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Tragic Snow
The other seven, the older seven, all boys, disappeared from their carriages when they were infants. They had each been a child of different elements - fire, water, air, earth, darkness, light, heat, and finally snow. She had been last though, the eighth child, the only one to not disappear. She had only met one of her brothers, the last brother, Heat. They had grown fond of each other, and he had loved to hold her tiny white body in his lap as he ran his fingers through her long midnight hair. She had named herself with her element - she was snow, Snow.
Their mother was cold creature of the earth, and her favorite son had been the fourth for he had been of the earth as well. She had hoped that he would be the first to not disappear, for he was the same as she, but her hopes were dashed. Shortly after his vanishing, she went to town and returned with a wonderful looking glass, an enchanting mirror, framed with gold and set with jewels. Clarisse was her name and she was beautiful, a more beautiful woman Snow could not imagine. Long locks of shining gold fell to the small of her back and her eyes were green as grass. Her skin was as porcelain, pale with rosy cheeks, her lips were full and cherry-red.
Snow had distinct features as well. Her lips were red as blood, her skin snow-white, her long hair black as ebony. Her eyes were a pale blue, like ice.
The servants about the house were few, a cook whose name was unknown and a hunter to supply them with meat for stews and soups. Snow herself tended to the garden and a few servant girls kept the White Mansion clean.
Snow and Heat may have gotten on well, but a closer bond was never formed between two family members than that that held Snow to her father. He helped her in the garden, he taught her to read, he played with her and her dolls when the servant girls had work to do. Even the love between Clarisse and Snow's father was not as warm as the love between Snow and her father.
But one night, a storm arrived at the house, as did horror. Lightning flashed and thunder rolled, waking the poor child from her slumber. She ran from her room to find her father, knowing he would comfort her in the terror of the storm. But when she arrived in his room, she found him on the ground with a large brass candlestick lying nearby. Snow screamed in horror, though her shouts could not be heard through the thick walls of the mansion and over the crashes of the storm. The apple tree Snow loved to climb in was struck by lightning and fell into the garden. Three joys of Snow's life were destroyed that night.
No fingerprints were found on the candlestick and the death of Snow's father remained a mystery. Snow's mother took away all of the girl's pretty dresses and gowns and gave her a single brown dress to wear. The servant girls were let go and Snow was forced into taking their place. The garden went untended and soon was overgrown with weeds and such. Snow did what her mother told her to do, hoping the woman would learn to love her as her father had, but not daring to believe she would, lest her hopes be dashed as her life had that horrible night.
A year after the death of Snow's father, Snow was about to enter her mother's room when she heard voices from within. It was Clarisse and the hunter, speaking in low voices so not to be heard. Snow White stepped into the linen closet and pressed her ear to the wall, which allowed her to hear clearly.
"Oh my Clarisse, my wonderful, beautiful Clarisse - you are so clever. Clever Clarisse." Clarisse giggled and Snow shuddered at the flirting. "Is there anything you would like me to do for you, O Beautiful One?"
"Not today," Clarisse's voice said. "But ask me tomorrow and I shall find something." Snow ran from the closet so she would not be caught eavesdropping.
The next day, at the same time, Snow returned to the closet and heard the hunter repeat his question, and again Clarisse replied, "Not today. But ask me tomorrow and I shall find something." And then Snow fled.
On this went for years upon years. Finally Snow decided she would stay to see - or, rather, hear - what they did after this. The hunter repeated the question he had asked every day for nearly eight years, and Clarisse said, "Not today. But ask me tomorrow and I shall find something."
Snow listened as the hunter asked what sort of meat Clarisse wanted in the stew that night. Clarisse said venison, and Snow shuddered at the thought of the hunter killing an innocent deer for her wicked mother. "Do not forget," the hunter said, "you are the most beautiful I've ever seen." And the hunter left the room.
Snow held her breath as she listened to her mother.
"Magic mirror on the wall,
"Who's the fairest one of all?"
Snow gasped as she heard a low, rumbling voice reply to her mother.
"You who before me stand,
"You are fairest in the land."
Clarisse let out an awful cackle and Snow's knees gave out. She collapsed and listened as the mirror continued.
"But beware your daughter, white as snow,
"For her beauty is a-glow.
"Should the hunter upon her set eyes,
"You will quickly lose the prize."
"Snow?" Clarisse shrieked. "I could lose the love of my life to my daughter?"
"If you do not hide her from sight,
"Then my predictions will be right."
"Then I'll hide her!" Clarisse snapped and Snow listened as she walked from the room and down the hall. Snow opened the door and stepped out. She had to keep out of sight of the hunter, or her life could be on the line.
The next day, Snow decided to risk all and listen in to see what would happen in Clarisse's room. It was just as any other day, but when Snow fled from the closet, she bumped into the hunter. No, Snow thought. No, no, no, no, no! Why today of all days?
"Hello," the hunter said after a moment of scanning Snow with his eyes. She shifted uncomfortably. "I've never seen you before... Now that I think about it, however, you look like Clarisse's daughter, the one that disappeared when Clarisse's husband died. How strange - but Snow was much younger than you. She was seven last I saw her, nine years ago. How old are you, girl?"
