Of gallant knights and terrible monsters

When I was a small child, as small children often do, I lived inside my head - inhabiting imaginary worlds full of excitement, fantasy and fun.

And I can't have been the only small boy hooked on tales of knights in shining armour, slaying monsters and being heralded as heroes.

Funny the way things come full circle.

When someone important to me said something about needing a knight in shining armour to appear on his fine white horse and save her, it spoke to me.

I thought to myself, "I am that very knight. I will slay the monster. I will win the heart of the fair maid."

Funny how things turn out.

I didn't slay the monster.

I looked around me but couldn't see him.

I knew he was there.  I could sense him.  Hear him.  Feel him.  I witnessed the aftermath of his rage, his destructive capabilities, his instability.

I looked in all the wrong places.

Finally, I looked inside me and realised where the monster had been all along.

I didn't win the fair maid's heart.  Instead, I broke it.