Rapunzel

I’ve been thinking about this a lot.   The story of Rapunzel I mean.  Not the Disney one the original.

Her life is sort of how my life was.  I never thought I belonged to my mother.  I always felt like I was born to some other family and then stolen away by her.  The original story of Rapunzel is that when her real mother was pregnant with her she desired to eat the plant rapunzel, which is a desert flower and is a very difficult plant to grow.   The witch Mother Gothel  grew a magical magnificent garden with all kinds of plants and flowers.  Among them was the rapunzel plant.  So the real mother told her husband if she could not eat it she would surely die.  So as any loving husband would he risked his life to retrieve the plant.  But, he was caught by Mother Gothel.  Mother Gothel said, ” In return for not killing you I demand that you give be the newborn child,” and not really understanding that his wife was pregnant he agreed.  When the child was born she was stolen by Mother Gothel and grew up in the garden until she became a teenager.  She grew with the magic and beauty Mother Gothel put on all the living things in her garden.  But she wanted to keep Rapunzel forever.  So when Rapunzel came of age she locked her up in a tall tower hidden in the middle of the wilderness with no stair nor door.  There was only a window to the outside world and because Rapunzel’s hair had grown so long in strength and beauty it became the only means of entering and exiting the tower.  Mother Gothel would visit and care for her but she was sad because she was not fee.  She would go to her window every day and sing to the birds who were at times her only friends.  One day her voice carried and the Prince happened to be crossing the wilderness and heard her beautiful song.  He was drawn by it and followed it to the tower.  Then the story takes off where they fall in love, he fights Mother Gothel, Mother Gothel beats up the prince and abandons Rapunzel for being disobedient, Rapunzel finds the prince again cries into his eyes yatta yatta yatta. The end.

But my question is what happens if the prince never comes?  What happens if a man makes a deal with Mother Gothel and they both keep Rapunzel prisoner.  Or worse what if no one comes at all.  The years roll by Rapunzel is singing to her birds.  Eventually Mother Gothel dies.  Then what?  Does she have the courage to cut off her own hair try to survive the wilderness and find civilization? Does she even know if civilization exists?  Or does she stay in the tower starving to death singing to her birds for the prince that never comes?  Or does a man finally hear her voice when she is on the verge of death and decides she is too ugly and haggard and not worth saving?

I am the Rapunzel who was never rescued and I am too afraid to rescue myself :_(