I post all of my fanfiction on three accounts. One is Archiveofourown under the username FangirlWriter1!, under the username is on the og site FanficNet (I can't label it correctly in the program) DaniMason, and on Wattpad under the name FangirlWriter. Finally, I have a Twitter (which is now X) Account with the username DaniMason2019. Please follow it for updates on my stories and other messages. I also have a Tumblr account with the username danimason2019.
Also, please check if your guys' settings have you signed up for email notifications if you are reading this story on . or Fanfiction (not Archive of our Own or Wattpad) I don't own the characters of The Forest Bride: The Story of a Little Mouse Who Was a Princess.
Now that is all out of the way, this is a story I wrote for college and I think this story is a good story to publish here as fnafiction! I hope you enjoy it!
-DaniMason
Olivia was nervous while she was standing before her English class, with her story to read out loud. In her AP English class, everyone was supposed to rewrite a fairytale or myth, and the catch? Everyone had to read it out loud to the class because of the asinine reason Since these stories were originally told orally, we are going to tell the stories out loud." Much to the dismay of Olivia. Olivia had always had a lot of trouble reading out loud. She would fight to make the words come out and she would always miss at least one word in a sentence. So Olivia had been practicing hard, memorizing her story with feverish determination.
Under the harsh fluorescent lights shining off of the speckled white tiles, and the harsh white walls, she took a deep breath. To break up the white torture room her teacher had put up some posters with literary references. There was a poster with all the classics that you needed to read before dying. Personally, Olivia thought that it was malarkey since Treasure Island was on there and it was just like any other pirate story since apparently it was so iconic that people just had to use the same formula roughly again and again. Focus Olivia she thought to herself and she took a deep breath and began.
"This story is my rewrite of a fairytale from the book Nordic Tales Folktales from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Denmark. The story I am rewriting is called The Forest Bride: The Story of a Little Mouse Who Was a Princess."
Once upon a time in the countryside of Finland, there was a farmer. The weather was harsh with long winters. He had three sons who were now of age to get married. On one summer day when the sun was nice and warm, the farmer gathered up his sons.
"My three sons, it is time for you guys to think about your future. As you know, our family has a tradition. The man will cut down a tee on the farm and where the tree points once you chopped it down, that is where you will find your bride. This method has not failed."
So the sons grabbed their axes and started chopping. The oldest son chopped down the tree first and it fell pointing north. To the oldest son's pleasure because he knew that north of the farm there was another farm that had a gorgeous girl living there and she was in the market for a husband.
The oldest said "Yes! There is a girl north to of us who is stunning! She has curves that are pure magic and long blonde hair"
The second son's tree was the second to fall and it landed south. This thrilled the second youngest son since he had been dancing with a girl to the south of his family farm, on her family farm whenever they could sneak time away.
"I got a good choice too. To the south, there is a girl whom I dance with. She loves me and I have to admit, I love the way we move around on her family fields." he said, his voice dripping with innuendo
The third son whose name was Veikko cut down his tree. However, unlike his brother's trees, he landed to point right at the forest,
Veikko's brothers with wide mocking grin, said "Ha! Ha! You will have to go and court a pretty fox. Or worse, a Shapeshifter. Makes sense for you to get the shameful option."
Veikko however, was perfectly all right with taking his chances going into the thick forest for a bride. The tradition after all had not caused a unhappy union yet. So Veikko packed a bag with his lunch of bread and cheese. He also decided he could not go empty-handed if he found someone to be his bride. So he got a bottle of fine aged red wine and put it in his bag. He sat out on his journey with the summer sun beating down on his tanned skin. The forest was thick and lush with trees and ferns covering the forest floor. Veikko was nervous. In the forest, there were shapeshifters they were considered second-class citizens since they were regarded as part animals. They were considered that way since they would transform into their animal form and often stay in it for long periods of time. This was because it was painful for them to be in their human form for long periods of time. Veikko was worried because his family could be very cruel to others, and they had no love for Shapeshifters, and he was worried about the future of his future bride.
After a while of walking he was tired, Veikko then sat down on a rock to rest. He wiped a hand on his forehead pushing aside the dirty blonde hair falling in his face. He was resting, looking at the scenery of the ferns and the trees with the sunlight breaking through the treetops. Then a mouse cscurried up on the smaller rock next to him. The mouse with the brown fur started speaking. This mouse was Alina and she was not a normal mouse, she was a shapeshifter.
"What is your name?"
"Veikko. What is your name?"
"Aina. So what brings you to the forest? You don't look like a merchant?"
"My family has a tradition where the man chops down a tree and in the direction it lands, that is where you will find your bride. Now that I am here, I am a little lost Aina. I am not sure how to find a bride here, I mean I am just a farmer's son, the youngest son even. Do you know of anyone that is looking to get married?"
