Far in the Meadows, there lived a beautiful woman called Sandra. The beauty of her attracted the men making women in the town envious. She had a loving and caring husband named Peter. They longed for a baby. After 5 years, the blessings turned fruitful. Sandra was pregnant. As the first trimester of pregnancy passed, Sandra started craving for rapunzel, a green leafy vegetable that grew in the forbidden land. One day, her craving grew uncontrollable and she left in search of rapunzel leaves. She found it in the forbidden land and sneakily brought it home. While she enjoyed eating Rapunzel leaves, her husband saw her and warned her not to repeat the mistake of robbing anything from the forbidden land. But Sandra's craving was hard to control. One day, Peter was helpless seeing her urge to eat Rapunzel leaves. So, left with no option, Peter brought Rapunzel leaves sneakily for his wife Sandra. He heaved a sigh of relief after concluding that nothing strange had happened to him despite entering the forbidden land. Slowly, the couple developed a habit of feasting on rapunzel leaves. One day, it was noticed by a woman in a hood. She followed Peter to his home and saw the 9 months pregnant Sandra eating them. Smitten by her beauty and seeing her feasting on rapunzel leaves, the woman resolved to snatch away her happiness. She wanted to punish the couple for entering the forbidden land and taking her precious away. One fine day... Sandra delivered a baby girl. While the entire town visited their home to bless the little one, Sandra and Peter named her Rapunzel after her(Sandra) craving for it. Their happiness was immense and they cherished the precious moments of their life. But the evil eye of the woman was on Rapunzel. She snatched the baby girl and eloped from there yelling "You will never see your daughter again. This is the punishment for stealing the rapunzel leaves in the forbidden land. You will never be happy!" cursed the woman in the hood. The people of the town were taken aback listening to her words. Their efforts to stop her went in vain as she was a sorceress. She spelt her magic and vanished into thin air. Months passed... Sandra and Peter accepted their fate and started living a hopeless life. The Woman in hood Gothel raised the little Rapunzel in the tallest tower which was accessible only to her through a secret door covered by the curtains of plants. Tower was 35 to 40 feet long built-in the midst of the dense forest. Inside the tower, there was a hall and a bedroom with a staircase. Every day, Gothel would visit her and bring passion fruit. Rapunzel was forced to eat the fruit and was left alone to live in the tower. That fruit contained a sedative to make Rapunzel unconscious as Gothel doesn't want the little one to track her entry and exit to the tower. Rapunzel was passionate about paintings. She painted murals on the walls and spent time singing and dancing which was taught by her godmother Gothel. She used to tell Rapunzel about the worldly happenings regularly but always turned down Rapunzel's request of accompanying her politely. She always filled Rapunzel's mind with fear of stepping into outside world. "Rapunzel! The outside world is dangerous. Some men and women may harm you. The outside world is not for you, dear!" said Gothel, with hidden intentions. Rapunzel being innocent, believed her say and never insisted to go out. Years rolled and rolled... Rapunzel grew into a beautiful young woman resembling her mother Sandra. Rapunzel often saw through the window and wondered what would be beyond the woods. She always said to herself "No! No! Don't wish to go out of this tower. It is not safe for you. But why my heart is not accepting the facts said by my Godmother" with grief. One day, prince Flynn lost his way in the woods. He started searching for a way out but he unknowingly entered the forbidden land. He saw Gothel on the way and started following her. She came near the tower and started humming the song:

Rapunzel! Oh, Rapunzel!

Let your hair flow down,

Helping me to climb up!

