16 February 2024

It’s being surprisingly difficult to come up with the exact circumstances for the prologue, where Gothel kidnaps Aurora. A lot of moving pieces that need to align perfectly while still being true to themselves. I’m not really satisfied with this version, either, but it’s my most recent one.

Queen Hannah of Lowenveil had been apprehensive when her husband, Frederick, mentioned inviting two or three fairies to the presentation of their daughter. Aurora had been born very sickly, so if they could save her, Hannah couldn’t really protest. But she’d heard stories from the east, where the fae holds held sway, and they didn’t fill her with confidence.

Frederick had insisted the stories were exaggerated; he knew a fairy personally, and she was harmless. Timid, even. So Hannah had agreed.

Everything seemed to be going fine; one of the first things the green and pink fairies did was bless Aurora with good health and [grace], and immediately color had filled Aurora’s cheeks. The blue one, Gothel, didn’t offer a blessing; she seemed ready to bolt at the slightest disturbance. When Hannah asked Frederick about her he said she’d always been like that, ever since he was a boy.

Then a certain guest walked in. Hannah went to greet her, as she had every other guest. “Queen Maleficent! It’s good to see you. I wasn’t sure you’d be able to make it, considering the recent loss of your husband. Thank you for taking the time to come.”

Queen Maleficent pressed her lips into a line that almost could pass for a smile. She surveyed the room, then stopped when she saw the two fairies near Aurora. When she spoke, her voice dripped with venom. “Queen Hannah. If I make ask, who are they? And what are they doing here?”

Hannah blinked, and some of her earlier doubts about the fae began to resurface. “That’s Lena and Frieda, fairies from [___]. My husband invited them, along with Gothel, there in the corner.”

As soon as Hannah mentioned “Gothel”, Maleficent froze. “Gothel, you said? Which one is she?”

More confused than ever, Hannah pointed her out. “Over there, in the blue dress. Very timid; she hasn’t said more than two words to anyone all evening.”

“Indeed.” Maleficent’s face paled a shade, but she waved it off. “No matter. That is the child, there?”

With purposeful strides, Maleficent strode toward Aurora’s crib, Hannah doing her best to keep pace behind her.

16 January 2024

…when she was going outside. “Are you heading out?”

Mother nodded. “We’re running low on flour, and we could always use more bacon. I also wanted to look into getting you more medicine.”

Somehow, Rapunzel was able to force her grimace into something resembling a smile. “I’m fine, Mother.”

“You’re fine now, but what if something happens later?”

By then, I’ll be dead. Rapunzel kept her mouth shut, though. That would definitely upset Mother. For her part, Rapunzel herself had come to terms with the idea. For the most part. It was strange to think she only had [a few weeks] left, though.

Meanwhile, Mother hovered around the covered easel. “Is this your latest project?”

“Wait, don’t–!”

It was too late. With a flourish, Mother lifted the sheet from the canvas. At first, she didn’t respond, still as a statue. Then her face distorted, shifting from one face to another. Old, young, thin, pudgy. The rest of her soon followed suit, changing shapes and outfits faster than Rapunzel could process them. Always blue, though. Mother always wore blue.

This was a bad one. Mother wasn’t saying anything. When she talked, Rapunzel could at least piece together what was freaking her out and calm her down. But when she got like this… Rapunzel had no clue. And if she said the wrong thing, she might just make it worse.

Rapunzel took a deep breath and moved closer. “Mother?” When the fairy didn’t respond, Rapunzel braced herself and hugged her. It was always a strange sensation, hugging Mother while she shifted forms. “It’s alright, Mother. I’m here. We’re safe; you’re safe.”

Mother finally looked down at her. Rapunzel took the opportunity to gently guide her away from the painting toward the door.

“She… she was there, Therese. With her. It… it had to be a trap, even though she looks so kind…”

Therese again, huh? As near as Rapunzel could tell, that was the name of one of Mother’s “sisters”. However that worked for fairies. “It’s okay. They’re not here. She’s not here. You’re safe. See?”

They’d gotten far enough away the Tower was able to put up a wall between them and the painting. Mother was finally calming down; she settled into the shape of an old woman with a stooped back. “Yes… yes, you’re right. Thank you, Therese.” Mother patted her hand and tottered off.

Once she’d left, Rapunzel sank to the floor and heaved a sigh of relief. That went…fairly well, this time. No animal shapes, at least. Still, it would probably be a few days before the Tower trusted her enough to let her work on Hannah’s painting again.

