Elaine rushed into her precious girl's room, "Honey, you're here, in your bed. You're completely safe. Daddy and I are not going to let anyone take you away." For years her child had horrible dreams of being kidnapped and then ransomed or sold for money. It was the strangest thing, she had never experienced anything but love in her whole little life.
"Mom, can you stay with me? Just until I fall back asleep." Arie pleaded with her mother. "Please, tell me the story. You know, the one of you and daddy."
Elaine shakes her head. Her daughter has always had a dreaming spirit and she romanticizes everything, especially the story of her parents marriage. Such a dreamy eyed girl, Elaine couldn't deny her anything.
"You must lay down and close your eyes, then I will tell you." She says.
Arie lies back with a blissful smile on her face anxiously waiting for her mother to begin.
.....
Elaine was out running errands and not paying attention to what was happening around her. She had her nose in her book and ran she ran smack into the most gorgeous blue eyes she had ever seen.
"Oh my gods, I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention and I just..." Elaine stuttered.
"That's quite alright. You are welcome to run into me anytime." The pair of blue eyes responded.
Elaine blushed deeply and looked down at her feet. It was then she noticed, "Ugh, I spilled your coffee all over you. I am such a klutz".
"You can you make it up to me by having another cup with me? My name is Ian, and you are?"
"Elaine, and I would love to go get coffee with you but I'm afraid I must rush. I have a music lesson at two and it's already one-thirty." Elaine replied "Here take my number. Perhaps we could try again?"
Ian was struck. He had never seen a woman so lovely and he could hardly wait to give her a call. Actually, he couldn't wait. He picked up is phone as he watched her walk away,.
"Hello?"
"Hello?"
"Would you like to get coffee with me tomorrow morning?" He asked
Elaine giggled, "I would love to, ten at the Brew? See you there"
From that moment on they were inseparable. They did everything together and became annoyingly adorable. They began planning a future and wondering how many children they would have. However, there was one thing that bothered Elaine, Ian had never introduced her to his family.
She began to wonder if something was wrong with her, "Ian, why have I not met your family? Is it me? Will they not like me?"
Ian shook his head. How could he tell his beautiful, perfect girl that his mother was a tyrant who believed no one would ever be good enough for him?
After much debate and some tears, Ian finally caved and took Elaine to meet his mother and her two sisters.
And It. Was. Terrible.
Minerva, Ian's mother, was insufferable. She hated Elaine and would say terrible things about her, to her face and behind her back. "Honey, I would love for you to wear my wedding dress in the upcoming wedding, but I'm afraid it won't fit."
"You know my Ian prefers his women blonde. You might want to consider a dye job. That stringy brown is really not that attractive."
The aunts felt terrible for Elaine, but could not step in. Minerva was a terrible person but a great sister and they owed her their loyalty. They simply said nothing and watched the poor girl suffer in silence.
Elaine tried for weeks to bring Ian's mother around. She would run her errands, call for her opinion on the wedding, and check on her daily to make sure she didn't need anything. Nothing worked and Elaine felt very down.
Finally, the wedding was here! Elaine could not hide her excitement but she was also very apprehensive. She was going to spend her life with a mother-in-law who hated her.
The night of the wedding she called Ian in tears,
"I can't, we can't do this. Your mother is never going to come around, and I just can't deal with it anymore."
"I can't, we can't do this. Your mother is never going to come around, and I just can't deal with it anymore."
Ian immediately got in the car and drove to Elaine. She opened the door in surprise, "What are you..."
"Elaine" he said, "You are my life, my future, and my everything. I never want to spend another day without you. You're my family now and it does not matter what my mother says. I love you most, nothing will change that."
Elaine fell into his arms in tears and even though it was bad luck, they stayed up all night laughing, talking, and holding each other. The dawn crept in and Ian left to get ready for the big day.
It was perfect. Everything Elaine had ever dreamed, except for one problem. "You're wearing white? Are you sure that is wise?" Minerva would not leave her alone.
