Week 9 Story: Runaway Rapunzel

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 tour. 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 on 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 good faith alone, 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 was surrounded by a monstrous stone wall, and the garden belonged to an evil sorcerer, or a witch as many passerby's 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. The desire began to manifest and it was all my mother could think about!

My father began to feel 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 outside and crawled stealthily into the witch's garden. As he approached the wall, he used all his strength to hoist himself over, and landed on his back instead of his feet on the other side. Brushing the dirt off his pants, he hastily collected a bushel of rapunzel and hurried home to my mother. My mother was very pleased and immediately prepared a scrumptious salad. She ate every last bit of it, enjoying every delectable bite. She went to bed with a full belly and a satisfied heart.

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 from my rapunzel from my garden! You are not only greedy, but you are a thief and you will pay for this!"

My father trembled in fear and said, "The only reason I stole from you was to satisfy my wife, for she saw the rapunzel growing from our window and she would die without it!"

The witch rolled her eyes 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 will care for the child as my own."

My father was so scared that he agreed to this contract and ran away to tell my mother the news.

Not long after, my mother gave birth to me just as the witch had promised would happen. The witch named me Rapunzel after the herb that my father stole for my mother. She took me away to live in the tower with her. I have to say, I grew up to be the most beautiful girl and my hair turned a beautiful gold that shone like the sun. When I turned twelve years old, the witch made me my own room in the tower that overlooked a beautiful forest full of woodland creatures that scurried about. 

When the witch wanted to enter my room, she would call out:

                        Rapunzel, Rapunzel,

                        Let down your hair to me.

I would take my golden braid and watch it cascade down the tower wall. From there, she would use my hair as a ladder and climb up to greet me. She always would come up to my room for my daily school lesson of either literature, mathematics, or medieval history. It was literally so boring! The witch was always scolding me for not listening and she threatened to cut my hair off if I didn't stop braiding my hair during geometry. I personally felt she was being way too hard on me. 

One day while I was reading in my history book about a ferocious knight, I saw a handsome boy with golden locks and blue eyes riding a horse through the forest below. My heart began to beat fast and I got butterflies in my stomach! I knew it was love at first sight. I had to see this boy! As the witch came to my window for my daily school lesson, I let down my hair and she climbed up as usual. 

After practicing my cursive, I asked her, "I want to go down and see the boy I saw outside my window." 

She quickly responded, "Absolutely not Rapunzel. You are way too young to talk to boys! If you go and see this boy, I am going to lock you away for the night and you will get no supper!"

Of course I was annoyed and angry because she was keeping me from the love of my life. I knew I needed to come up with a plan, and if that meant getting rid of the witch, I would do it.

I spent the whole night coming up with a plan and it was genius!

The next morning came like it usually does with the witch coming to my window at ten o' clock sharp. She called out to me: 

            Rapunzel, Rapunzel,

            Let down your hair to me.

I took my golden braid and threw it down for her to cling onto as she climbed up the side. As he feet planted onto the ground, I quickly put a sack over her head and bound her wrists with rapunzel weed. She tried to fight me, but I wasn't letting up. I then took a pair of kitchen scissors and cut off my hair. With that, I ran jumped out the window, locking it behind me. The witch was stuck for good! I snickered to myself, pleased with how my devious plan worked. 

I quickly ran into the witch's bed chamber and rooted through her dresser to find something to wear. I needed to disguise myself and change my identity. This boy was not going to take me seriously if I didn't look like a young, acceptable woman. Once I adorned myself in a silk gown and pearls, I scurried out to the barn in the back of the garden, and stole one of her horses and I took off into the forest. 

I rode and rode until I found I came across the boy. The charming boy was sitting on the edge of a stream eating an apple as his horse stopped for a cooling drink. I confidently announced myself and approached the boy who was startled to see me. 

He walked timidly toward me and said, "You are such a beautiful girl, What is your name?"

I replied, "My name is Rachel. I was named after my mother."

He asked me to join him for a picnic lunch in a pasture up north. We mounted our horses and rode to the green fields ahead. Once we got there, he pulled out an array of cheeses and fruits and we sat pleasantly, learning more and more about each other. I told him all about me. Well, the pretend story of me. Suddenly, we heard a roaring siren in the distance and two police cars came barreling toward our picnic. Two burly police officers threw me onto my back and shoved me into the back of the car. 

The poor boy was frightened by the commotion and didn't understand what was going on. The police officers explained I was being charged with assault, false imprisonment of my caretaker, the witch, and for horse theft. 

I tried telling the boy this wasn't true, but he was through with me. He crossed his arms, shrugged his shoulder, and huffed away on his horse. I never saw him again.

Now I tell you this story as I sit rotting away in a prison cell. To this day, I believe my charges are completely unfair. My heart has hardened toward the witch and she hasn't come to visit me once. I personally hope she dies alone because she ratted me out. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be here. 

All I have to say is: "Boys are not worth going to prison!"

P.S. "Prison life sucks and my hair regime is lacking! I am going to have to find a way to get conditioner smuggled in! Nobody wants ugly hair am I right?" 

Author's Notes:

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 girls 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. Instead of Rapunzel being the one locked away in the tower, I wanted her to be the one to lock the witch up. She is not the victim in my version. I wanted Rapunzel to be the villain of the story instead of the witch and I made her out to be a bratty child who rebels against authority. I kept the beginning of the story the same, but I added my own original ending. The ending included her locking the witch away in the tower and running off the meet the man of her dreams. I also included more dialogue to generate more conversation between the characters and I focused the story from Rapunzel's point of view. I made Rapunzel pretend to be someone else and have a mischievous, dark side. I felt this storyline fit better with her personality and the fairytale princess's gone bad vibe I am going for. I also wanted an unexpected and original plot twist to create something new and exciting. I hope y'all enjoy!

Bibliography:

Title: Rapunzel

Author: The Brothers Grimm

Photo: Rapunzel Mugshot