Perspective

Exercise from: Room to Write by Bonnie Goldberg

Today, choose a favorite biblical or literary story or a fable or fairytale. Pick another character who appears in the story and tell it through his or her eyes.

****************

"Creativity oscillates between what is given and what can be discovered." ~~ Deena Metzger
****************

She wanted me to kill the child, to rip her heart from her chest and bring it back as a trophy in that little golden box hidden at the bottom of my napsack. Why did she even want the child dead? Snow White was such a kind little girl. Never once had I heard her complain about the tattered clothes or unruly chores the Queen forced upon her. If only the King were alive he never would have let his daughter be turned into a meer slave. She probably poisoned him. The Queen was capable of loving no one, her own stepdaughter included.

The child was so excited when I told her that I would be taking her into the forest to pick berries. She quickly ran to her room in the tower and changed into her royal robes. Off the kingdom grounds were the only time she was allowed to wear them. Everyone who worked inside the palace knew why; the Queen had to keep up appearances to the peasants.

She sang along behind me as I led her deeper into the woods, thickets of branches and roots making the trek difficult. Not once did she complain about the venture or ask when we would head back. She just plucked berries from the bushes we passed and delicately set them in her basket. She kept humming. More than once I wanted to turn around and scream at her to shut up, but I was afraid if I opened my mouth I'd tell her exactly why we were going so far into the woods.

Unable to stand my thoughts any longer, I stopped. The log at my feet was half eaten away by time, the splintery end jagged and dangerous. I turned around and smiled at the princess.

"Look at that fruit," I exclaimed, forcing my trepidation to become excitement. The poor girl fell for it and clapped her hands as she rushed around me. There was no fruit, and when she realized it, I already had my knife grasped tightly in my hand, the seam of the handle imprinting on my palm as I raised it above my head.

"Woodsman, I don't see anything," she said. Still smiling, she turned back to me. It took her several moments to realize that the knife I held high overhead was meant to kill her. Blood pulsed through my chest, slamming my heart against my ribs as I brought the knife down.

But I couldn't. That helplessly frightened look in her eyes broke my resolve. I crumpled at her feet, bursting into tears. I grabbed her capelet and started to wipe it across my eyes. This was horrible! The Queen would kill me if I came back refusing to do her bidding, but I just could not kill her. She sobbed too, but even as frightened and scared as she was she patted my shoulder, quietly asking why I'd want to hurt her.

"Princess, I'm so sorry!" I sobbed harder. It was the gentle touch of her palm against my cheek that calmed my tears enough to go on, "It was the queen. She wanted me to bring your heart back as a token to her. She's vile, evil, and she'll stop at nothing until you're dead. You must run, you must get away and never come back!"

The fear of the Queen's wrath began to creep into my thoughts. This would not please her. And if she ever found out I betrayed her, she'd kill me and search for the girl to kill her as well. A plan started to formulate, churning through my mind like the gears of a clock tower. I gazed up at the princess who still seemed to be in shock. I wasn't exactly sure how I was going to do what needed to be done, or if the princess could survive on her own out there in the wilderness, but it was the only shot either one of us had at living to see another day.

"I don't, I don't, I don't understand," she mumbled, the confusion drawing lines in her brow.

"Go, run, get out of here! Never come back!" I jumped up to my feet, eyes wide and wild, voice rumbling and echoing off the trees. The girl popped up from the disintegrating log and stumbled over the gnarled roots that had worked up from under the ground. She started crying, her face streaked with tears, turning back to make sure I wasn't playing some evil joke on her.

But I was dead serious. This was the way it had to be. At least out there Snow White would have a fighting chance.

When I was sure she was lost out there, deeper in the woods than she could ever hope to find her way home. I stood there, steadying my heart, listening and hoping I didn't hear her cries out there. I put my knife back in the case and threw my satchel over my shoulder. I trekked back through the trail of broken twigs and branches toward town. By the time I made it out of the density of the woods it was near dusk.

Luck just so had it that I stumbled out of the clearing not far from a pig farm. I waited until dark, watched the candles go out in the windowsill, and left twenty gold pieces in a leather pouch in place of the pig I stole. This would have to do. I would take the heart of the pig to the queen. When she dismissed me, if she bought the rouse, I'd leave through the night and start life over somewhere else.

For just a moment I wished I'd stayed in the woods with the girl. At least out there I could fight the elements to survive, but the queen was a much more formidable opponent than nature. I steadied myself as I gave word to the drawbridge guards that I'd returned on mission for the queen. This was the moment of truth. I'd either have a day's headstart or I'd die for crossing the queen. Either way, I knew it my heart that I'd done the right thing.