Once Upon a Time

I believed in fairy tales, really. I didn't just believe in their morals or their meanings, I believed in the events that took place in the stories actually taking place in real life. I didn't just believe in it, I knew, I knew that all of those stories took place, and that all of the people in those stories were real and that the adventures they went on, and the evil monsters they fought and their friends, their lovers, their families were all real.

As I grew up I kept reading these stories. Sure, it changed, it was little picture-books, and it changed into novels, then comics and graphic novels, but the principle was still there- stories. As I grew up it didn't matter to me whether or not the stories were real, I stopped caring if the characters ever really were alive, partially because I think if I thought about it too much I would have to deal with the fact that they were never real. There was nothing better than sitting in my mouldy room, on my bed, with my massive headphones on to block out sounds I didn't want, wrapped up in my star wars blanket with a comic book open on my lap, and I could just pretend that I was them, that I was there, that those were my friends and my enemies, and that I wasn't where I was, that I wasn't who I was. It was perfect, it was my escape. It's probably the reason I never got into drugs or anything, come to think of it.

Now I know these stories weren't real, and I know that I was just tricking myself into believing that they really happen to people. I know that people don't wake up one day with super powers, and they can't shoot laser beams from their eyes, and they can't sweep the girl they love off of her feet and fly away with her. I know that people can't read minds or turn locks into steam. I know there is no Mutant Academy, there's no Gotham City, there's no Metropolis, no Hogwarts, no Superman, no Spiderman, no Nightcrawler, no Kitty Pride.

I know all of this, but I still don't believe it. I don't think I ever will. These stories, these fairy tales are what have kept me going. Believing in superheroes, gods, luck, adventure and true, uncorruptable love are what has kept me sane. I will die happy if I know that I have succeeded in telling just one story to one person that makes them believe in something more than what they can see.