Posted on by Belinda O

A Grown-Up Fairy Tale or Two, Please

No one had greater belief he could slay dragons than my late cat Montero when he was a mere six weeks old.

Mighty Montero
No one was braver than Mighty Montero — he was pretty mighty, and mighty pretty.

So brave was he I gave him the nickname “Mighty Montero.” It stuck, even when he mellowed with age and stopped facing obstacles seemingly too big to overcome. At some point, his greatest concern was getting prime position on the sofa. No dragons there.

Anyone who’s spent much time with kittens will tell you they’re fearless. Their little tails fly high, until they think all humans are out of sight, when they relax and let down their guard. But they never doubt they’re in charge. And thus they are.

Fearless in the Face of a Dragon
Now, if you think the dragon is going to win this showdown, you don’t know kitties.

Of course harm can come to kittens, and so we protect them. Harm can come to children as well, and we do the same there. In centuries past part of protecting your child included telling stories of danger in the woods such as Little Red Riding Hood or Hansel & Gretel. It doesn’t take too much imagination to figure out what those tales were really about.

I still take that kind of danger to heart, but now I’m responsible for protecting myself. I’m cautious, perhaps overly cautious, in some areas. Unfortunately, in other areas, I don’t always know when it’s safe to take risks, when the dragons can be slain without chance of them rising again and quenching me with their fire.

I weary, at times, of getting hurt, of making the same damn mistakes over and over again. I tire of gathering the courage to do what I need to do, only to have it whip me back into solitude. I need an old-fashioned grown-up fairy tale, one that tells me dragons can be vanquished, to believe in happy endings again.

dragon fire extinguisher sm
Well, why didn’t I think of this before?

I need to know I have the power to do it and make it work.

Tomorrow, I know, I’ll be back on my feet again. I’ll get past the pain and I’ll start to see the good.

Damn dragons.

Image Credit: (lady and dragon) © wickerwood — Fotolia (cat and dragon) © ya_mayka – Fotolia

Fearless

14 Replies to “A Grown-Up Fairy Tale or Two, Please”

  2. I can so relate to your paragraph about needing an adult fairytale. I think when we are discouraged, it “slays” our dreams. Dreams are the magic of life and it’s hard to find them during tough times. But the sun keeps shining after the storms. Thinking of you.

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  4. We get stronger by being knocked down by dragons and getting up again, only to get knocked down and rise again. The question is how long we can continue doing this – how much do we want whatever it is we so want, such that we’re fighting the dragons to begin with? Whenever I’m down I keep writing the fairytale in my mind so I have the courage and strength to get up and face the dragon again – but on some days I wonder if the dragon is trying to tell me something.
    p.s. Yes kittens are the epitome of being fearless – sometimes borderline stupid. I enjoyed and needed to read this today, thank you, Belinda.

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