Sunshine Challenge 4: Green
Jul. 25th, 2020 02:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icecheetahFrom Sunshine Challenge 4
Prompt 4: Green
Green is a rich color that is associated with a variety of things including: awakening, growth, renewal, productivity, intelligence, exuberance, prosperity, money, luck, envy, greed, survival, nature, spring, and birth.
Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises. —Pedro Calderon de la Barca
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
So, this is partly split off from Yellow because I felt that chapter was getting too long. So maybe more on the yellow side of green?
In which Cinderella and Thandi go on a walk.
When the morning sun woke her, Cinderella jumped out of bed. Her bed WASN'T THAT SOFT! Did she... why was the light wrong?
She hadn't fallen asleep in her step sister's or stepmother's bed. It was hers. For now at least. And it was that soft.
Her heart slowed to fit the comfort the bed meant to give. Hers, and she could just... .
She turned her head and faced the wall. It was the first day she could ever sleep in but she'd made a promise, didn't she? The kid... Thandi... .
Cinderella shoved her face into the pillow, absorbed the softness. Perhaps experiencing a lie in could wait another day. And she got up. As she stretched, she realised... for all the rubbing and grinding Selene had done the night before, taking away the hard skin, Cinderella's hands didn't hurt in the slightest. And she looked. Touched. They were as cottony smooth and nearly as soft as Selene's, with not a hint of red in them. The only difference to the touch was muscle underneath, where the cleansing salt couldn't touch them.
Weren't there scratches there before? Why didn't they hurt?
Perhaps Selene's salve was healing too.
Perhaps Cinderella's fire sealed them away.
She stood. Lying down and contemplating her changes would not help her keep her promise.
Selene's sword hung heavy on Cinderella's hip, but it was not the greatest burden she'd had to bear. Not even a burden; it was a gift. Or a loan.
And she found Thandi. Yawning by the road, wearing her cloak and wielding a basket she clung to with both hands, fidgeting and tightening her grip often.
"Morning. Is that heavy?" Cinderella gestured at the basket.
Thandi looked back and forth between Cinderella and the basket a few times, her cheeks puffed in concentration. Like a frog that had a thousand flies to choose from. "..yes." And then she leaned over, staring. Gaping. Again, like a frog. "Is that a sword?!"
"Ah.. yes. Selene gave it to me?"
"Why?"
"So I can look scary if wolves appear."
The frog in Thandi's face was dispelled by her disapproving frown. At the sword. Not Cinderella. "You can't just... SCARE them away!" Still staring at the Sword, she dropped her basket, launching the cloth that covered it into the air, and spread her arms wide. "If wolves attack PEOPLE they are too hungry to be scared!" With a 'hmmph', she crossed her arms and nodded at her own point.
"... was there anything fragile in the basket?"
"..." Thandi slowly, creepingly, lowered her gaze to her abandoned burden. It lay there, the cloth censoring all the damage that could be within. "I... don't know... ."
"... if... if anything's broken let's... go get more... ."
"YES!"
Celery had snapped, apples were bruised, but nothing broke in such a way that it could not be used. And so the two set off. Cinderella taking the basket when Thandi struggled or wanted to look at something along the path into the forest. Though she knew the way, there was a lot to see.
Lots to tell Cinderella.
"...and I saw a blue lizard on this rock and a white bug and..."
Cinderella held onto it all. Thandi's chatter, and the unseen river blending into it, the greensward at the edges of the path, the sunlight that escapes through the leaves, the ever chirping and rustling things she didn't know.
Rustling that got closer and closer.
And ahead.
Her hand tightened on the sword's hilt.
A wolf stepped out, the fur catching the light enough that were it not moving, the wolf could have been a moss covered statue. It glanced at Cinderella and Thandi.
Silent, Thandi ran behind Cinderella.
Cinderella pulled on the sword. Years of rage and fear cannot be burned away at once. It flowed through her hand and into the metal until its heat exceeded her own, and she held it aloft. I am a threat. Do not come near.
