Can you hear the hooves clicking on the cobblestones? Do you see the steaming horses and the bustle of a departing riding party? Do you hear the clattering in the kitchen, later resulting in a celebratory Sunday dinner? I did, as I peeked out through the window into the courtyard.

And I sank into the bubbles of my heart-shaped bathtub and dreamed I was a princess.

(Rosersberg palace, Stockholm, Sweden; October 2013)