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01 | Seasons of Solitude

Genre: Fantasy, with classic fairytale vibes

Starting date: March 28, 2023

Last edited: March 28, 2023 (except for some minor changes and title selection)

Published on: June 19, 2024

In a forgotten tower hidden deep within a forest, a princess sits alone, waiting for someone gallant to come and defeat her captor. The beast that keeps her there might not kill her, but it seems boredom will. She clings to the glimpses of life that she catches from her window — the lively birdsong in spring, the golden hues of summer, the melancholy of autumn leaves, and the silent beauty of winter. Her solitude is finally shattered when a sudden storm brings a group of men to her tower.

A long, long time ago, there lived a beautiful princess, locked away in a tall tower by a monster. Her captor was so ferocious that the princess did not dare to even step out of the tower, and she waited and waited for a knight to come and save her. A great many knights did come, but all of them were slain by the beast; and as time passed by, the princess began to think that she had been forgotten. No more knights came to fight for her freedom, and the monster itself seemed to have forsaken her. Yet she waited.

In the early days, the princess used to cry and beg and plead with the monster to let her go, but the brute would not hear of it. It had taken her from her grand palace and brought her to this place, a stone tower in a clearing in a forest, so tall that its top was higher than any bird had ever flown. She would dream of a handsome prince on a grand horse, who would ride down the cruel creature and carry her away to her home. But it never happened. No matter how many princes came, no matter how many knights, the beast would find a way to defeat them all.

As time flew by, the princess began to look forward to these doomed attempts even more, for they were the only new thing that happened there. Life in the tower was so dull that even an occasional storm seemed to be fascinating to her. All day she used to sit near the window of her room and look down at the vast green forest, and look up at the vast blue sky. Back then the monster still treasured her, and she would often notice its sharp eyes on her, keeping watch lest she escape. The cell where she was kept was not as high up as the top of the tower, and sometimes she would think of climbing down the steep tower wall. She never did, though, for the monster always kept a close guard on her.

But that had been a long time ago.

Now the princess was alone, all alone. All the time she had spent here — she did not recall how many moons, nay, how many seasons had passed — had taken their toll on her. Once she had been plump and pretty, with skin as smooth as silk and a face like the moon, but now only bones remained. Her beautiful long hair, all golden curls tumbling around her face, was tangled and matted and filthy. The gown she wore had holes in the fine fabric, and her shoes had worn out too.

Yet she smiled, and waited.

She watched the days come and go from her perch by the window, like the birds that occasionally visited her. The forest was alive, and it changed colours with the season. In winter it was all silent and white, a snowy wonderland so quiet she could have sung a song to the fishes that lived in the glittering silver stream far away. It would seem that all life had vanished in that vast white land.

But that would be until spring came. With spring arrived fresh flowers and bright birds that chirped and twittered all day long, singing songs of joy and love and life. The princess saw snow still lingering in the clearing where her tower was, and wondered how, until once she noticed a lovely blue butterfly fluttering down to the field of snow. Then she realised, it was not snow but flowers, a carpet of delicate little snowdrops.

Spring was her favourite time of the year, for then there was life all around, and sometimes she got visitors: mostly small birds, such as robins and sparrows. They sat on the window’s ledge and told her stories of the land, of all they had seen and all they had heard. She listened and smiled and dreamed of travelling the great wide world with them. Oh, how she wished she could fly like those birds! Fly away, out of the tower, out into the open blue sky… but that never happened.

Once she saw an eagle flying right beside her window. She had often seen those majestic birds soaring high in the sky, but never so close. That one close glimpse of the bird flying by — of the rich brown feathers that gleamed in the sun, the powerful wings that beat the air, and the focused eyes that never lost sight of their aim — made her think, Life is capable of such wonders. She had spent so long waiting, and for whom? She could break out on her own. She would defeat her captor herself and leave, or die in the attempt. But then she remembered — the monster was gone, and she could not even get up.

Summer followed spring. Although she missed the cool weather, summer was not bad either. The sun shone brightly and painted everything gold and yellow. Clouds chased each other endlessly across the clear blue sky, like children in a meadow. The trees, which had started to grow new leaves in spring, now became heavily laden with fruit. Fresh new smells wafted up to her on the light breezes that blew often and brought some respite from the heat. Like spring, summer was a time when life was active, and the princess spent hours staring at the forest and the creatures in it.