The wolf did not move, staring, with only the flick of an ear.
And then the sword caught alight.
"EYEH?! Cinderella dropped the sword, although it did not burn her. The fire faded away before the sword even hit the ground, not even leaving a trace of smoke. The WOLF! Cinderella looked back, but all she caught was the tail end of that wolf padding away... and two small cubs nipping at its heels.
"You wished for fire?" Thandi's voice drew Cinderella's gaze, the little girl was just confused. Not terrified. Not shaking.
"I... what?"
Thandi set down the basket and pointed at at Cinderella's shoulder. "That rat is your Fairy Godmother, isn't she? You wished for fire?"
"..."
So Thandi continued. "I knew you wished for something bad... but you made it good...?" Thandi tilted her head like looking at Cinderella a different way would make things any clearer. "And just now you had fire without wishing for it so you wished for... to...have fire work for you?"
"I... did I?"
"Don't you know every girl gets a wish?" Thandi looked at Cinderella's Fairy Godmother again. "Sometimes more than one. And you got magic you can keep doing from your wish so..." Thandi closed her eyes, held her hands to her chest in fists, and took a deep breath "you're a witch!" Thandi's eyes and arms sprung open and she hugged Cinderella's legs. "You took a bad wish and made it good and you kept it! So you're a good witch too!"
"Thandi... let go... ." Cinderella barely could say. Her stepsisters. Her stepfamily. If they still had a wish... they could just wish their way to her. They could find her!
She collapsed as soon as Thandi let go. Deaf to Thandi calling out "Ella? Ella!", Cinderella touched her Fairy Godmother.
"I wish... no one would be able to find me if I don't want them to."
"Ella... what are you... ?"
"Understood." The rat on Cinderella's shoulder nuzzled her, and then vanished.
The forest should have been silent. Aside from Cinderella's own heart betraying her with how loud it echoed, calling to those who may wish to take her back. To make her undo her revenge flake of ash by flake of ash.
But life continues, oblivious. Calls and chirps and waterflow continue, far louder than her heart can yell to her enemies, and Thandi, with her hear as inaudible to Cinderella's as Cinderella's would be to her, pulled on the rags that made Cinderella's dress. "Seh... su... Sundrella!"A patch tore under Thandi's grip. "I'm sorry!"
A laugh escaped Cinderella. What she needed was... a new dress... free of memories. Yes. With that and her wish just now... she'd be free. And maybe a new name... Sundrella. She'd think of that.
It was nice to be apologised to... .
Her heart no longer felt like it was going to betray her. Silently keeping her alive. So stupid too... they probably thought her dead in the fire. Why would they search? Cinderella picked up the sword, it was cold, and stood. Though... if she had wasted the wish, she had to make sure. "Thandi... could you close your eyes and count to ten? I... need to test... this... ."
Thandi blinked, wide eyed, but then shut her eyes super ultra tight. "We'll be late for Grandma's... one... two..."
Cinderella stepped behind a tree, with the thoughts: I don't want her to find me. I want to win this game.
"ten! Ready or not here I come!"
And Thandi searched, for a full minute, never coming close. Not until the moment that Cinderella thought "Okay, she can find me now." Which almost seemed to summon Thandi, the little girl barreling over. "I...it felt like you could be anywhere BUT there!" She scrunched her face. "Like I'd be stupid if I searched there."
Cinderella laughed. "Thank you!" It wasn't really enough to tell her... she'd need someone who didn't know... . But this would do for now. "... how did you... know I made a... "she dug up Thandi's words earlier, "bad wish I made good?"
"That was my wish! I wanted to know how good or bad people's wishes were!" She hopped. But then stopped. "I should warn you. That girl you live with... Salainn... she's a Princess... and she already made a BAD wish and she let it STAY BAD!" She shivered. "Who knows what bad wishes she could make... and every Princess... every Princess is a Witch!"