"Yes. I would like to be married, I am getting tired of fighting for shelter and food. I can be a good wife. If you will have me I may be a Shapeshifter, but I can bake a good white bread with no impurities. I can also weed the strongest yet sheer beautiful fabric in this area."
Veikko looked at the mouse and said "I think I have seen your stuff at the marketplace, the fabric is strong. Are you sure you would want to marry me? My family is not kind to the shapeshifters and while I would protect you, the truth is I do not have a place on my own yet."
"Yes, we can build a place together."
"Okay. So I want to know about you now."
Aina started, "Well I used to be a princess but I was cursed because of my parents, they tried to get me to marry a prince from another kingdom. I did not want to marry him since he was not a nice man, to say the least. So a witch from the prince's kingdom cursed me on what I suspect to be the King and Queen's orders from that kingdom. My parents disowned me and I had to learn how to be a mouse most of the time in the forest. To top it all off, I did not know how to live without a bunch of servants." she finished off strongly with only a slight tremor in her voice which was the only indication of her feelings.
Veikko lowered his hand down for Aina to climb into. With a touch of hesitation, since most hands were not kind to her, she did climb in them. He cradled her in his hands softly talking to her.
"I am so sorry you had to live through that. You should have been loved."
Aina felt tears falling down her face. This man was just so nice to her. The words that echoed through her soul were "I chose right." After he released her, she decided to transform into her human form so he could see her. The transformation caused searing pain through her body, her muscles stretched torturously and her bones painfully came into place.
Veikko could not believe that this woman changed into her human form just for him. She was etherial to Veikko. She had long golden hair that fell across her body in loose curls, white skin with pink cheeks, and finally gray eyes. In awe, Veikko grabbed her hand gently. Aina took his hand and put on her hair. When he started to stroke her hair, she loved the callouses and how they would slightly snag on her hair. She leaned into his hand. After a minute Aina decided to make the first move, she was not going to rely on anyone to do what she wanted. She gently grabbed his chin with her thumb and index finger and pulled it down. She leaned in then she gently kissed him. It was a sweet kiss filled with promises of what the future held for them.
Hours passed by and Veikko and Aina just kept talking and talking. Plans about the future and their hopes and dreams filled the clearing with the trees being the only witness to a man talking with his future bride as she stood on his lap in her mouse form. When it got dark Veikko realized that he had to get going back to his family's farm. Aina decided to go with him. It was dark and she was the only one that could see in the dark. She did not love her betrothed yet but he was rapidly worming his way into her heart, breaking down her walls. If she was being honest, this was scaring her a bit. What was it about this man that made her defenses fall down like the Walls of Jericho? However, this was to be her husband so she just decided for once to just let go.
Veikko was nervous about that plan but he knew she was right. He could not see where he was going without her help. Veikko did not like his family at all though and if he had his way, she would never see them at all. When he worked hard, his brothers slacked off and made him do their work too. His father's issues were not as obvious but they were there. His father came off as outgoing and charming to everyone. But when he was mad, he was mad, all three of his sons had been viciously beaten by him at least once when they were younger. And then there was what Veikko refused to think about, what happened to his Mom? One day just disappeared. When the forbidden thoughts crept in, Veikko sometimes wondered if his father had something to do with it. Once he got home with Aina in his hands, his father and brothers were waiting for him.
"Hello, this is my bride, her name is Aina. We will be building a house for us soon."
He pushed past them and took her to his room. He set up a nest for her and set up the wine bottle that he got for her as a thank-you for marrying him. In the middle of the night, the father broke into Veikko's room with a bowl of water. He picked up Aina and before she could scream, he shoved her into the bowl and drowned her with an evil grin adorning his face. From the grasp of his large, boorish hands her last thought before everything went dark was Please God, I want Veikko. I want more time.
In the morning with the sun peaking through the linen Veikko woke up to the distressing sight. Aina in the bowl floating face down. He ran over to her and picked her up, she was cold to the touch.
"Oh god! No, no, no, no, no!"
He carried her over to his bed and set her down, He cried over her body devastated at her death and the gruesome ending of her precious but short life. The tears landed on her body until a few minutes later, something magical happened. Her body changed into her human form and her eyes blinked as life rushed into her eyes.
"Veikko!" Aina cried out.
Veikko startled and he saw Aina alive it was the most beautiful sight, and she was healed. It did not hurt her to be human anymore, he could tell by how quickly she moved to hug him. They cried tears of joy together. They ran off to the woods that very day and started building their farm and home. The soil was fertile and they never went hungry.
The End.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Olivia lifted her head from her papers, she was done. With a large smile threatening to take over her face, she realized that she read her story out loud perfectly. She did not miss a word once, lose her place, or struggle to say the words out loud. Feeling giddy like she could take over the world, she quietly sat down in her desk chair.