Later

“And to you, Princess Aurora, I grant the gift of good health.”

As she spoke, Lena grasped for the threads of fate from the child’s future, selected the one she needed, and wove it around the child. She felt immensely proud of herself; if only all those naysayers could see her now! Who cared if it was a small country out west, leagues from the nearest faehold. Now, she walked among royalty.

6 November 2022

This is the scene that revealed that titles always lie. Turns out, despite everything building up to that before this, it is not Aurora/Rapunzel who becomes the sleeping beauty, but rather her mother Hannah. And to a certain extent her father, though one of the potential endings actually changes that to just be Hannah.

I wrote this scene, despite taking place quite a ways further in, because I still wanted to focus only on this story this month, but I still wanted to do something more spiritual on Sunday, and this fit in my head.

Maleficent hovered just outside the family group. They hadn’t noticed her yet, which was just as well. Even she didn’t know why she was here, but something about Hannah’s request compelled her to come.

Frederick, the ever-vigilant husband and father, was the first to notice Maleficent, and he immediately leaped forward and drew his sword, sheltering the rest of his family behind him. “You! What more do you want from us?”

Before Maleficent could even form a response, Hannah rose and placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s alright, love; she’s here at my request.” She pushed sword arm down as she stepped past him and faced Maleficent. With a small curtsy, the queen said, “Thank you for responding to my letter, Queen Maleficent.”

Maleficent bowed her head, then turned to look at the two children. The boy watched her with wariness, his right hand on the sword at his side. Maleficent was surprised to realize he had faerie sight. The girl’s doing, perhaps?

The girl, Aurora, was different. There was none of the hostility or wariness Maleficent would have expected, especially considering she had doomed the young girl to death just after she’d been born. No, Aurora studied her like a puzzle she hadn’t quite figured out yet.

Maleficent turned back to Hannah. “You requested to see me?”

Hannah nodded, then glanced back toward Aurora. “When I went to see you earlier, you said that the gifts a fairy-blessed child receives must be paid back, correct?” When Maleficent dipped her head, Hannah asked, “Does she have to be the one that pays the price?”

Both Maleficent’s and Aurora’s eyes went wide. Maleficent would have chuckled, had the situation been any less serious; this woman never ceased to surprise her. 

However, Aurora’s face turned white, and for the first time Maleficent could see true fear in her eyes. “No! Han– Mom, you can’t! Don’t do this!”

Hannah simply cupped Aurora’s cheek and smiled gently. She turned back to Maleficent. “Can you do it?”

Maleficent glanced at Aurora, who desperately shook her head, then over to Frederick and the boy, who seemed a little bewildered. “I will not unless both you and your husband fully understand what it is you are asking, and I have Frederick’s word that both he and every citizen of this kingdom will not pursue me for doing this.”

Frederick glanced back and forth between the two queens and asked, “Why? What are you asking her to do, Hannah?”

Hannah set her face, then nodded to Maleficent. Maleficent explained, “For sixteen years, you daughter has been blessed with extraordinary beauty and cleverness. Even if she was locked away in a tower during that time, the price for her gifts must be paid. Ordinarily, that would come from Aurora herself in the second half of her life, where she would become ugly and dim-witted. And then there’s the matter of the curse I left on her.” Maleficent was surprised at the bitterness in her own voice at that last part. Was that regret?

“And Mom wants to take all that on herself,” Aurora whispered. “Take my place and pay the cost. And probably die.”

For a long moment, Frederick stared at Aurora, then turned back and stared into Hannah’s eyes. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Hannah nodded again. Tears poured down Aurora’s face. “No, please! Even if you do this, I won’t live long anyway! I’m sick! I was born weak, and I—”

Hannah cut her off with a hug. “And you are still my daughter. And I love you. And no matter how short your chance at life will be after this, it will be more than you’ve had so far.” She turned and nodded to Maleficent.

<-Rapunzel Previous

Rapunzel Next->

Most recently updated draft of Rapunzel, the Sleeping Beauty (potentially including unposted content)

5 November 2022

This was just fun to write. I loved Aurora’s “oh crap” moments when Isaac showed up, and it was fun to explore the dynamic between Isaac and Phillip.

Back at their room in the inn, Isaac pulled loose and spread out a map of Lowenveil and its surroundings. Little dots and x’s had been marked all over it, concentrated especially heavily in the northwest, not far from their current location.

