Title: Lost Dreams
Author: Smiles89
Date: March 5, 2003
It's Snow White's stepmother's POV.
All of you people and creatures out there who are reading this probably think of me as the evil witch who killed your precious Snow White. Well now you have a chance to hear my side of the story.
I was born in a small village a few miles off of the capital city of Adariel, the country of the lovers of light, which Adariel, even in the best of times never was. I was born also, a peasant, child to one of the poorest farmers in the region. Our family worked hard, but we never went into debt. Our food was plain, but we never went hungry. Our family was small and poor, but we were also extremely happy.
I was the only child, so I had to work hard on the farm, milking the cows, and plowing the fields, but I was also very much loved. Whenever I could be spared from work, like in the winter and at some times in the spring and fall, I would attend the local school. I was extremely bright and I learned quickly, and when I could not study at school, candles would burn late at night in my room as I studied my mathematics text or my spelling reader.
All my life, I was very much loved in our little village. When I was young, I was cute and curious, asking many questions and running wild around the village. As I grew older, I was still very much loved, since I would often go out of my way to do a favor for a neighbor or bring an old housewife a pie or a bunch of fresh flowers. I was also extremely lovely. I had been born a beautiful baby, and as I grew older, I became a lovely young lady, or so many villagers told my parents.
It was when I was sixteen or about then that the royal herald of the king visited our village. Our king was a good king, wise and just, except where his wife and daughter were concerned. His wife, who had been chosen for him many years ago by his counselor, was extremely lovely, but vain as well, and she had passed this one characteristic on to her daughter as well. The herald announced that under the influence of his wife and daughter, the king had made a new law.
The law went something like this, "From hereby forward, no woman or girl in this land, whether she be a housewife or the child of a noble family, will be more lovely than the women of the royal family.the punishment for the breaking of the law will be the maiming of the child or woman." Everyone in the village just stared at the herald, and everyone was thinking, "How can a woman control her beauty or how she looks?" Finally, the herald finished his short proclamation, "Tomorrow, any child or woman lovelier than our queen or royal princess shall be maimed to the extent that she is no longer beautiful to the eyes of men.
Then, I did not know that I was beautiful, though I should have been able to guess. I was slender and of medium height, and my skin was pale as marble. My hair was dark and long, and my lips were red as the roses that grew beside our front step. Add that to the fact that my parents had already received six very good proposals for my future, and you must think that I am very stupid now. Anyway, since I did not think of myself as beautiful, I saw no reason to hide, run away, or maim myself before the king's men came, even though my parents and other villagers urged me to after we had heard the promulgation. Hiding would not have worked anyway.
The next day, when the soldiers arrived, they searched the whole village, even the attics and closets in each of the homes. I don't know when I actually started feeling scared. Maybe it was when I heard the screaming of other girls in the village. Maybe it was when I heard the soldiers tramping up the stairs to my room. Or maybe it was when I saw their bright swords flashing toward my face and arms. I don't remember much after that, except that after the soldiers left, my old mother came to my mother came to me and rocked me in her arms and cried as the blood streamed down my torn flesh.
When I next came to, I was on a bouncing cart with my mother and father and it was dark outside. They told me that we were traveling to the neighboring country, Eporus, also our new home. When we arrived, my parents showed me our new home. It was small, much smaller than our old home. In my new room, there was a mirror, and the face I saw there was no longer my own. It was expressionless and swathed in bandages.
Gradually, I healed, my cut hair grew again to its old loveliness and the scars on my body began to disappear, but my mind wandered, and it returned to me only many weeks after the attack. I began to meet our neighbors, and the old woman who lived in the house to our right became my good friend. She was a sorceress, and when I was fully well, she took me on as an apprentice and taught me all of her skills.
A few years later, another declaration was sent to our home. This one told us of the upcoming marriage between the Prince of Eporus and the royal princess of Adariel, the snotty princess who had ordered my mutilation. You will understand why I hated the queen, and later on, her daughter, Snow White who seemed to have the beauty that I still have and the joy that was lost to me. "Lips as red as the blood that her mother has shed, skin pale as lilies, hair as dark as ebony."
Well, I suppose you know the rest of the story. I married Snow White's Father, because he saw me one day, after his wife's death, as I was buying food at the marketplace. I became the queen of Eporus, because I had no choice. I hated Snow White, because of her mother and all the pain that her mother's family had given us. I hated Snow White, because her mother had taken away my dreams. I killed Snow White, because I hated her mother. She lived, because she had the same spirit as I did.
She lived, because she had the same spirit as I did.
A/N: This was an assignment for my Creative Writing Class. I really liked it, but all criticism and comments are welcomed! Reviews please!
