Week 7 Story: Revenge in a Cave of Beasts

Officer Young: "Okay Kat, start from the beginning. How did you and your sister end up in the woods?"

Kat: Start from the beginning? Does he understand how far back the beginning actually goes? "My relationship with my father was always very... rocky. He treated my sisters and me horribly, but on the days he wasn't abusive or screaming at us, he only treated my older sisters with kindness." As if you could even use the word kindness in any context that involved my father... "That's why when Elle and I saw our opportunity, we took it."

Officer Young: She's definitely withholding all the details about her father's abusiveness. Look at all the scars on this girl, she's definitely a survivor. "How did you, Elle, and your father end up in the cave?" 

Kat: "One of our weekly family trips to see our grandma ended with me and little Elle 'accidentally' getting abandoned in the woods. I guess my father decided that four daughters were too many. We knew we were in trouble when the sun went down and the temperature started to drop, so we searched for cover and came across a cave. After forcing our way into the cave, it was clear that it was home for someone else. There was an empty bed, and valuables lining the walls. We didn't see any other options so we stayed and made ourselves at home." 

Photo of woods by: Zach Vessels

Officer Young: Interesting. "So you and Elle didn't feel like you were in any kind of danger?"

Kat: "Not really. We figured that it was either take our chances with whoever lived in the cave or die a slow death in the freezing weather outside."

Officer: "I see, what happened next?"

Kat: "We had finally fallen asleep after lighting a fire when we woke up to the sound of our father yelling our names. My sister looked at me and I could see the terror in her eyes. It was that terror that sparked the anger in me. I couldn't believe after everything he'd put Elle and me through he had the audacity to come looking for us out of guilt. I was seeing red. After quickly deciding on a plan, I went outside and invited him into the cave. He hugged me and my sister apologizing for leaving us to die in the cold. He wept in our arms, saying he'd never hurt us again, but I'd heard him say those words a million times before and you only need to look at the scars on my sisters and me to know how much he actually meant those words every time he said them. So I did it. I ended him." 

Officer Young: I couldn't help the involuntary shiver that went down my spine. As she spoke, her eyes just stared right at me, barely blinking, with no emotion. Her tone had no inflection. It was as if this ten-year-child had lost her soul, had no feeling left. "And the kettle, was it already in the cave when you and Elle got there?"

Kat: "The kettle was already hanging over the fire when we first got to the cave. It was just good luck that the fire had been burning long enough to get the kettle hot before my father arrived."

Officer Young: "How did you and your sister subdue your father?"

Kat: "I had already planned on subduing him myself when Elle came out of nowhere and hit him in the head with a small pan from near the fire. He was knocked out cold. For a minute Elle and I just looked at each other, our father's limp body lying between us. I think we were both deciding whether or not to feel guilty for what we both knew we were about to do. It was when little Elle narrowed her eyes in what I can only describe as determination, and nodded her head once, that I knew we were in agreement."

Officer Young: "How did you and Elle manage to get your father into the kettle?" 

Kat: "It took a lot of effort, but we eventually stuffed him all the way in and put the lid on top. We found a dozen or so rocks to weigh down the lid, and a couple of more branches to keep the fire going before we decided to leave."

Officer Young: "Okay, thank you for your time. Another officer will be back in a moment to escort you back to the holding cell." I stood up and walked out of the interrogation room. I didn't need to hear anymore I knew her story was true, it matched her sister's completely. It wasn't too long after Kat and Elle left their father's body behind when the actual inhabitant of the cave came home and found a dead and very burnt human in his giant kettle pot. He immediately notified the police and we searched the woods finding Kat and Elle just playing under a tree about a half-mile away from the cave. After arriving at the station, both girls were very open about what had happened, telling what they had done as if it was a normal conversation. God, what a twisted day.

Authors Note: 

My story this week is based on the story The Cave of Beasts from the Chinese Fairy Tales unit. I changed a lot, making it a bit more twisted than the original. In the original story, the father of four daughters gets angry when he wakes up and discovers his daughters have eaten his wild duck eggs. He does end up tricking his two youngest daughters by saying he's taking them to their grandma's house, but instead leaves them in the woods to be eaten by wolves (RUDE RIGHT)?! The girls end up finding shelter in a cave that ends up belonging to a wolf and a fox, and the two girls end up trapping the creatures in kettles killing them. The girl's father ends up coming back for them and they forgive him and they live happily ever after, but I wanted the girls to get their revenge on their horrible father, so I flipped the script. The story opens with a police officer questioning one of the daughters after they find the father's body. I hope you like it! (: 

Story source: The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).