In a castle
by the sea, there lived a lonely soul
Untouched by human frailties, such as love
Distant from all, connected to none
A life lived free of emotion, a life lived alone
Though many tried to brave the swells
To storm the castle's walls
The fury of the sea proved too great
And the solitude continued
To approach the castle from the landward side
Was to court a certain death
For it was guarded by a fearsome dragon
Known to consume comers, one and all
Til the day a tiny child approached
With big blue eyes and golden curls
As fearless as she guileless was
She walked right up to the castle gate
The dragon reared his head to strike
The child flinched not, but held his eye
And smiled with all her innocent beauty
The dragon froze there in his tracks
As he felt his wicked heart melt
His evil soul flooded with love for the beautiful child
And she passed, unharmed, into the castle hall
The castle's inhabitant had watched in disbelief
As the child cast her spell upon the dragon
For surely, that must be what had occurred
No other explanation could suffice
Whatever her intentions, she would find him not so
easily enchanted
He had no heart for her to touch
His soul nothing but a black void
He watched her as she proceeded into the great hall
Heading errlessly straight for him
It seemed as if she knew exactly where he was
Even though he stood in the darkness
Just one more shadow among many
A light shone around her as she approached
She seemed to glow, as if from within
He thought to flee as she neared
But he held fast, knowing instinctively
There was no fleeing this, no fleeing her
He was looking at his destiny
Watching it in fearful awe
She continued relentlessly forward
Until she stood within his reach
But he reached not, he moved not
He barely breathed
Her eyes of blue held fast his golden orbs
She looked into his very soul
And to his amazement
He found he had one for her to view
He felt its stirring for the first time in his memory
And was terrified
He didn't want to feel, he didn't want to care
Not about anyone, not about anything
She saw his fright, and she placed her hand in his
And when she touched his hand
She captured his heart
For yes, it happened, that he had one of those as well
Still she held his gaze entranced
And slowly a smile began to show forth on her beautiful
face
It encompassed all that she was
Beauty, innocence and love
And he found himself smiling back in kind
And he felt her sweet love engulf his being
And in that instant he became all that he never was
All that he should have been
His soul lonely no more
For a beautiful child had succeeded where great men
had failed
For she had come bearing the one weapon against which
he had no defense
Love
Terri
Lyn Stanfield