My Own Fairy Tales

Aurora and Benjamin

Aurora and Benjamin

Once upon a time there was a widowed gentleman, with his little daughter Aurora. His wife died when Aurora was just a baby and he had raised his daughter by himself ever since. The gentleman loved his daughter very much and she loved him in return. The father and daughter were indeed happy together and their lives couldn't have been better than this.

When a new spring came the gentleman married again. His new wife was a beautiful woman, with black hair and brown eyes. Aurora, however, did not like her new stepmother. There was something about her that she didn't like. She was right to dislike her because the truth was she was actually an evil witch. But no one, not even the gentleman knew that yet.

Sometime later the gentleman died from a terrible illness, leaving Aurora to be raised by her stepmother. It was the death of her father when Aurora found out that her stepmother was an evil woman. While he was alive she behaved differently, but now she was allowed to act as she wanted. The stepmother was cruel to Aurora; she abused her and made her a servant. Aurora was unhappy; first she loses her mother as a baby, next she loses her father fourteen years later and now she has become a servant of a cruel woman.

However Aurora was not completely alone. She had a best friend and neighbour named Clouse. Clouse had been Aurora's best friend ever since they were small children and was always with her whenever she was alone and unhappy. He even helped her with some of the chores that she had to do every day. With Clouse around Aurora was always cheerful, even though she was now living a miserable life.

One day, sometime after Aurora turned sixteen, the stepmother would not stop gazing at Aurora. Usually when Aurora was around she would just pretend that she wasn't there but today all she did was stare at her. Aurora felt nervous and frightened having her stepmother just stare at her. That evening she talked to Clouse about it. "I must say I do find that strange" Clouse said "she only looks at you when she's giving you orders".

"I know Clouse" said Aurora "I'm really scared about that and her eyes show a really cold look".

"How about this" asked Clouse "tomorrow I'll keep watch on what she is doing".

"If you're going to do that Clouse do be careful" said Aurora "my stepmother hates it when you look after me".

"Don't worry Aurora" said Clouse, holding her close to him, "it will be all right".

The next day Aurora was doing her chores as usual, but just like yesterday her stepmother was watching her the whole time.

"Is there something you want to say to me stepmother?" asked Aurora "you have been staring at me all morning".

"Yes there is actually" the stepmother said. She brought Aurora over to her mirror. "As you can see in this mirror I am very beautiful but it also shows how pretty you are. Your golden hair shines in the sun and your blue eyes are like sapphires. Everyone around here has said that you have grown into a beautiful woman. So tell me, what do you think of my beauty? And don't lie or else".

"Alright stepmother I'll tell you what I think" said Aurora "you are beautiful on the outside, but on the inside you are filled with coldness and cruelty. Therefore I call you an ugly person".

The stepmother was in rage by that comment and was just about to strike Aurora, when the door was kicked open. It was Clouse! Clouse had watched everything from the window and kicked the door open to rescue Aurora. He grabbed Aurora and both of them ran away from the house into a forest.

"I knew there was something I didn't like about her" said Aurora, when they finally stopped running, "what can we do?"

"There is a cottage in the middle of this forest" said Clouse "my father and I used to go there every summer. You will be safe there".