Fractured Fairytale

Years ago, a wealthy family lived in their mansion that overlooked a town. The family’s daughter, Arianna, had recently gotten married to a righteous man, and the newly wedded couple were anxious to start a family of their own. When the young woman fell pregnant, the entire family rejoiced, and threw a party in the town to celebrate the news. Music flooded the streets and people danced all through the night, and at one point in the night, everyone gathered around the lake with paper lanterns. All together, the people lit their lanterns and they released them into the air. The night sky was lit by what seemed like a million stars, and just like that, the night ended. 

 

In the midst of the happiness, a woman who bore no desire to join the party, heard the music coming from outside her window and cringed to the sound of laughter. You see, Gothel was very jealous of Arianna. She craved her family’s fortune, her fame, and most of all, her husband, with whom Gothel had very much been in love with for as long as she could remember. She refused to leave her house the night of the party, and instead, plotted her revenge against Arianna.

 

Several months later, Arianna gave birth to a beautiful little girl, and the couple named her Rapunzel, after Arianna’s favourite flower. Another party was thrown and the town celebrated by once more, sending off the paper lanterns into the sky. This time, the party lasted a couple of days. 

 

Gothel had been waiting for the perfect moment to execute her plan, and that time had finally come. 

 

The last night of the party, after everyone in town went to get some rest, Gothel came out of her house for the first time in days. The streets were quiet, and dark, as everyone was fast asleep. She walked up to the mansion, and after sneaking passed the security guard, asleep in his booth, she climbed up to the balcony of the second floor. She looked through each window, until she saw a crib, in the middle of a large room. Gothel picked the lock on the door and, while trying not to make a sound, walked up to the crib. For a brief moment Gothel hesitated. What if she got caught? What would they do to her? Would the man she loves and longs for, end up hating her? She shook those thoughts from her mind as she cradled the baby girl in her arms, careful not to wake her, and went out the way she came.

 

The next morning, after finding the empty crib, the couple panicked. The family sent out search parties and did everything they could to find the lost daughter. Eventually, days turned into months, and months turned into years, but the little girl was not found. Even if all hope seemed lost for the family, the couple insisted on releasing the floating lanterns once a year, on their daughter’s birthday, in hope that one day, their daughter would return.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *