"It happened a long time ago... There was once a great plague that swept through the country and only the most affluent and notable of the citizens were immune to the disease. They abandoned their lofty manors and many servants to hide behind the walls of the king's castle."
"Months went by and the glamorous balls and evening feasts that the king had prepared for his guests began to strain the castle stores. As time went on, the rations became so scares that the guests of the castle began to eat the rodents that scampered by and moss growing on the cold stone walls. It eventually got so bad that some guests began to resort to violence and were cast out with the rest of the infected folk... if any were living."
"There was one family worth mentioning during this time... This family often resided in the shadows casted by the other nobles. They had a beautiful daughter, one so pure and innocent that even the sun dared not shine when she was outside. No matter how little food there was, she remained as youthful and healthy as the day her family entered the castle. As she aged to maturity, many of the castle's noble guests asked for her hand in marriage. She happily obliged to all inquiries."
"One by one, she would invite the suitor to her room for negotiations on the dowry only to never return. Upon these visits, it was said that a commotion could be heard from the room before a blood curdling scream pierced the dead night. The daughter would emerge from her room weeping and soaked with crimson blood, a stark contrast to her pale skin and ivory hair. Upon investigation, no body was ever found of the suitor, only hot ash in her fire place."
"Eventually, the plague penetrated the castle walls and took the king's wife. Mourning for only a moment, the kind knew his duty was to find a new queen. The king sent his page to the innocent daughter's room one night to ask for her hand in marriage on his behalf. After hours had passed and no response, the king himself ventured to the innocent daughter's room."
"Without knocking, he entered her room. Immediately he saw an assortment of cleavers and knives and the innocent daughter, soaked in blood, standing over a bloody heap. The remains of the king's page. Smiling with a toothy grin, the innocent daughter acknowledged the king and asked if her would join her for dinner."
"The gruesome sight caused the feeble-minded king to pass out cold where he stood. Upon waking up, he felt a numbness in his abdomen... Looking up he saw the same sharp toothy grin of the innocent daughter as she used the hem of her white dress to wipe away the bits of what remained of the king's stomach from her mouth."
"Eventually, the innocent daughter ran out of suitors to eat and ventured out of the castle and into the surrounding city and forest. It is said, that she has an unquenchable thirst for blood..."
The fire had almost died out at this point, only emitting a soft orange glow. There was a crunch of a broken stick behind us and what sounded like the metallic ring of a knife being drawn from a sheath... It was just the wind right?
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| Campfire |
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Author's Note: The inspiration of this story came from the short folklore myth, The Story of the Hare, from the South African folklore collection. In this story, different animals are assigned with the task of guarding the cohort's group, but is tricked by a lizard and is killed by the other animals for their failure. The Hare in this story, a seemingly innocent animal, tricks the lizard and eats him instead. The other animals are then upset that the Hare took such intense actions and punish it, but the Hare in turn escapes them by trickery as well. It all sounded very much like a horror story to me, so I made a campfire story out of it since it is camping season and I have plans to do so this weekend. I used the setting from the Masque of Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe.
Bibliography:
The Story of Hare. South African Folk-Tales. Trans. James Honey
The Masque of Red Death. Edgar Allen Poe (from my personal collection so no link, sorry)
Wow… Your descriptions are on fire. I was really able to picture what was going on there. I would have liked to know how she explained all these suitor’s deaths. I like how you took a story and put it inside of another. It adds depth to the story and it was super entertaining to read. I read that story as well. I would have never thought to have done something like this. I liked reading your story a lot more than the original to be honest. I’m excited to read more!
ReplyDeleteHey Alec! I think you did a great job with this. I've also read the story you based it on and I think you did a great job with changing it up, but not to the point that it's totally unrecognizable. I agree with Annie that you killed it with the description. Also, I really like the background you chose for your blog. So cool and unique! I'm excited to read more of your stuff.
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