The Fate of the Sleeping Dame

On the edge of the countryside there lay a modest kingdom, fighting to remain in existence. King Frederick and Queen Aveline, the kind monarchs, were beginning to grow older and uglier. They had no children; Aveline was barren and could not bear a child and because of this, she fell into a deep depression that no one could shake her from. The only way for their kingdom to flourish once they were gone was for a child of theirs to marry into another kingdom, but since this could not be so the townsfolk wept and mourned in despair, knowing they would have to find somewhere else to live without their beloved king and queen.

One beautiful spring day while Aveline was wandering around in the wood as a therapeutic way to cope with her deep set depression, a frog hopped across her path and gazed up at her with bulging wet eyes. She sighed and made to move around it, but it sprung up and clutched her leg with its slimy feet. Shrieking, she kicked it off and attempted to stomp it into the dirt, but a voice stopped her.

“Dear Queen, do not be afraid! I bear news - good news, great news! Calm yourself and you shall receive it,” said the frog.

The Queen screamed again, but the rumbling voice of the frog caught her ear with a few specific words.

“Within the next year you shall bear a child, the most beautiful girl in all the kingdoms, and then you shall keep your own kingdom alive,” the frog continued. “She shall marry a prince and bring you glory.”

Aveline ran back to the castle and bolted herself into her chamber, equivocating whether to believe the words of the frog or not. Finally she decided it couldn’t hurt to believe she could bear a child, although for all her years she could not, and told the news of her stroll to the king. His reaction was the same as hers – it couldn’t be possible and yet, what have they got to lose in believing the words of this frog? Anything could happen – magic was not unheard of throughout the kingdoms.

A few months passed and it seemed that the frog’s words were coming true. The queen’s belly became swollen with a child. Through the duration of the pregnancy, Aveline’s depression lifted and she was as joyful as ever. The king was delighted to see this change and held a great banquet for when the child was born; he invited everyone in the kingdom, even the seven Elder Faeries. However, the king decided against fetching the Elder Faerie that was nearly on the outskirts of the kingdom, as she had wronged the monarchs more than she had helped. The last thing he wanted was for something to go wrong and have their precious child given an abhorrent gift.

The day finally came and Aveline birthed the radiant baby girl, naming her Aurora. She was darling, with eyes like the summer sky and hair of light silk. The king and queen instantly fell in love with her and wanted to show everyone what a gift she was. And so the banquet was held, filling up the dining hall to the brim with happy folk, music, and food. Soon the time came for the Elder Faeries to bestow their gifts upon Aurora and in turn each one gazed upon the babe and gave her virtue, beauty, and riches among other things. The seventh was preparing to give her gift when the doors to the hall burst open, revealing the uninvited Elder Faerie.

“It seems you have started the festivities without me,” she purred, hobbling toward Aurora’s cradle. She squinted her beady eyes at the child and sneered. “Since you have deigned invite me, dear King, I shall bestow your darling child with the most glorious gift I can give. On her eighteenth birthday, she will give into her curiosity and prick her finger upon a spinning wheel, falling down dead.”

The gathered crowd gasped and began shouting protests which the Elder Faerie quieted with a glare. She wheezed out a horrific laugh as she watched the terror on the king’s and queen’s faces. Aveline stumbled over to the cradle to hold her child close to her bosom. The Elder Faerie disappeared in the blink of an eye and left the hall speechless.

The seventh Elder Faerie spoke softly, reminding them that she still had something to give. The king pleaded with her to take back what the uninvited Elder Faerie had done, but the seventh said it could not be done. She could only soften the sentence. With that, she turned the fate of death into a deep sleep that only an expression of true love could break. Immediately following this, the king ordered every spinning wheel to be burned.

As Aurora grew up, her parents kept a very close eye on her, which she despised greatly. They never allowed her to wander further than the castle walls even when she longed to venture through the woods and explore. Her heart was caged and she didn’t have many friends – this made her crazy and depressed much like her mother before.

At last, one of the maids that had come from a distant kingdom to work at the castle decided to sneak little Aurora outside in order to let her be free. However, she did not know about the spinning wheel and Aurora’s fate, so she thought the King and Queen were being exceedingly harsh on the poor teenager when she so much desired just to go outside and dance among the trees. Every night she heard her longing and crying out to the starry sky to take her away. Her soul was trapped and needed the nourishment that freedom provided. The maid pitied her and so disguised her as a maid and let her out the back toward the forest. Aurora thanked her continuously, her face lighting up in a way that the maid had never seen before.

