True Love's Kiss: a Sleeping Beauty Retelling [On Hold]

C H A P T E R 1

            C H A P T E R 1

“Your sweet sixteen is just around the corner, Briar!” Flora said, licking a stripe of pink frosting from her index finger. “I’m trying to prepare the cake.”

            I gave her a nod and continued to watch. My godmothers had been in the kitchen since the early hours of the morning preparing a cake for my sweet sixteen. Flour powdered Flora’s cheeks, her tiny pink apron, and even managed to clot in her gray hair. As she mixed the batter carefully, she made sure to get all the lumps out. “It has to be perfect,” she’d said, giving me a grin. It seemed as though my godmothers were more excited about my birthday than I was.

            Merryweather walked in, wearing a blue dress that came just past her knees. Her grey hair was parted on the side, short and fluffy strands swirling on her head. She gave Briar a smile, then turned over to Flora with a cold stare.

            “I thought we agreed on blue frosting,” She protested.                     

            “No, you suggested it. That doesn’t mean I had to follow,” Flora snapped, a smirk appearing on her powdered cheeks. She took another stripe of frosting from her finger and licked it clean. “Hm, Briar, does this frosting taste too sweet to you?”

            I made my way into the kitchen, tasting a bit of the icing. It was creamy and sweet, but definitely not too sweet. In my opinion, it was just how I like it.

            “Mm, it’s perfect, Flora.” I smiled before returning to the table, where I read the tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet.

            Looking around, I couldn’t help but wonder where my last godmother was. I hadn’t seen her this morning and began to grow curious as to where she was.

            “Where’s Fauna?” I cocked an eyebrow and searched around the kitchen, hoping to spot her.

            “Oh, she’s just out an about. Getting some fabric for your dress.” Flora responded, still quite focused on the cake batter rather than anything else. When Flora turned away to retrieve a whip, Merryweather snuck three drops of blue food coloring into the pink frosting. She turned to me and gave a wink, and I chuckled softly.

            Flora turned back to the batter, but quickly scanned the frosting, an angry expression plastered on her usually innocent face. I had to admit, although Flora was mad at Merryweather, her expression still showed one of infinite beauty.

            “Merryweather, what did you do? I simply told you we were using pink frosting.”

            “Well, what’s wrong with blue?”

            The two godmothers fought for a bit on which color frosting to use – pink or blue. Really, I didn’t care what color the frosting was. Frosting is frosting, and as long as it tastes good, it was all that mattered. I sighed, my golden blonde hair falling over her hunched shoulders.

            “Let’s have Briar decide then!” Merryweather stomped, “Briar, honey, what color frosting would you like?”

            “Pink is better,” Flora mumbled, but not before Merryweather could jab her lightly in the side.

            “Honestly, whatever color is fine,” I shrugged, “I mean, if you two are fighting over pink or blue frosting, why don’t you just mix the two together? That way, you’d both get what you like, and I get purple frosting.”

            They both agreed on purple, after much persistence. After a while, I saw a tint of green pass by – Fauna. I watched her toss some green fabric onto the sofa with much care, as if the fabric were as delicate as glass.

            “Uh, is there something you guys aren’t telling me?” I asked, eyebrows raised in a confused expression as Fauna entered the kitchen.

            “Whatever do you mean?” Merryweather asked, “Of course not.”

            “Why would you think that?” Flora questioned. She put on her pink oven-mitts and carefully put the cake in the hot oven. With it open, I could feel the heat escape and cloud the entire house.

            I shrugged, “I just don’t see why you guys are going all out for this. It’s just another birthday; I’ve had one every year.”

            “This is different, Briar. You’re turning sixteen.” Fauna replied. “We have to make it as special as possible.”

            All of my godmothers nodded in agreement, their smiles close to picture perfect. I huffed, blowing a strand of my hair from my blue eyes. What was so special about turning sixteen? It’s just another birthday, like the rest of them were. Why did they insist that they had to go out of their way for me?

            “We love you, Briar.” They said in unison. Each one came over to kiss me, Flora being first, then Merryweather, then Fauna. With each kiss, I felt the love they felt for me. I knew how much they cared. And maybe that was a part of it. Maybe they’re doing all this – going all out, fighting over icing, making a dress – simply because they cared.

            But I couldn’t help but wonder: could it be something more?