It's Snow White's stepmother's POV.
All of you people and creatures out there who are reading this probably think of me as the evil witch who killed your precious Snow White. Well now you have a chance to hear my side of the story.
I was born in a small village a few miles off of the capital city of Adariel, the country of the lovers of light, which Adariel, even in the best of times never was. I was born also, a peasant, child to one of the poorest farmers in the region. Our family worked hard, but we never went into debt. Our food was plain, but we never went hungry. Our family was small and poor, but we were also extremely happy.
I was the only child, so I had to work hard on the farm, milking the cows, and plowing the fields, but I was also very much loved. Whenever I could be spared from work, like in the winter and at some times in the spring and fall, I would attend the local school. I was extremely bright and I learned quickly, and when I could not study at school, candles would burn late at night in my room as I studied my mathematics text or my spelling reader.
All my life, I was very much loved in our little village. When I was young, I was cute and curious, asking many questions and running wild around the village. As I grew older, I was still very much loved, since I would often go out of my way to do a favor for a neighbor or bring an old housewife a pie or a bunch of fresh flowers. I was also extremely lovely. I had been born a beautiful baby, and as I grew older, I became a lovely young lady, or so many villagers told my parents.
It was when I was sixteen or about then that the royal herald of the king visited our village. Our king was a good king, wise and just, except where his wife and daughter were concerned. His wife, who had been chosen for him many years ago by his counselor, was extremely lovely, but vain as well, and she had passed this one characteristic on to her daughter as well. The herald announced that under the influence of his wife and daughter, the king had made a new law.
The law went something like this, "From hereby forward, no woman or girl in this land, whether she be a housewife or the child of a noble family, will be more lovely than the women of the royal family.the punishment for the breaking of the law will be the maiming of the child or woman." Everyone in the village just stared at the herald, and everyone was thinking, "How can a woman control her beauty or how she looks?" Finally, the herald finished his short proclamation, "Tomorrow, any child or woman lovelier than our queen or royal princess shall be maimed to the extent that she is no longer beautiful to the eyes of men.
Then, I did not know that I was beautiful, though I should have been able to guess. I was slender and of medium height, and my skin was pale as marble. My hair was dark and long, and my lips were red as the roses that grew beside our front step. Add that to the fact that my parents had already received six very good proposals for my future, and you must think that I am very stupid now. Anyway, since I did not think of myself as beautiful, I saw no reason to hide, run away, or maim myself before the king's men came, even though my parents and other villagers urged me to after we had heard the promulgation. Hiding would not have worked anyway.
The next day, when the soldiers arrived, they searched the whole village, even the attics and closets in each of the homes. I don't know when I actually started feeling scared. Maybe it was when I heard the screaming of other girls in the village. Maybe it was when I heard the soldiers tramping up the stairs to my room. Or maybe it was when I saw their bright swords flashing toward my face and arms. I don't remember much after that, except that after the soldiers left, my old mother came to my mother came to me and rocked me in her arms and cried as the blood streamed down my torn flesh.
When I next came to, I was on a bouncing cart with my mother and father and it was dark outside. They told me that we were traveling to the neighboring country, Eporus, also our new home. When we arrived, my parents showed me our new home. It was small, much smaller than our old home. In my new room, there was a mirror, and the face I saw there was no longer my own. It was expressionless and swathed in bandages.
Gradually, I healed, my cut hair grew again to its old loveliness and the scars on my body began to disappear, but my mind wandered, and it returned to me only many weeks after the attack. I began to meet our neighbors, and the old woman who lived in the house to our right became my good friend. She was a sorceress, and when I was fully well, she took me on as an apprentice and taught me all of her skills.
A few years later, another declaration was sent to our home. This one told us of the upcoming marriage between the Prince of Eporus and the royal princess of Adariel, the snotty princess who had ordered my mutilation. You will understand why I hated the queen, and later on, her daughter, Snow White who seemed to have the beauty that I still have and the joy that was lost to me. "Lips as red as the blood that her mother has shed, skin pale as lilies, hair as dark as ebony."
Well, I suppose you know the rest of the story. I married Snow White's Father, because he saw me one day, after his wife's death, as I was buying food at the marketplace. I became the queen of Eporus, because I had no choice. I hated Snow White, because of her mother and all the pain that her mother's family had given us. I hated Snow White, because her mother had taken away my dreams. I killed Snow White, because I hated her mother. She lived, because she had the same spirit as I did.
She lived, because she had the same spirit as I did.
A/N: This was an assignment for my Creative Writing Class. I really liked it, but all criticism and comments are welcomed! Reviews please!