And the rains! They never had a fixed time to arrive, but would come and go as and when they pleased. Be it winter, spring, summer or autumn, rains would come like relatives and friends; their arrival always a surprise, and their departure always a loss. Rains were something to break the monotony of her dull existence. The very earth would have a smell then, a rich fragrance that no words could describe. Sometimes there would be winds, and then the cool, pure drops of water would patter against the tall tower, the wide-open window, and the pretty princess. Those were the only times water touched her dry face, and she smiled at the blessed moisture running down her features. In winter there would be snowflakes instead of raindrops, and the calm beauty of snowfalls was the only thing that made the loneliness bearable.

After some months of heat would come fall, and then the trees all turned yellow and orange and brown. The leaves fell like rain onto the forest floor, which was soon carpeted with their dry, lifeless bodies. A strong wind sometimes blew a bunch of leaves to her, and they danced around her room while she watched on. It would never last long, though, for the wind would soon die out, and then the leaves would fall to the floor again, dead. It was during those times that the princess would begin to feel sad, for life was preparing to disappear once more during the winter, and she would be all alone in her barren stone tower.

And then winter once more, cold and barren and silent, devoid of life as far as she could see. Perhaps in the forest there were hares moving about, running from foxes or owls which hunted them. But she never saw any. For her, winter was solitude, winter was longing, winter was regrets.

One late afternoon, the forest seemed troubled. Dark clouds obscured the sky, casting a gloom on the day. Far away, beside the silver stream, birds took to the air. The breeze blew harder, and brought with it an unusual smell — the smell of smoke. Smoke meant a fire, and a fire, in this cold weather, meant men.

As the princess watched, the day grew darker still, and new sounds could be heard in the forest. What was that? Was that the neigh of a horse? She could only sit and wait and watch.

It began to rain. Big, fat droplets of water fell to the ground, and within seconds it was raining so hard that a grey curtain fell across her vision. She could listen, though. She heard sounds of shouts and more neighs. Would they come here? Would they find her? Suddenly the princess was scared. Did she really want to go home? She did not know. Where was home? Who was she?

Through the haze of rain, she saw the men coming into the clearing. One, two, three… nearly as many men as her fingers! All of them had horses and wore thick clothes. But the clothes were clearly failing to keep them warm, for the sight of the tower made a cry of delight go through the group. They spoke to each other, but through the howling of the wind and the sound of the rain, the princess did not understand a word.

They rushed into her tower. If the princess had a heart, it would be beating fast against her chest now. Who was she? Where was home? Raindrops ran down her face like tears. The only home she knew was the earth, the forest, the sky; and the only one she knew was… was…

Downstairs, the men were getting dry. They cursed the rain, and blessed the tower. How had it come there? They wondered. But no one bothered thinking much about it, for it was dry and seemed to be safe — and if it wasn’t, they all had good swords. One of them noticed a big door on one side. It looked ancient and majestic. A door like that did not belong in a simple house; or a tower, for that matter. Surely it was hiding something: treasure, perhaps? Gold and silver, gems and pearls… or at least a good high spot to take a look around the clearing and get to know the area.

They broke down the door. Grand though it was, age had weakened it, and it gave way under the strength of the men’s shoves. Creaking and protesting, it came off its frame and revealed, amidst a cloud of dust and splinters, a set of steep stone stairs leading up. By now a fire was ready, and three men took a torch and went up to explore.

Up they went, coughing and sneezing from the dust which lay thick on the stairs and the walls. The flickering flame of the torch soon revealed another door before them. This door was much more modest, and it hardly required one push from a man before it fell open.

“Good gods!”

The sun set outside, hidden behind the thick dark clouds. The stone tower echoed with that cry, the only words spoken in it for a long, long time. And the men stared openmouthed at the girl — at the bare skeleton dressed in a gown, looking out at the world through the window, its teeth bared in an eternal smile.

Author's Note

Hi there! I'm glad you are here and that you read this far.

This was technically my first short story ever, if you don't count the 500-word-long ones I wrote for school essays. We hardly get time to think there, let alone develop a plot or characters. And the word count!

Anyway, frankly, I like this one. Usually I take so much time planning and thinking that I never get around to actually writing, but this story — it flowed out of me. I got the idea in the bathroom, and then I spent the rest of the day typing away on my laptop. I finished it that day itself, which is a rare event for me.

I was going for a classic fairytale vibe in this one. Do you think I achieved it? My only regret is that nothing much happens, it's mostly descriptions. I tried to convey the mood of the princess and her thoughts within that prose, but don't know how successful I was. I enjoyed writing it though. I hope you enjoyed reading it too.

Any kind of interaction would be great, but a short review of what you liked in the story and what could be improved would be best. Your thoughts are very valuable to me, as feedback and criticism helps me learn. So, constructive criticism is much appreciated. Thank you for reading, and I wish you a wonderful week.

(here come my 999+ tags)

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