For each compliment of beauty an icicle attached itself to Marsha’s heart; still her attraction grew for every year. Suitors came but were ridiculed with smiles; initially it served to make them love her even more; but giggling at her mirror-image she said goodbye.
The path leading to her house became overgrown with weeds, she still bloomed behind the bramble, but failed to realize that princes only come if there is warmth inside. She was alone.
Finally, one day a beggar came and found Marsha frozen; wrinkled; still she frowned, at the final prince she’d ever meet. Winter had arrived.
Copyright Janet Webb
This week I went for another aspect of Sleeping Beauty tale. There should be a fairy-tale tone to the tale.
Friday Fictioneers is a group of bloggers writing to the same picture every week. The master-mind behind it all Rochelle Wisoff-Fields provide a picture on the little Friday (Wednesday) but additions will keep coming throughout the week.
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December 12, 2014
Björn Rudbergs writings 
princes only come if there is warmth inside…
those icicles began for a reason…as did the neglect of the yard….
Indeed.. the mirror and the compliments worked the wrong way.
With the popularity of Game of Thrones, the phrase “Winter is coming.” has become nearly cliche. I love how you turn the saying on it’s head in your final line “Winter had arrived.” Good story this week, Bjorn.
All my best,
Marie Gail
Ha.. I have never seen Game of Thrones.. I had more Narnia in mind with that phrase..
Wow, really like this one. Lot’s of excellent phrasing. A perfect tale of self enforced loneliness.
Thank you so much Paul.. I think this is all too commong
Quite a true tale of an old maid, my friend! Love the added touch of frigidity…. Did the beggars kiss wake her?
Alas I think it was too late.. 🙂
I like the twist and turn in the fairy tale ~ How many of us can wait and see the warmth inside ~ Good one Bjorn ~
I think without warmth it’s likely to give nothing.
Lovely take on a fairy tale. Although, looking at some women these days I wonder how much is fantasy and how much the new way of things. Well done.
I think you might be right.. a dangerous game to play.
Bjorn, It sounds like in the end she preferred her own company. That would be the ultimate selfishness. She couldn’t find better company than herself. She paid the price and died alone. Well written. 🙂 — Suzanne
She had never learned to appreciate anything else.
Very thought provoking.
In fact I am still thinking….
🙂 thinking is good.
Loving the icicles and brambles. Cool take on a fairytale. 🙂
A cold heart will be lonely..
I can’t help wondering where her coldness came from. She certainly paid a high price, but even then she couldn’t let it go.
I love the poetic flow of language in this story, Björn.
I think her coldness came from narcissism…
Maybe she was waiting for a Dragon prince who could warm her heart? Great new way to tell an old tale of loneliness.
I wonder if any prince could warm here.
Another great story from a great storyteller 🙂
Thank you Lyn 🙂
A cold hearted women.
DJ
Frozen I think.
love the metaphor. 🙂
Thank you .. 😉
chilling but amazing, i liked it
Chilling indeed, thank you
Wonderful fairy tale, Björn! I’m so glad you didn’t allow it to end sweetly, as is so often done. It would have changed the entire story. It’s so much more authentic like this… leopards rarely change their spots, nor do people.
A sweet end would make it quite bland I think.
Exactly! I like that it works in its natural progression…
Interesting tale of what it takes to love and what happens when what it takes is missing. She probably never realized it at all. Well done!
She thought that love was just about her, never the suitor
Dear Björn,
Now there’s a different take on Sleeping Beauty. It seems that the only thing sleeping was her heart. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
I think her heart was dead at the end…
It’s such a shame that her heart didn’t match her outer beauty. And after all her suitors came and went, she never learned.
I think her beauty made her even colder.
The final prince… great stuff. The folly of narcissism writ large 🙂
Cheers
KT
Oh yes.. Narcissism is one of the largest follies ever.
Oh dear–she should have maybe gotten together with the boy who cried wolf! Thanks, Bjorn, for the smile. k.
Good story!
loved this, Bjorn.
A true ice princess! She needs a prince with a torch to thaw out her heart. Will it happen? 🙂
Lily
A great take on the fairy tale Björn. Not all have happy endings. The icicle in her heart reminded me of the Snow Queen.
It was one of those glass splinters from the magic mirror, and poor Kay had now got it into his heart. It did not hurt any longer, but it was still there. Soon his heart would become hard and cold like a lump of ice. Even this tiny splinter had the power to make him see as evil everything that was good, and it had its effect immediately.
—Hans Christian Andersen, “The Snow Queen”
Yes.. that one was in my mind too.. I had the Ice-queen, Miss Havisham, Sleeping Beauty and the witch of Narnia in mind.
that’s a wonderful take on the fairy tale.
Well, love isn’t business deal. This is what one gets once the bargain begins. 🙂
Sad realization that “princes only come if there is warmth inside”
Dear Bjorn, She wasn’t a happy person and probably didn’t want to be happy anyway. Your fairytale is super! It’s dark, but so is half the world all the time. Good job! Nan 🙂
Story with a moral
One day winter does come. Spring will come too.
Well expressed!
A great fairy tale here; sort of an inverted sleeping beauty. Grimm.
Oh vanity, the dark side of beauty. Great story!
Great rendition on an old tale.
Winter arrived and took her in the end. Too cold for company. What a great take on the tale. Great imagery with the weeds and icicles.
That story breathed ice from every word. Well done.
I like your style in this one, slow and steady, leading to the quiet end. Nicely done, as usual.
I feel for her! I think you just captured how a huge number of women feel. Too many hollow compliments and promises have made us cold heart-ed.
You certainly got the fairytale across, as well as looking at an aspect of the tale I had wondered about as a kid.
This was beautiful and heartbreaking. I do like this take on the Sleeping Beauty story. Well done!
Your cold-hearted beauty is wonderfully drawn. I love how you’ve captured the language of fairytales, and your description of Marsha’s mirror gazing is fantastic.
No one was good enough for her! A story well told. 🙂
Definitely got the fairy tale vibe. Well done
Not all fairytales have happy endings. Wish they did! Enjoyed the story.
I suspect that she lived a lifetime of winters. I love the imagery if icicles multiplying like crystal growing out of control.