Eye of Beholder

A page from the Secret Memoirs of Sleeping Beauty

I guess it is an irony for a maiden who slept for a 100 years to be now suffering from insomnia. Too many things were on my mind. I've just had a messy divorce with Prince *Charming as our two joined kingdoms have to be equitably divided. The peasants had formed new communities that we couldn't bear tearing apart. He told me that he was willing to do the dragon slaying bit (understood it was part of his job description) but didn't anticipate the three fairy Godmothers would be such horrible (*god) in laws. For one, they kept changing the colour of our furniture and always insisted on cooking for us (without the use of magic wands, so you can guess how bad their dinners turned out to be for three constantly arguing, magic dependent fairies!).

But really, as a political figure (he is a Prince) who will naturally get media attention, going around making promises to other women from other Kingdoms is not a good idea. Fairytale Tattler carried pictures of him with Snow White and Cinderella! In fact, he was caught licking Cinderella's glass slipper. The pervert!

At least one thing came out of this: my new born daughter. Don't worry about things though... she is my current joy and meaning for life (and my ex-husband is paying through his nose for alimony).

But a new problem came with her happy birth: my curse.

You see, when the Queen (my mother) accepted the fairy wishes bestowing the gift of immaculate beauty and exceptional song, we made the karmic system unbalanced. No mortal was to possess such unrivaled and unequal qualities and so my daughter has to now pay for my supposed good fortune.

However, my daughter is of royal blood hence the fates have decided that I instead should choose her punishment. They gave me two options:

Firstly, they could bestow upon her great beauty. All who gaze upon her shall be in awe with such spectacular form in a mere mortal. However, when daughter dear was to gaze at her reflection, visible to her would be a sight of great ugliness, disease and sorrow. And by the strike of fate's mighty powers, no one could reveal the truth of her beauty to her.

Upon the proclamation, I then shed tears and begged for her to be spared. I explained the emotional trauma of gazing at God's world made so beautiful only to see oneself as otherwise.

They offered me the other alternative: to give her the gift of self worth, if beauty be the source of judgment.

With the second alternative, she is to see the most beautiful self in her reflections. However, the true vision others see is the otherwise - of great ugliness, disease and sorrow.

I've consulted the fairy godmothers and everyone else I could for the matter to seek a counter spell like the one they found for me. Dear fates, be kinder on me and offer me a way out. If all fails, how is a mother to choose such unkind destinies for her child?

*Oriental Damsel in Constant Distress

.::.

next topic: self worth