Hello, dear reader. You are probably wondering why I have another story posted, when I have three other in desperate need of attention. Well, this little gem has been harrasing me for days and I just can't seem to ignore it. The title I was inspired by the episode with nurse Defarge, and Dorothy wanting to know what went on in the house at night. This got me thinking about Sophia and all her Italian curse. Plus what was she up to at night? Trust me, I do hate starting a new story, because I can never figure out how to introduce the scene. Also, please forgive the typos as I have no beta and do not work well with others. This story is a cross-over between the Golden Girls and The Labyrinth. It is my version on several things, like how Jareth damaged his eye, how Sir Didymus earned his title, where the worm obtained his nifty little scarf, and why Sophia is really a furry little gnome who is fed too much. Well, part gnome at least. Who knows, I guess we shall see.
Well..time for the disclaimer. I do not own nor profit from The Labyrinth or it's characters. I do not own nor profit from The Golden Girls or it's characters.
Please read and review.
It was a warm summer night in Miami, Florida. The four women
of the house had just finished a huge meal prepared by Sophia Petrillo. She had been working all day cooking and cleaning. Her three roommates helped bake dessert, but she decided to make zabaione. It was her father's favorite. As a matter of fact, all of the food she made were favorites of her father.
Tonight after dessert she was going to finally tell her daughter the story about her father's disappearance. She just wondered if her daughter Dorothy would believe her. She wondered if her roommates would believe her, or just have Dorothy lock her away again. Oh, well. It was time to find out.
Dorothy began putting the dirty dishes in the sink while Blanche, one of my roommates, began putting up the food. "Wait, Blanche. I need to make another plate." I said. "Are you hungry again?" Blanche asked."Honey, remember the last time you over ate? We thought you were having a heart attack!"
Dorothy looked at me in suspicion, as always. "No. It's not for me. I can't eat another bite! I'm full." I began serving a huge slice of lasagna on a plate with extra meat sauce. Then I grab a couple of bread sticks, and set the zabaione off to the side. "This is for Papa." I say as I start serving scotch in a glass cup. I see the girls look at each other looking confused.
Dorothy just sighs, leaving the dishes to soak. "It's a tradition that Ma has had every year on the day my grandfather was murdered..." I stop her with a look. "Not murdered. He wasn't murdered." I say. Dorothy just sighed again. "Okay... disappeared. On the day of his disappearance she always makes an elaborate dinner with all of the foods he loved in his memory. Then she leaves a plate out 'just for him.' "
Rose smiled. She is my other roommate "Why, that is sweet, Sophia. And nothing to be ashamed of." She said looking sternly at Dorothy. "I think it's also a beautiful idea, Sophia. A way to keep his memory alive. On the anniversary of Big Daddy's passing, I always take out one of Big Daddy's favorite books." Blanche said. "Yeah. And you drink yourself senseless." Dorothy added. Blanche wasn't fazed by Dorothy's accusation, and just smiled. What can I say, sluts heal quicker.
"Well, miss know it all. While the dishes soak, let me tell you a story." I said pulling up my own chair. "You don't mean...the story...do you?" She pulled up her chair as I sat my father's plates and drink in front of me. "What story?" Blanche and Rose asked. "The story of what really happened to my grandfather. It has been a family mystery. No one knew what really happened. "Dorothy began. "Some said my grandmother killed him, or had him killed. Other's said she turned him into an animal, but they also said she was a village witch. All any of the neighbors ever said was he came home late one night, they argued, and he disappeared. One minute he walked out the door. Some said they seen him talking to a stranger, but no one could even describe him. It was as if they both had just disappeared."
I just nodded along with the story. That had been the gist of it, but there was more. So much more that no one knew about, not even my siblings. Well, Regina knew, but that is a story for another day.
"Picture it, Sicily, 1904, a beautiful peasant woman was pregnant with her fifth child. She worked from sun up to past sunset. Her husband was faithful, but was always working. He was never home, and often gone days at a time looking for work wherever he could find it. That peasant woman was my mother, Eleanor Grisanti and her husband was my father Don Angelo Grisanti.
She was pregnant with your Aunt Regina, about four months to be exact. I remember because she was so happy her morning sickness had let up." I said looking at Dorothy. "She would wake up early every morning, feeding us whatever she could. Some mornings we just had a thimble full of wine, while other times we were lucky to have a slice of bread and warm milk. On good days, my mother would say we were to be dining at La Cocina Povera.
You know, it was the only time she ever said those words. It was a shameful thing to say, but my mother had always been a woman ahead of her time." I took a sip of my coffee that Rose had made and served. I see the faces around me and smile knowing that my last years would not be spent alone, but here with my girls. I continue with the story, deep in thought, remembering it as if it were yesterday.
On one particular night, Mama had been having a really bad night. The older two boys, Angelo and Vito, kept fighting over a toy rock. Angela, was two years old old and had a bad ear infection. Mama didn't have money for a doctor so she went to the Sra. Caravelli for her ear salve. Mama was tired, she gardened, she washed other people's clothes, she took care of the house and us kids, plus she sold herbs and spices herelf. She just took up another family's clothes to wash, which wasn't easy in her condition. Her long day was finally ending, and like every night she tucked us into bed. We all shared a room expect for Angela because she was sick.
"Mama."I said. "Can you tell us a story? Read to us." I asked. Mama just smiled, looking tired and weary. She reached up from the bed, and grabbed a red book with gold letters on it. She read us that book every night.
"Wait a minute. Your mother could read?" Dorothy asked. "How could she read, I thought you told me before she never went to school." I pursed my lips. " She was very creative my mother. Now don't interrupt."
