Mirror’s Jealous Whisper

art writing...
Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, a beautiful queen sat by her window, sewing on a winter’s day. As she stitched, she pricked her finger, and three drops of blood fell on the snow that had gathered on the black windowsill. Looking at the red blood on the white snow, she said, “I wish I had a daughter with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as black as ebony.”

A year later, her wish came true. She gave birth to a beautiful baby girl with snow-white skin, ruby-red lips, and hair as black as night. The queen named her Snow White, but sadly, she died shortly after the birth.

The king remarried, and his new queen was beautiful but cruel and vain. She owned a magical mirror, and every day she would ask it:

“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?”

The mirror would always reply, “You, my queen, are the fairest of them all.” But as Snow White grew older, her beauty became unmatched. One day, the mirror replied:

“You, my queen, are fair; it’s true.
But Snow White is even fairer than you.”

Enraged with jealousy, the queen ordered a huntsman to take Snow White deep into the forest and kill her. She demanded proof—Snow White’s heart. But when the huntsman raised his knife, he looked into the girl’s innocent eyes and couldn’t do it.

“Run, Snow White,” he whispered. “Run and never return.”

She fled through the dark forest, where shadows twisted and creatures howled. Finally, exhausted, she found a tiny cottage nestled in the woods. Inside, everything was small—tiny chairs, tiny bowls, tiny beds. She lay down on one of the beds and fell into a deep sleep.

When the owners returned, seven dwarfs with kind eyes and cheerful voices, they were surprised to find a young girl sleeping in their home.

“Who is she?” asked one.

“She looks frightened,” said another.

Snow White awoke and told them her story. The dwarfs offered her a safe home. “You can stay here, but don’t open the door to anyone,” they warned. “The queen will find you if she can.”

Meanwhile, the queen returned to her mirror and asked again:

“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?”

The mirror answered, “Snow White, who lives with the seven dwarfs in the forest, is the fairest of them all.”

Furious, the queen disguised herself as an old peddler woman and set out to find Snow White. She knocked on the dwarfs’ cottage door.

“Pretty girl,” she croaked, “Would you like to try this lovely lace bodice?”

Snow White, seeing only a kind old woman, let her in. But as the queen pulled the lace tight, Snow White couldn’t breathe and collapsed. The queen smiled wickedly and left her there.

That evening, the dwarfs returned and found Snow White lying motionless. They quickly cut the lace, and she gasped for air. “The queen will try again,” they warned. “Be careful.”

But the queen tried again. Disguised with magic, she returned with a poisoned comb.

“This will make your hair shine like the sun,” she said.

Snow White accepted it, and as soon as the comb touched her head, she fainted once more. Again, the dwarfs arrived just in time and removed the comb.

Finally, the queen created a deadly red apple, poisoned with a single bite. Disguised again, she returned and offered it to Snow White.

“It’s a special apple,” she said. “Half is for me, half is for you.”

To prove it wasn’t poisoned, the queen bit the harmless side. Snow White, trusting her, bit the other half and instantly fell into a deathlike sleep.

This time, nothing could wake her.

The dwarfs were heartbroken. They placed her in a glass coffin in the woods, believing she was too beautiful to bury. Seasons changed, but Snow White remained still, like a sleeping doll.

One day, a prince came riding through the forest. When he saw her, he was struck by her beauty. “Let me take her to my kingdom,” he asked the dwarfs, “so she can rest in peace.”

As the prince’s servants lifted the coffin, they stumbled. The piece of poisoned apple lodged in Snow White’s throat dislodged, and she coughed and awoke, confused but alive.

The prince was overjoyed. “You’re alive!” he cried. “I thought I had lost you forever.”

Snow White smiled and thanked the dwarfs for saving her. She and the prince returned to his kingdom, where they were married in a grand celebration.

The wicked queen, hearing of the royal wedding, asked her mirror again:

“Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?”

And the mirror replied, “The new queen, Snow White, is the fairest of them all.”

The wicked queen, filled with rage and shame, vanished into the mountains, never to be seen again.

And Snow White and the prince lived happily ever after.

The Fairest One of All
A Story of Jealousy and True Love

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