I used to run around my house with long pieces of material covering my hair; pretending I was a princess with long flowing locks. Cute for a seven-year-old, not so cute for a 13-year-old.

Ariel, Cinderella, Belle, Sleeping Beauty – I pretended to be them all. Putting on an American accent and striding around in those plastic little princess shoes you can now buy for R24.99 at Shoprite. I was a little madam that believed in a world of colour and happy endings. My imagination gave me imaginary friends (usually animals) who made me the most beautiful dresses and a prince (handsome as gosh) who always came to rescue me from baddies. What a world!

As we grow older we slowly leave our games of fantasy behind and eagerly step our way into the real world. A cruel world. The day your first pet dies, the day you feel the first tinge of insecurity about your body, the day you find out that Father Christmas isn’t real, you realise that not every story has a happy ending.

As the cliché goes: Every cloud has a sliver lining. Indeed it does. Through all the sadness in the world, if you manage to keep a positive attitude you can go through life with energetic, child-like appreciation for the little things, where your friends and prince charming tackle the world with you, one happy day at a time.

_  Not every story has have a happy ending _

Barbie:




Belle (Beauty and the Beast):



Cinderella:



Little Red Riding Hood:



Sleeping Beauty:



Snow White:



Spiderman:



Tweety:



The Little Mermaid: