it's funny how everything gets so much louder once you're awake. a moment ago, nothing could have woken milly from her dream, and yet now, now with the dawn chorus twittering and the light sneaking into her eyes, she could do little else but rise to the bright new day ahead.

she drew her robe together and headed for the kitchen. it had always been a small apartment, but it had been getting bigger for some time. she sat down with her hands warming on the coffee mug and looked out the window. the same noisy birds stood bickering with each other on the branches, completely unaware that they had woken her from the most blissful slumber.

last night, she had been a princess. not the kind that wore jewels and long dresses, or had horse drawn carriages and castles, but the kind that could have her every wish granted; the kind with a dashing prince to hold her in his arms and never let go.

and really, that was all she wanted.

milly picked up the paper. she checked the personals to see what kind of prince she might find in there, but the problem with day time princes is that they rarely have time to pamper a princess. she turned to the classified to see who was selling their soul and in many cases their rhythm (bass guitars and pianos seemed to be the flavour of the day), and then went to the job offers, which was already littered with hopeful red circles, most with exaggerated crosses dispelling their empty promise. there was one however that had evaded the elimination process. milly traced the feverish pen marks with her finger.
WANTED: PIZZA GUY. MUST HAVE OWN CAR.

milly giggled at the immiture terminology of the ad and picked up another, less man-handled paper. she turned to the obituaries. more red pen marked the page.
JAMES MAY, 24, KILLED IN CAR ACCIDENT WHILE WORKING FOR LOCAL PIZZA PLACE

the radio wished her a happy new year as she folded the november 30th and december 15th papers and put them back safely in the draw. she picked up jame's empty coffe mug from the table and rinsed it clean. she took one last look at the twittering birds outside the window and smiled. milly turned the mug upside down on the sink and wandered back to the bed room.

she went to the wardrobe and took a black shirt from the hanger and placed it on jame's side of the bed. she drew the blinds and sliped back under the covers and went back to her prince once more.

--------------------------------------


i used to be with it. then they changed what it was. now what i'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird an scary to me. it'll happen to YOU.

Hi
I read this a few days ago but didn't have timet to comment. The story really stayed in my head all that time so I know it was a good one.

I figure you don't like using capitalization- except when showing what was in the paper- but I think it's a good idea to use it most of the time. I have read stories that played around with standard written english but that was to get the effect of a less educated writer or a child. You're story is really very good. If you were to enter it in a competition I think it could win, but it needs proper capitalization.

thanks for the tip. yeah, i'm not a fan of capitals for posts, but if it will make it easier for people to read my stories, i may adopt them for that purpose. otherwise, i'm just too darned lazy. i'm really glad you liked it.

--------------------------------------


i used to be with it. then they changed what it was. now what i'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird an scary to me. it'll happen to YOU.