Page 40 of We Were Liars

ONCE UPON A time, there was a king who had three beautiful daughters.

The girls grew up as lovely as the day was long.

They made grand marriages, too, but the arrival of the first grandchild brought disappointment.

The youngest princess produced a daughter so very, very tiny that her mother took to keeping her in a pocket, where the girl went unnoticed.

Eventually, normal-sized grandchildren arrived, and the king and queen forgot the existence of the tiny princess almost completely .

When the too-small princess grew older, she passed most of her days and nights hardly ever leaving her tiny bed. There was very little reason for her to get up, so solitary was she .

One day, she ventured to the palace library and was delighted to find what good company books could be.

She began going there often. One morning, as she read, a mouse appeared on the table.

He stood upright and wore a small velvet jacket.

His whiskers were clean and his fur was brown.

“You read just as I do,” he said, “walking back and forth across the pages.” He stepped forward and made a low bow .

The mouse charmed the tiny princess with stories of his adventures.

He told her of trolls who steal people’s feet and gods who abandon the poor.

He asked questions about the universe and searched continually for answers.

He thought wounds needed attention. In turn, the princess told the mouse fairy tales, drew him pixelated portraits, and made him little crayon drawings.

She laughed and argued with him. She felt awake for the first time in her life .

It was not long before they loved each other dearly .

When she presented her suitor to her family, however, the princess met with difficulty.

“He is only a mouse!” cried the king in disdain, while the queen screamed and ran from the throne room in fear.

Indeed, the entire kingdom, from royalty to servants, viewed the mouse suitor with suspicion and discomfort.

“He is unnatural,” people said of him. “An animal masquerading as a person.”

The tiny princess did not hesitate. She and the mouse left the palace and traveled far, far away. In a foreign land they were married, made a home for themselves, filled it with books and chocolate, and lived happily ever after .

If you want to live where people are not afraid of mice, you must give up living in palaces .