Well, here is my first 2 chapters of my first piece "Little blood red riding hood" Don't be scared by the words "2 chapters" my good reviewers! It is only about 1,718 words only in total, which is, I believe, less than some posts up here. And you see, there are some part of ch2 explain some part in ch1. Oh and about the character name that the check spelling engine keep pointing out to me, you can search on google for the meaning, or if you are too lazy, it means "silver" or "silver-haired".
1. The beginning
It was a dark night. Gray clouds were floating on the sky, hiding away the wavering new moon. Rain fell from the sky, murmuring her song of sorrow. In one of the hovels in a slum of large town, a man is sitting in a dark corner of a room. His wife was giving birth to a child. He could hear she cried in the room behind him, with her mother taking care of her.
Many hours have passed. It was a rough delivery. The man was worried. Not for his wife or child, but for himself “I can barely feed myself with the money I rob every day, now how am I going to feed another mouth? Damn it!” he thought for a while “Maybe I should kill the baby...” the man whispered his evil thought to the air.
Letting out a sharp cry, his wife in the other room had the same thought, “This damned child is killing me! And I will have to feed this child with my hard earned money!? Will I have to steal more money for this wicked child? Maybe it’s better to get rid of this thing.” With another painful cry, she gave birth to a baby, and then lay still, breathed heavily.
The woman's mother gently picked the baby up, and said happily, “It is a girl!” The baby cried. Strangely, as she cried, the rain stopped, and the clouds on the sky suddenly cleared up, revealing the weak new moon. The dim moon light shone over the little child’s body, letting her skin to be seen clearly. It was white, a pale white, white as the waxing moon above.
“She is an albino!” Gasped the child’s grandmother. “She is the curse of the gods fell upon us!” cried her father “I have to kill her!”Then the man quickly walked toward the old woman, intending to kill the child, who was still crying in her arms.
But the old woman stopped him, “No! It is your child! How can you do such an inhuman thing! And if she is really the curse of the gods, killing her will anger the gods! You, with your sins, have to redeem yourself by raising this child!” The man stopped, thought for a while then grumpily swore and walked away.
The baby was still crying in her grandmother’s hands. The old woman held the baby up high to the moon light and said, “Don’t worry, I will take care of you, even if you are a curse fell upon us, you are still my granddaughter.” She thought for a moment and said, “You need a name.” Then she thought for a little more, then she smiled, “I have got a perfect name for an albino child like you: Ariane, the silver-haired angel.” The child had stopped crying by then and already fell to a deep sleep in her grandmother’s warm hands. The voice of the old woman humming happily the child’s new name gently flowed into her sweet dreams: “Ariane, Ariane...”
2. A fairy tale
Once upon a time there was a little girl name Ariane. Her family was poor, very poor but they lived happily together. Or so Ariane thought.
Her family was poor because her parents refused to work. Her father was a robber, and her mother was a thief, but they were getting old, and they could not take money easily like before any more. Angered by this, they released all their wrath on innocent Ariane.
They hated her, for she was an albino girl. They hate Ariane- their own child- even more after they realized that she was not just a normal albino. One hot summer morning, when she was 3 years old, her mother carelessly left her alone near the window, naked. The intense sunlight slowly crept down to her as the burning sun rose up. Then it licked her skin.
A normal albino would only be temporally blinded by the sun and their delicate skin will get bad sunburn. However, it was not Ariane’s case. The little poor girl screamed her heart out as the sun engulfed her in it blazing light.
She was like being on fire; the air was filled with the burnt smell of her skin. Her instinct of survival was set on alarm, and she slowly crawl into the shade, just to find her mother utter another curse at her when she came back.
That was like another drop of oil in to their hatred flame toward Ariane. They had believed that she was a curse of the gods fell upon them, and after that incident, to them, she was more than just a burden. She was like a thorn in their eyes that need to be removed.
Things were even worse after the day her grandmother died. Her grandmother was her only guardian. Without her, she would become as helpless as a little bird, awaited to be prey on by her parents.
