The story of the princess, the fire monkey and the night watchman
by Helen Barter
Scars resulting from previously misread fairytales,
brought the princess and the fire monkey together.
Both had sought solace in a seaside town,
away from the clamour and hurt of
'happily ever after'.
The stage was set.
The fire in the monkey's tail had been damped;
starving him of his life force.
His mischief making had been temporarily curtailed,
whilst the hot, ugly pain radiating from
the princess's healing wounds
threatened to engulf the fabric of her life.
Passion attracted the fire monkey like a beacon.
Their's was a perfect symbiosis.
He, tenderly absorbing the heat from her healing scars,
judiciously used it to reignite his own fire.
The night watchman looked on,
guarding the precious coals.
With the theatre intact, and the safety curtain
dropped into place across the stage,
the princess relaxes into the intermission.
And the fire monkey? His tail,
now too hot for sedentary slumber,
waves a fiery farewell.
As he turns to leave, one teardrop falls
onto his tail, releasing a perfect smoke ring.
The princess places it onto her finger.
The night watchman places a comforting arm around her shoulder.
