whoever had broken into the house must have left it ; maybe she just had n't noticed it last night . this was not a fairy-tale castle and there was no such thing as a fairy-tale ending , but sometimes you could threaten to kick the handsome prince in the ham-and-eggs . i did n't wait for the woman to say anything else . grape juice darkens the stool into black . as the cab hesitated before pulling away she glanced back at the hotel . she reached out and grabbed my other hand . 