FMF: Once

Welcome to something Five Minute Friday! Today’s prompt is: Once. FMF sends weekly writing prompt every Friday, and writers use the prompt to do a 5 minute free write. Then, we share our words with our readers and each other as part of a weekly link-up.

Once.
Now, I know what you are thinking. 
You are thinking that
this story is starting with Once upon a time,
but this story is not a fairy tale.
Once there was a girl.
Her mom and her dad loved her, 
but not each other.
She had many brothers and sisters, but none that
she shared blood with,
and so she created stories in her head
and loved them just as much as the
flesh and blood brothers and sisters around her.
Once there was a girl,
a skinny girl, an awkward girl,
who ran fast but still slow
who wanted to stand out but blended in,
who wanted to be known but remained hidden.
Once there was a girl
with brown hair and brown eyes and freckles
who longed for beauty and joy 
and always felt plain.
Once there was a girl who wanted to be the heroine
but didn't know how to write her own part.
And now you are thinking that here is the part
where her knight in shining armor 
comes in and rescues her
from herself, from all the 
dragons and walls that surrounded her
or Prince Charming arrives and loves her 
in spite of her flaws 
but this is not a fairy tale.
Prince Charming did arrive, but with 
his own set of dragons 
and walls to scale.

This is not where her story ends, my friends. I hate to leave you with the story unfinished, but this is where my 5 minutes ended. Rest assured, in spite of walls and dragons that still come and go, our girl is living her “happily ever after.” Even so, this story is not a fairy tale.