Prompt 4: Green
Green is a rich color that is associated with a variety of things including: awakening, growth, renewal, productivity, intelligence, exuberance, prosperity, money, luck, envy, greed, survival, nature, spring, and birth.
Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises. —Pedro Calderon de la Barca
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
So, this is partly split off from Yellow because I felt that chapter was getting too long. So maybe more on the yellow side of green?
In which Cinderella and Thandi go on a walk.
When the morning sun woke her, Cinderella jumped out of bed. Her bed WASN'T THAT SOFT! Did she... why was the light wrong?
She hadn't fallen asleep in her step sister's or stepmother's bed. It was hers. For now at least. And it was that soft.
Her heart slowed to fit the comfort the bed meant to give. Hers, and she could just... .
She turned her head and faced the wall. It was the first day she could ever sleep in but she'd made a promise, didn't she? The kid... Thandi... .
Cinderella shoved her face into the pillow, absorbed the softness. Perhaps experiencing a lie in could wait another day. And she got up. As she stretched, she realised... for all the rubbing and grinding Selene had done the night before, taking away the hard skin, Cinderella's hands didn't hurt in the slightest. And she looked. Touched. They were as cottony smooth and nearly as soft as Selene's, with not a hint of red in them. The only difference to the touch was muscle underneath, where the cleansing salt couldn't touch them.
Weren't there scratches there before? Why didn't they hurt?
Perhaps Selene's salve was healing too.
Perhaps Cinderella's fire sealed them away.
She stood. Lying down and contemplating her changes would not help her keep her promise.
Selene's sword hung heavy on Cinderella's hip, but it was not the greatest burden she'd had to bear. Not even a burden; it was a gift. Or a loan.
And she found Thandi. Yawning by the road, wearing her cloak and wielding a basket she clung to with both hands, fidgeting and tightening her grip often.
"Morning. Is that heavy?" Cinderella gestured at the basket.
Thandi looked back and forth between Cinderella and the basket a few times, her cheeks puffed in concentration. Like a frog that had a thousand flies to choose from. "..yes." And then she leaned over, staring. Gaping. Again, like a frog. "Is that a sword?!"
"Ah.. yes. Selene gave it to me?"
"Why?"
"So I can look scary if wolves appear."
The frog in Thandi's face was dispelled by her disapproving frown. At the sword. Not Cinderella. "You can't just... SCARE them away!" Still staring at the Sword, she dropped her basket, launching the cloth that covered it into the air, and spread her arms wide. "If wolves attack PEOPLE they are too hungry to be scared!" With a 'hmmph', she crossed her arms and nodded at her own point.
"... was there anything fragile in the basket?"
"..." Thandi slowly, creepingly, lowered her gaze to her abandoned burden. It lay there, the cloth censoring all the damage that could be within. "I... don't know... ."
"... if... if anything's broken let's... go get more... ."
"YES!"
Celery had snapped, apples were bruised, but nothing broke in such a way that it could not be used. And so the two set off. Cinderella taking the basket when Thandi struggled or wanted to look at something along the path into the forest. Though she knew the way, there was a lot to see.
Lots to tell Cinderella.
"...and I saw a blue lizard on this rock and a white bug and..."
Cinderella held onto it all. Thandi's chatter, and the unseen river blending into it, the greensward at the edges of the path, the sunlight that escapes through the leaves, the ever chirping and rustling things she didn't know.
Rustling that got closer and closer.
And ahead.
Her hand tightened on the sword's hilt.
A wolf stepped out, the fur catching the light enough that were it not moving, the wolf could have been a moss covered statue. It glanced at Cinderella and Thandi.
Silent, Thandi ran behind Cinderella.
Cinderella pulled on the sword. Years of rage and fear cannot be burned away at once. It flowed through her hand and into the metal until its heat exceeded her own, and she held it aloft. I am a threat. Do not come near.