Snow hesitated. "Sixteen."
"That means you are the correct age to be Snow... are you?"
"I... I..."
"Yes?"
"I must tend to the parlor," she said at last. "A squirrel got in last night and wrecked the orderliness of it."
"Are you Snow?"
"Let me go!"
"Are you?"
Snow shoved him away and ran from the hall in tears. Her life was tragic, one horror after another. She lost her brother, then her father, her mother hates her, her mother has a mirror of magic, and now her life was on the line. She collapsed upon a sofa in the parlor. Tomorrow she would not go near her mother's room - it was far too dangerous.
But it had become a habit and Snow found herself shut in the linen closet once again.
"Oh my Clarisse, my wonderful, beautiful Clarisse - you are so clever. Clever Clarisse. Is there anything you would like me to do for you?"
"Not today. But ask me tomorrow and I shall find something."
"What meat would you like in the stew tonight?"
"The heart of my daughter."
Snow grabbed for the brass handle and fled the linen closet. But, just as the day before, the hunter stood their waiting for her. He seized her by the wrist and started to drag her. "No!" Snow screamed. "Let me go! I don't want to die - please, let me go!" But the hunter wouldn't let go, and held tighter around her thin arm.
They left the house and he dragged her through the cornfields to the forbidden forest beyond. There the hunter through her to the ground and unsheathed his knife. He lifted high and then hurdled it through the air with a flash of the silver blade. "Run!" he said. "Run! If she wants your heart, she'll have it!"
Snow stood and bolted lest the hunter changed his mind. She ran through the green of the forest, jumping over logs and ducking under branches. She ran until she could run no further and collapsed in a heap.
When the girl woke, she found herself lying by a toasty fire in a small cabin. She sat up from the cot she was lying on and as she turned around, she was greeted by seven men, staring at her. She let out a gasp. "Who are you?"
The tallest stepped forward. He looked to be the oldest with scruffy red hair and bright green eyes. "I am Fire."
"I am Water," said a man with the same green eyes and black hair like Snow's.
"I am Air," said a man with blue eyes and blond hair.
"I am Earth," said a man with green eyes and blond hair.
"I am Dark," said a man with black eyes and hair.
"I am Light," said a man with the same features as Air, only lighter.
"I am Heat," said a man with strawberry-blond hair and fiery eyes.
As their names registered in her mind, Snow realized who these seven men were. "Oh, dear brothers! I am your youngest sister, Snow!"
Fire and Water exchanged glances. "We always thought the youngest would be called Cold," Water informed her.
Snow shook her head. "I guess our dear father and mother bent the tradition slightly when I was born a girl."
Heat took Snow's hands in her's. They were warm, rough hands. "Snow, do you remember me? I was your playmate when you were little, before Mother banished me as well as our other brothers."
Snow nodded. "I do."
"What of our father?" asked Light.
"And our mother?" Earth said.
Snow lowered her eyes. "Father is dead... I believe our mother murdered him - she's a wicked woman. She forces me to work as a servant girl, got rid of the seven of you, and now is flirting with the hunter. I wouldn't be surprised to return to the house and find the hunter and cook dead now too."
"Why are you alone in the woods, sister?" Heat asked. Snow went into explaining her hiding place in the closet and the words she heard exchanged between Clarisse and the hunter every day. She explained the magic mirror and being caught by the hunter and running away into the forest. Hear the brothers picked up, explaining how they found her on their way home from the gold mines and brought her home to nurse her if she was sick or give her shelter if she was homeless.
"I am homeless now," Snow said. "I cannot return to Clarisse or she will kill me - so would you mind if I stayed with you?"
"Of course not," said Heat. "We welcome you with open arms. We're at the gold mines most of the day anyway, so we need someone to stay and make dinner for us. Most of the time we go to bed hungry."
"Well the cook did show me a few things in the kitchen," said the girl. "I will gladly keep house and make meals for my brothers."
"Then it's settled," said Fire cheerfully.
But back at White Mansion, Clarisse wasn't getting along as well as she had hoped. The hunter had returned with Snow's heart as she had asked, but her magic mirror had revealed it to be a boar's heart rather than her daughter's, and so Clarisse had killed the hunter as she had killed Snow's father. She consulted her mirror once more.
"Magic mirror, gloom and glow,
"Tell me where I might find Snow."
"The snow-white girl is doing fine
"With your sons who work in gold mines.
"In their cabin you will find her
"Making meals as a diner.
"If you wish to kill the girl
"You must enter another world.
"In disguise you must hob.
"My magic arts will do the job."
"Magic mirror, wither and willer,
"Tell me the way that I might kill her."
"An ivory comb placed her hair
"Will kill her slowly, painfully, and ensnare
"Her life from her heart, indeed.
"Here is the comb that you seek."
A comb appeared, floating in a purple light in front of the mirror. It was ivory, white like Snow's skin and set with rubies and emeralds. Clarisse cackled and reached for the comb.
