Atop the tower of Morris Pratt manor, a rosy-cheeked girl with glistening green eyes brushes her flowing hair next to the window of her fourth-floor chamber. From the corner of her eye, she spots a handsome knight on the ancient pasture. She opens her window and peers out with curiosity. The young man holds up his hand and asks, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.” Her eyes squint.

“Shut up, Jorge.”

Janie Laursen ’12 lives with her equally green-eyed roommate Rose Larios ’12 in one of the corner rooms in Morris Pratt. But those green eyes aren’t with envy but rather reflect the natural, genuine friendship that these two women formed when they were randomly paired as freshman roommates. “We differ in just about everything but our love of Mika,” Larios claimed. Yet their differences combined to make a room worthy of a fairy-tale introduction.

During last year’s room draw, the two damsels scouted the best quarters Morris Pratt had to offer, ultimately choosing one unlike the typical cube room. The little hallway leading to a high-ceiling room creates an intimate setting fit for a queen. The lanterns hanging above Larios’ bed and the multi-colored Christmas lights augment the warm and personal feeling that pervades the room.

After rearranging much of the furniture, Laursen’s bed now sits in the little nook, equipped with its own lights, slanted ceiling and posters of boys like one of Taylor Lautner. Suitors, perhaps? “Yeah right,” replied Laursen. “In my dreams.” Fittingly, a note asking, “Are you dreaming?” sits below the pictures, which Laursen placed in order to separate reality and dream, fact and fairy tale.

On the other side of the room, Larios hangs her equestrian ribbons with pride alongside a “Best Friend” ribbon, with love. Dali’s melting clock beside a hypnotic poster mirrors Larios’ relaxed, caring personality with a hint of mystery. Who could have guessed that she would still be taking care of Kiwi, her beloved goldfish from Keefe’s giveaway last year?

The rafters supporting the slanted ceiling provide another dimension to the story, literally. “We thought of building a second floor. I mean, when we got the room, we didn’t know what to do with [them],” Larios commented.

Laursen continued, “We also thought of: having a piñata party; assembling a hammock; hanging some swings.” Ultimately, they decided not to hang those swings (“close second, though,” Rose retorted) but hang paper snowflakes made by them and their closest friends. “We bonded,” Janie proclaimed. “Yep.”

The slope of the ceiling comes down to cover one of the windows in the chamber. The gigantic window provides a view to the crisp yawn of the sun, the beautiful evening moon and stars and the strolling of the peasants.

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.”

“Jorge, go home.”