“What’s all this?” Phillip asked as he peered over Isaac’s shoulder.

“The results of research.” Isaac tapped the map thoughtfully, then marked a dot at the location of the farm they’d visited. He looked over the map, and then pointed to a certain forest that had a large red X over it. “No matter how I look at it, I keep coming back to this forest.”

“The X means your family’s already looked there, right?” Phillip pulled back and bit into one of the pears they’d gotten with their meal.

“Several times, in fact. Twice my father sent a whole battalion in to scout the place from brush to canopy. Nothing.”

“Well there you go.” Phillip shrugged and flopped down onto his bed.

“Yeah, but…” Isaac tapped the quill to his lips. “Every other time he’s sent his men out, their reports have been incredibly detailed. They even include the fit and color of the clothes of every citizen they spoke with. But every report on this forest is… vague. General references to birds or chipmunks. It’s not enough to be certain anything’s off, but it’s a noticeable difference.”

Phillip scrunched his eyebrows together and sat up. “So, you think there could be some kind of fairy spell in the forest keeping anyone from finding them?”

“Exactly!” Isaac jabbed his quill toward his friend.

“Okay… But, how are you going to get through, then?”

With his quill raised, Isaac opened his mouth to reply. Then he slumped and turned away. “I don’t know.”

Phillip leaned closer and stared at the map for a moment. “Does she ever come out? The fairy I mean. To buy groceries or clothes, or whatever else.”

Isaac shrugged. “I mean, probably? But how would we ever know? Fairies can shapeshift their appearance whenever they want, remember?”

“Yeah, but if every so often some random person goes wandering in and out of the forest, that’s suspicious, right? Especially if it’s a different person every time.”

For a long moment, Isaac just looked at Phillip. Then he grinned and began tearing through his own bags.

Phillip watched his friend in shock. “Wait, don’t tell me your parents never thought of that? Seems like it’d be– Just how many journals did you pack!?”

Indeed, Isaac was pulling out journal after journal, flipping through a handful of pages before tossing it aside. Finally, with an “Aha!”, he found the one he wanted.

“Of course they did. But we don’t have the manpower to watch the forest borders 24-7.” He cracked open the journal and pointed to one specific entry. “So, in one village on the edge of the forest, they get this apple merchant that comes through every so often. Maybe once every two to three months? Anyway, she’s the only one willing to risk selling apples in that part of the kingdom anymore.”

“Right. ‘Cause so many of them get stolen and ruined by our mysterious fairy.”

“Exactly. Now this merchant hasn’t always had the best of luck either which is one of the reasons she wasn’t on our watch list. But… She rarely if ever visits any of the other towns. And a major part of her outfit is always blue.”

Phillip thought for a moment. “Didn’t all the fairies get assigned a color of some kind? Like there was a green one, and a pink one, or something. Was the blue one the one that took your sister?”

“That’s the one. So we just need to track down this merchant and see if we can follow her.”

Phillip looked skeptical, but he didn’t argue. “Alright then. Now can we go to bed? I’m tired.”

Rapunzel sighed with relief and used her elbow to wipe the sweat from her brow. It looks like both Lottie and her newborn lamb would be alright. The lamb bleated as he struggled to his feet, and the two wandered away.

She hadn’t even finished rinsing the blood from her hands when the Tower flashed a yellow light at her, letting her know someone was waiting outside.

She scowled; she’d wanted to take a bath after all that. Caring for the animals was hard work. Then she hesitated. Mother had just left; she wasn’t due back for several days, and she wasn’t the type to forget something and come back for it.

In the end, when Rapunzel arrived at the reception room, she poked her head outside the window to see what was going on.

Two boys stood some twenty feet below her, a short and slender blonde and a larger brunette. The blonde boy cupped his hand around his mouth and yelled, “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!”

Where did he learn that? Had he overheard Mother? Rapunzel scowled down at them, then pulled her head back in. “Do you think they’re dangerous?”

The Tower clattered in a shrug, and Rapunzel took another look at the boys. The blonde had moved to the base of the Tower and had started to climb, while the brunette gesticulated wildly, probably asking the blonde what he was thinking.

With a sigh, Rapunzel released the brake to lower her hair. SHe poked her head out and yelled, “I can only take on up at a time, alright?”

