Story: Pyrimus and Thisbe
Change: What if Thisbe had killed the lioness?
Pyrimus and Thisbe were the most beautiful youths in their city. They lived next door to each other, and as they began to grow older they fell madly in love. However, this was not to be. Their parents were cruel, and forbid the two from so much as seeing each other. Pyrimus and Thisbe, as lovers tend to, found a way around this. The began to speak to each other through a tiny hole in the wall that their two houses shared. Every night they would whisper words of love to each other, and try to kiss each other through the tiny hole. One night, Pyrimus suggested to Thisbe that they should try to escape their parents' cruel control. He told her to meet him late at night, near Ninus's tomb. From there, they would flee the city and elope together. Thisbe thought this was a great idea, and agreed immediately.
Late the next evening, Thisbe crept through her house, trying to decide what she would need to pack for her journey. She hastily grabbed a few of her most lovely dresses, some jewelry, a bit of food and water, and a very large knife. With that she was out the door.
She ran all the way to Ninus's tomb, arriving there breathlessly at midnight. It was a crisp, clear night, and the stars shone in the sky like jewels. Next to her, there was a plant with snow white berries. The berries looked like pearls in the silver night. Her entire beautiful face was bathed in moonlight, as she closed her eyes and tried to imagine her loves face at the moment of his arrival. She was pulled out of her reverie by a rumbling growl that sounded behind her. She jumped, and turned to see a lioness, her mouth dripping with blood from a recent kill. Thisbe regarded the lioness evenly for a moment, before pulling out her knife. In one quick movement she stabbed the lioness, and watched as it fell to the ground dead. Naturally, having done this, Thisbe felt quite proud of herself, though she was a bit displeased with the lioness blood that had spattered all over her pretty dress.
What Thisbe did not know, was that the lioness she had just slaughtered really hadn't been a lioness at all. It had been Naomi, a lovely girl favored by Zeus. Of course, once Hera had found out Zeus's love for this girl, she had turned her into a lioness, and forced her to eat her own children. Zeus, who had truly loved Naomi, had been heartbroken, and was even more so now that Naomi had been cruelly slaughtered by Thisbe's hand.
Thisbe had gone back to staring wistfully at the moon, when she was suddenly struck by a thunder bolt. Thisbe didn't even have time to scream, before she disappeared into dust without a trace. The snow-white berries of the nearby bush changed to an electric blue.
Finally, Pyrimus arrived at Ninus's tomb. He glanced around for his love, but all he found was a slaughtered lioness, with a knife sticking out of her stomach. He thanked the Gods that his darling Thisbe was a girl who could properly defend herself, and then started to look for her.
"Thisbe!" He called, "Thisbe! Thisbe! There is no need to be afraid my love! You have killed the lioness, and now I am here to protect you." He stood with his arms opened, expecting Thisbe to run into his embrace, but she did not come. No matter how loudly he called her name, she would not come to him. He did however, wake up everyone in his city. His parents were indeed angry to find him standing outside in the middle of the night, calling out the name of a woman they had forbidden him from seeing. Thisbe's parents were also very angry, when they realized that their beloved daughter had disappeared without a trace.
The town decided that the only logical thing to do in this situation was to blame Pyrimus for all of the trouble's that had befallen Thisbe's family. The next day he was thrown into a river, where he was expected to drown. Aphrodite, however, took pity on the poor lover and gave him gills. She set him up with an attractive water nymph, and all was well for Pyrimus, though he still thought of Thisbe from time to time.
The bush near Ninus's tomb continued for all eternity to yield blueberries, and the blueberries spread all over the world. Now, blueberries are even eaten in the state of Maine, and as everyone knows, they make a lovely pie.