The Spring Anthology ✔

The Girl Made of Glass

Written by @Nynira

Once upon a time in a land far far away lived a lord with his wife and five sons. As long as anyone could remember their country had been at war with all the surrounding ones. Over the years there had been truces and there had been treason. Unions had been formed and had been broken again.

The lord's people had fought well and brave for a very long time, but now they had become exhaust. Soon another country would be able to invade their land and everything would be lost.

There was only one thing leaving the lord hoping. A witch had told him on her dying bed, that his next child would have the power to change everything, to bring peace to the world. Soon after the lord's lady announced that she was indeed with child.

The family was incredible happy and word of the witch's prophecy spread through the whole country. The people began hoping for a peaceful life.

Months later a little girl was born, greeted by a firework. But she was born sick. She didn't scream, didn't move, and barely breathed. Every doctor of the country came to help the child, but no one could. The only thing they could achieve was to keep her alive for a little longer.

All hope seemed lost as one evening an old man selling dolls knocked on the gate. The lord welcomed him and gave him a bed to sleep in and food to eat. The old man wanted to return the favor and since he had heard of their child's conditions he offered to take a look.

The lord, desperate for his daughter to survive, agreed.

The doll maker took one look at the child and saw the curse that had been put her. He would be able to weaken, but not to break it. Only time could. So he changed the curse. After he had said the last words of his spell, the child took a deep breath and began screaming.

She was healthy, but her whole appearance had changed. The child had turned into glass. The doll maker spoke to the lord. "She will be made of glass until her twelfth birthday. On that day when the moon appears from behind the clouds, she will turn into flesh and blood, like all humans. But till that day you have to keep her safe. Otherwise it will be your downfall."

And with that the dying witch's prophecy became true. As if enchanted the neighbouring countries stopped the war. Princes, Kings and Emperors came to see the girl made of glass. An era of peace and happiness came over the world.

Afraid of the girl dying before her twelfth birthday the lord build her a castle. A castle with walls and floors soft as pillows. A castle where nothing could hurt the little girl.

To ensure that she stayed in her golden cage her brothers told her stories about bad man living outside the castle walls. Thieves, bandits, pirates, murderers. They made stories up so gruesome for a very long time the girl was afraid to even look out of the window. But one day that changed.

A banquet was held in the castle. And this time not noble men and women were invited, but people from the city instead. That day the girl made of glass talked with a lot of people. She found them strange, she found them different, she found them incredible fascinating as they painted a picture of the outside world she would have never dreamed of.

They never made it sound like a paradise, but as they talked about bakeries, cattle, meadows and rivers the girl found herself wishing to take a look at it herself.

From that day on she spent hours just sitting by a window and admiring the city nestled to the castle walls. Oh, how she wished she could take a walk there. An hour. She wasn't asking for more, but her parents forbid her to ever leave the castle.

In her mind she began forming a plan. It took a year of careful planning, but one morning the time had finally come. Only that it hadn't. It was the day before her twelfth birthday. It would only take one more day for her to become really human. But she didn't know that. She had never been told.

And so she left that morning, carefully creeping through the halls of the castle and into the garden, expertly avoiding all the guards. She hurried through the garden, towards a small door in the wall that led into the city.

She could hear the noise and her heart began to beat loudly in her chest. What she didn't realize was that her skin had begun vibrating, making a sound like bells, alerting the guards. They came after her.

Afraid of never being able to escape again she tore the door open and stumbled onto the street. A rock. She tripped and fell.

The moment she touched the ground her delicate body shattered into pieces. The clangor could be heard miles away and as soon as it reached the surrounding countries it was as if their lords became free of a spell.

War started again. Thousand days of sadness came over the world and after that no one even remembered the girl made of glass and the country she had lived in.