The two boys exchanged glances, and the blonde grabbed onto her hair. Rapunzel began to heave, and soon he clambered through the window. He looked Rapunzel up and down, and his eyes lingered on the blood splattered on her dress and forearms. “You are… not what I expected.”

She leveled a glare at him. “Well, let’s see how you look after spending the morning helping an ewe birth their lamb.” She spun around and released the brake again to pull his friend in.

“No! That’s not what I–” Rapunzel could hear him curse under his breath behind her.

Rapunzel finally pulled the brunette in. It wasn’t easy; that boy was heavy. She had new appreciation for Mother’s ability to change her size and weight. She turned on the boys and placed her hands on her hips. “So, who are you, and what do you want?”

The brunette just stared at her, slack-jawed as a blush crept up his cheeks. Rapunzel ignored him and turned all her attention on the blonde.

He ran his fingers through his hair to the back of his neck. “Well, this isn’t going at all how I imagined it.” He extended a hand with a wry smile. “Hi. My name is Isaac. And this is my friend Phillip.”

Rapunzel moved to accept the handshake, then stopped when she heard his name. “Isaac? As in, Isaac Lowenveil? The prince?”

Isaac grew sheepish. “Um, yeah. That’s me. I wasn’t sure you’d even know who I was out here.”

Crap. Crap crap crap. Rapunzel put her hands to her temples. “Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad.”

“Wait, what’s wrong?” Isaac reached out for her but Rapunzel pulled back and snapped her fingers.

The two boys screamed as the floor fell out from under them, and the Tower created a slide that dumped them outside. Rapunzel poked her head out to make sure they weren’t injured, then pulled back inside and sat against the wall. “Okay, Rapunzel. Think, think. How are you going to get through this?”

Isaac was struck speechless. That was definitely his sister; she had their father’s nose and flaming red hair, along with their mother’s eyes.

And she’d dumped him outside. Was she worried about Gothel’s reaction? That made sense. Did she even know who she was?

Beside him, Phillip was still in a daze, a slappy smile on his face. Something about that expression profoundly irritated Isaac, and he elbowed Phillip. “Oi.”

Phillip turned to him, still only half aware of his surroundings. “She’s an angel.”

“No, she’s my sister. And she just kicked us out while she was covered in blood. In what way is that angelic?”

“I’m serious, man. It feels like I’ve dreamed about her before.”

Isaac slugged his shoulder and glared at him. “Stop trying to hit on my sister.”

Phillip blinked a few times and shook his head. “Right, sorry about that. But dang.”

That earned him another look from Isaac, but he ignored it. The two glanced up at the window. Phillip commented, “I don’t think she’s going to pull us back up after that.”

“Yeah. I highly doubt it.” Isaac took a deep breath, and headed to the tower wall. 

“You’re still thinking of climbing up there?”

“Do you have a better idea?

Phillip did not. But he did come over and crouch down next to Isaac. “Here. At least let me give you a boost.”

Isaac looked at his friend in surprise. “Thanks.”

Phillip hoisted him up, and Isaac began the climb. About halfway from where he started, though, he grabbed onto a block that sank into the wall, and the wall turned smooth beneath his grip. He shouted out as he slid all the way back to the ground.

<-Rapunzel Previous

Rapunzel Next->

Most recently updated draft of Rapunzel, the Sleeping Beauty (potentially including unposted content)

2 November 2022

I realized the next day I never showed how or why Aurora was taken by Gothel. So I wrote that scene, and used it as a chance to get to know the rest of the family better by making King Frederick, her father, the POV character. Once I get it all down, that’s something I’ll have to mess with; how many POV’s will I have, and how to tighten that up. But not right now.

Phillip… kind of came out of nowhere. I figured Isaac would probably travel with a friend, and I named that friend Phillip as a reference to Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, but I didn’t really expect much from him. He’s still not a main character, but he’s a lot more important than I’d expected. No romance, though, at least not during the events of the story. They’re teenagers. I’m not going to mess with that.

When Maleficent had arrived, King Frederick could tell there would be trouble. He’d heard the rumors from Venwald; the way their king had suddenly become ill and passed away, right as Queen Maleficent had increased in vigor and beauty. Other rumors floated around, as well, enough that he would have preferred if the two nations left each other well enough alone.

He also noticed the way her face darkened when she saw the trio of fairies. And when Maleficent spoke to them later in the language of magic, Frederick was certain they knew each other, or at least knew of each other, and his suspicions spread to the fairies, too.