Once it was time go for the honeymoon and they were saying their goodbye, "You can still back out, you haven't filed the license" Minerva told her son.
"MINERVA ENOUGH" Minerva jumped at the sound of her Dad's voice. "These wonderful young people have decided to spend their life together and from what I can see they are a delightful match. You'll not say another word about Elaine or this marriage. Understood?"
Minerva quivered, "Yes, yes father" for there was no one she feared on this earth except for her father.
The young newly weds flew off into the sunset and started a beautiful little family and welcomed a baby girl two years later who they named Arabella, Arie for short. It was a dream come true.
"Arie? Arriieee" Elaine quietly called.
Then she smiled as she slipped out of the room. Perhaps Arie was right, she really did live a lovely, dreamy life.Author's Note:
This story is loosely based on the love story of Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche by Terry Kline. In the story a young girl is kidnapped for ransom and an old woman attempts to calm her by telling her love story of Cupid and Psyche. Psyche is the most beautiful woman and Venus, Cupid's mom, is jealous that she is taking away from her. She wants Cupid to curse her, but instead they fall in love. Venus becomes very angry when she finds out and forced Psyche to perform impossible tasks. Finally in the end, Jupiter blesses their union and Venus is forced to accept what has happened. I wanted to play on the tyrant mother aspect while still using the fairy tale ending.
Hi Lu,
ReplyDeleteI also did this story for my Week 2 retelling and I am amazed at how well you were able to hit every plot point while still keeping it in the style you chose. The mother of the groom tyrant idea was really well written as well. I used to work at a bridal shop/showcases and the dialogue you created was spot on for those types of people! Also the back and forth between your two main characters when they first met was something straight out of a fairytale and it made me smile like a fool.
Speaking of the dialogue, I was wondering if you could think any other motivations the aunts (who are supposed to mirror Juno and Ceres) would have for not stepping in besides loyalty? Seeing as how the gods and goddesses were not the most faithful or trusting types, I wondered if the aunts might have ulterior motives. Another insight might be to go more into the relationship between Ian and his mother? Granted this story focuses on Eliane's struggles but it might be nice to better understand why Ian had to fight so hard against his mother's wishes. This was a great read nonetheless! Thanks for writing this piece!
Belle
I thought it was really interesting how you incorporated a story into a story! I haven’t read the original story but it sounds a lot meaner than your story! I thought it was really cool how sweet and in depth you made the flashback to the parent’s meeting story. The picture even matched perfectly! I wasn’t really sure why the specific kidnapping and ransomed part was included until the very end of the story, at the author’s note. What if it was moved to the beginning of the story? It might be clearer that way. Have you thought about making the father a bigger part of the story telling too? I could be sweet to have them correcting each other on different ways that they perceived things, or just having the father comfort the child at all. All in all, I really enjoyed the story though. It was super sweet!
ReplyDeleteThe way you wrote your story was in depth and interesting. I liked your idea on making the mother a tyrant and the tone of the whole story seemed lighter than your original one. It was well put together and fascinating on how you went deeper within the story. It gave it a uniqueness so that I could see the similarities with your story and the original but I also can see the changes you made. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI love how you retell the story in modern situation. This is a realistic situation. Luckily, Zeus (Jupiter) is on the side of Cupid and Psyche. Your story reminds me of the movie “Mother-in-Law”. I think this movie also got this idea from the story of Cupid and Psyche. The only thing I like in the story that is missing in the original version is that Ian did stand up and try to be with Elaine unlike Cupid who is hiding, believing that is the only way to protect Psyche from Venus.
ReplyDeleteYou injected a lot of feeling into this story. I found myself being annoyed with the mother because I know people who can be that kind of passive aggressive. We always wish they'd get their comeuppance. The ending was a little quick and clipped and I wish you had fleshed it out just a tad bit more. I liked the details about how they met though and how cute they were together.
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