Self-Written Fairytales

The Painting

For over one hundred fifty years, the painting had hung there, on the wall. Now, it was missing. Let's start from the beginning though.

Princess Sonya had always adored that painting from when she was just a few days old. Her mother would carry her by it, and she would wave her arms at it and smile. As Sonya grew up, she would spend hours, gazing at the painting. No one knew why.

Some people, well those who were fortunate enough to lay eyes on it, believed that the painting had grown younger over the years. There was a girl in the painting once, but the day Sonya was born, it disappeared. Old books would say that a little old lady and her old husband were in the painting. Twenty-some years later, the images appeared younger. Then, as time passed, the girl appeared younger and younger, and one day, the man disappeared.

Lots of royals, because they were idiots, shrugged it off and kept on their daily lives.

Princess Sonya was growing into a lovely lady. At the ripe age of fifteen, she was ready to be married off. (As you know, people in that time were married early.)

No matter how handsome or how witty or how rich or how funny, Sonya declined every one of the men. They were "too this",or "too that".

Soon, Sonya was seventeen, and she had rejected every Prince, noble, and knight. Her mother grew wary of all the work that went to waste. Sonya didn't seem to have a care in the world. She just wanted to spend all day staring at the painting.
Little did her mother know,  Sonya had a suitor. He was a stable boy named Christopher. She had been in love with him since the first day she laid eyes on him four years ago.

Obviously, Sonya wanted to marry him, but rules are rules. In order for the two to be bonded by marriage, he needed to be a prince, noble, or a knight. Sonya and Christopher had a plan in place already.

On the night everything was supposed to happen, Christopher was let into the castle by Sonya. She gives him the painting, all wrapped up to appear like nothing important. He snuck out of the castle and hid it in his house.

The next morning, Sonya woke up and cried. She cried to her mother, her lady in waiting, her father, the maids. She cried to everyone in the castle that her favorite painting was gone. She declared that she would not  marry ANYONE until the painting was returned.

At this, the queen had a fabulous idea. She decided that whomever returned the painting, shall be rewarded the princess' hand in marriage. This was exactly what the princess was hoping for.

For weeks, the kingdom searched for the painting. Nobles and Knights from neighboring kingdoms came to find the painting. Months passed, and the painting had still not returned.

By then, Sonya became worried. She called for her stable boy to come and see her, but he never came.

Years passed, and Princess Sonya's heart was broken. Her Christopher had left her all alone. Now Sonya was not allowed to marry because of the painting had ever been returned, then Sonya would no longer be able to offer her hand in marriage.

When Sonya was twenty seven, a new prince came to woo Sonya. He was kind, noble, humorous, intelligent, handsome, and rich. He was the perfect prince for Sonya. She fell in love again.

Sonya confused the prince because she denied his hand in marriage whenever he asked, but she would always preach her love for him. One day, Prince Henry decided to ask for answers. Sonya told him everything, from the stable boy, to the painting. Henry's heart broke when she told him that she was bound to marry whom ever found the painting. Henry decided that he would find the painting. He went to the stable boy's home and searched all over.

While in the house, a man walked in. Both of them were startled. The man was Christopher. Henry told him to give him the painting at once so he could marry Sonya.

He couldn't. The painting had vanished on the night that it was stolen. Christopher had searched far and wide for it, but it had never showed up. He became ashamed of his failure, and vowed never to show his face to Sonya again because his heart would break into a million pieces.

Henry returned to the castle as quickly as he could to tell Sonya everything. She began to weep. Not because Christopher still loved her, and not because she couldn't be with either man that she loved ever, but because she would never see the painting again.

She cried for days, for her eyes never dried, she was never thirsty, and she never grew tired or hungry. Henry tried to calm her down, but that would only cause the tears to fall faster. Soon, the hall was flooded with tears, soaking Sonya, but she still didn't stop weeping.

Eventually, Sonya drowned in her own tears because she couldn't stop crying. Henry left her to go get help by the time the tears were up to her waist. When he returned, he found her, dead, but on the wall above her body, was the painting.  Henry grew angry at the painting, but he couldn't bring himself to hurt the painting.

Christopher was summoned to the castle the day of her death. He saw her body, looked at it, then dropped dead on the floor next to Sonya. His heart had broken.

While everyone else mourned at her funeral, Henry stared at the painting. He saw a young Sonya and a young Christopher.