[ In Fairy Tales, there's happy endings ]

In Fairy Tales, there's happy endings
Good guys, bad guys, in between
Creatures made both large and small
Places like you've never seen
Princes rescue damsels fair
In 'once upon a time' ago,
Castles hide the dragon's lair
Ages past we'll never know

The Fairy Tale I tell takes place
In caverns deep and grassy plains
In hooded woods and stony keeps
Where only royalty remains

The royalty was fast asleep,
Dreams of riches in their heads
When bumps outside the windowsill
Roused the princess from her bed
It was her paramour, alas!
For fate had kept them far apart
For he, a theif, had taken clean
Away from her her very heart
In darkest night they met and talked
From eventide till break of day
And when the sun rose up each morn,
Oh woe to her! He ran away
For she was set to wed the one
Who could slay many vicious beasts
And though her lover was fair brave,
It was a task too great a feat
Her father would not sway his mind
She would marry only him
Who could rid kingdoms of their scourge
To go and fight at his high whim
The theif had come to tell his love,
"I'm off to slay the demons nigh"
She begged him not to go, but then
The sun came up and he did fly
Past the castle gates he ran
Faster than the wind he strove
To kill the beasts and prove to her
That he was worthy of her love

The foremost demon, vicious thing,
Had residence inside a cave
It took townspeople for its meals
And not-a-one had e'er been saved
With sword in hand he strode inside
The sleeping creature lay at bay
With quiet feet he crept close in
And with stout heart, the creature slayed
Wiping blood from face and sword,
He left the cave to find the next
Who would dare plague the castle now,
Risking his eternal rest?

The youth found then the beast of lore
Dragon, named for wicked things
The scorcher of the village fields
And stealer of much costly things
It was a fight, for Dragon rose
High into the blue-skied air
And, blowing fire at the boy,
Flapped his wings and stayed up there
But paramour, with true love's strength,
Hurled his sword up at the foe
The beast was slain, Dragon lay dead
He had but one more beast to go

The woods guarded the creature last
For this was the most loathe to die
It used the trees and hid in leaves
It was the hardest beast to spy
But find the creature, the boy did
And fought it to the very last
Earning him a scar or two
And the test he'd finally passed

Returning to the castle gates,
Holding heads of the three beasts,
The youth wanted to see the king
And force him to his promise keep
The princess cried, "My love is back!
"And see, the three great beasts are slain!
"Let the wedding bells be rung!"
It echoed out, joyous refrain

The king sat on his golden throne
The face below his noble crown
Appearing to be deep in thought
Twisting up into a frown
True, the boy had slain the beasts
He had with him their heads as proof
But his daughter, precious girl,
Just could not wed to this youth!
He was a vagabond, a thief
A crooked man not to be trusted
With sticky fingers, this boy crept
Into homes and treasures busted!
His daughter would wed to no thief,
No commonborn of little name
She'd be married to a prince
For he'd been forced to do the same
Wed to one he did not love
Marry high to royalty
To a girl for whom he felt
Not a drop of loyalty

The boy was carried off just then
Into the local village jail
The princess lay awake at night
Waiting for his loving wail
She listened hard, she listened long
But no love song did meet her ear
And though she waited 'till the sun,
Never did her love appear
Through searching eyes and careful ears
Did she learn of lover's plight
And, waiting for the sun to set,
Stole from the castle in the night
To his windowed cell she crept
A bag of money in her hand
She'd line the jailer's purse and then
Free from jail the innocent man
The key turned in, the lock it clicked
And from the cell her lover sprang
Hand-in-hand they left the jail
And then the wedding bells were rang!
At confrontation, the king confessed
Her father conceded the boy had passed
They took the altar, said their vows,
Kissed, and then were wed at last!

A happy ending never was
Until the two had held their hands
The test of time and strength they passed
And still their love the tests can stand

In Fairy Tales, there's happy endings
Good guys, bad guys, in between
Creatures made both large and small
Places like you've never seen
Princes rescue damsels fair
In 'once upon a time' ago,
Castles hide the dragon's lair
Ages past we'll never know

At least you got a glimpse of this,
Another tale of long ago
What happened to the king himself?
Another tale we'll never know...