Prince Valium (continued)

You decide to stick around and see what happens next. You don't quite trust the witch to have told you everything.

So you hide beneath the foliage and look up at the tower. The witch is keening and wailing about the loss of Rapunzel, throwing stuff out the window and screaming about "lost innocence" and "evil men". Some of the things she's throwing out are pretty heavy, so you end up dodging them from time to time. When she seems to have run out of things to throw, you pick up one of the things that happened to fall from the tower and realize that it's a map--the same one that the witch had in her hand earlier. In the middle of the map is a desert, with an X marking the spot.

You wonder briefly if Rapunzel was sent there...

There's only one way to find out. The only problem is that the marked spot isn't exactly around the corner. According to the map, it's about halfway around the world, out in the middle of nowhere. You wonder if it's worth checking out.

You decide that it is.

You put the map away and head for home, keeping out of sight in case the witch is on the lookout for you. Once home, you get a search party together and head for the desert detailed on the map.

It takes a few months, but your eyesight is keen and so is your mind. You figure out all the coded symbols on the map, and once in the desert, you're able to spot Rapunzel's little shack among all the floating mirages. You can't imagine how long it would have taken if your eyes were gouged out by the hawthorn--ouch!

The two of you reunite. You marry, and Rapunzel gives birth to twins...

...just as the old man predicted.

Oh, and you live happily ever after. Fancy that.