heavenly-musings

[heavenly-musings]

*struggles while writing* i suck and writing is hard

*remembers some ppl use ai* i am a creative force. i am uncorrupted by theft and indolence. i am on a journey to excellence. it is my duty to keep taking joy in creating.

[heavenly-musings]

Final Creative Writing Project - Rewrite a Fairytale; Rapunzel

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away. Where the grass was green, and the blazing sun rose over the hills only to set again in due time. In the distance, just beyond those lush highlands, a fortress. Unlike anything, anybody had ever seen. Surrounding the castle was a lively village. Homes, shops, tailors, and whatever else you desired could be found in the King’s community. The townspeople rose happily with their beloved sun. The women and children would spend their days dancing and baking sweets, while the men lifted their mugs in celebration of a job well done. 

On an unusually scorching day, the King’s son Jeremiah threw open the door to the maids quarters, a determined look in his dark eyes. “Where is my father?” He asked, his voice booming with worry. The servants gave him a quizzical stare, the lot of them unable to answer. 

“T-The garden, My Lord!” A heavyset woman in a dirtied apron stepped forward. Before she had finished her respectful bow, the Prince had darted out. Jeremiah ran throughout his cultivated home and out to the garden where he found, just as the servant said, his father. King Merek and his bride, Queen Johanne. 

“Father! I bring news. Heed my words.”  

“What ho, my son!” The chipper old man bellowed, a hearty grin across his scruffy cheeks. The Queen turned to the boy with a small smile, her round parasol shielding her delicate skin from the vicious rays of daylight. She waved her hand, signing a silent hello. Wasting not a single second, Jeremiah rushed through the graceful garden where his parents were sat in the grass, nibbling at beautifully decorated sandwiches. Are they really having a picnic? In this heat? No matter, the boy shook away the unnecessary thought. “Father, something terrible has occurred. You must come quickly. The citizens are hysterical.” He said, his voice rumbling with utter earnest. Merek nodded before heaving himself up. 

“I must go, My Dear. We have a business to attend to.” The King placed a loving kiss upon his betrothed’s gloved hand. She nodded before returning to her eloquent meal. The love the King and Queen share had always been something Jeramaiah envied. Though he was jealous, he felt lucky to have them both at his side. 

Rushing through the castle once more, the closer the two got to the entrance, the more commotion erupted from the cottage district. The moment the two stepped into the hot sun, they caught sight of the mob. Just then, a potent smell drifted through the afternoon breeze, causing Jeremiah to stop in his tracks. The smell was enough for the boy to throw his hands to his jaw, in fear of acid spewing from his mouth. 

“This scent, it’s revolting..” He said through a gag. King Merek’s nose twitched as well. As the men came upon the gaggle of citizens the smell only became all the more vicious. Pushing through the adults, the sight before them was even more dreadful than they could have imagined. The rotting corpse of a man, so utterly battered, he couldn’t even be identified, not even by his loved ones. The man's abdomen bore a gaping hole where his entrails should’ve been, Jeremiah felt his stomach lurch at the sight. The heat had caused the body to decompose at an absurd rate, and the odor.. It baffled the boy how a crowd could stand to be so close to the scene. While the King ordered everyone to take a step back, Jeremiah knelt beside the remains and said a prayer. 

“This must’ve been the wicked Rapunzel!”

“I’ve heard tell of a witch who calls to her victims!”

“‘Follow the tresses, to you I let down my hair.’ She says thrice!”

The murmured whispers of the frightened townspeople drifted through the boys ears so much so he could hardly focus on his holy words. Who is this Rapunzel? Could this truly be her doing? What beast could have possibly caused this and disturbed our peace? Jermaiah’s mind raced with questions that could be answered once the truth was uncovered. Once the prayer was complete, the boy stood and faced the crowd. “Where is this Rapunzel you speak of?” He asked, causing the voices to hush in an instant. They looked torn besides themselves, none of them could form a proper answer.

“T-They say she resides in the north, Majesty,” A small voice cuts through the crowd. A small girl, her hands clasped at her sides. “In a tall tower over the hill, that is where she lures them.”

The prince nodded thankfully and gave the girl a pat on the head, she had done well. He hesitated not as he rushed to the royal stables insearch of his horse. The midnight black steed huffed loudly as the prince strapped the saddle on and took his place. With a flick of the reigns, he and the mammal fled from their home, only one thing on their minds. I will find this Rapunzel and I shall hold her head in my hands. Those words repeated in Jeremaiah’s head as he rode. Hours passed during the nobleman's hunt. He combed the forests and the hills twice over and not once had he seen the tower. Hours stretched into days and onto weeks since he’d left, 

On that eerie night, he sat beside his makeshift campfire where he roasted those same mushrooms he’d been forced to dine on in the passing days. “I refuse to give up.” He spoke aloud, the wind carrying his declaration into the night sky to be spread throughout the stars. It was an unusually dark evening, so much so that nearly every light in the cosmos could be seen from his spot in the grass. He was almost able to get lost in them, just let his mind drift to wherever it wanted to be. Gazing up at the stars, the lids of the prince’s eyes began to flutter shut as if they weighed ten tons. But, the prince was not tired.. If anything he was being kept awake by the smell of his horse. Even so, he struggled to keep his eyes open. Was it the warmth of the fire? 

“Follow the tresses, to you I let down my hair. Come to me.”

A beautiful, sing-song voice carried through the air. It seemed to be beckoning the boy. But to where? He lifted his head, a faint light in the air, no bigger than a meer firefly. His hand had reached out toward it before he could even make heads or tales of what exactly it was. 

