[Rated 12 for sinister themes? O_o]
Hi. So I've got to make an adaptation of a classic tale for my English homework, so I'm doing a 'dark' retelling of Godfather Death by the Brothers Grimm. This is whate I have so far:
Godfather Death
There once was a man who was gripped by the immortal hands of poverty. He worked almost constantly to feed his family; his pregnant wife and his twelve children. When his thirteenth child was born, he knew he had no way to support him; so he went to the highway in hopes of finding a godfather for the child.
He picked a dark night on which he could slip away undetected from his bed and wandered the lonely road. Nobody stopped to listen to him until, after several freezing hours, a man appeared before him.
The father started, for he had not noticed the newcomer, but they raised a hand to calm him. “Take me as your child’s godfather.” The man said calmly.
The father shivered, partly due to the cold and partly due to how the man seemed to know what he was going to say before he had even spoken. “Who are you?” he asked.
“I am God.” The man’s voice was still quiet and calm. He held up a hand and a holy light illuminated his face as if to prove it.
“Then you shall not be the godfather of my child.” The father replied tartly. “For you give to the rich and take from the poor.”
With that, he walked on. God stared after him for a while, but did not pursue him as he knew he could not change the father’s mind.
Another hour of darkness passed, the moon casting a gloomy light upon the path, distorting the shadows. The father was resting, leaning against a tree, made paranoid by the monstrous shadows, when a blinding flash pierced the darkness. He made to scream, but a hot hand clamped firmly over his mouth, muffling the sound. The father could feel warm breath against his ear – and a sinister hissing echoed through his head.
“Take me as your child’s godfather.” The creature said, its voice a moan and a roar at the same time. It released the father and slid round so that it could see his face.
The man steadied his breathing and then asked it what it was.
The monster laughed, then spoke again. “I am the Devil.”
“Then you shall not be my child’s godfather, for you deceive humanity and lead us astray.” The father’s words were laced with venom. He turned abruptly and walked away.
The Devil stared after him angrily. I should like to kill the fool, he thought.
A cold wind stung the father’s cheeks as he made his way home, disappointed at his failure. The night had lasted longer than normal, he thought to himself. Strange.
Another savage blast of freezing air slammed into him as he turned the corner. An overturned stage coach lay before him. The horses looked to be long gone. The driver lay on the ground, his face a deathly shade of pale. The windows were smashed and one of the passengers had been half dragged out of one.
The father looked on the unfortunate incident with pity, but it was obvious that the people were beyond saving. He turned to leave, not wanting to stay any longer, when a click came from behind him, followed by a long squeak. It was the sound of a door being opened and he quickly turned. Maybe he had been wrong. Maybe he could help after all.
However, a tall, gangly man stepped from the wreckage. He looked unharmed, but dried blood caked his black hooded robe.
He brushed at it, frowning, and then looked up. The father saw that his skin was completely white apart from a well-kept stubble on his chin. He looked to be in his early twenties.
“Are you okay?” the father asked. The young man looked at him long and hard.
“Oh yes, I’m fine.” He replied curtly, “Thank you for asking.”
“Well, who are you?” the father was amazed at how many times he had had to ask that on that unfortunate night.
“I’m death. He who makes everybody equal.”
I want to make this really good so I can get a high mark. The project this is a part of will be my end of term assessment, so don't be afraid to tear it to pieces.
My name's Eoghan and I wrote this. Just in case it gets looked up and my teacher thinks I copied. ^_^
