Esther Gothel worked in an orphanage. Surprisingly enough, it paid well. That's the only reason why she works there. She hates everything else about her job. She hates the little kids, who ran behind her and called her Mother Gothel. And most of all she hates the rich people who came there to wash off their sins by donating a small amount of their money. And it was when one of these people were visiting the orphanage, when she found her treasure.
A rich family was visiting the orphanage to celebrate the birthday of their two year old daughter. The daughter fell asleep, so her mother took her to an empty room and safely laid her down on the bed. A few minutes later the mother heard someone calling out her name and went out to check, leaving the baby alone. When she came back to the room, the baby was nowhere to be found. She panicked and started searching for her daughter. Everyone in the orphanage looked for little Rapunzel but they never found her. Her parents were very heartbroken and devastated. They could do nothing but wait for the daughter to come back. They filed a complaint in the police station but it was no use.
On the other hand, Gothel had devised a wonderful and cruel plan. She got the idea when she saw the mother taking her sleeping child into the empty room. She knew that they were very rich and that this was their only child. She was sick of working here and wanted to make quick money so that she could get out of here as soon as possible. She knew that if she kidnapped the baby, her parents would be willing to pay any amount of ransom to get her back. So a few minutes later, she called the mother out and hid behind a pillar. As soon as the mother went out of the room, Gothel went in and swiftly took the baby away.
She hid the baby into a scarf and quietly got out of there. She took her back to her apartment. She lived on the tenth floor of a nearly empty building. It was supposed to be a society, but due to some legal problems it had to be shut down. So it was just a single incompletely built building in an abandoned area. Due to its position and condition, she had got the apartment at a very low price. And for the same reason, not many people lived there. It was the perfect place for committing a crime such as this. She took the baby there and kept her on the bed. Soon, she would call the baby's parents and ask them for money.
But the baby got up and started crying. So Gothel turned on the TV and put on a kids show. When Rapunzel started singing along with the voice in the TV, it felt like an angel was singing. Her voice was just magical. Mother Gothel just stood there, mesmerized. She couldn't take her eyes off the child. And when she stopped singing, it felt like the world had stopped spinning. Mother Gothel was very intrigued by this. She put on the music channel and watched Rapunzel as she sang. Her voice was so captivating that Mother Gothel couldn't stop listening to her. And when she did stop, she made a decision.
The girl clearly had extraordinary talent. Her voice was the most magical thing Mother Gothel had ever heard. Sure, her parents would give a lot of money to get her back. But her talent would earn so much more than that money. Mother Gothel decided to keep the child. She planned to raise the child as her own, give her music lessons, record her singing and sell it for a very good price. She would not dare slaughter the hen that gave golden eggs.
She kept Rapunzel in her apartment and went back to the orphanage because if she went missing, they would know she had kidnapped the child. She was thinking of working there for a little while more until Rapunzel's talent started paying off.
Next she made all the arrangements required to ensure that Rapunzel could not possibly leave the apartment. She put a lock on the door and kept its only key with herself. Now she was the only person who could open that door. There were only seven more apartments occupied in the building, but those were on the first four floors. So she was sure no one would hear anything that happened in her house. Her apartment had no balcony, so it was no issue. There were only two windows, one in each bedroom. She kept her own room locked and Rapunzel's room was at the back of the building where no one ever went.
She then bought all the stuff that a baby needed for surviving. For now all she had to do was bond with the baby. Make her feel at home and make sure she's happy enough to forget all about her parents. She was young and her mind could be moulded. Gothel wanted her to believe that she is the only family Rapunzel has ever had. She spent all her free time with her and soon Rapunzel was so attached to Gothel that she couldn't live without her.
Everyday she would play songs on the television and Rapunzel would sing along. Her singing was getting even better as the days went by. Soon Gothel saved enough money to buy a piano. She also bought DVDs to help Rapunzel learn to play it. Rapunzel would watch those DVDs and practice the piano all day long. Soon she was an expert in that too. Next came a violin and even more videos. Then a guitar. Then a drum set. Soon enough Rapunzel was a master in all the musical instruments and music itself. Then she started composing her own music. She was so good that she would use multiple instruments in her song.
Rapunzel loved her Mother. She loved spending time with her. She loved it when her mother got her all the gifts. She would try her best to please her. But when she went out, Rapunzel felt very lonely. She would spend her time staring out of her bedroom window. She wished she had someone else to talk to. Someone other than Mother. One day she said so to Mother Gothel, but she said nothing at all. That night she cried herself to sleep because she thought she had hurt her Mother.
Next day her Mother came back from work with a cute little puppy. She loved it! She named it Pascal. She would always talk to him whenever she felt lonely. She would play with him and feed him and take care of him. And when she didn't feel like doing anything, she took him to her room and sat there staring out the window.
Today, it was her fifth birthday. Mother had promised to get her a cake and a gift in the evening. But when she came back, she was in no mood to celebrate. She kept pacing back and forth in the living room and muttering to herself. When Rapunzel asked her about her gift, she got mad and yelled at her. Rapunzel ran into her room and started crying. Pascal came running behind her and snuggled up to her. Looking at his cute puppy eyes made her happy.
She picked him up and went to sit by the window. When she opened the window, she saw the most peculiar view in front of her. The night sky was filled with little balls of light, slowly moving upwards. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. It felt calm. And hopeful. For the first time in her life, she felt like she was home.