Friday, 30 December 2011

Cinderella [Angela Carter Style] Part 2

The trees in Frankenwald seemed to be higher since the war had ended, and all of Bavaria smiled and cheered in victory; but the maiden would clean at night and hear the celebrations that were echoed across the woods. How she would wish that the day would come in which she could once again be free to walk the great woods, during day light to the city. The day in which she could speak to someone, anyone, and not be terrified of what could happen. The maiden would dream about all the possibilities the World held for her during her chores, but she knew that dreams were for children that have no hope.

The maiden had grown since the war. She changed from the young girl who would clean and scrape to a young woman, who was fearless yet cautious. Her body was still wholesome; but now long, dark and dazzling hair fell to the small of her back, luscious red lips replaced the mouth where once a tongue would stick out to people who angered her and curves replaced the previously flat figure. She was an adult. She was the picture of her mother and all the other women she would dream of being like; but even more desirable, a seductress in her innocence and purity. A feline look that would make a man’s heart melt. One look that would make a man's loins burn with desire.

A few weeks after the commemorations had died down in the city of Steinwiesen, Frankenwald Woods didn’t whoosh the sound of uncontrollable happiness to the maiden’s ears. Yet something bothered her in the wind, a smell maybe. Not quite knowing what to think of such a sensation, the maiden carried on her chores. Still, the girl never shrugged off that feeling, and one night, when the moon was sitting high in the dark sky, the maiden ventured for a walk. Of course she was not alone. Accompanying her were some of her trusted rodents, and a knife her mother used to have with her at all times, even when entertaining guests. Her most prized possession, the only thing that protected her from all evil. The girl was certain that her step-father and sibling would be sleeping deeply, and so she discovered that she was correct, as the wind did seem to be whispering something. Her name? Who knows! What the wind whispers only those with gifts can decipher.

Already far into the woods, the girl began to feel a chill. It was cold very quickly, and the rodents quickly disappeared at the change of temperature. The trees seemed taller than ever before, they were closing in on her. A gush of wind passed by her, leaving her body in a tremble. Smoke started to veer in from every direction. She was surrounded. Trapped. Yet the girl stood her ground, holding the knife, pointing it straight ahead of her. She was petrified, but showed no signs of it. ‘Brave… foolishly brave!’ the smoke seemed to hiss at her. This truth that she had heard about her so many times before, from her mother, her step-father…  and now the wind and smoke. She let her guard down at the statement, and in the midst of all her desperation, the moon disappeared. A great black cloud had covered it. Would it rain? It seems not. Still, whatever happened next was of unnatural proportions. Weird cannot define what the girl witnessed, but her sight would not lie. Accurate, full certainty, her eyes would not lie to her; for her dignity was in constant threat and she knew that she could never risk it.

In a sharp whistle, under the darkness of the sky, a shadow came to life, from the smoke and the wind, something solid and palpable sat in front of the maiden. There was a dark aura about the creature that dismayingly sat there. It was a woman, of fair skin with long, blond hair caressing her ankles, and eyes the colour of the bright blue sky. Her body was repulsive in its own perfection, with her glorious breasts so delicately placed on her chest, and her curves softly meeting each other at points. Her nudity was not pleasurable to look at, but uncomfortable. When she turned her head and her eyes met with the maiden’s, you could notice the darkness of her face, the shadows had taken over her, and her complexion was tainted by something concerning, frightful and maybe even sad.
In less than a second her body flew across the thirty metres separating their bodies, and now her face was less than three inches away from the girl’s. Slowly the creature came closer, put her hand on the maiden’s ear, sending shivers down her spine; shivers of an inexplicable excitement - and in a cold and resonating voice she hissed: ‘something bad and dangerous brings with it something good and wonderful, do not be scared, but be prepared! Your future is…’ Interrupted? What was it? What did the maiden’s future hold? Once the moon was visible again, the girl was in her knees without realising and the creature gone, the knife next to her and a sound nearing.

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