The wolf did not move, staring, with only the flick of an ear.
And then the sword caught alight.
"EYEH?! Cinderella dropped the sword, although it did not burn her. The fire faded away before the sword even hit the ground, not even leaving a trace of smoke. The WOLF! Cinderella looked back, but all she caught was the tail end of that wolf padding away... and two small cubs nipping at its heels.
"You wished for fire?" Thandi's voice drew Cinderella's gaze, the little girl was just confused. Not terrified. Not shaking.
"I... what?"
Thandi set down the basket and pointed at at Cinderella's shoulder. "That rat is your Fairy Godmother, isn't she? You wished for fire?"
"..."
So Thandi continued. "I knew you wished for something bad... but you made it good...?" Thandi tilted her head like looking at Cinderella a different way would make things any clearer. "And just now you had fire without wishing for it so you wished for... to...have fire work for you?"
"I... did I?"
"Don't you know every girl gets a wish?" Thandi looked at Cinderella's Fairy Godmother again. "Sometimes more than one. And you got magic you can keep doing from your wish so..." Thandi closed her eyes, held her hands to her chest in fists, and took a deep breath "you're a witch!" Thandi's eyes and arms sprung open and she hugged Cinderella's legs. "You took a bad wish and made it good and you kept it! So you're a good witch too!"
"Thandi... let go... ." Cinderella barely could say. Her stepsisters. Her stepfamily. If they still had a wish... they could just wish their way to her. They could find her!
She collapsed as soon as Thandi let go. Deaf to Thandi calling out "Ella? Ella!", Cinderella touched her Fairy Godmother.
"I wish... no one would be able to find me if I don't want them to."
"Ella... what are you... ?"
"Understood." The rat on Cinderella's shoulder nuzzled her, and then vanished.
The forest should have been silent. Aside from Cinderella's own heart betraying her with how loud it echoed, calling to those who may wish to take her back. To make her undo her revenge flake of ash by flake of ash.
But life continues, oblivious. Calls and chirps and waterflow continue, far louder than her heart can yell to her enemies, and Thandi, with her hear as inaudible to Cinderella's as Cinderella's would be to her, pulled on the rags that made Cinderella's dress. "Seh... su... Sundrella!"A patch tore under Thandi's grip. "I'm sorry!"
A laugh escaped Cinderella. What she needed was... a new dress... free of memories. Yes. With that and her wish just now... she'd be free. And maybe a new name... Sundrella. She'd think of that.
It was nice to be apologised to... .
Her heart no longer felt like it was going to betray her. Silently keeping her alive. So stupid too... they probably thought her dead in the fire. Why would they search? Cinderella picked up the sword, it was cold, and stood. Though... if she had wasted the wish, she had to make sure. "Thandi... could you close your eyes and count to ten? I... need to test... this... ."
Thandi blinked, wide eyed, but then shut her eyes super ultra tight. "We'll be late for Grandma's... one... two..."
Cinderella stepped behind a tree, with the thoughts: I don't want her to find me. I want to win this game.
"ten! Ready or not here I come!"
And Thandi searched, for a full minute, never coming close. Not until the moment that Cinderella thought "Okay, she can find me now." Which almost seemed to summon Thandi, the little girl barreling over. "I...it felt like you could be anywhere BUT there!" She scrunched her face. "Like I'd be stupid if I searched there."
Cinderella laughed. "Thank you!" It wasn't really enough to tell her... she'd need someone who didn't know... . But this would do for now. "... how did you... know I made a... "she dug up Thandi's words earlier, "bad wish I made good?"
"That was my wish! I wanted to know how good or bad people's wishes were!" She hopped. But then stopped. "I should warn you. That girl you live with... Salainn... she's a Princess... and she already made a BAD wish and she let it STAY BAD!" She shivered. "Who knows what bad wishes she could make... and every Princess... every Princess is a Witch!"
