When Once We Were Mortal. ~ The Fairy Tale Begins
There once was a poor widow who lived alone in her hut with her two children, who were called Snow-White and Rose-Red, because they were like the flowers which bloomed on the two rose bushes which grew before the cottage. These two children were as good and happy as any in the world, only Snow-White
was more quiet and gentle than Rose-Red.
The two children loved each other so dearly that they always walked hand-in-hand when they went out together, and when Snow-White said "We will never separate from each other," Rose-Red replied, "Not so long as we live!" And their mother
said, "What each girl has, she must share with the other."
Often they ran deep into the forest and gathered wild berries, but no beast ever harmed them. For the hare would eat cabbage leaves out of their hands, the fawn grazed by their side, the goats frisked about them in play, and the birds sat perched on the boughs singing as if nobody were near.
Every morning in the summertime, Rose-Red would put the house in order and then lay a wreath of flowers at her mother's bed before she woke up, in which she always placed a bud from each rose bush. And every winter morning, Snow-White would light the fire and put the kettle on to boil.
In the evening when the flakes of snow were falling, the mother would say "Go, Snow-White, and bolt the door." And then they would sit down at the hearth, and the mother would put on her spectacles and read out of a great book, while the two girls sat spinning. By their side lay a little lamb, and on a perch behind them, a white dove sat with its head under a wing.
One evening when they were sitting comfortable together, there came a knock at the door.
"Make haste, Rose-Red," cried their mother. "Make haste and open the door. Perhaps there is some traveler outside who needs shelter."
So Rose-Red went and drew the bolt and opened the door, thinking it was some poor man outside. But instead, a great wolf poked his head in. Rose-Red cried out and stepped back, the little lamb bleated, the dove fluttered wildly on her perch, and Snow-White hid herself behind her mother's bed...
The snarling wolf rushed into the cottage and leapt at the throat of the bleating lamb. As he devoured the poor creature, the two children and their mother stood frozen in horror. When the wolf had finished, he turned, still ravenous, to the widow. Bravely, she thrust at him with a fireplace poker, but he dodged aside and vaulted at her, knocking her to the floor. The children watched, helpless, as he shredded their poor mother's throat to ribbons, and her blood sprayed over the tiny room, streaming down the walls.
The wolf turned to Rose-Red, who stood in the corner, trembling with fear but unable to move. For the first time, she saw his huge yellow eyes. They revealed not the blank innocence of a woodland creature, but the blazing anger of a rabid demon. The wolf's eyes narrowed, and he slunk toward Rose-Red, his lips curled back to reveal gnarled fangs dripping with gore and drool.
At that moment, a shriek came from behind. The wolf's head snapped around just in time to see the end of a fireplace poker swinging down to crack the top of his skull. He yelped in anguish and stumbled, but he did not fall. Instead, he turned to face Snow-White.
She had swung with all her might, knowing that she would only have one chance. Now she stared in dread. The wolf's eyes seemed to grow larger. When he faced Snow-White, she could see that her blow had opened his skull. Steam seemed to rise from the gash, and blood, and bits of flesh, spilled from the wound. Still the wolf kept coming...
Suddenly, he let out a tremendous growl and leapt at her, knocking her to the floor. His teeth sank into her shoulder, and she screamed as the piercing pain penetrated her soul.
Another blow from the poker - Rose-Red had lain her fear aside to come to her beloved sister's rescue...
This time, the impact sent the wolf reeling. He staggered near the fireplace, where a blaze still raged. Still possessing enough strength to fight, the wolf bounded towards the girl, but as he rose into the air, Rose-Red aimed the end of the poker into his groin and thrust back firecely, shoving him into the fireplace. She held him there with all her might, while the wolf thrashed about and let out wild cries of anguish that shook the tiny cottage and surely could be heard throughout the forest. But the wolf had suffered
two severe blows to the skull, and he had grown too weak to pull himself from the fire. Before long, the struggle had ended, and Rose-Red stood staring into the fire, watching as the body of the rabid wolf turned to ash.
She turned to her sister, who lay moaning beside the body of their dead mother. As Rose-Red bent down, Snow-White's eyes flashed open, glowing yellow and swimming with madness. With a jolt, she grabbed her sister's hand and sank gnarled fangs into it...
When Snow-White awoke the next morning, she remembered nothing, until she was greeted by the sight of her dead mother's body. She immediately burst out of the cottage and fled into the snow-crested forest.
Rose-Red awoke some time later. She saw her mother lying dead on the floor and was frightened, but she did not run away. Instead, her emerald eyes went dark and empty. She went about tidying the cottage as she always had. She scrubbed the blood from the walls and floor, carried her mother to the garden
and buried her with reverence beside the two rose bushes, then scraped the bones of a human man from the fireplace before starting a kettle of water to boil.
There was no hero to save the two girls, no magic slippers or golden birds, and the evil dwarf got away with the prince's treasure after all.
And that is the end of the fairy tale. Rose-Red lived alone in the cottage for many years, and when she fed, it was on the animals of the forest... no more were they still when she passed them, no more did the birds sing for her or the fawns graze by her side...
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