Week 5 Story: Theo and the Princess
 |
| Flower: Pixabay |
Theo
When Hero became king of Ayodhya everything changed. I live just outside the city, and I was standing outside my family’s home when I witnessed all the color drain from the once beautiful scenery around me, turning everything to black and white. He took everything from the people, sucking up all the beauty and color from the city, but the people were too infatuated with King Hero to notice his deception, but I wasn’t fooled. I watched from the sidelines as King Hero put his plans into action. I felt helpless, unable to do anything to save my beloved city and the beauty of color that filled it. What could a young, poor merchant’s son do to fix a curse put on an entire city?
Pearl
People always told me my beauty was a gift from the gods. That I was the most exquisite thing to walk the earth, but I didn’t see it that way. I wanted someone to desire me for my heart, not my looks. My father had always pushed me towards marriage, constantly putting me on display for any suitor my father approved of. Though I was always being stared at and admired, I felt invisible. Once my father became king, everything changed, he changed, and I wasn’t sure where this change came from. My father began hiding me away, locking me in my room, refusing to let me be seen.
Theo
I couldn't take it anymore. No one could see what I saw. Everyone acted as though everything was perfect, that there was still color and beauty. I needed answers, so went searching for them. Once night had fallen, I crept into the city and snuck into the castle. I made my way to the heart of the castle where I knew the king would be. I snuck around every corner, careful to check for guards as I did. I was walking down a tight hallway when I suddenly heard voices coming towards me. I dove into the closest hiding spot I could find, a small nook with a shadow just big enough to conceal me, and I waited. As the voices became clearer, I realized it was King Hero and another man. I buried myself deeper into the shadows.
“Does she know?” King Hero whispered, his voice shaking slightly.
“No your grace, because she is the anchor, she still sees things as they were. The glamour is fully intact. Pearl’s beauty is still surfacing.”
“And the people are still oblivious? They’re unable to see the change in the city? In themselves?”
“Yes your grace, and once Pearl absorbs the rest of the land’s beauty, then Pearl will have to die, and you will become the anchor, taking full control of the city and its people.” The two men walked past my hiding place and I could see it was the city’s sorcerer speaking with the king. “But she must remain hidden. If she walks out of the city, the glamour will dissolve and everything will return to how it was.”
The two men walked around the corner causing their voices to fade out. They were using the princess as part of their master plan, but how could she be the anchor for everything going on? As I started to sneak my way back down the passage I replayed the conversation in my head trying to make sense of it. I suddenly stopped when I saw a bright glow of color coming from under one of the doors. I slowly creaked open the door, only meaning to peek in and see where the bright colors were coming from when all of a sudden the door burst open and the beautiful princess stood in the doorway staring at me with wide eyes. Then I looked over her shoulder into her room and froze with shock.
Pearl
I couldn’t believe it. Who was this boy trying to peak into my room? I admit it, he was very handsome with his dark curls and big blue eyes, but I still wanted answers.
“Who are you?” I demanded. The boy, still looking shocked, kept looking at me and then over my shoulder into my room. He was obviously perplexed about something.
“You — you’re glowing. The colors — they all came here.” He was making no sense. He stumbled past me and into my room.
“Hey you can’t just — “
“Do you not see everything around you? Look, every color that was sucked from the village is in here, with you.”
I just stared at him. He sounded insane.
Theo
I explained everything to her. How I watched the city dive into a world of black and white, how I was the only one who could see it, the conversation I overheard in the passage, how her life was in danger, everything. I told her that she held the color and beauty of the city inside her and she had to come with me to restore it, that I could save her by smuggling her out of the castle. I was worried that she wouldn’t believe me but she immediately agreed and followed me out of her room. Somehow I was able to sneak her and myself out if the castle and to the outskirts of the city without raising any kind of alarm. When we got to the gate that led to the outside of the city, I stopped and told her that the curse should break once we cross the line. She nodded her head, acknowledging what was about to happen. Before we stepped through the gates and restored the city, I asked Pearl one last question.
“Why did you follow me so willingly? You didn’t even question me or my story.”
Pearl smile and looked down before meeting my gaze. “I could see how concerned you were for my well being, you could really see me.”
I smiled at her, and taking her hand, we stepped through the gates to the city.
Author’s Notes
The inspiration for my story came from The Girl and the Thief from the Twenty-Two Goblins unit. I decided to change the thief’s role in the story by creating the character of Theo in the thief’s place, who ends up smuggling the princess out of the city and into safety. He's a thief, but with good morals. I also flipped the roles around by making Theo the merchant's son and Pearl the daughter of King Hero. I kept Pearl's character very close to the original where she wasn't interested in any marriage her father wanted, she wanted to be herself and make her own decisions. Overall, I basically came up with a new story, but took some aspects from the original! I hope you enjoy it! (:
Pearl
People always told me my beauty was a gift from the gods. That I was the most exquisite thing to walk the earth, but I didn’t see it that way. I wanted someone to desire me for my heart, not my looks. My father had always pushed me towards marriage, constantly putting me on display for any suitor my father approved of. Though I was always being stared at and admired, I felt invisible. Once my father became king, everything changed, he changed, and I wasn’t sure where this change came from. My father began hiding me away, locking me in my room, refusing to let me be seen.
