Monday, November 15, 2010

The Girl in the Tower



A flap of wings.
An open window.
A beautiful creature inside, waiting for the black bird, ready to go.

They have been flying together for a long time now.
Appreciating each other´s company and talking about things of their different worlds.
The witch is always cursing the princes who climb the girl´s prison. She never sees the only one who flies in.

One day he alighted on her windowsill and she invited him inside.
And that´s how the Raven-Prince met The Lady of the Tower.

Funny the way things are.
People only see what they want to.

A young woman locked in a tower.
A witch who thinks she owns the girl.
She breaks the girl´s heart, she even cuts her braids.

But she´ll never, ever, suspect Rapunzel has a hidden pair of wings.

[also published at Wooden Box  ]

5 comments:

keiko amano said...

Lu,

Don't we love such a wise girl? She is no fool. She has a backup plan at all time. Very wise.

keiko amano said...

Oh, thank you for this display. It was easy to read from my cell phone.

Vincent said...

This didn't resonate for me like your glosses on other fairy-tales. I think it is about a mother-daughter relationship, yes?

Luciana said...

Yes, it´s a mother and daughter relationship, something really complex for me.
I find Rapunzel one of the saddest of them all, Vincent.
In the original tale, she´s given to the witch by her parents, is raised in a tower and when the witch finds out her relationship with the prince, she punishes them both by cutting her hair and causing him to fall and become blind. Then she expels Rapunzel from the tower and both her and the prince wander in the desert, hungry and sad. Then they find each other, her tears falling on his eyes make him see again and they get married and...live happily ever after???
How can one live happily ever after like that? It´s just too much hurt.
I like to imagine Rapunzel a little smarter and more resourceful than the original one. And I´m not happy with the climbing prince either. He seems unable to face the witch and also to really like Rapunzel. He´s too emotionally fragile to have an adult relationship with her. The Raven-prince, on the other hand, understands what the woman´s been through and sees her as equal. She still goes back to the tower, but maybe one day she won´t.
The good thing about doing these free rewritings- if I can call them that- of the tales is that I can change the characters´ fate.

Luciana said...

Keiko, I´m not sure if she´s wise or that she even has a plan. I suspect she´s trying to survive the emotional terror the witch inflicts upon her. Resilient and brave would be the words I´d use for her.