Once upon a time, there was a little prince with a heart that was just too big for his chest.
It was strong and it was sturdy, and it pittered and it pattered. Sometimes it raced, sometimes it dropped, and sometimes it skipped, but it always continued on beating, firm and full of blood. And sometimes, it even felt like it would overwhelm his mind - which was strange, because that felt like it was often too big for the world itself. It was quite the anomaly.
One day, however, the little prince learned something. He learned that other people didn't have such reliable hearts. Sometimes, their hearts...stopped. That...well, that just didn't seem right to him. Hearts shouldn't do that; hearts should give life, not take it away. And, oh, that little prince, with his mind too big for the world and his heart too big for his chest, he figured out quite the solution.
Surely, he thought to himself, surely my heart's strong enough for others. Surely I have enough pieces to spare.
His brother scowled and scolded, and told him he shouldn't treat his heart so carelessly. But what did he know, anyway? All he had was a belly too big for his body.
The little prince, well, he was helping people, wasn't he? Even though sometimes their bodies still stopped working, their souls were saved and soothed with all the love and kindness his heart gave them. And that was enough...wasn't it? So, the little prince kept breaking his heart. First in halves, then fourths, then eighths, and so on, and he gave out the pieces to those whose hearts weren't working right.
Until, whilst standing in front of the mirror and seeing a chill in his eyes he'd never seen before and feeling an emptiness inside he'd never imagined possible, he realized he didn't have any more pieces to give.
He still had his mind, though, he thought hopefully. There was plenty of that to go around.
Wasn't there?
Yes, this actually is a prompt, not a story. I'm sorry I can't figure out a way to shorten it or think of an adequate TLDR. I have absolutely no idea where this came from or what to do with it, so I'm passing on the torch.
Make it literal and write a fantasy/magic AU or make it metaphorical and do a character study... Whatever you want authors.
Once Upon A Time...
It was strong and it was sturdy, and it pittered and it pattered. Sometimes it raced, sometimes it dropped, and sometimes it skipped, but it always continued on beating, firm and full of blood. And sometimes, it even felt like it would overwhelm his mind - which was strange, because that felt like it was often too big for the world itself. It was quite the anomaly.
One day, however, the little prince learned something. He learned that other people didn't have such reliable hearts. Sometimes, their hearts...stopped. That...well, that just didn't seem right to him. Hearts shouldn't do that; hearts should give life, not take it away. And, oh, that little prince, with his mind too big for the world and his heart too big for his chest, he figured out quite the solution.
Surely, he thought to himself, surely my heart's strong enough for others. Surely I have enough pieces to spare.
His brother scowled and scolded, and told him he shouldn't treat his heart so carelessly. But what did he know, anyway? All he had was a belly too big for his body.
The little prince, well, he was helping people, wasn't he? Even though sometimes their bodies still stopped working, their souls were saved and soothed with all the love and kindness his heart gave them. And that was enough...wasn't it? So, the little prince kept breaking his heart. First in halves, then fourths, then eighths, and so on, and he gave out the pieces to those whose hearts weren't working right.
Until, whilst standing in front of the mirror and seeing a chill in his eyes he'd never seen before and feeling an emptiness inside he'd never imagined possible, he realized he didn't have any more pieces to give.
He still had his mind, though, he thought hopefully. There was plenty of that to go around.
Wasn't there?
Yes, this actually is a prompt, not a story. I'm sorry I can't figure out a way to shorten it or think of an adequate TLDR. I have absolutely no idea where this came from or what to do with it, so I'm passing on the torch.
Make it literal and write a fantasy/magic AU or make it metaphorical and do a character study... Whatever you want authors.