Prince Fickle and Fair Helena

"Now since this is your first visit here, why don't we begin by learning about your past?" the older woman asked. She settled back into her posh blue leather chair and prepared to take notes.

Her patient, a thin pale dark-haired woman in her twenties, shifted nervously in her seat. "Well, okay... I guess it started when my evil stepmother gave me three impossible tasks to do-"

"Why do you think she was evil, Helena?" the psychiatrist interrupted softly.

Helena frowned thoughtfully. Then she replied, "She wasn't too nice to begin with, always ordering me around and stuff. Like I was her personal slave or something. Anyway, she wanted me to separate a huge pile of feathers by their size and color, then she ordered me to empty a pond with a spoon that had holes in it. The last was the worst: I had to build a completely furnished castle! By myself!"

"And what did you do? Did you actually get all of this done for her?"

"Not by myself, that's for sure! I had the help of my fairy godmother. She was the one who did all the work!"

Her psychiatrist quickly jotted all of this down. She looked up briefly and prompted, "What happened next?"

"Well, my stepmother came over to inspect my castle- to see if it had been built to her satisfaction and all, you know? She was almost done and was heading down to have a look at the basement when it happened." Helena paused and looked quite guilty at that moment.

"Yes?"

"I pushed her down the stairs and she... died! Oh, I was so scared! But I had to! You just don't have any idea how awful she really was! I had no choice!"

"You killed your stepmother?"

Helena moved uncomfortably in her chair but continued, "Yes, I did. I buried her in the garden. But life got better for me after that. I had this huge beautiful castle to live in all by myself.... it wasn't so bad. I was kind of lonely though, until I met him."

The older woman leaned forward, intrigue written across her face. "Him? You mean you met someone?"

"Yeah, he was a prince named Fickle. The name should've tipped me off, but I was still young and stupid. He said all the pretty words I wanted to hear. And what can I say? I fell in love with him. He wanted to marry me but he had to ask his father's permission first."

"Why is that, do you think?" The psychiatrist stopped writing for a moment to contemplate on Helena's story.

"I'm not sure, but I should've seen it coming anyway. He rode off into the sunset for his dad's kingdom with a promise that he'd return for me really soon."

"He never came back, did he?"

Silent tears began to course down Helena's pretty heart-shaped face. She shook her head sadly.

"I waited and waited for him to come back to me. But he never did. Months turned into years and I finally decided to venture out on my own. Like a personal spiritual quest, you know?"

Her psychiatrist nodded in understanding.

"I wound up in a little village far from my castle. I was flat broke and very hungry by then. So I decided to find a job that would earn some money and keep my mind off of Fickle. There was a farm that was looking for a shepherdess... so I took it. It wasn't too bad really. The work was easy and I finally had somewhere to stay. But then one day in town, I heard about how the local prince was going to get married and he was throwing a ball three nights in a row. You know who that prince turned out to be?" Helena's tears had dried up long ago. A fiery anger burned in her deep brown eyes now.

"Was it Fickle?"

"Yes it was him! I was soooo mad at him for planning to marry another woman! So I enlisted the help of my fairy godmother and came up with a plan to get back at him. I wore a different gown to each ball and really got his attention. I looked so beautiful that he couldn't keep his eyes off me! His bride-to-be was furious with me- it was great, but...." she trailed off uncertainly.

"But your story doesn't end there, does it?"

"Sadly, no. On the night of the third and final ball I finally gave in. I revealed myself to him. Needless to say, he was shocked. He even had the gall to break it off with his princess and ask me to marry him! He kept begging my forgiveness and apologizing for being such a cad. In the end, he broke down into tears. By then, I was crying too. I couldn't help it! I fell for what he was saying and agreed to become his wife..." Helena trailed off again. She sat there, twisting a tissue in her slim hands, lost in her memories.

The psychiatrist glanced at her clock on the desk. "I think that will be enough for this session, Helena. We'll get more into your reasons for taking him back in your next visit. You've told me quite a tale and I believe we have much to discuss. I'll see you again next week, okay?"

The young woman rose and turned to leave the cozy little office.

"Thank you, Dr. Greene. It really helped me to talk about my past with you," Helena said softly with a shy smile. She closed the door gently behind her as she left.

The older woman sat at her desk, going back over her notes. "It looks like we'll have a lot of issues to discuss," she muttered to herself.