Theo
I couldn't take it anymore. No one could see what I saw. Everyone acted as though everything was perfect, that there was still color and beauty. I needed answers, so went searching for them. Once night had fallen, I crept into the city and snuck into the castle. I made my way to the heart of the castle where I knew the king would be. I snuck around every corner, careful to check for guards as I did. I was walking down a tight hallway when I suddenly heard voices coming towards me. I dove into the closest hiding spot I could find, a small nook with a shadow just big enough to conceal me, and I waited. As the voices became clearer, I realized it was King Hero and another man. I buried myself deeper into the shadows.
“Does she know?” King Hero whispered, his voice shaking slightly.
“No your grace, because she is the anchor, she still sees things as they were. The glamour is fully intact. Pearl’s beauty is still surfacing.”
“And the people are still oblivious? They’re unable to see the change in the city? In themselves?”
“Yes your grace, and once Pearl absorbs the rest of the land’s beauty, then Pearl will have to die, and you will become the anchor, taking full control of the city and its people.” The two men walked past my hiding place and I could see it was the city’s sorcerer speaking with the king. “But she must remain hidden. If she walks out of the city, the glamour will dissolve and everything will return to how it was.”
The two men walked around the corner causing their voices to fade out. They were using the princess as part of their master plan, but how could she be the anchor for everything going on? As I started to sneak my way back down the passage I replayed the conversation in my head trying to make sense of it. I suddenly stopped when I saw a bright glow of color coming from under one of the doors. I slowly creaked open the door, only meaning to peek in and see where the bright colors were coming from when all of a sudden the door burst open and the beautiful princess stood in the doorway staring at me with wide eyes. Then I looked over her shoulder into her room and froze with shock.
Pearl
I couldn’t believe it. Who was this boy trying to peak into my room? I admit it, he was very handsome with his dark curls and big blue eyes, but I still wanted answers.
“Who are you?” I demanded. The boy, still looking shocked, kept looking at me and then over my shoulder into my room. He was obviously perplexed about something.
“You — you’re glowing. The colors — they all came here.” He was making no sense. He stumbled past me and into my room.
“Hey you can’t just — “
“Do you not see everything around you? Look, every color that was sucked from the village is in here, with you.”
I just stared at him. He sounded insane.
Theo
I explained everything to her. How I watched the city dive into a world of black and white, how I was the only one who could see it, the conversation I overheard in the passage, how her life was in danger, everything. I told her that she held the color and beauty of the city inside her and she had to come with me to restore it, that I could save her by smuggling her out of the castle. I was worried that she wouldn’t believe me but she immediately agreed and followed me out of her room. Somehow I was able to sneak her and myself out if the castle and to the outskirts of the city without raising any kind of alarm. When we got to the gate that led to the outside of the city, I stopped and told her that the curse should break once we cross the line. She nodded her head, acknowledging what was about to happen. Before we stepped through the gates and restored the city, I asked Pearl one last question.
“Why did you follow me so willingly? You didn’t even question me or my story.”
Pearl smile and looked down before meeting my gaze. “I could see how concerned you were for my well being, you could really see me.”
I smiled at her, and taking her hand, we stepped through the gates to the city.
Author’s Notes
The inspiration for my story came from The Girl and the Thief from the Twenty-Two Goblins unit. I decided to change the thief’s role in the story by creating the character of Theo in the thief’s place, who ends up smuggling the princess out of the city and into safety. He's a thief, but with good morals. I also flipped the roles around by making Theo the merchant's son and Pearl the daughter of King Hero. I kept Pearl's character very close to the original where she wasn't interested in any marriage her father wanted, she wanted to be herself and make her own decisions. Overall, I basically came up with a new story, but took some aspects from the original! I hope you enjoy it! (:
Story Source: Twenty-Two Goblins, translation of the Sanskrit Vetālapañcaviṃśati by Arthur Ryder's
Hi Natalie! I really loved this story! I really enjoyed the character Theo, I felt that we could really see his heart and his passion for his village and his love of truth. I wonder how the King was able to get all of the colors to his daughter and how she was the anchor. It was a bit confusing, and a little more detail would be helpful for understanding the background to the story. I think it would be neat if we could see the colors return to the village after Pearl follows Theo out of the gates. I like how we get to see that Theo sees Pearl, bringing us full loop back to her introduction, but it would also be nice just to see the external resolution for the villlage. I really really loved this story, you did such a great job :)
ReplyDeleteHi, Natalie!
ReplyDeleteFantastic story! I was genuinely intrigued by the magical plot and just wanted to know more as I kept reading. I really enjoy the implementation of color as a story device. It created a really visual tale. I just want to see it on the silver screen now.
I would like to know exactly why she was the "anchor" and why she needed to die. What was the king's plan? Why could only Theo see things for how they were? Because so little is revealed, the jeopardy in the story feels lacking. I'm happy for the couple, but I'm left wondering so much about why anything happened in the first place.