A Love Story

                Once upon a time, there was a gorgeous princess lived in a splendid castle, which was surrounded by a dense forest. The princess was so beautiful and virtuous that all the princes from all over the world made their way to this castle. They admired her reputation so much that they all wanted to marry her at all costs. Some even got into duels just to show how valiant they were and to compete with the others with dignity. Finally five brave and fearless young men stood out among all the princes. Some even got injured or wounded to a degree during the competition. Seeing this, the princess decided to halt the endless fight. She just let the five princes stay. With reluctance, the rest princes grumbled and left. The remaining five young men were led into the castle to meet the mysterious princess, feeling lucky and excited.
            In the castle waited the princess. She already decided to find herself a true partner from these outstanding competitors. But she determined to find him in her own way. She put her right hand behind her back, raising her little finger. Then she said “ I will marry the man who knows which finger I just raised, he will be my soul mate in my whole life.” Having no time to feel surprised, they began to raise their finger instinctively. The first prince showed his thumb. Sadly he was wrong. The second prince stuck out his forefinger, unfortunately that is not the answer, either. Followed by the ring finger, middle finger missed the chance. At last, the last prince with his little finger pointing up undoubtedly became the only one for the princess in her life. The princess soulfully looked into his eyes, slowly put her little finger together with his. Time stopped flowing at that moment, and then the crossed fingers became the symbol of their love of fate.
            However, one day the peace of their honeymoon was broken by the terrible war. To protect the country and most importantly his deeply loved princess, the prince kissed her and crossed the little fingers with her then rode on his trusty warhorse to the battlefield. The princess was left with herself and her burning tears.
            One year passed, the war was over, the prince as well as the brave soldiers have succeeded in winning the war. The citizens were applauding for the heroes. However, at the mean time, the princess was in endless tears because the prince was missing. One day after another, still no message of him. She became more depressed.
            Two more years passed, the princess was still waiting him, but under the heavy pressure of her father, she finally agreed to marry another man. Hearing about this, more men carrying their dreams came to the castle. However, to everyone who tried to capture her heart, she just raised her little finger without saying a single word. Confused about this, they reacted in thousands of ways. Some even put a golden ring around her finger, but the princess just lower her arm letting the ring slide away from her finger. No one understood what she meant.
           Suddenly one day, a beggar came and was stopped by the royal guarders. He was smelly and dirty, seemed not having taken a shower for years. To everyone’s surprise, the princess let him in. Standing face to face with him, she raised her finger again in the same position. After a moment of silence, she abruptly burst into tears when the man stuck out his little finger and crossed it with her. It’s him! It the prince! She couldn’t help crying and trembling at this unbelievable moment. She had been losing her hope for the past 3 years, but at that time, all sorrow disappeared.
          The moon shaped into a disk, and that night she was no longer sleepless, her prince was sleeping just next to her, they fell asleep with fingers crossed. They were with each other again.
          That night passed like a dream, and sun came up in the sky as usual, she slowly woke up and opened her eyes, but to realize her prince missing again.
         Actually the prince had already died on his way back to her. It was his soul that struggled back to see his honey for the last time. 3days after that night, his body was found and taken back to the castle. Again she was in endless tears. But this time her heart was bleeding and blood turned into tears. She only desired to be with him. But he was forever gone, just leaving her alone by herself.
         She ordered the guarders away from her and then took out a bottle of poison. After a kiss on the prince’s cheek, she closed her eyes forever, lying with her deeply loved prince, crossing their little fingers together just like before, tightly and inseparably.