Angelo also loved story time, but Vito always fell asleep halfway through. "Yes. Mama. Read me a story, too." Please?!!" Mama quickly began to shush him. "Angelo. Shh. You wake up the bambina. Your sister, Angela is sleeping." She looked at Angelo and Vito, then smiled kissing them both on the forehead. "Fine. Fine." She began reading the story to the children, a tale about a poor widow woman who had wished her Bambinos away. The widow was given a chance to win them back, but not without a price or they would be lost to her forever.
As Mama read, I always felt a twinge in the pit of my stomach. "You would never wish us away, right Mama." And Mama would always answer, "Of course not. Whoever took you would soon beg for me to take you back." This time when I asked, Mama had a strange look in her eye. She became very quiet and still, staring deep into my eyes. I could have bet my last lira that what I saw was a spark of madness in my mother's eye. "No. Not everyone, at least.
Maybe just one." Angelo had fell asleep by then, along with Vito and Angela. Just as I was falling asleep, I heard Mama leave the room. I closed my eyes for what felt like a few minutes, but it had been two hours at least. When my eyes opened the front door had opened, and Mama could be heard welcoming Papa. There was a storm brewing, which was strange for that time of year. After ten minutes or so, there were door slamming and hushed voices trying to quietly yell over each other. It seemed to last forever.
I snuck to the kitchen, listening to them arguing. Mama was saying she was tired of working, being alone with us, Papa neither being at home not bringing in money. She said he should stay out like the dog that he was. A lonely, mangy dog. As my father left, I went running to the door calling for him. "Papa!! Papa!!! Come back!! Don't leave me!!" Mama grabbed me the shoulders, pulling me back into the house. "No! I want Papa!!" I yelled over and over. Mama had no more patience. And finally took me by the shoulders, facing me in the eyes. "Go to bed like a good bambina. Or they will come. They will come only for you." She warned me.
"You wouldn't, Mama." I said quietly. "You couldn't." I said again. Thunder and lighting boomed and crackled. Then thunder boomed again. "Go to bed. Or I will say the words. One less child. One less mouth to feed. Maybe you will have a better life. Who knows." The look in my mother's eye only intensified "What are you going to do, Mama?" I asked with tears in my eyes, pressing my back against the wall.
"I wish. I wish..." Mama began to chant. A thunderous roar filled the villa, lighting following and striking twice. And then, Mama said the words." Io la strega del villaggio del sud chiamo il re degli indesiderati il sovrano del labirinto e custode dei sogni per portare via questa bambina."
I felt a pull, and then a man was walking towards me. "Hello. Sophia." He said. "Want to play a game?" He asked. He handed me a crystal ball, and sat me with some weird looking creatures. I was so afraid, but I remembered that Angelo always told me to fake it until I felt it. He always seemed so brave to me." Fear not. They won't harm you." I looked at his beautiful blue eyes. "Who are you?" I asked. "A friend." He answered. "Where is Mama?" I asked again. "Look inside. You will see her. I will return, but first she must prove that she really wants you back." I took a look, and saw Mama calling my name, screaming for me.
All the candles had blown out. She quickly lit them. "Sophia! Sophia!" she called. "This isn't funny!" She ran from room to room, even looking in the pantry. "You won't find her." She heard a man's voice, accent thick, and felt her blood wax cold. She stood in front of the dresser, slowly opening a drawer. She grabbed a pistol, turning to the voice hiding the gun as she turned. She faced the stranger, taking upon his blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a poets shirt and tight pants. Had it been a different situation, Mama would surely have blushed. His blond hair was short, and slicked back, and he looked like one of the local gypsies mother always seemed to despise.Yet, he didn't look any bit less than regal.
"Who are you?" She asked. "Oh. I think you know very well who I am. Strega!" He said with accusation. "I have been called Mazzamurello, others have associated me the strie, but none of that is important." The man said. Mama gazed carefully at the man, turning slightly to her right. "You are suppose to be a story we tell our Bambinos so they behave. Seeing you here, I fear that is not the case. You are not of this world." She said. "What have I done? You must give me back my child." Mama said, stepping closer to him. "I came to offer you your dreams for the child."
The man said, making a crystal appear in his hand. Mama stopped walking and gave him a calculating look. "I want my bambina back. I do not want these foolish dreams." She countered. "Really? I can make your husband get a raise in salary and position at work. He can be home while someone else slaves for the slops. You will have enough money that you could pay someone to do your wash. Do you want that?" He asked again, showing her the crystal. Mama looked deeper into the crystal. " No more hemming, stitching, pricking your finger, one less mouth to feed. You are already having another girl.
You can replace her for this one. And no one but you will ever remember." Mama walked closer. " No. I can't. I must not." He sighed, as a clock appeared. "Then you must run the Labyrinth. You have thirteen hours. You must reach the center of the Labyrinth, before she belongs to me...forever." As the man began to fade away, the clock began to run. Mama took the pistol into view, shooting in the man's direction. "Give me back my bambina!!!" She yelled as she pulled the trigger. The iron bullet seemed to have hit it's mark, as she heard a deafening feral scream. "Such a pity. That will teach him to mess with my family, including future generations. What a pity." And with that, Mama's thirteen hours began.
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Well, that is the first half. Boy, did that take alot out of me. I didn't think I had it in me, but there it goes. I hope you have enjoyed the first half. There are two more halves to this story. I have always read about writing taking alot out of writers, and now I am understanding why. Please review and ask questions if you have them. The Italian is off if Google so I am sorry if the translation is sketchy. Tell me if you love it. Tell me if you hate it. Oh. And I would love to hear your theories on what happened to Sophia's father. On the Golden Girl's show we only met two siblings, and Regina was mentioned on an episode. Vito might have been an Uncle from Sal or Sophia. For the purpose of the story, he will be Sophia's brother. He will be one of the two that Sophia might have been engaged to for sometime. We won't ever know. Thank you again for your time.
