Plenty of Fish

"I love you," said Alex. He spoke to the picture as if she were there. The pain in the pit of his stomach, the ache of emptiness was a reminder of what he'd lost.

He thought about her now, at 4 AM, and thought about what the future would bring. He remembered, with a smile, when he had spoken to her on the phone late at night, many years ago.

He had told her the story of the Princess and the Goblin.

*****

Once upon a time, there was a princess who was pledged to be married to a prince. The prince was not a bad man, but he didn't love her the way she wanted him to. He was often cold, often didn't pay her any mind. It made the princess sad.

One day, she went for a walk in the woods and thought about the prince. When she thought of being forced to marry him, she began to cry. She felt lost.

And as she looked around, she realized that she was lost. She didn't recognize anything, but saw a small cabin. There was smoke coming from the chimney.

As she approached the cabin, looking for help, the occupant came around from the back. She was startled and then afraid. It was a goblin. He hadn't seen her yet, and she thought she might sneak away. But then, she heard a growl.

She turned and saw a huge beast. It's eyes glowed red and they were looking at her. Before she could even think, she was running. The beast gave chase and was gaining on her.

She tripped on a tree root and bumped her head. In a daze, she thought she was done for, when a green blur suddenly flew past her. It crashed into the beast sending it sprawling.

There, between her and the great monster, stood the goblin. He held an axe in his hand and was crouched low, prepared to do battle. As she watched, her vision blurring, the beast gained its feet and roared. She passed out.

When she came to, she looked around. She stared up at a wooded ceiling. It was a simple place, with a table, chair and a rug on the floor. A few pots and pans hung from hooks near a small fireplace. There was an axe on the wall.

She remembered an axe and became nervous. When she turned her head again, she was staring into the face of the goblin. She was afraid, but there seemed to be a look of concern on his face.

"Please, don't be afraid," he said. "I won't hurt you. You hit your head when you fell."

"What of the beast," asked the Princess.

"The beast is dead. I brought you in here where it is safe," replied the goblin. "Once you're feeling better, I can show you back to the castle."

"You know who I am?"

"Of course I do," said the goblin. "But enough of that. How do you feel?"

The princess thought for the briefest time. Her head was still swimming a bit. "Not great," she said.

"Then stay here and rest. We can talk if you'd like."

The princess and the goblin spoke for the rest of the night. He told her how it was that he came to live in the woods. She told him how she came to be lost in them.

By the time they were done talking the sun was coming up. They had talked all night.

It would not be the last time they would do so.

"Will I see you again," asked the princess.

"If you would like."

"Yes, I would," she replied.

"Then I would be happy to see you."

The goblin showed her the way back to the castle. He showed her the trees that she could use to guide her back to the cabin. She used the trees to find her way many times, until she no longer needed them.

The princess and the goblin spent a lot of time together, and she was often away from the castle. The prince she was promised to noticed these absences, and one day he decided to follow her.

When she reached her destination and the prince saw this, he flew into a rage. He drew his sword and attacked! The princess tried to stop him, but he knocked her aside. He swung at the goblin and battle ensued.

The prince was very good with a sword and nearly had the goblin beaten, when there was a loud crack. The prince's eyes rolled into his head and he dropped to the ground. The princess was standing there over him, a large tree branch in her hands.

"Are you okay," asked the goblin.

"Me," she replied. "What about you? I was so worried he would hurt you. Is he dead?"

"It sure looks like it," said the goblin. "I'll take care of him."

A few hours later, the goblin returned.

"He wasn't dead," said the goblin. "But he'll have quite a headache."

"What did you do with him," asked the princess.

"He had a horse. I put him on it and told him to never step foot in these woods again. I made him swear to it."

"I...I was so worried about you," cried the princess. She threw her arms around him and sobbed.

The goblin held her for awhile, then gently pushed her back. He held her at arms length and looked into her eyes.

"Princess," he said. "I know that I'm a goblin and that I don't have much. But I also know that I love you."

The princess was speechless. She hadn't expected this from him.

"I know that you could have countless wealth, but if you were to stay with me, you would always have my love. I'll always do my best to treat you right. I know I won't always be perfect, and I'm sure we'll have our good and bad days. But I'll always love you. No matter what."

A tear ran down the princess' cheek. A smile slowly crept onto her face and she threw her arms around him. "I love you, too."

They held each other then. And while you may think that a princess and a goblin would never belong together, you would be wrong. They lived the rest of their lives together.

The goblin was right. They had there ups and downs. Sometimes they argued. Sometimes, they even went away from each other after an especially tough fight. At one point, they even split up for over a year. But it was only temporary.

Together, they traveled the world. They lived and loved and had beautiful children. They grew old together.

They did many, many things together, but there was one thing that they never did. They never stopped loving one another.

The End

*****

Alex smiled at the memory as a tear ran down his face; it had been such a silly, poorly worded tale. But they were young. He was much older now. He had been with her, and loved her, for over 25 years. He placed the picture of her back onto the table, next to a clipping from the newspaper which he looked at.

The picture for her obituary had been recent. He had wanted to use one from when they had first met. He wanted to use it because that was how he had always seen her.

Even when the first few greys started to show. Even when she had gone on a cruise with her family for a week and had gained some weight. Even after their first child, when she had stretch marks, it hadn't mattered to him. He hadn't seemed to notice. In his eyes, she was always the same, beautiful girl that he had met so long ago.

It had been over five years since she had passed. Friends and family, even the children, said that maybe he should try to move on. They said they knew that he loved her and knew how hard it was for him.

But they didn't know.

Sometimes it hurt. Sometimes, when he lay in bed at night, he would put his arm where she should have been, almost as though he expected her to be there. Sometimes he would wake up at night because he thought he had heard her calling to him.

But she was gone. He would only hear her voice in his head. And while it would sometimes bring tears to his eyes, when he thought of her, he was happy.

There were plenty of fish in the sea, but his was the catch of a lifetime. He didn't want to keep fishing. He didn't need to.