© Ayr/Gray
From Jenne Gray and C.E. Ayr’s photo prompt, The Unicorn Challenge (12/08/23). No more than 250 words in length. Otherwise, let your creative flag fly!
Seven swans, seven brothers, and one sister unable to speak…
You’d think this was an old-fashioned fairy tale, something from the Grimms, or someone like them. You might have heard there were eleven brothers, or six, or that they were ravens, or ducks. Some have it that the brothers were enchanted into avian by an evil stepmother through the requisite number of white shirts. Others emphasize the sister, Elise untransformed, as the only one who can save them, by her sewing skills, and her silence until the work is completed.
A king, entranced by her blistered red hands turning stinging nettles into rescue shirts – Bonus! She can’t say anything, only look at him beseechingly — falls in love with her. That is, until she’s accused by her mother-in-law of being a witch, to be burned at the stake. Finishing all but the sleeve of one magical shirt, Elise is rescued by all of her brothers, as flames lick at her tender, bare calves.
This is not that story. In this story, only four of the brothers survive. Maybe those not present were shot by hunters, or poisoned by lead fishing lures. Perhaps the sister was imprisoned by addiction, leaving four shirts unfinished, not just one sleeve. Then again, four of the princes might’ve identified more as swan than prince. The king might’ve realized the Old Queen was a bitch and set her up with an isolated kangaroo court.
Choices lead to ever-afters, which may be happy, or may be not.
© Liz Husebye Hartmann (2023)
Valley of the Trolls 
That’s the truth! So many choices, and not all of them end well….
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Love the opening line. Like, really, what Reader can resist such an opening line.
(Really enjoyed the rest of your fairytale mashup.)
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A story of what-ifs, sometimes painfully realistic, telling us that there are no certainties in life.
Chapeau, Liz
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Stories that sustain must change with the times. 😏
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I love this. An entertaining tale leading right to the truth of the final line.
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Thank you, Deanna!
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Well done, Liz.
Fairy tales are not for kids!
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Yep. Meant for firesides and long Winter nights! 🙂
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Cut! Let’s take it from the top again!
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😅
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Oh, I like what you’ve done with this tale, Liz.
A nod to Hans Christian Andersen’s original – and its spin-offs – and then dropped right into the 21st century.
Neatly and expertly done, with the mandatory fairy tale moral to finish.
Such a good story.
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Thank you for your kind comment!
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A touch of cold reality to the fairy tale
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Because it’s part of our living stories…like folklore.
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Very true.
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It always comes down to choices, huh? I never realized fairy tales could wind down so many roads!
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And intertwine in so many crossroads!
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Inspired ramble through mythology, Liz. 🙂
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Thank you kindly, Doug! The more these tales change, the more they stay the same, deep down. 😉
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