This is a Fairy Tale

Essay | Published with the Kolob Canyon Review | Apr. 2025

Editor's Choice for CNF 2025

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Once upon a time, there was a woman in love. This woman has been an old friend of mine for years now, so don’t judge her for her actions. Love incites many fairy tales. My dear friend sounds boring, I know, but I promise you she’s different because—

Once upon a time, there was a married woman named Virginia, and she was in love with a girl. That’s like something right out of the movies, wouldn’t you say? Picture the two of them sitting at their desks under the bashful glow of a Hollywood-lit moon. I can quote their letters by heart. And even if I couldn’t, a single Pinterest search would surely do the trick. Pin it to an aesthetics board called bisexual love~ and hope that your family never finds it. After all, it’s not a happy movie that these two women like to reside in. This is a tears in your eyes and a critically acclaimed but behind it’s time kind of movie. Happy lives don’t win awards, you know.

And the awards these women deserve! It didn’t take long before letters between Virginia and her lover were published, garnering thousands of physical (and later digital) reviews everywhere. Goodreads says their whispered words are worth at least a solid 4.5 stars. What a sell! The stranger who stole their letters and published them was brilliant to do so. People love reading about others’ secrets. Anne Frank’s diary is a well-known classic so long as you don’t get the ending spoiled. 

Because at the end of the day, that’s all Anne really was: a character. She was a real person with skin and bones and laughter and sorrow, but it didn’t fit the narrative people wanted, did it? So bippity, boppity, boo! With the flick of a wand, she became a work of almost-fiction. Just like how my good friend Virginia here is a “character.” 

Speaking of which, where were we? Oh, right—

Once upon a time, there was a fictitious married woman named Virginia. And she was in love with a girl. The girl was also made of skin and bones and laughter and sorrow, but non-fiction doesn’t sell so well, does it? We shall have to fictionalize the both of them. Let’s read their personal letters and analyze their words, highlighting and underlining all our favorite parts. We’ll cry when it gets sad and laugh when it gets good. Let’s get angry when she does something damning because that’s just how we like to treat our favorite protagonists. It’s fine when we’re flawed, but Lord knows a woman of her stance isn’t allowed these meager standards. 

You can read the full piece here or in print on KCR's website.