One day, a tired mother had to go to the farmer's market. Before the mother left, she asked her three daughters if they needed anything. Her two eldest daughters demanded many things ranging from shoes to an ironing board. Although they were the eldest, they had no sense about how to spend money wisely.
The youngest daughter, however, kept quiet as her mother could not hear her voice over her two older sisters. When the daughters left, the mother asked the youngest, "Rose, what shall I bring you from the market?"
"Could you bring me three roses, please? It's okay if you can't find them."
Being quite surprised at her small request, the mother set out to bring her not three but many roses.
Once the mother made her shopping list and put her walking shoes on, she left quickly. As the market was a long journey, she left in the morning. Slowly, the mother was able to accumulate the items on her list one by one. She carried the items in a sack on her back in the scorching summer heat.
The sun had already set, and it was dark out. The mother, frantic to reach home in a timely manner, lost her way. She was distressed, exhausted, and thirsty, but she kept going. A forest was ahead of her, and she went through the forest every time on her way back home. Once she entered the forest, she sat down on a rock to catch her breath and drank some water. While the mother rested, she looked up and saw a palace; she had never seen this palace before.
The mother noticed a garden full of roses and realized that she forgot to buy her youngest daughter three roses. This was partly due to her old age. The roses were certainly not like other roses. They were mesmerizing as they swayed in the wind and had a radiant deep red color. Irritated by the thought of going to the market again, she had an epiphany. She could simply pick the roses here!
So, the mother picked three beautiful roses for her daughter. As soon as she finished picking the roses, she heard a demanding voice.
"Stop," yelled a dragon. "Now that you have taken my roses, you must give me something in return: your daughter."
The dragon's figure was asymmetrical, which made his head look larger than his actual size. Its body was long and slender, and his wings exerted great force in the air. The keys to the palace jangled at his neck as he yelled. Though...the dragon's eyes were innocent.
The mother, worried as can ever be, wanted to run and hide from the dragon. However, the dragon threatened to torture her and her family. The mother and dragon made the deal seeing that there was nothing else she could do. The mother guaranteed her daughter in exchange. Once she had given him her word, she hurriedly left with her roses.
The dragon became overjoyed! He might experience love after hundreds of years!
When she reached home, she explained what happened to her youngest daughter. She cried, "I am sorry, my love. To pay for these roses, you are the payment. You must go to the palace of the dragon, and you may never return home."
The obedient daughter did not mind going to the palace. They went there, and the daughter fell in love with the palace. It was everything she ever imagined.
The dragon noticed they arrived and quickly flew to them. "You must take care of me every day of the week. There is no way out. This is your payment."
For two days, the daughter took care of him. Then, on the third day, the dragon came with a sword in his mouth asking Rose to cut his head off. Terrified at his demand, she would not cut his head off. The dragon became violent and yelled at her with uncontrollable anger. Because of this, Rose cut his head off.
The head fell down. From the dragon, a snake emerged. It was the most hideous snake to live, but its eyes were pure like the dragon's eyes. The snake, like the dragon, was full of rage and commanded Rose to cut his head off. At once, Rose cut off the snake's head. As she pondered what she just experienced, a young, handsome man emerged from the snake. As Rose analyzed her situation, the curse on the young man disappeared. The dragon, now a young man, found his true love.
As the snake had the keys to the palace, the young man now had the keys. He said lovingly, "Since the castle is mine and you helped me, I will marry you." Rose agreed without hesitation. It was the same man with the same innocent eyes.
The lovers had a magical wedding full of love, friends, and family. Rose was at peace knowing she did not have to cut any more heads.
Author's Note:
In my version of the story, I only altered some things. As I have done creative writing a few times, I chose to do a basic retelling of the story. Instead of having a basilisk, I chose a dragon. From there, the dragon changed two times (snake and human). It was one being to another! I thought the basilisk was an extraordinary creature, but I wanted to simplify the character. In addition, I changed the youngest daughter's name to Rose instead of Mary, making it ironic. The plot, setting, and theme for the most part remained the same, but I added in more detail and dialogue into the story. The goal of this was to make the plot eerie and surprising. It was as if the objects itself, like the roses, played a role in the outcome of the story. It also makes one wonder why a dragon was incredibly protective of the roses in the first place. In addition, my version of the story is shorter than the original version because I wanted to explore directness and brevity. This allowed the story to flow continuously from one point to the next without leaving out any detail or valuable information. I hope these changes made it fun to read!
Bibliography:
The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis (1922).
Image Information:
Rose Hybrid Tea from Pixabay