September 26, 2018 to October 3, 2018 - Round 5 of The Poetry Gauntlet

"Submit a poem blending Romance, Fantasy and Paranormal using the form - Free Verse. The poem must have elements of  all the three genres that blend well."

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A struggling writer Sophia was, desperate to make her mark,
Yet, half a dozen books later, success still eluded her.
On a cold wintry day, she did get an idea bright,
With an invocation to the Nine Muses, her writing started.

 Ideas flowed as words seeped into the pages,
And her fingers typed out worlds and people;
Of lands of fantasy, a hero flawed and a slight coward,
A woman meant to rule but who her destiny scorned,
Another a warrior, a woman with an army to command,
And a dragon who was terrified of heights?    

To fall in love with the warrior was his crime,
And his love made her lose the battle;
Relinquishing the throne for her scholarly pursuits,
Was too great a mistake to ignore;
Their paths twisted, destinies entwined,
reluctant companions the three became;
Each wanting to escape fate but bound tighter together,
Along with the befuddled butterfly loving dragon.

As Sophie wrote out her hero's plight and,
put him through the ravages of chance;
She grew to love him and oft mused,
'Wouldn't it be lovely if he fell in love with me too!'
For the warrior chose her army and spurned his love,
And the other acceded to her destiny;
He, exiled, would wander the lands alone,
with the friendly fruit-eating dragon for company.

The manuscript was done, edited and redone
till she held the final tome in her weary hands.
The night, tired yet excited, as she flipped through the pages,
She once again exclaimed her wish, which her husband overhead.
He laughed aloud, 'what gave you this idea, sweetheart?'
She blushed her reply, 'Oh, I wrote him so cute and in the end
He is all alone. Do not mind, it is just foolish of me,
And it is indeed a silly, stupid wish.'

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A decade later, she was still missing,
though the book was a grand success.
Her case was closed and her husband had moved on.
Having given up hope on ever finding her again.
It was only on the tenth anniversary of the book launch;
That her husband finally opened that book.
As he read through to the end, surprised he was,
'She never once told me that she wrote herself into the book?'

 And in a land faraway, lost to time, in a different reality,
Sophia rested against the dragon's back;
Staring at the sky, she watched as the fluffy clouds,
Formed faces, some familiar, some pretty, though most were unknown;
Yet today, the face was one she had always dreamt about,
Startled, she whispered, 'Gerald?' wondering how she knew that name,
But before she could say another word,
The clouds dispersed away into misty wisps,
Leaving her alone with the drowsy, dreaming dragon.    

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Word count - about 455

And as usual, it is close to the deadline that I finished this. I am going to miss this, even though it was a tough challenge most of the time, it was fun.