But sadly, Ariane loved her parent. She blindingly loved them. She loved them so much, that no matter how cruel or evil they were, her love did not fade. So, whenever her mother cursed her, she thought to herself, “This is how she says, “I love you.”, and she smiled. Whenever her father got drunk and hit her, she thought, “He does this because he loves me.”, and she smiled. For her, they are her world. She loved them, and what did she want in return? Nothing. Nothing but their parental love that she dreamed of. And that was something she never received from her parent.
They tried to make her steal for them once. They wanted to think that at least she could be useful for them. She protested at first, but her father replied her with a smack in her face. And she smiled.
Wavering, her little shape, warped by a dirty brown coat, disappeared into the darkness of the streets at night. After many hours, Ariane returned. She tried to drag her frail body, covered in bruise and cuts, to home before sunrise. Her mission was a total failure: she was caught and beaten until she nearly lost her conscious. When she got back to what she call “home”, under a swollen eye, she saw her father awaited at the door. He spit at her pitiful face, and closed the door. The sun was rising as she frantically knocked on the door. No answer. Hopeless, she looked for a place to hide from the sun.
Finally, she found a small, dark crack between two houses. It was covered with filth of all kind, and occasionally, a cockroach or little rat would run across her dirty toes. But with Ariane, it was her black heaven. And there she sat, in the dark, away from daylight, tears running on her smiling lips.
Fifteen years had passed since the day Ariane was born. Fifteen years of pain and hope that she had held in her heart. Despite all of her suffering, she, as if was blessed by a fairy, became a beautiful girl after those fifteen years. And like a trick of fate to make her blessing even more complete, she receive a gift for her birthday, her first gift ever in her sad life with her parents.
It was a cape with a little hood, all in a pure white, like her pure, untainted, innocent soul. Ariane was very happy about this, and she was happier because her parents were different that day. There was no more curs-ing from her mother, but singing. There was no more beating from her father, but dancing. There were smiles on their faces. It was Ariane’s dream come true. No word could describe how happy she was that day! However, little did she know that a dream is just a dream, and every dream has to come to an end, and so would her dream.
Later that night, Ariane’s father called her and said :
“Ariane, why don’t you come to Grandma’s house and celebrate your birthday with her? I am sure she would like to. Bring some cake and wine I have just bought too.”
“My grandmother? I thought she died a few years ago?” Ariane replied.
She still remembered how much she had cried on the day when her mother happily told her about her grandmother’s death. Ariane was 6 years old then. Grandmother. That word ringing in her ears. Her grandmother was an herbalist, living a quiet life in the wood. She knew about the evil deeds that her daughter and son-in-law did. But what could an old gentle woman do? She tried to convince them to live honestly, but for them, she was just a nuisance. Finally, she died, leaving joy for her wicked daughter and sorrow for her grandchild. She was the only one who was truly care for Ariane, and love her with all her heart.
“Don’t say so! My mother had not died yet!” Ariane’s mother snapped in, “It was...was...a friend of
mine! Yes, I mean it was my friend’s mother that died! It was a mistake! My mother, your grandmother, is still alive and healthy.”
Then, she looked to her husband, who said in a fake cheerful tone,“That is right dear, your grandma is still alive. She still lives in the little cottage in the forest, and you still remember the way right? So go and see her!”
“As you wish, father.” replied Ariane.
She trusted her parents, and the news her grandmother was still alive made her so happy that she could not see the lies in their eyes. Ariane quickly got ready to go to her grandmother’s house. She prepared a basket filled with some cheap cake and wine. Then she put on her pure white coat and walked towards the door. As if, however, she knew something was wrong, Ariane turned back and asked:
“Father, mother, do you love me? Did you ever love me?”
Surprised by this, her parents did not say anything for a short while, and then her father quickly said:
“Yes. Yes we do, dear. We always love you.”
“We love you with all our hearts.” her mother said in unison with her husband.
Ariane, satisfied by this, smiled and walked away, into the dark forest.