Flynn wondered what the song meant! Just then, Rapunzel had let her hair down through the window. He was surprised and the mouth was wide open to see a woman having such long golden hair which was glowing. He felt strange and wanted to meet the woman with such long hair. He waited near the tower hiding behind a tree. "Dear Rapunzel! I need to go out of town for a week. Don't worry. No one will harm you as I know you will not leave this tower. These are for you! Have fun." said Gothel handing paints with a wicked smile "Rapunzel! You are going to die the next week in my hands. Be ready for sacrifice! I have to go and seek blessings from my master. Once I am back you will be freed....From this life!" said to herself. Rapunzel felt sad as her godmother will be back after a week. She insisted to accompany her but was bluntly rejected. Rapunzel knew how adamant Gothel was, so she dropped that idea. Post Gothel left after giving her paints, passion fruits and few more needed things Rapunzel felt lonely. Suddenly, she heard the voice of Gothel asking to let her hair down. Rapunzel did so without a second thought. Prince Flynn ascended and jumped right in front of her. Rapunzel was shockingly surprised to see a person other than her godmother. She glanced at him with glaring eyes. She got back to her senses and hid behind the curtain right next to the window. Rapunzel's beauty attracted Flynn at very first sight of her. He was spellbound for a few moments. "Hey, Beautiful! May I know your name? How are you living in this tower all alone? Who are you?" asked Flynn, curiously. Rapunzel kept quiet. After a few minutes... "Who are you? You mimicked my god mother's voice. Why?" asked Rapunzel. "To meet you, Ms Beautiful. I am Flynn, Prince of Northern Sea. And you?" he asked with a beautiful smile. Rapunzel though feared initially came out of her shell slowly and made friends with him. They enjoyed each other's company. They were together for six days. They marked the memorable moments spent on these days on a wall secretively in a mural painting. As the seventh day stepped in, Rapunzel felt that she will be missing Flynn and a strange feeling emerged from her heart. Flynn waited for Rapunzel to show a sign of love but failed to interpret her words and actions. Next day... Flynn left Rapunzel hugging her tight and "I miss you!" he said kissing gently on her cheek. Rapunzel understood that she wants to be with him and cannot live without him. She was about to express her feelings. But by the time she resolved, Prince left from the tower. After 5 Minutes, Gothel reached the tower and asked Rapunzel to let her hair down. Rapunzel thought it was a prince and she had let her hair down. As soon as Gothel climbed up, Rapunzel out of shy turned back and "I like you Prince Flynn! more than my godmother. I am ready to come with you to your town which you wished for. Will you take me with you?" asked Rapunzel without realising who was listening. Gothel grew furious and held her long hair. Rapunzel was startled and turned towards her. "Godmother! I am sorry. Please excuse me!" wept Rapunzel and shook with fear. "So! You love someone. You are trying to elope from this tower. Wait for a moment! I will show you what you deserve!" said Gothel and brought a pair of scissors. She chopped her long hair making her traumatized. Gothel laughed wickedly and said "Now, will the prince adore your beauty? See yourself in the mirror! Tonight you will be executed for the crime of going against me and my sayings." Rapunzel was fear-stricken. She hid under the bed and said "please! No. I am a sorry godmother. I know what do you mean by execution. Please. How can you do that to your loved one?" with tears rolling down her cheeks and fearful eyes. The night fell... Flynn could not resist himself and came near the tower and found that Rapunzel was being taken to a place. He followed them. Gothel took Rapunzel deep inside the forest. Rapunzel kept quiet and wept. Finally, they reached the place. "Rapunzel! How much do you love your godmother?" asked Gothel, with cunning intentions. "Umm. I love you more than anyone." lied Rapunzel in an attempt to get into her good books and permitted her to get freed. Gothel said "Good try! Such a liar. So it's payback time. Sacrifice your life for me" and pushed her towards the guillotine. Rapunzel asked "I am ready for this! But before I die, I want to know about myself. Who am I?" with questions in her mind racing against time. "Of course, dear. You are going to help me gain fairy powers. I am a sorceress! I raised you to succeed in my motive. I was waiting for you to turn for 25 years. Tonight you will be 25 years old. I killed the powerful fairy and hid her powers in a magical herb that looked similar to Rapunzel, a green leafy vegetable. Do you know what? You have parents. Your mother was the one who accidentally mistook for the magical herb as Rapunzel and ate away. I was about to kill her to regain the powers it gave but understood that it was transferred to you as she was bearing you in her womb. So I snatched you from her and hid in the tower. I waited till now for you to attain 25 years. Finally, my dream comes true! I will sacrifice you now to get back the power inside you and I will become the most powerful Sorceress! Sacrifice yourself!" said Gothel revealing her motive. A star from the sky fell indicating the ideal time for sacrifice. Gothel pushed Rapunzel down and raised the bar. Rapunzel felt helpless and accepted her fate. She bent her head down feeling dejected. Just then, Prince stopped Gothel. He was about to fight with her but she used her magical powers and tied his hands and legs at once. Rapunzel pleaded to let him go. But, Gothel decided to kill him and used her magical power to do so. Prince lost his senses and was lifeless. Seeing this Rapunzel was enraged. For the first time, she raised her voice against Gothel and said "You don't deserve to be called as Godmother. You are a wicked woman with selfish motives! I hate you. " rushing to attend Prince. She shook him to wake up. But, Prince left his body by then. Rapunzel cried a lot. Tears rolling down her cheeks fell on Prince. Gothel yelled "No!" while Rapunzel turned towards her and wondered. "Miss. Beautiful!" uttered the Prince. Rapunzel was in shock. "You are alive! Thank god," she said and hugged him, confessing her love. Enraged Gothel, grabbed her hand and tried to escape with her. But Prince was quick and held her tight. When Gothel tried to kill Rapunzel with a specially designed emerald studded knife, she was pushed back by a sudden emitted light source. Gothel hit her head and said "I lost the time. I attacked her on the wrong time. Now no one can save me! The fairy is trying to safeguard her." and tried to vanish on the spot. But the light source turned into a fairy and said "Your time is up. You tried to sacrifice at the wrong time." and turned Gothel into ashes. The fairy turned towards Rapunzel and said "I shall protect you. You belong to our clan from now as you possess fairy powers. We waited for you to turn 25. Now you are." with a grace that was enlightening her. "Dear fairy! I don't need these powers in me. I want to lead a normal life. I need your help to find my parents." cried Rapunzel, pouring out her heartfelt feelings. Fairy empathized and said "Sure! But I cannot take away powers. You should learn to live with it. Anything that happens with us is for our good. Come with me!" and took Rapunzel to a place along with me Prince. "This is your parents home, Rapunzel. Show this locket to them. They will identify you" said the fairy handing a locket to Rapunzel. Rapunzel was about to ask something. "I know! When you were taken away by Gothel, sorceress I was there watching you. I followed her and took from you this locket. Your mother had a pure soul and we chose her to bear you! I was watching you from childhood through your mural painting hiding from Gothel's eyes. She didn't know your birth secret. She misinterpreted. I decided to take you away to our world but we were not allowed until you attain 25 years ago. So, I stayed with you like an invisible one. I heard you all the time, dear. You were never alone. Now don't question me Why me? You are destined, my child!" smiled the fairy. Rapunzel felt elated and said "Thank you! But I don't want to come to your world. I want to stay with my parents and Prince." "Your wish shall be fulfilled. But I shall protect you till you resolve to come with me to the fairy world. " said the fairy becoming invisible. Rapunzel ran into the house and shocked her parents. She showed the locket which made them understand that it was given by them to their daughter during the Naming ceremony. They were happy and hugged her. Finally, Rapunzel leads a happy life with her parents and Prince Flynn who now turned king ruling the kingdom fairly. ********* The End. Thank you for reading this😊💐