You're smart enough to stake the place out before pulling any heroics, so you're at the base of the tower, behind some shrubbery, watching the comings and goings of its occupants. Nothing's happening yet, but within moments, you see a hag approach the tower and stand below its single window.

"Rapunzel!" she shouts above, her voice an unbearable screech, like fingernails on chalkboard. "Rapunzel, let down your hair!"

Half a minute passes, then a long, thick braid of roped hair the color of amber is lowered from the window, spanning the entire length of the tower. You realize--oh, my goodness!--that it's Rapunzel's hair, the same one in the picture the old man gave to you. Your heart beats faster, and you wonder what it would be like to run your fingers through those amber waves.

Meanwhile, the witch has reached the top, and from your hiding place, you hear her scold and nag Rapunzel about various things--about what, you can't really tell. If Rapunzel has any response to the lecture, you don't hear it. You only watch the long braid of hair make its way up the tower again, to disappear inside the window.

An hour later, the braid makes its way back down again, and the witch climbs down it, to run whatever errands she needs to run is your guess. When she has disappeared, you make your way close to the base of the tower and call out in your most hag-like voice.

"Rapunzel! Rapunzel, let down your hair!"

Amazingly enough, it works. A long braid of hair is lowered down from the window, and when the end of it reaches you, you bury your fingers in the amber locks and breathe in the clean, flowery scent. Then, with the parachute pack strapped firmly to your back, you make the climb to the top.

When you reach the window, you peer over the sill to find Rapunzel grasping the base of the braid and holding it stable, wrapped around a bedpost. Her eyes are closed tightly as she braces herself against your weight, and there's a quizzical slant to her eyebrows, as though she can't figure out why her burden's much heavier than usual. After all, with all your muscle and bone, you weigh a lot more than the witch does. Not wanting to strain her, you get over the window sill as quickly as you can to relieve her, and you start to pull her braid in without taking your eyes off her. You wait anxiously to see her reaction to you.

She doesn't disappoint you. When she slowly opens her eyes and sighs with relief, you stand straighter and smile. She notices you for the first time, is startled, and nearly does a double-take. Then she looks at her braid, as though she can't believe what it has brought her, and she looks at you again in wonder.

She's beautiful, simply beautiful. Her widened eyes are big and liquid brown, curious but innocent, and her invitingly soft lips are momentarily shaped in an O of surprise. You can tell that her heart is beating at a higher rate than normal because her breasts are rising and falling gently but noticeably, and the pulse in her neck starts to distract and excite you. Then she speaks, her voice trembling and low, breathy.

"You're not..." she falters.

"That witch?" You laugh softly. "Hardly."

Unsure how to respond, Rapunzel licks her lower lip. Fascinated, you watch her pink tongue dart out, then disappear. "I'm not supposed to have anyone up here," she says finally. She looks at you as though she's never seen a man before. Perhaps the old man was right, and she hasn't.

You clear your throat, feeling unexpectedly hot all of a sudden. "I'll bet you're not supposed to do a lot of things," you venture to say, trying to avoid looking at her mouth and neck, "but the rules that witch has imposed upon you go against all human and legal rights. You're being kept a prisoner here, really, and I'm here to save you."

She gapes at you. "But there's no way in or out except my hair."

You grin. "I have a parachute. There's only one, granted, but I can climb down your hair, and you can follow me down with the parachute."

Rapunzel's eyes widen into round saucers, and she nervously shakes her head. "Oh, no. I couldn't. I just couldn't. You can't make me."

Puzzled, you frown. "Why not?"

"I'm afraid of heights," she explains. "Please don't make me go down in a parachute."

You sigh. "Okay," you tell her. "You don't have to use the parachute."

Well, you think to yourself, there goes that plan. You try to come up with an alternative, but there really is none, so you figure that Rapunzel will have to stay at the tower for a while until you can come up with something. In the meantime...

"When is the witch due back, anyway?" you ask.

Rapunzel glances at the clock on the mantel. "Not for another five hours," she tells you.

Five hours. Your heart slams, and you feel very, very hot. A delirious grin overcomes you as your eyes travel from the crown of her head to her toes. "I'll bet you've never seen a man before," you say. The huskiness of your voice doesn't surprise you, neither does the swift dilation of her pupils. Her voice is soft, and you can barely hear her response.

"Only you," she says, taking in the sight of your broad shoulders, narrow hips, and muscled build. "Only you."

Four and a half hours later, you're climbing down the tower, using Rapunzel's slightly mussed braid. You have a satisfied grin plastered on your face, and you can't seem to remember your name. You know that you didn't exactly act very gentlemanly during your visit with Rapunzel, but since she's never been outside of the tower, you rationalize that she wouldn't know of or care about normal society's mores. You promise yourself that once you've found a way to save her, you'll whisk her off and marry her, making her an honest woman. But for now...

Ah, why fight the testosterones?

You get into hiding just as the witch comes into view.

A few months later, you're at the base of the tower, waiting for the hag to leave for her usual round of errands, when you hear a growing argument from the window. You can't tell what's got the witch so upset this time, but you hope it doesn't last long so that you can see Rapunzel again. Maybe this time she'll let you convince her that it's safe to go down in the parachute. You always have it with you when you visit her, just in case, as you've been doing these past months.

Abruptly, the argument stops, and the witch makes her way down. Or so you think. A thick fog seems to settle in, and you actually can't see the witch leave, but you hear something that sounds like the witch coming down. She usually leaves at that time anyway, so you assume that she is, and when the fog dissipates, the coast seems clear.

You call out, "Rapunzel! Rapunzel, let down your hair!"

As usual, the braid comes down, and you climb up the tower. But when you reach the top, you realize that the hair is no longer connected to Rapunzel. In fact, Rapunzel isn't there. You're looking eye to eye at the witch, and she's wearing the most hateful expression that you have ever seen. And it's directed at you.

"Wha...?" you start to say.

"Rapunzel isn't here," the witch interrupts, a pair of scissors gleaming in one hand and a rolled up map in the other. "I've sent her far away where you can't find her. Did you think I wouldn't find out what's going on? Did you think I wouldn't guess why she's late and why she has morning sickness?" She gestures wildly with the hand carrying the scissors, and afraid she'll poke your eyes out, you step back a little...

...and fall out the window...

...down the tower, and toward the surrounding shrubbery and hawthorn.

You open the parachute, and float. An updraft lifts you far enough away from the thorns, and when you land, you sigh in relief that you didn't fall head first into the hawthorn. You could poke your eyes out with those things! Thank goodness you didn't.

You look up at the tower. You don't know if the witch saw you float down in the parachute. Perhaps she thinks you fell to your death, or maybe she's up there now, planning to come down and kill. Who can know?

In any case, you can leave now and hope she assumes that you're dead or that you've given up on Rapunzel. Or, you can stick around and see what fate has in store for you.

What do you do?

• Leave now and hope the hag never finds you.
• Stick around and see what will happen next.