Aurora ran into the forest and threw herself down upon a pile of leaves, giggling with joy. The creatures of the forest were attracted to her and enjoyed the freedom with her, jumping around and twittering along with her songs. She loved it so much that when she returned to the castle, she begged the maid to let her go out at least once every week, to which the woman agreed. What harm would be done? She was just a curious child in need of the adventure.

Every Tuesday evening when the king and queen were occupied in a meeting, the maid snuck Aurora out. One night, Aurora ran into a boy about her age in the wood playing much like she was. At first she didn’t know how to react, but then he smiled at her, stuck his hand in the mud by the stream he had been playing in, and threw it at her. A mud fight began between the youngsters and instantly they were friends. When it was time for them to leave, they promised they would meet each other in the wood every Tuesday and play.

This pattern carried on until they were older, Aurora on the edge of eighteen and the boy, Philippe, nearly twenty. All that time, however, neither of them thought it important to disclose that they were heirs to their respective kingdoms – in their eyes they were just friends, not a prince and princess. Aurora’s parents and Philippe’s parents had no idea of their relationship.

On Aurora’s eighteenth birthday a huge feast was held in her honor and she received many gifts. It was a fun day, but she couldn’t stop thinking of Philippe and wishing he were there to celebrate with her, but of course she could not tell her parents about him. That would lead to many questions she didn’t want to answer and she didn’t want to get the gracious maid in trouble.

That evening, after everything was over, Aurora went up to her bed chamber and got dressed for the night. She walked out onto her balcony to overlook the forest that had helped raise her and noticed a door that she couldn’t recall ever being there before. She crossed the balcony and opened it, stepping lightly up the spiral staircase until she reached the top. There in the room sat a spinning wheel, but she didn’t know what it was. Finding the thing wondrous and intriguing, she went over to it and examined it, running her hands over the wheel until she accidentally poked her finger on the needle. She fell to the ground, eyes closed, chest moving slowly up and down. It wasn’t until morning when her mother was calling her down to breakfast that she was found. Aveline wept as the servants laid Aurora down in her bed.

In the next Tuesday that passed, Philippe awaited Aurora’s presence for hours, wondering where she could be. Having watched her go in a specific direction when she left, he sought her out. At last he came upon a kingdom where the castle was overgrown with thorns. He found this strange, but when he ventured further into the town, the people all seemed very sad. He asked for Aurora many times and each person turned their face away in sorrow. Confused and frustrated, he thought perhaps he could get an audience with the monarchs, seeing as he was a prince, and ask them if they knew of the girl.

A handful of people were standing outside the thorn castle looking very grim. He approached them and introduced himself. The king and queen came forth, eyes red and cheeks sad, and inquired what a prince from his kingdom wanted there.

“Aurora,” he said firmly. “I am searching for a girl by the name of Aurora. Do you know where I might find her?”

Aveline began to weep and the king consoled her before turning piercing eyes on the boy. A short interrogation was had and Philippe confessed he had been seeing her in the forest every Tuesday. The king told him that she was unreachable and in a deep sleep; he’d have to forget her and move on. Philippe, determined now because of the impossibility, asked him which room was hers and promised to save her. Frederic, at the end of his rope, allowed the boy his permission but held the sinking hope in his heart that he would die trying.

Philippe borrowed a horse, galloped back to his kingdom and gathered a small force with weapons to cut through the thick thorns surrounding the castle. In haste, he returned and began hacking away, steadfast and certain he would prevail. The rest of the men in his force didn’t have much luck, but Philippe managed to find a doorway and chopped with his sword until it gave. He stormed through the dining hall and searched the castle, never stopping even when more thorns grew up ferociously through the ground and tore at his clothes and skin.

Finally he got to Aurora’s chambers, blood dripping from multiple gashes over his body, one coloring his cheek. When he gazed upon her he smiled, and said, “Aurora…all that time we spent in the wood and I could never tell you, but now, I have no fear. I love you, Little Briar-Rose, and I want you to be my Queen.”

Caught up in the passion, he bent over and kissed her delicately on the lips. Her blue eyes slowly opened and cleared themselves of sleep and when she saw him, she smiled too.

“Philippe,” she murmured, “that would make me so very happy.”

Immediately the thorns withered and died away, leaving the castle free once more and the town rejoiced, knowing the spell was broken. Both kingdoms were overjoyed that their only children had found love and didn’t hesitate to throw a wedding. Aurora and Philippe were married and their kingdoms became one. They lived on happily for the rest of their days, always taking time to walk through the woods that had brought them together.

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A creative assignment written for my English class last semester. We had to take a fairy tale and modernize it/put our own twist on it. As is obvious, I chose Sleeping Beauty, which is probably my favorite fairy tale. 

The tone is supposed to be a bit silly and out there - hopefully I did it right. Anyway, enjoy.

V