“Follow the tresses, to you I let down my hair. Come to me.”

The voice called again. 

Louder.

Closer.

“Come out! Where are you?!” Jeremiah shouted, reaching for his dagger. His body wavered as he attempted to stand on unsteady legs. The tiny lights flickered and taunted him, before splitting into two. Then four, eight. The boy attempted to shield his eyes but the lights dominated his vision until it all went black. He collapsed to the ground just as an ice cold gust of wind blew through the campfire, causing it to hush and dim. In the darkness, footsteps could be heard. Light and graceful through the greenery, as if dancing. The steps approached the boy before stopping. Her breath, as cold as the wind she brought forth, she whispered for the third time, “Follow the tresses, to you I let down my hair. Come to me.” 

When the prince awoke, he was in the dark, his hands bound tightly by something he couldn’t see. His heart thumped in his chest like the royal drum from his childhood. What is this? Is his life flashing before his eyes as they say? The boy's head rang with pain, much like the rest of his body. He cursed under his breath. Just then, what felt like a small critter scurried past his leg, causing him to jump frightfully. He’d hardly had enough time to regain his lost strength before he felt that same chill he felt before losing consciousness in the woods. It was her, he felt it. The heavy aura was unmistakable and oozed pure hatred.

“Welcome, your highness.” Her voice dripped with venom and practically swirled around the crowded space. Jeremiah could hardly tell where Rapunzel’s voice was coming from, his head turned with every word.

“How lucky are we to feast upon royalty, Mother!” She yelled with pure excitement to a woman who did not respond. Even so, Jeremiah hadn’t felt a second presence in the room. Who could she possibly be talking to? As if reading his mind, a rattling began eerily creeping toward the man’s cinched form. His eyes clenched as the source of the sound stepped into the dim light of moon. The partially decomposed carcass of a woman with that same gaping hole in her abdomen. Her hair was matted to her skull by blood that had dried long ago. The woman’s limbs were strung up like a marionette, held together by some sort of black threads. 

No. It was hair. 

Hair longer than the boy had ever seen, so long he couldn’t possibly see the head from which it stretched. The darkness was so thick it practically melded with the strands and created a demonic display. Jeremiah was sick to his stomach, no matter how tightly his eyes shut, he could still see Rapunzel’s mother affixed playfully like a toy. How could she have done this to her mother? The boy couldn’t help the tears that pooled in his eyes. But no, he’d come too far to simply give up. That dagger-- He kept it clenched in his hand before he’d collapsed. It was beyond him how the demon could be so careless, but the odds were in his favor. Slowly, carefully, he edged at the tresses as the wicked Rapunzel cackled and babbled to what was left of her mother. 

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!” She tittered, causing the puppet to jostle, the withered bones tapping the hardwood floor. Jeremiah noticed, as the strands slowly parted, they began to glow and illuminate the space. He hadn’t expected it, but there was no time to hesitate. Once he was freed, clutched the luminescent hair in his hands, using them as a torch. Left, then right, still no sight of the witch. Only piles of rotting corpses and nibbled bones. Crimson red covered nearly every inch of her tower.

“Where are you, wench!” He thundered, his blade shook with rage. When the slender but ghoulish figure finally stepped into the light, Jeremiah was bewildered at her beauty. As captivating as the ‘woman’ was, her jaw was stained with blood.. fresh blood. Had she been feeding while the boy was unconscious?  

“What will you do once you’ve killed me, Lord? It matters not. Wherever you go, I will be there. This is our happily ever after.” Rapunzel teased with what she believed to be a gentle smile spread across her lips. Her hair flowed behind her like a sinister shadow even in the deepest night. Jeremiah shook his head and with a spurt of adrenaline, he rushed her, plunging the dagger into her abdomen. 

How ironic.

The mother quickly dropped to the ground with a sickening thud. Her weak bones were finally released and snapped one by one. Although the witch refused to go down without a fight, she bit down into the prince’s shoulder, eager to taste noble blood. Wrapping Rapunzel in her own hair, he’d finally done it, he captured the vile demon with her own magical locks. He managed to escape the tower using those same tresses that caused him and his kingdom such dismay. Days passed until the prince found his way back to the Kingdom, a nearly perished Rapunzel at his side. He looked as if he’d just crawled out of hell with his bare hands and considering the nightmares he witnessed in Rapunzel’s tower, that wasn’t quite far from the truth. The citizens were overjoyed to see their Prince return home safely, especially the King and Queen who’d been worried sick. 

Rapunzel’s punishment was gruesome. Using her very own hair as a noose, she hung for all to see. She died as she lived some might say. In celebration of their land being freed from her curse, a festival was held and the peace was restored. In the end, Rapunzel’s lengthy, dark hair was severed from her lifeless skull, and just like the strands in the tower, it shone a beautiful gold. 

Jeremiah however left the affair traumatized yet dedicated. Dedicated to risking his life for those who believed in him. He could say his vow over and over until his lungs had turned to dust, but Rapunzel and her mother will live in his mind always. Taunting him, vexing him, pestering him.

It seemed the only thing that put his mind at ease was the armor he was awarded after being appointed as a Holy Knight. It had been infused with that familiar golden glow. 

Unfortunate as it may be, Jerimiah would carry Rapunzel with him everywhere he went until the day he died. Just as she said. In mind and body, they were one. 

[heavenly-musings]

lets go first blog post! im thinking of reposting some old writing to get myself started !