Here is another classic story that everyone has heard about: Rapunzel, the innocent girl with beautiful hair. The thing is though, I am not as innocent as I may seem. There is a reason I was locked away in a tower. Prison life is nothing for me and this isn't my first rodeo! The story of sweet Rapunzel being punished and can't-be-reunited-with-her-lover isn't quite true. Let me tell you the truth about why I really was locked away by the "wicked" witch!
Once upon a time, my father and mother so desperately wanted a child, but by unfortunate fate, my mother's womb was barren. My parents continued to pray to the good Lord above from their charming cottage that looked out upon a perfectly splendid garden. This wasn't just any garden though. This garden had been surrounded by a monstrous stone wall, and the garden belonged to an evil sorcerer, or a witch as many passersby liked to call her.
One day, my mother noticed a lush harvest of rapunzel growing in the corner of the witch's garden, and she longed to taste the sweet herb on her tongue.
My father felt frightened and asked her, "What is making you so sick, dear?"
She answered, "If my lips can't taste the rapunzel growing in the garden across the way, I am going to die a sad death."
The thought of my mother dying broke my father's heart. He was determined to collect a bundle of rapunzel for her.
As the night came upon them, my father snuck stealthily into the witch's garden. He approached the wall, jumped over, and collected a bushel of rapunzel to bring home to my mother. My mother was very pleased and immediately prepared a scrumptious salad. She ate every last bit of it!
The next day, my mother desired the rapunzel yet again and she begged my father to retrieve some more. My father ultimately wanted my mother to be happy, so yet again he made the sneaky journey into the forbidden garden. With a quick leap down from the wall, my father was standing face to face with the evil witch!
She screeched, "How dare you steal my rapunzel from my garden! You are not only greedy, but you are a thief and you will pay for this!"
Honestly, I think the witch was being so unreasonable! All my father was trying to do was save my mom. I think the witch is being a bit dramatic in my opinion. Pay for this, come on! It's a vegetable we are fighting over!
The witch cackled and said to my father, "If what you say is absolutely true, you may take as much rapunzel as your heart desires. My only condition is you must give me the child your wife is going to bring into the world. I want to nurture her and have a daughter as kind and gentle as me."
My father was so scared that he agreed to this contract and ran away! In a hurry, he tripped and fell into a dark hole underground, never to be seen again. That is what people tell me since I never did get to meet him!
Want to hear how it ends? Check out the rest of the story here!
Author's Note:
I took my inspiration for this twist on the classic story of Rapunzel from the Brothers Grimm version. The Brothers Grimm collects folklore stories from various storytellers who write stories that are a bit on the dark and spooky side. This version of Rapunzel I wrote portrays Rapunzel as not the typical innocent girl everyone traditionally knows. This story in particular is of German descent, and it was written in 1857. The classic Rapunzel story was part of a larger folklore book of other fairytales from multiple cultural origins. I chose to use this version because it was the version I was most familiar with and I felt inspired to make a twist on it. I decided to make my Repunzel story into a two-part series. This first part is Rapunzel sharing how her parents got into the mess they did before she was born. It documents why her parents had to give her up in the first place. The mother's desire for rapunzel, a vegetable with leaves and crisp roots, was all consuming. Her mother wanted this delectable more than anything in the world, even if it meant giving up her first-born daughter. I felt it was important to give a background on how Rapunzel got her name and how she ended up with the witch in the first place! I hope y'all enjoy! Keep reading if you want to see how it ends!