White Snow

The birth of Snow White.

She cut a rose from one

of the bushes that resided

outside her bedroom window.

Snow serenely fell onto the

ground as the woman shivered

from the cold wind.

 

As her hand gently caressed

the rose's stem, she drew

it back slightly, for

she had pricked her middle

finger on one of the rose's

nasty thorns.

 

She watched in awe as a

single drop of blood fell

into the white snow that

had gathered on her window sill.

The droplet stained the snow

an admirable crimson.

What a lovely color,

she thought as she stroked

the ebony shutters.

 

"Hair as black as ebony,

lips as red as blood,

skin as white as snow."

 

The woman looked down

happily upon her newborn

daughter and kissed her

tiny head tenderly. The

newborn stirred slightly

but didn't awake from

her quiet slumber. The

woman smiled up at her

husband, her eyes sparkling

with tears of joy.

Right then, a sharp pain

ripped through her body,

her heart beating slowly.

Her eyes fluttered shut

and her breathing stopped.

The hands that held the

newborn gently released

their grip and slipped away.

 

The husband took his

daughter in his arms,

crying softly over the

death of his wife.

 

Into the cold winter's night

he wandered. He embraced

his daughter against his

chest for warmth.

 

"My dear daughter...my dear

Snow White...I love you..."

Author's Note

I have always loved the traditional tale of Snow White. The blood, the madness, the three tortures the stepmother puts her through, and, of course, the well-earned happily ever after. What intrigues me most about the tale is the level of darkness within it. Snow White goes through two tortures (a poisoned comb and a strangling bodice) before biting into the poisoned apple. At the end of the story, the stepmother gets her due when she danced in hot iron shoes at Snow White's wedding. Then, she dies soon after.