped,

Confined to the ocean, without Rapunzel

And when Rapunzel realized she would have to

Continue her journey on her own

She cried for the girl, the friend, the something more, that she was losing.

And her magic tears fell in the ocean

Splitting Ariel’s tail into a pair of legs.

And Ariel was free.

 

Together they found a town and bought a ship.

And together they sailed away

To every distant land on the map.

By night, Rapunzel navigated by the stars

And by day, Ariel learned about the people

In all the places they visited.

They roamed near and far,

Adventuring across the world.

And together, they were free.