The Girl in the Castle

There once was a girl who lived in a castle far far away in a land of enchantment. The castle was strong and well-guarded so that it's inhabitants were never disturbed by the outside world and the outside world was never able to get to them unless for some reason or another the entry way was opened for a brief moment and a gift or visitor was allowed to enter. This girl knew only her life in the castle and for most of her years she found it hard to imagine that there was anything but the castle. To her the castle seemed large and full of life. There were family and friends, the young and the elderly, events and holidays and all the things that it seemed would be found in a world. But, alas, the girl was a dreamer and one with an intense curiosity about life. She read books and asked questions and observed those around her to see if she could find answers but she was not satisfied with the answers she was given. In her quest for knowledge and understanding she even went beyond the bounds of the castle. She made the acquaintance of several "outsiders", either on their trips into the castle or on the very rare occasion that the girl would venture out of it. With these "outsiders" she would talk for endless hours asking all sorts of questions, engaging in all sorts of dialogue. There was just one problem though. The "outsiders" had a habit of making fun of the girl. They would tease her about living inside the castle and about living a "sheltered" life. The girl never quite understood this and did her best to ignore them, but the teasing and taunting only increased the more that her exposure to "outsiders" increased. Because the girl was curious and she had so many questions she would continue her conversations with these people, but not a day went by that they would not encourage her to flee the castle or poke fun at her for remaining there. They would tell her that her world was not real and point out that she had no idea what was going on in the rest of the world or even that there was a rest of the world. She was completely oblivious to anything outside her own small line of sight. Of course these accusations deeply distressed the girl and she began to take another look at the life she had lived. Slowly it dawned on her that there was an air of truth to what the "outsiders" had been saying. Suddenly the castle seemed stuffy and confining. The people seemed no longer to be loving and caring but obsessed and overly protective. No, this was no place for the girl to stay. She must leave and find out what the world really contained. No wonder she had not been able to get answers in such a confined, constrained environment! At last she would be free to pursue her quest for answers without limitations! Yes, she must leave the castle. There was no other solutions, no other acceptable option. The path she must take was in front of her and she had no choice but to take it. She must be free from the stifeling repression of castle life.

To Be Continued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .