Princess of Somewhere Else

She knocks a cat out of the way with her foot, disturbing his feast of a moldy plate left over from dinner a few nights ago. The dust on the tattered lace curtain makes her sneeze, startling the cat who'd moved on to a few peas ground into the antique rug. Shoving aside a well-used fly strip, she peers out the dirty window. The garden down below is grey with neglect and growing over the stone wall that separates this house from the world.

She imagines she's really a princess in her tower and the bushes sport blue roses. People walk up the street with gifts, lighting up as they see her smiling down upon them. She gives a slight wave, knocking a fly into the sticky strip and breaking the illusion.

She turns around. The path through the walls of boxes and old kitchenware suddenly seems even smaller, squashing her against the window. She can't breathe. Her chest hurts. The cat claws at her leg and she whimpers, taking off through the winding maze of this bedroom to the solace of the long airy hall.

If she closes her eyes and leans over the banister that stands above the grand foyer, she's almost somewhere else.