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Lakewood Times

Lakewood Times

Lakewood Times

    “A Maleficent Chain of Events” by Taylor Hargate

    I arrived at King Stefan and Queen Leah’s castle during the christening of their newborn daughter, Aurora. I soon became enraged as I saw hundreds of heads turning toward me as I entered through the corridor; it had already started and I was not informed. I stared at Aurora in disbelief and with jealousy from the end of the corridor; how could I—the Mistress of All Evil—be excluded from an infant’s christening. 

    “Stefan!” I said, addressing the king with contempt as I walked through the aisles of chairs. “I am displeased to know that you did not invite me to celebrate this wonderful moment with you,” I sneered and said mockingly. 

    “You’re not welcome here,” a high-pitched voice called to me from somewhere above. It was one of the pathetic fairies that King Stefan decided to have throughout his castle. Still, I was offended and irate. 

    “I’m not welcome here?” I said laughing to the fairy. “You’ll remember this day–the day you chose your daughter’s destiny,” I paused, looked at the smiling child, and decided, “before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, Aurora will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die!”

    The church fell quiet after I heard gasps from every direction in unison. Abruptly, I lifted my golden staff and Diablo, my servent raven, landed on my shoulder and we exited the church. As I headed back to my lair I was consumed with disgust and demise for King Stefan. He has betrayed me before, and now, I know that he would never betray me again as I planned to make his life miserable. I wouldn’t let him betray me. I’d take away what he cherished the most. 

     

    For sixteen years I sat–I waited–for the day that Aurora would prick her finger on a spindle. King Stefan and Queen Leah had sent the child far into the forest, to a place where I would not be able to detect her, and with fairies to guard her. My curse is Aurora’s inevitable destiny whether I know where she is or not, so I sat with perfect posture as my raven, Diablo, circled around the room.

    “Today is the day,” I began as adrenaline rushed through my veins. I was ecstatic to treat King Stephan as he treated me when we were younger; I began to reminisce about when I was a girl–when I sought to protect the moors–I lead Stefan back to the human world. I fell in love with him. He was a lost, poor orphan boy who had repaid me by drugging me; he couldn’t invite me to a child’s christening. My sense of excitement soon to rage as my blood began to rush through my veins and my pulse beat harshly. I decided that today would be a rather lucky day to find Aurora and set off with my staff and raven. 

    It wasn’t difficult to find the girl, her fairies brought her to the castle to await her birthday celebrations. I devised a plan to lure Aurora away from the castle; I arrived, viewing the girl for the first time since she was a baby. She had indeed grown up to be beautiful, yet I knew that it was time to fulfill the curse. 

    She stood alone, in a back room, keeping herself from the guests that were expecting her appearance. Since she had never seen me before, I bravely entered the room with my raven.

    “Aurora, darling! Why I haven’t seen you since you were a baby,” I faked a smile and placed my hand on her shoulder. “Come with me, why don’t you, I have the greatest gift for you.” The girl, naive, followed me as I lead her to a dark tower away from the fairies. I knew that it wouldn’t be long before the fairies noticed that Aurora was gone, so I brought her to a room deep in the tower where a cursed spinning wheel spun and I assured her that whatever the wheel landed on would be her gift. Enraged that the wheel would not stop spinning, I watched Aurora as she attempted to stop the wheel with her own hand and pricked her finger on the spindle. Her white face grew pale as a small drop of blood fell from her finger. Aurora collapsed to the ground, her blonde hair framed her face as the color in her skin began to fade. I couldn’t help but to feel a sense of elation take over my body. I looked around anxiously, and left the girl laying cold at the bottom of the tower; I knew people would be coming soon. 

     

    Word traveled quickly about the “Sleeping Beauty”. I became enraged that the three fairies had enchanted Aurora, placing her in a deep slumber that could only be interrupted by a true love’s kiss. My servants identified Aurora’s love as Prince Phillip; the only way to fulfill the curse was to take him out of the picture. 

    I arrived at Prince Phillip’s castle and approached with stealth. I watched the prince for a while, deciding how to capture him. 

    “Help!” I screamed from behind a barrel hoping to attract his attention. “Help!”

    Prince Phillip turned around, and grabbed his sword–the sword of truth. “Where are you,” he called to me. “Yell again so I can find-” I grabbed him by the shoulder and placed my hand over his mouth. 

    “Don’t say anything,” I said staring into the prince’s brown eyes. His face turned into an expression of pure terror as his eyes grew larger every moment that he looked at me. I smiled and wrapped a chain around his wrists so I could keep the man still.

     I lead him to my lair, and chained him to a wall so that he would not be able to rescue Aurora. The prince had on a red cape and hat, with a dark brown shirt and beige pants. I noticed that his sword was still in his sheath and ordered Diego to retrieve it from him. 

    “Diego! Seize his sword and bring it to me.” I said as I watched the prince struggle in his chains. The raven flew overhead and landed on Prince Phillip’s thigh; Diego placed his beak on the hilt of his sword and pulled it out of the sheath with force and brought it to me. The Sword Of Truth was engraved into the side of the blade, and I could see my own reflection in the sword; I could see my sharp cheekbones and purple and black robe define my facial structure while my black horns stood straight toward the ceiling. As I admired my own appearance, I saw three small fairies appear in the reflection of the sword. I turned around abruptly and was shocked at what I saw in front of me: Aurora’s fairy godmothers.

    “Leave him alone!” Flora, the tallest frairy, shouted. She wore a red gown and had a strong-willed personality. 

    “Leave him alone?” I questioned. “You come to my liar and expect me to leave him alone? I am perplexed and amused at the fact that you thought it would be that easy.”

    Flora scoffed and began, “That sword you have,” she pointed to the sharp, clean sword of truth. “I created it and the invulnerable Shield of Virtue–I conjure the Sword of Truth and Shield of Virtue.” Immediately, the sword that I was gripping onto firmly vanished from my hands and appeared next to the fairies, along with a shiny shield. I was astounded and enraged. 

    “Diablo!” I shouted desperately. “Show these fairies out the way that they came.” Diablo flew to the fairies, attempting to push them out of the window that they had flown through earlier. The three fairies used their numbers to their advantage and cast a spell on Diablo that forced him to the ground. “No!” I pleaded. 

    Flora broke the shackles off of Prince Phillip’s wrist and threw him the sword. I couldn’t help but face defeat. I was enraged and could feel my body begin to transform. I broke through the top of my tower and watched the fairies frantically try to get Phillip to safety. They lead Prince Phillip to Aurora and I followed, breathing hot fire from my mouth. I could see the people at the castle running in fear as I–a dragon–circled the kingdom from above. I surrounded the castle with thorns in attempt to keep Prince Phillip away from the entry, but enchanted by the fairies, he threw his sword of truth directly toward my chest. 

    Black spots began to fill my vision and I could feel my body fall quickly to the ground. I waited to feel the force from the ground meet my body, but to my surprise, I never felt it–I kept falling. I tumbled over the edge of the cliff; I remember wondering about King Stefan as I fell to  my death. I couldn’t open my eyes, no matter how desperately I tried to, and I tried to grasp onto to a branch–anything–as I slowly fell. To my defeat, I smacked the water that was now high above me, as Prince Phillip kissed Aurora, awakening her from the curse that defined her for her entire life. I thought to myself: revenge brought me to my downfall, and it is an evil thing. Then, everything went silent as all of the sensations left my body.

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