Sleeping Beauty
By
Katherine Rochholz
Once upon at time there was a vain Queen and King, they had
a child who was as pretty as can be. They hired three witches to bless the
child with beauty, grace and pose.
But there was a fourth witch that was not invited. She came
to the christening and gave this proclamation. “This beauty, Twila, shall have
her beauty, grace and pose, as long as her beats within her chest. The moment
her heart stops beating, she will lose all three. Her body however shall never
die!” The witch, bent and kissed the sleeping beauty on the head.
She turned on her heel and disappeared from the castle,
leaving them to ponder who words, what she meant. The Queen bent and picked up
her child; they found the note left by the witch. “Twila shall prick her finger
on a spinning wheel on her eighteenth birthday. That shall stop her heart from
beating, bringing about the curse.”
The Queen and King were worried about the curse; though
unsure of how it would be possible. The sent the baby to live with the three
witches. The years went by and the young Twila grew up with a normal childhood,
never once told that she was the heir to a mighty kingdom, which meant that one
day she shall be Queen. She grew up as Twila, the ever loving peasant girl, who
had the beauty of a queen.
On the morning of her eighteenth birthday she went upon her
day as she normally would have; she got up, picked flowers, feed the animals,
and went about her day. The witches went to her after lunch as they needed to
fit her for her new gown. One that was fit for a princess; as she was now of
age, she would now go home, it was time to return to the world of royalty. They
did the fitting and left to get some much needed supplies for the birthday
celebration that was to happen that night.
Well they were gone; the other witch took her opportunity to
lead young Twila to the spindle of her curse. With a bit of magic, she had
Twila follow a small bird to the spindle that spun on its own accord, it weaved
a string that was black as sin.
The witch spoke in a soft tone; she instructed Twila to
prick her finger on the spindle needle. The young princess did without
hesitation. In that very moment her heart stopped beating. She fell to the
floor. The three witches appeared instantly, they were too late to stop the
curse. Instead they froze time, they froze her and the kingdom in an endless
sleep, that could only be undone by true loves first kiss. They protected the
sleeping kingdom until they could find a cure for the curse on the young
princess, however they never found one. For many decades, the kingdom was
frozen in time. Many princes came ‘save’ the sleeping princess, however the
witches prevented anybody from reaching the sleeping princess, thus they left
her in the frozen state.
One day a prince from a far away kingdom heard of the
sleeping kingdom and thought of the land to be gained from such a union. So he
set out across the many lands to get to the kingdom. Once there he faced the
three witches, the first put up a field of knifes and spikes, that had to be
carefully navigated, and could not be torn down. However this Prince, upon his
birth, had been blessed by witches, with the smarts, and a sword that could cut
down any object within its path. He cut through the maze of blades, and made it
to the second task set froth by the witches.
He reached a room of fire. The flames would burn through
anything. The witches were sure that the prince would never make it through.
However, also upon his birth, he was given a shield that would protect him from
any supernatural danger. It allowed him to cross the flames of the witches’
passions. It allowed him to face the third and final task.
A monster of the worse sorts, part dragon, part Griffin,
colored the deepest of blues with eyes the color of a sunset. A creature that
was sure to kill the prince. The prince knew he would defeat it. He was gifted
strength, brains and pride upon his birth. He fought though the flames of the
creature dodged the spikes upon its tail, evaded the razor sharp teeth that
tried to chop down on him, but in the end his sword met the creature’s heart,
and it turned to dust.
The three witches looked on in shock as he stood by the
bedside of the cursed Princess Twila and he leaned down and kissed her. The
moment the kiss ended, she awoke. But she was no longer human, her pale skin,
had long ago shrunk. Her beauty she once held was gone; in its place was death.
The prince’s kiss had broken the spell which froze time, but not the curse.
The Princess opened her eyes, she got up and then Twila did
the unthinkable. She attacked the prince! She bit him. He stabbed her with his
sword, but still she came at him. He ran from her, and fell down the stars and
broke his neck. The witches waited, their breaths held. They waited to see what
would happen now as the undead Twila started to move. Her beauty, her grace,
and her pose all gone from her once lovely soul. She did not grow up royal; yet
she is the one that paid for the sins of her parents.
The witches watched as the prince’s body also started to
move. The curse had extended itself to her victims. The witches watched as
Twila set the neck of her undead prince and they went off together, to wreak
havoc among their kingdom.
The Queen locked herself in her chambers and cried out in
pain as she watched her kingdom become the kingdom of the undead. She cried out
to the witch that placed the curse upon her daughter, the one they didn’t
invite because of her views of the world. “Hekate! Come to me! I beg you! Come
to me! Make me a deal!” The Queen needed to stop the pain of her soul, the pain
of seeing her daughter as a zombie. Her soul was drowning in the pain.
“You called Queen?” Hekate appeared.
“Make me a deal! Anything! Reverse your curse! Allow my
daughter a life full of happy ever afters.”
“You put you and your family above your people. You hired
witches to bless your children, though you know it curses another! You make
sure your children know all the comforts of life, while your people go hungry,
while they freeze, they know all the hardness and pain, while you and your
children know only comfort and joy! And you have the nerve to ask me to reverse
the curse? To reset time?”
“Yes! Please I will do anything!” The Queen begged.
“Fine. I will reset time on these conditions and these
alone! One, the child will be raised far from you. She shall be raised a poor
child, that way when she is queen she will be fair. Two, no longer will you
hire the witches to bless the children of royalty. Instead each child born in
the kingdom will be bestowed one blessing and one hardship to overcome. And
last but not least, your life for hers. You shall die in her place. It is the
only way I can reverse time. I need to balance the universe. I took her soul,
her life, so yours will be the price to save hers.” Hekate said with a sneer,
sure the Queen would not take the offer.
The Queen looked out the window and watched as her daughter
took a spoon and scooped out a heart from some poor soul and watched as she ate
it. She could not bear this pain. Death would be welcomed for a chance her
daughter would live. “Deal.”
Hekate was in shock. “So be it!” Hekate snapped her fingers
and time reversed, the conditions now set in blood and soul.
“King! You have a beautiful baby girl! Twila! She was gifted
with grace, but cursed with the inability to sing.”
“Fantastic!” The King said with a smile.
“But my King, we regret to inform you the Queen has died in
child birth…”
“My wife is gone…?”
“She looked at her daughter and said ‘For you my life.’ Then
she decreed that she shall be raised by the three witches away from the kingdom
until her eighteenth birthday, when she will marry; she said she shall become
the queen she never was, sir.”
“Then may her wishes be fulfilled.” The King walked way from
the servant and his daughter, who would never know the curse once bestowed upon
her…
Awesome! I love this story I vote for #B13
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ReplyDeletelol, great twist!
ReplyDeleteThis one definately gets my vote!
Awesome story!!
ReplyDeleteoops lol I vote for this one:)
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