He and Hannah had heard the stories of the great powers fairies wielded and the boons they granted to those who aided them. So when these three had arrived and offered their blessings, Hannah had been ecstatic, and even he’d been pleasantly surprised. But even then, and more so now, Frederick had to wonder, why their child? What had they done to warrant such a courtesy?

So when Maleficent cast her curse and left the palace, Frederick immediately wheeled on the fairies. “What was that? Who was that woman?”

Gothel, the blue fairy, stood off to the side and just stared at little Aurora. She didn’t seem to hear him. Lena and Frieda, meanwhile, froze for a moment before Frieda answered, “That… that was a witch. A powerful one.”

“One of the darkest and most dangerous creatures of all,” Lena added.

Hannah caught her breath and wiped the tears from her eyes. “She spoke magic like you. Can you undo what she did? Break the curse?”

At the word “curse”, Lena and Frieda flinched, and Frederick’s eyes narrowed. They explained, “Alas, we’ve already offered the babe our blessings, and can do nothing more.” Lena turned and offered Gothel a smile that was much too large to be believed. “What about you, Gothel dearest?”

Frederick wasn’t certain he believed they could do nothing, but he, too, turned to the blue fairy. For her part, Gothel still seemed unaware of any of them; her focus was solely on Aurora. “She is such a beautiful baby, isn’t she? Too beautiful for this cruel world. Cruel people, cruel destinies. No, we must keep her safe.” She snapped out of her reverie, and looked defiantly at Frederick and Hannah. “I will keep her safe!”

And with that, she scooped the baby in her arms, snapped her fingers, and disappeared. Silence enveloped the ballroom.

Queen Hannah stared in shock at the empty crib and sank to her knees. The remaining two fairies looked in horror from her to Frederick, and their faces turned pale white once they saw his expression. He unsheathed the first couple inches of his sword, and with steel in his voice, he said, “No more lies. You had best start explaining. And quickly.”

Isaac circled the base of the withered apple tree, looking for any other signs of what might have caused it to die. “And it was just fine yesterday?” he confirmed with the farmer. “No signs of beetles or rot or whatever else?”

“Healthiest tree in the whole damn orchard,” the farmer replied with a nod.

“Come on, Isaac. No matter how many times you look, you won’t find anything new. Let’s go already.” Phillip, Isaac’s best friend and traveling companion, lounged against the farmer’s garden fence. He made no effort to hide the boredom in his expression. He wore his brown hair almost shoulder-length, arranged in a way that might have worked if he were more than fourteen years old; as it was, he still had too round a face to pull it off.

Isaac ignored his friend and ran his fingers through his blonde hair. “Has anything else unusual happened? Missing needles? Broken spinning wheels?”

The farmer thought for a moment. “Now that you mention it, yes. There was something. When I got up this morning, the spindle on my late wife’s old spinning wheel had broken off. With all the commotion about the tree, I’d completely forgotten.”

Isaac thanked him, collected Phillip, and the two were off. Phillip snarked, “what business does a prince have with apple trees and spinning wheels, anyway?”

“You’d be surprised. A fair amount of the kingdom’s food and income come from orchards. And the number of spinning wheels that have broken in recent years has been enough to have a significant effect on-”

“Enough, enough, geez! Man, have I ever told you how utterly boring a person you are?”

With a smile, Isaac gave him a playful shove. “Yet you keep hanging around me anyway.”

“‘Course! Someone’s gotta keep things interesting around you.” Phillip dropped the grin. “But seriously, this is all about that search for your sister, isn’t it?”

Isaac shrugged, but he didn’t fool either of them.

“Dude, it’s already been, what, fifteen years? Sixteen? We weren’t even born yet. What’s with this?”

Isaac shrugged again. “I guess it’s just… She’s family. And Mom and Dad haven’t given up yet; why should I?” He grinned and bumped his shoulder into Phillip’s. “Besides, if you don’t like it, you could always leave.”

“Like I said before, someone’s gotta keep your life interesting.” Phillip grew thoughtful. “Say, d’you think she’s hot?”

The only thing Isaac could do was stare incredulously at his friend. “That’s my sister you’re talking about!”

“I know, I’m just sayin’...”

Isaac shook his head, and the two headed on into town.

