In a fairy-tale realm beyond the ten hills and ten valleys stood a castle with the tallest tower in the world. In the tower lived a princess. A young and pretty girl. As she looked out of the tower window, her long black hair fluttered in the wind. She had lived in this tower for several years. She was imprisoned there by the king of the nearby kingdom.
Ever since she was a little girl, the princess had been good and obedient, but when she was almost grown up, the king wanted her to obey only him and marry him. The princess refused, so he locked her in a tower.
Although the princess had always been smiling and cheerful, now sadness appeared on her face. She could do nothing about it. Just wait to see if someone would rescue her and help her. Many princes tried to get the princess out of the tower. But they couldn’t figure out how to unlock and open the many locks and doors that imprisoned the princess.
One night, when the princess was almost asleep, a bird flew to the tower window. It had a leaf in its beak. The princess got up immediately and read the note. It said: “Dear princess, I know how much you’re hurt. I can see it in your eyes. Every day I see you in the window and I think about how to rescue you. And I’ll figure it out. I won’t give up.” The princess smiled and looked out of the window. She wanted to know who had sent her such a nice message. But she saw no one.
The next day, the bird flew again and brought her a piece of chocolate. The next day, some fruit. And so it went on and on. The smile returned to the princess’s face and every day she looked forward to the bird flying in with a message.
After some time, early in the morning, the princess was awakened by a rumour. It was a strange banging and clicking. She sat up in bed and listened. The noise was getting closer. The princess became frightened. She hid around the corner of her bed in the shadows where no one could see her.
Suddenly her door began to shake. The doorknob and the large chain lock began to clank across the chamber, when at that moment the door opened. The princess couldn’t believe it. After all these years, she had an open tower. A man entered the tower. He entered very slowly so as not to scare the princess. He was looking around the room and had a satchel full of tools over his shoulder. In one hand he had chocolate and in the other he had flowers. His dark hair was disordered and he had a shy smile on his face. He didn’t look like a prince. The princess didn’t know who he was, so she was still waiting, hiding behind the bed.
Suddenly the young man spoke, “Princess, I know you’re here. You don’t have to be afraid of me. I am the one who sent the bird to your window. I’m not a prince or a knight. I’m a simple locksmith. I watched you every day at the window. I couldn’t watch you struggle in here, so I kept learning and figuring out how to unlock the door. I got you something.” He put the chocolates and flowers on the bed. The princess slowly and deliberately came out of her hiding place. She was ashamed but appreciative that the locksmith had saved her. He had freed her from the tower and from the king who had imprisoned her there.
When the princess told someone how she got out of the tower, she told them about the locksmith who had not only gotten the keys to the locked door, but also the keys to her heart.
