A fairy tale sigh

As all good stories begin, once upon a time in a land far, far away there lived a girl or a boy in times simultaneously much simpler and much, much more dangerous than our own. She, or he, was born and grew up believing she--or he--was no different from anyone else. Not special, not interesting, not extraordinary. At the premise of the story she or he has almost reached that moment, the tipping point, when a neat orderly life spirals out of control into a brilliant adventure that may sometimes resemble a wild goose chase through hell with everything is existence trying to kill her--or him. But that's where the good part really starts; when the heroine is up against the wall, hungry tigers all around her with only a broken, rusted blade for protection and an unconscious prisoner who she has just dragged to freedom sprawled at her feet. There seems no possible escape, no happy ending in store, but you'd still change places with her in a heartbeat. Because you know the impossible will happen; a masked vigilante will appear on the cliffs high above or a thunderstorm will suddenly blow up and a bolt of lightning will sear through the villain's heart just as he makes the killing leap, razor-sharp blade glinting in the twilight. That's just how it happens, the unwritten law of fairy tales. And we sigh over our ordinary, mundane lives and wish we could have our own once upon a time...