An Urban Fairy Tale

So, the time has come to once again start looking for a new roommate. And today, I thought about when I moved in to this house with my brother, his friend, and another boy.

It all started with a happy girl, her brother, his friend, and a dream. A dream that would take her from the humdrum confines of quiet suburbia into the hustle and bustle of the big city. The beautiful girl, her brother, and his friend were living in a place too small for all their hopes of hosting kick-ass theme parties. So, that wonderful girl spent hours searching Craigslist and visiting places that, as Goldilocks once discovered, were just never quite right. Until she tiptoed into the fancy neighborhood they had all but dared to dream of. She peeked inside the windows and saw the original hardwood floors, the beautiful dark crown molding, and the 2 entire levels from which they could each spread their wings. And though hesitant at first, the two boys finally realized what that spectacular little girl already knew. They had found their home.

On moving day, a curious creature appeared. Next to her brother and his friend stood another boy. A boy that the gorgeous little girl immediately did not like. Turns out, the Wonderland Castle was too expensive for three people. “There shall be a third boy living with us, and the four of us shall be happy” declared the boys. The furniture went in, the ping pong table was set up, a keg was procured, and yet the bright girl was sad. She was outnumbered. The boys did not care about her new shoes, or her hair cut. They liked their new roommate the best. They started watching sports with him, instead of the dating shows she so loved. They could no longer stand the sound of the remarkable girl filing her perfect nails, and she was shunned up to the highest tower of the castle (okay, yeah it was technically her room, but still).

The weeks went by. The three boys tested her seemingly endless patience time and again. If she was reading quietly, they came home and talked loudly about stocks and other trivialities. If she spent the whole day washing the dishes, she would soon learn there were more hidden under the couches.

But then something happened. Something terrible. One morning, the eternally-youthful girl saw a hideous beast tear across the kitchen floor. Oh no! The mice had come to stake their claim. She screamed for help. As the girl stood on the couch, fearing for her life, the boys took control. They hit one mouse on the head with a wine bottle, they squished one under a giant Tupperware container. They set the traps, then they took out the garbage when it contained a slain mouse, and the girl was no longer afraid. And something changed. She began to enjoy their company. They grilled her food and she made them brownies. She laughed at their disparaging remarks, they laughed at her inability to do math, and alas, they were happy.

As the weeks turned into months, then into years, something changed again. The extraordinary young girl and the strange boy who lived down the hall went to lunch. One night, they watched a movie. They chatted about hardships over cold beers. They commiserated in their shared hatred of bananas. He went shopping with her, and she watched his Frisbee games. One day, the strange boy asked the clever and intelligent girl on a date. And then another. And another. And the best part about the whole story? Nothing else changed in the enchanted castle.

Until the brother and his friend had to move out. But the moral of this story is change is only bad until someone saves your life from hideous, probably rabid, mice.