Once upon a time

There was a little boy who grew up in a giant castle.

The boy had short blonde hair and bright blue eyes, and long legs, making him taller than the other children on the grounds.

The boy had many friends, but his best friends were a son of the head servant and the stable boy's son.

The boy had a loving family, with an older sister and three younger sisters and a mother and a caring father.

The boy had hundreds of toys, but he shared them with the children of the castle grounds no matter what.

When he was little, the boy was always told to never leave beyond the walls. His mother never lied to him, so he listened.

He spent his days playing games and cuddling up with the stable boy's son, his boyfriend who loved him more than life.

This is how the days went, days stretching to months, which led to years, up until the prince's 20th birthday.

On that day, his parents threw him a party, and at noon it was over.

The Prince decided he wanted to leave, so he packed his bags and his bestfriend, the son of the head servant, and lover, the son of the stable boy, did as well, and they headed to the gates.

The Prince turned around, waving goodbye to the crowd behind him, walked out the gate, and turned to look back once more, wanting to watch the gates close before departing.

But all the boy saw were ruins. Broken down, crumbling pieces of his once glorious castle.

And hanging from one of the only remaining rafters was the skeleton of his love, the stable boy's son, who loved him more than life, who hung himself over the loss of the Prince all those years ago.

And sure enough, that image faded from the prince's sight as well, leaving only the pure white surrounding of his padded prison.

Tears finally fled the prince's eyes, cascading down his cheeks as he wept.

The Prince wept for his servants who he left behind.

He wept for his best friend, who he had abandoned all those years ago.

He wept for his family, who he had never seen again.

And he wept the hardest for his lover, the image of his skeleton hanging through the ages still haunting the Prince's mind as he thought of all he could've done to save him.

The Prince wept for what seemed like days, but he could never tell time in his pure white prison.

One day, men opened the door to his padded cell, and they lead the weeping Prince through brick-wall halls, finally reaching a room with a metal chair.

They made him sit, strapping into the chair as his sobs echoed through the building, and he uttered his first words in over 25,000 years.

"I'm coming home, my love."

And as the Prince took one last breath and shut his eyes, the men pulled the switch and sent him home to his glorious castle with those he loved.