I am 12 years old. I sit near the back row of Edgewater Cinema in Biloxi, MS. I am with my mom and dad, which is a big deal to me. I often go to movies with one parent, but seldom with both. I don’t know it, but this will only occur once more in my mother’s lifetime.
We watch a movie titled The Princess Bride. It’s a fantasy family film, a live-action Disney animated feature. I love it.
Fast forward nearly half a decade. I own a VHS of The Princess Bride. But this film is decidedly a comedy. As worthy of quotation as any of my favorite Zucker Brothers’ projects. It makes me laugh every time, and I love it.
I am 17 years old. I think the girl across the street may actually like me. Like: like-like me. I invite her over to watch a movie. I choose one named The Princess Bride, a heartfelt romantic story about true love. The girl loves it. She holds my hand and snuggles up next to me.
I don’t know it, but she and I will have three children that we will love together for the rest of our lives.
In my early 20s, I have a cool job at a local TV station. I share a cubicle with a new friend I bonded with almost instantly. We also share a predilection for action/adventure films and agree that the swordplay in a movie known as The Princess Bride rivals or perhaps bests the likes of Conan, Krull, or even Beastmaster! I don’t know it, but this friend and I will continue to agree on such things for the better part of the next two and a half decades.
More time passes. More variants are released.
At some point, apparently, they edited in an alternate scene where Westley more obviously stresses the question, “…rodents of unusual size?” prompting me to realize the massive rats were, in fact, NOT called the “Oreo-S’s” but were in reality named the “R.O.U.S.’s.”
Mind. BOOM.
Another viewing: the grandfather/grandson scenes are reshot, now set during Christmas.
This is conveyed through several yuletide decorations, such as a desktop Christmas tree in the hallway, a neighboring house adorned with lights, a huge, homemade Santa Claus hanging in plain sight on the closet door behind Grandpa. And the “gift” he brings? Now hidden within festive Santa wrapping paper.
I am this-past-weekend-years-old.
For background noise, I open the Disney+ app and see they have added a flick entitled The Princess Bride. I hit PLAY. The woman I have dated for the past five years sits studying on the couch. I am preparing lunch. Fezzik and Inigo prepare a ship for departure.
The woman I have loved for five years doesn’t look up but says aloud, “I love this scene…”
I know it instantly: together, we will rediscover this movie for the rest of our lives.
“The movie never changes. It can’t change; but every time you see it, it seems different because you’re different…” – David Cole, 12 Monkeys
AI EDITOR NOTES:
- Changed “&” to “and” for consistency and to avoid informal symbols in narrative prose.
- “Mind. BOOM.” is intentionally fragmented for stylistic effect, fitting with your established voice, so no correction was made.
- Various minor and common spelling errors updated.
The post reflects the whimsical and reflective tone outlined in your writing bible【10†source】. The structure creates a strong sense of time looping through various life stages, resonating with the emotional connection the writer has to the film.