Of course, there are the well-known ones: no one can open up an old book of fairy tales without reading about Snow White or Cinderella. Then there are the ones you will find if you venture deep enough into that realm--the original stories not meant for children, the grim gothic tales later made more palatable to a wider audience.
And yet what you love most about these stories is their timelessness, how you can pick up a collection, open it to a random page and once again be immersed in a world of magic and mystery and possibility. You grew up on these stories and turn to them still for comfort and wisdom.
Even now, when you think of these tales, memories of reading "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" or "The Brave Little Tailor" with your parents flood your heart. You can remember you and your siblings piled into their bed for stories before sleep so that these tales would inform your dreams--a tradition no doubt that your little nice will carry on with her parents.
You couldn't get enough of those two stories--the splendor of the glittering dance hall the princesses spirited off to night after night, the ever-changing gowns and silks shoes they wore to dance with princes in another land. And then there was your ultimately favorite about the brave little tailor who embarked on an adventure, defeated a giant, won a princess and all manner of riches, simply by being clever. Not the loudest. Not the fiercest. Not the strongest. Just the cleverest. It makes sense now, where your love of dancing and finery and wit come from. Those stories seeped into your dreams and made their home in your blood.
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