The Prince

Once upon a time there was a maiden. This maiden lived in a beautiful land where the deep blue seas met the pure white sand of the shore, in a turquoise burst, as vivid and enchanting as the brightest star in the sky.

The maiden was not blessed to be laden with gold. She laboured many hard hours a day in an effort to raise enough gold to visit the weekly market; to care for her noble steed, Geraldine; and to buy enough candles so she never had to brave the dark.

The maiden lived at the top of a huge stone tower. Late one noon, sitting contentedly by her window, holding her quill and parchment, she was writing a declaration for story teller named Penguin, informing the people of the land how wonderful his works were. When suddenly, a grey-breasted carrier pigeon flew through the window and landed delicately on the maiden’s hand.

Cape Town Chronicle: The Foundation

Almost 22 years ago (it’s my birthday this week, gifts are welcome), I was born in the sunny city of Durban. I loved it there and had a wonderful childhood and youth. After matric UCT offered me a scholarship and it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.

Although my sister and her family live in CT, I decided that I wanted to go into UCT Residence (Res). We had been told throughout high school that if you had an “A” aggregate and held a leadership position within the school, you would get into one of the top Residences – either Fuller or Baxter. As this is what I had aimed for and achieved, those were the ones I applied to. Low and behold, I was placed in Tugwell Hall because 2007 was the first year that placements were completely random and no academics were taken into consideration. Great!

After doing some research, my mother and I had a bit of a panic attack especially as we heard a rumour that a girl had recently been raped and murdered in Tugwell. Ominous clouds hovered over my future in CT. I began visualising scenes of my imminent death which centred on me getting into the shower, as a katana-blade yielding psychopath tiptoed into the Tugwell bathroom after me. (I was however, tanned, toned and thin in these nightmares, my only reprieve).