Once there was a young Enchantress who encompassed all the beauty of the sun and the stars. She had not a care in the world, and possessed an aura of mystery that captivated every man who passed her by. One night she caught the eye of a fine man at a gala. He wooed her with his wit and charm, and all night they danced and drank champagne. He then took her to bed. When the morning sun rose he was gone, and had left her with nothing but a child growing within her.
The Enchantress gave birth to a radiant baby girl whom she named Amaya, or beloved. She was a very good mother. She showered her daughter with love and cared for her more than she cared for her own life. She gave her everything she wanted; she would have given her the whole Kingdom if she could.
One day Amaya was tending to the garden behind their house. The Enchantress was teaching her the proper way to plant rampion, one of her daughter’s favorite foods, when suddenly a group of savages assaulted them. Two of them grabbed Amaya and carried her away, despite her fervent kicking and shrieking. The Enchantress fought and fought but could do nothing except watch in anguish as her only child was stolen from her.
Years passed and the Enchantress grew old and gnarled. She built a high wall that surrounded her garden. Every night she kept watch, hoping in vain that her daughter would come back to her. On one particular night she watched a man climb the wall to her garden and steal her rampion. She was outraged, but very calculated. She bewitched the plant so that anyone who ate it would have an insatiable desire for it. The next night she waited for the man to come again, as she knew he would, and when she saw him stalk into her garden, she confronted him. He towered over her, and in that moment she could not separate him from the savages who took her daughter so many years ago.
“How can you dare descend into my garden and steal my rampion like a thief?” she snarled. “You shall suffer for it!” The man fell on his hands and knees and pleaded with the Enchantress. He told her of his wife; how she said she would die without it, so he fetched the rampion for her as he was willing to suffer the worst consequences if it meant keeping her alive.
In that moment she saw the rarest form of love in the man’s eyes and she could no longer associate him with the savages. She wanted to show him mercy, but not without penalty. She told the man that he could take all the rampion his wife could ever desire in return for his first born child. She promised to care for the child as her own, with all the love a mother could give. The man agreed, took the rampion, and sealed his daughter’s fate.
When the time had come, the Enchantress took the baby girl away not a minute after her birth. She named her Rapunzel. True to her word, the enchantress showered the girl with love. She used her powers to give the girl everything she possibly could: the intelligence of a scholar, the voice of a thousand angels, and the beauty she herself once had. She gave Rapunzel stunningly long blonde hair that never stopped growing.
As Rapunzel got older and became even more beautiful, her voice even more haunting, the Enchantress grew frightened for her safety. She would not let Amaya’s fate fall upon her as well. She brought Rapunzel to a tall tower deep in the forest with no doors and only a tiny window at the very top. She told Rapunzel she was never to leave, and when the Enchantress wanted to visit her she would call out:
Rapunzel, Rapunzel,
Let down your hair to me.
Rapunzel was then to throw down her hair so she could climb up.
Life went on like this for many years and both were happy. The Enchantress would bring back wonderful gifts for Rapunzel, like hand woven baskets, intricate blown glass, and decadent food. She showed her pictures of all the places she had traveled to satisfy her curiosity of the outside world. She would indulge her in stories of fascinating people of all different cultures. It was as if Rapunzel was going on amazing adventures without the potential for danger.
Then one day Rapunzel asked a question of an entirely different sort.
“Tell me, Dame Gothel, how it happens that you are so much heavier for me to draw up than the young king’s son-he is with me in a moment.” The Enchantress was visibly shaken. Images of savage men stealing her daughter away flooded her mind. This man would do the same to Rapunzel!
“What do I hear you say! I thought I had separated you from all the world, and yet you have deceived me!” In her panic she wrapped Rapunzel’s beautiful braids around her hand and cut them clean off. They fell flat to the ground and lay there limp, discarded. But the King’s son still knew where she lived; he might be able to find a way to steal her even without her long tresses. So the Enchantress decided to take Rapunzel to the desert, where she would be safe.
When the King’s son came again that night, the Enchantress fastened Rapunzel’s severed braids to the hook of the window and let them down to him. When he climbed through the window she pounced on him. She made sure he knew he would never be able to hurt Rapunzel.
“Aha! You would fetch your dearest,” she said condescendingly, “but the beautiful bird sits no longer singing in the nest; the cat has got it, and will scratch out your eyes as well. Rapunzel is lost to you; you will never see her again.” She looked at him smugly, awaiting his response. But to her surprise something flashed in his eyes. He walked backwards as if in a daze, turned toward the window, and jumped. The Enchantress flew to the window, and peered down below to see the prince sprawled out on a thicket of thorns, certainly dead.
The Enchantress leaned her back against the wall, willed herself to think. That flash in his eyes: she had seen that before in eyes of the man who stole her rampion so many years ago. That was the look of the rarest and deepest form of love. Oh no! She gasped in horror. The King’s son didn’t want to steal her; he wanted to make her his wife. Look what she has done. She wanted to give Rapunzel the Kingdom, but in the end it was she who stole her life.
The Enchantress was so distraught that she tore the golden braids off the window hook, formed them into a noose, and hung herself. Her body lay dangling in the tower forevermore, feet inches off the ground, eyes left open.
* Based on Rapunzel by the Grimm Brothers
Fairy Tales
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This is a very interesting story. It is truly filled a great plot of good and evil characters, it has a great lessen to learn with a happy ending. It was very creative to take an existing tale and turn it until a truly magical twist.