A terrified Blanche made her way through the thick jungle. The brambles cut her delicate skin. There were rips and tears in her smock. She hurried on, never once looking back lest he caught up with her.
Finally, she spotted a cosy nook in the bark of a huge Oak tree. It was surrounded by dry shrubs and some golden hay.
Hiding her lithe body in the old Oak, she was lost in thought. Tears fell from her ebony eyes, her red lips pursed in pain while she took stock of her situation.
How could her mother be so despicable? Her step mother to be precise, had planned to have her heart for dinner. She had barely managed to escape from the clutches of her step mother’s huntsman.
Exhausted, Blanche absentmindedly began to chew on strands of the golden hay. Presently she spotted a group of young girls approaching the oak. She gasped! They looked and sounded exactly like her but they were clothed in different attire. She rubbed her eyes.
‘There she is,’ said one of the seven forms of Blanche, grumpily.
‘Haaaachoooooo’ sneezed another, ‘I am allergic to this hay!’
‘Greetings!,’ said the third look-alike, happily.
‘So nice to meet you,’ said another Blanche impostor, turning red and smiling bashfully.
Blanche, now thinking it was a weird dream, pinched herself. She winced in pain.
‘I suppose you are a silly goose for pinching yourself. That’s what I am called, for I am easily duped!’, said the fifth Blanche doppelganger.
‘Be gone from here! Is this some form of witchcraft?’, questioned Blanche, displaying courage she didn’t really feel. ‘I sit here waiting for my knight in shining armour to come hither and rescue me. I wait impatiently and now I have this apparition!,’ Blanche continued, then closed her eyes.
She felt a tap on her shoulder and a sixth avatar of her, displaying wise eyes, spoke up. ‘Have faith in thine abilities, dear one. We are not apparitions but part of thine own self. Seven of us although the last one invariably falls asleep. When the evil Queen, your mother arrives, stand up for yourself, use your faculties, dear child. Do not wait for a Prince to arrive!’
So saying the seven disappeared leaving Blanche alone. The evil Queen disguised in raggedy clothes, brought along an apple pie, poisoned to the core. But Blanche shrieked out and gave one hard kick, then clobbered her startled step mother with a large old branch.
She found her way back to her palace. She was much loved by her people and ruled her land with an iron hand.
Note: The author has taken creative liberties with Disney’s version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.(1937). In light of the recent ‘Bois locker room’ scandal, so also rapes and discrimination,the author wishes to stress on the importance of girls being self reliant. The seven avatars represent the seven dwarfs: Grumpy, Sneezy, Happy, Bashful, Dopey, Doc and Sleepy.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_White_and_the_Seven_Dwarfs_(1937_film)
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