"When you hold the comb, my dear,
"Your face will different, so it will appear.
"When you let go of the comb, not hold,
"Your face will return as it was old."
"I understand." Clarisse took the comb and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. She gasped as she saw it and then grinned evilly. "Wonderful," she said, though her voice was different now. "Of course Snow will accept a gift from someone dressed like this!" She laughed again and ran from the room.
The next day, Snow bid farewell to her brothers, but not after agreeing with Heat to stay inside and not let anyone in. But no sooner were the brothers gone and Snow had begun to make a stew of wild vegetables and a bear Air had hunted, than a knock came from the door.
The door was the sort that could open as one big door or could open in two halves, the top and the bottom. So, rather than taking the risk, Snow opened the top half of the door and nearly fell over when she saw who stood before her.
Her father stood there, though he was all blue and transparent. It was her father's ghost. "Hello, Snow."
"Father!"
"Shhh, listen to me. I can't stay long. This belonged to your great-great-great grandmother, and I thought you should have it." He produced an ivory comb from his jacket. The comb was solid, opaque, and not a ghost of a comb. "Allow me to put it in your hair my daughter." Snow bent her head forward to allow him to do so.
The next thing Snow saw was blood swarming before her eyes and she heard a wicked cackle. She felt a sharp pain in her head and then nothing.
It was a lucky thing Heat had forgotten his pick and returned to the cottage and removed the comb. Snow promised to not even open the top half of the door.
When Clarisse returned to White Mansion, she consulted her mirror again.
"Magic mirror on the wall,
"Now who is the fairest one of all?"
"My queen, my queen, you should have stayed,
"For asleep was how the girl just laid.
"You should have ensured that she was dead
"For the youngest brother removed the comb from her head.
"Your daughter remains alive and well.
"But she tripped, yes, the girl fell.
"She grew weaker, but we must do more.
"The next murdering item knocks at my door.
"A bodice with strings done too tight
"Will squeeze the breath from her might.
A green light appeared now with a black bodice floating in it. When Clarisse took hold of it, she examined herself in the mirror. A slim, redheaded young woman stared back at her. "A bodice, my pretty?" Clarisse asked before running to prepare herself for the next day's task.
Snow and her brothers got along well, and she grew particularly close to Heat. Perhaps it was the opposites of their nature, for that seemed to be the way the family went - Fire and Water were close friends, as were Air and Earth. Dark and Light were fraternal twins, so it was only natural that they were together always.
The next day, Heat gave Snow another warning and the seven brothers trailed off into the woods.
When the brothers were set to be home in less than an hour, Snow heard a knock at the door. Guessing her brothers had returned early, she opened it and found a slim, redheaded young woman standing at the door.
"Would you like a bodice, my pretty?" the woman asked in a sweet, syrupy voice. Snow looked down at her white frock.
"It is rather plain and rude to be dressed in just a white dress," the girl said. "I should like to surprise my brothers by dressing differently. I'll take the bodice."
"This black one will set off your hair." The woman helped Snow into the bodice. "Allow me to tie it up for you." She began pulling at the strings.
"Please, stop!" Snow said. "Any tighter and I shan't be able to breath." Clarisse gave the strings a final tug and then knotted them. Snow rolled onto the floor, the breath taken from her lungs. Clarisse laughed and returned to White Mansion.
The brothers returned shortly and freed Snow from the bodice. They warned her to check through the peephole from now on to see who was knocking at the door.
Clarisse looked into the magic mirror once more.
"Magic mirror on the wall,
"Who now is the fairest one of all?"
"You are fair, my queen, it's true,
"But your daughter is more fair than you.
"The brothers released her once again.
"But now its time to give the end,
"For I have something that will kill her right away.
"A poison apple will rule the day."
A blood-red light appeared now and Clarisse took the solid red apple from its glow. The mirror revealed her reflection, an old hag dressed in a long cloak. "At last Snow will die," she said. "There isn't a catch to this, is there? No true love's first kiss? She takes the bite and dies, right, my dear mirror?"
"Unless they find a way to remove it from her stomach,
"Snow is done for."
Clarisse ran from the room.
Snow was washing the dishes in the sink when she looked up through the open window where an old hag stood. "Surely you are hungry, my pet?" said the hag. "I've heard from the men that you work all day, laboring to keep their house clean and food prepared. Allow me to give you a little gift."
"It does look delicious," Snow said. "But every time I take something from someone now, I end up passing out."
"This apple will not cause you to pass out," laughed the hag. "I promise."
Snow took the apple. "I guess just one bite couldn't hurt much." She sank her teeth into the juicy fruit.
"White as snow... like the comb." Snow dropped the apple as she realized the hag's form had changed to that of Clarisse.
"Black as ebony... like the bodice." Snow grabbed at her stomach, pain filling it and reaching up into her heart.
"Red as blood... like the apple." Snow screamed and rolled over onto the floor, the tragedy of her life complete.
"Magic mirror, on the wall
"Who is the fairest one of all?"
"You who before me stand,
"You are fairest in the land."