<-Rapunzel Previous

Rapunzel Next->

Most recently updated draft of Rapunzel, the Sleeping Beauty (potentially including unposted content)

1 November 2022

Somehow, it seems fitting to start posting my Nanowrimo work just after we get halfway through the month. It’s been good to reflect; I had the barest hints of ideas and worldbuilding when I wrote this, and now it’s expanded into so much more. I just have to remember that doesn’t mean it’s done growing; it still is. I was - am - proud of the first section, from Maleficent’s point of view. A lot has changed since I wrote that, though, so there are definitely tweaks to be made. The last section was mostly just to keep writing something, and has since been scrapped.

I do not expect to hit 50k this year; as of writing this (early evening of the 16th), I only have roughly 14,500 words. I’m still shooting for 40k, though, even if it’s a bit unreasonable.

Maleficent strode through the massive double doors into the ballroom, paying no mind to the guards scurrying this way and that. A quick survey of the room confirmed her suspicions; of the rulers of major nations in the region, all others were already represented, which meant she was the only who had not been invited. That, in itself, was fine; expected even, given recent events. But the sight of the trio of fairies… that infuriated her.

Maleficent managed to contain herself, and plucked the smallest strand of composure from a passing serving girl just to be safe. She went to greet the hosts, and smiled widely, even if that smile never reached her eyes. “Good evening, King Frederick. Queen Hannah.”

Frederick looked rather uncomfortable with her presence, and Maleficent took some small satisfaction in that fact. Hannah, however, positively beamed at her. “Queen Maleficent! I’m so happy to see you.” She took Maleficent’s hand in both of hers. “We heard about your late husband; I’m sorry for your loss. We figured it might be rude to intrude on your time of grief to ask you to come celebrate with us.”

“Yes, quite.” Maleficent withdrew her hand from the other queen’s grasp and pursed her lips; she hadn’t quite figured out what to make of Queen Hannah as of yet. She looked past the royal couple at the baby girl lying in a crib behind them. The three fairies, green, pink, and blue, had gathered around it. “I presume this is the child?”

“Yes. We’ve named her Aurora.” Queen Hannah smiled down at her daughter. “The fairies were just bestowing their gifts; Lena blessed her with beauty, and Frieda with cleverness.” She gestured to the pink and green fairies, who nodded their heads in turn. “Isn’t it marvelous?”

Marvelous? Did she really not know? Were witches so rare in this part of the realm? Maleficent turned to the two fairies just named, and in the ancient language of fae magic demanded of them, “And you did not warn them of the cost? Of what will happen to their beloved child halfway through her time in mortality? Are the fae now so underhanded?”

All three fairies gasped and turned pale, but not from what she’d said. No, they looked at her in horror when they realized she could speak their tongue, and the implications that carried.

Maleficent looked at the baby once more and reached out a hand, only to pull it back. Things were even worse than they appeared; the child was not destined to be long for the world. Such was part of Maleficent’s gift, and her curse; the things she could do let her see the span of a person’s life with just a glance.

She switched back to common tongue and announced, “Then I, too, shall bestow a gift on the child. Before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will be poisoned, whether by the prick of a finger or th flesh of an apple, and she will die, and be spared the cruelty of this unjust world.” And thus, the very day the child’s gifts would become curses, instead of the child, the cost would be reflected back on the wretched creatures that would so abuse the human race.

The entire hall was stunned silent, until Frederick shouted to the guard, “Seize her!”

Before the guards could take more than a single step, however, Maleficent stole the light and heat from all the torches in the room and released it in a burst around her. With all the dignity she carried as a queen, she strode out of the castle unimpeded, heedless of the mother’s cries that echoed behind her.

Prince Isaac was eight when his family went to go bring his sister back home. He didn’t know the details; most times, he didn’t even remember he had an older sister. She’d been taken by a fairy named Gothel before he was born to keep her safe. Something about a witch’s curse?

It all sounded like a grand adventure. But then Gothel stopped sending letters. Mum and Dad grew worried, and decided to go see her. Isaac asked to come along.

However, when they arrived, all they found was a long-abandoned shack in the woods. No sign of fairies or sisters, or even that anyone had ever lived here at all. The only thing they found was a single letter, and Isaac hadn’t been allowed to read it.

Soon, they went home, and Dad ordered his men to scour the land for even the faintest hint of where Gothel could have gone.

Rapunzel Next->

Most recently updated draft of Rapunzel, the Sleeping Beauty (potentially including unposted content)