Sleeping Beauty Story

I'm trying something new on this blog. Last week, I analyzed the story of Sleeping Beauty. This week, I'll be writing a short story about it, putting it in our modern terms. If you like, you can read a much older version of Sleeping Beauty at the link provided. For my story, I did some research into what life was like in the US in 1915, but I'm sure I missed something. Feel free to comment below if you have anything helpful, or if you want input into the story I cover next.

James Williams looked out over his factory. He had made a killing with his textile factory and was now one of the most powerful men he knew. His wife was due any day and he looked forward to passing on his empire to his son. He turned back to his overseer. "Have you found the discrepancy in our accounting records?"

"Yes, sir," the man said. "One of our accountants had sticky fingers."

"Have you fired him already?" James asked.

"Yes, sir, as soon as we found out who it was."

"Good. Send some of the boys around later to get back what he stole."

The overseer didn't look surprised. "Of course, sir."

"You're dismissed," James told him. He looked back out at the factory once more. It was loud, but the sound was music to his ears. Clothing was expensive, and clothing made from his fabric was even more valuable. There was a commotion on the floor. James frowned and looked closer. One of the women had gotten stuck in the machinery again.

"Why are they stopping it?" James asked his overseer.

The man hurried to come back. "When they get stuck like that, it can jam the machinery," the overseer explained. "And keeping it moving can get blood on the fabric."

James pursed his mouth. "Then why did she get stuck in there?"

The overseer shrugged. "Who can say? We've never tried to ask them."

Without another word, James walked away from the overseer and out of the floor. As he got closer, he could see that woman was incredibly pregnant, just like his wife. But this whimpering creature, held up by two other workers, was nothing like his wife. "What do you think you're doing?" James demanded. "You made us stop production."

The woman didn't respond in words, she just yelled.

"Why?" James demanded again.

The woman spit at him. "A curse on you!" she yelled, before screaming again.

"A curse?" James asked, puzzled.

"No more like you on this land! All of your children will die!"

James stepped forward and slapped her across the face, making her red hair fly. "Take her out of here," he snapped to the workers who had been holding her up. James turned away and stormed out of his factory.

The next week, Jame's wife gave birth to a daughter named Dawn. As if that wasn't enough, his wife died the next day from complications from the childbirth. James left the care of his daughter to her grandparents, who lived in the house with them. Although he would never admit it, James took pains to see that woman's curse couldn't be carried out. His mansion was outside of the city limits, and he bought up more and more land around it so no one would build near him. He only brought his daughter out of that house on rare occasions. If he could isolate his daughter, then it was less likely she would be harmed.

Dawn's grandparents worked between them, with their magic, and were able to produce a counter curse, but they couldn't remove the dying woman's curse completely. They were able to almost remove the cause of death from the spell, but anything to do with fabric was burned into it. They were only able to change the death itself into a prolonged sleep. None of them knew when Dawn would wake up from that, but it was the best they were able to do.

James never remarried, so his hopes of passing on his factories and wealth was limited to getting Dawn married. James knew he would have to find a good man for her to marry, but until she was ten, he was more worried about her making it through childhood. On her tenth birthday, he breathed a sigh of relief, gave her a present, and handed her back to her grandparents.

Dawn grew up beautiful and her grandparents tried not to let her be spoiled. They taught her all they knew, and were able to justify a governess for her for awhile. James wasn't concerned with his daughter's boredom so far away from everything; he agreed in order to make her more marriageable. Any man bright enough to run his factories would need a woman who could look after their household. Everything continued in this way, until a particularly ambitious young man decided to visit James William's house on what happened to be Dawn's sixteenth birthday.

This young man, Henry, had wanted to prove his dedication to fabric, and he had spun thread in his youth, so he brought his spindle along as a prop. Dawn got to him before her grandparents, so they weren't able to stop her from grabbing the spindle from Henry. Just as they had feared, as soon as Dawn took the spindle, she pricked herself on it and immediately fell into a deep sleep. Henry got on his horse and never came back.

The grandparents allowed James to take Dawn to the hospital, but they knew it wouldn't do any good. Eventually, they were able to bring Dawn back home and set her up in her own room. Overcome with grief, James left Dawn in the care of her grandparents. Over the years, they passed away, and everyone else forgot about the mansion in the middle of nowhere. When anyone remembered it, one look was enough to convince them it was haunted.

The years passed, until Dawn had been sleeping for 100 years, still as beautiful as ever, if covered in spider webs. One night, a group of teenagers from the nearby town decided to dare each other into the haunted house. In a group, they managed to make it past the front door. Then they goaded each other into going up the stairs. Henry, the most daring of them all, walked down the hallway and into one of the bedrooms. When he saw a form on the bed, he almost ran for it, but when he saw the moonlight lighting up her face, he stopped.

Henry eased into the room, wary of rotting boards and the girl on the bed, in case she wasn't asleep. She looked about his age. Hesitant, he leaned forward, and poked her quickly, flinching away. She didn't react. She was solid, so she couldn't be a ghost. Henry shoved her arm. Nothing. He tried pinching her. No reaction. She really was in a coma, then. Gently, he wiped the spiderwebs away from her face. So close to her face, Henry was overwhelmed by her beauty. He leaned down and kissed her.

Not believing what he did, Henry pulled away and started walking toward the door. He heard something moving behind him. Slowly, he turned around, and the girl on the bed was sitting up. "Hello," she said, her voice rusty.

Henry gasped, turned, and ran.

Dawn rubbed her eyes, and realized she had put spiderwebs all over herself, so she slowly lifted her arms to brush them off. She tried to stand up, and her legs crumbled under her. Somehow, Dawn was able to make it to the door, but she heard the front door slam and assumed that boy had left. She stood at the doorway to her room and looked around. "How long have I been asleep?" she wondered. "And who was that boy?" Dawn sat down on the floor, mostly by choice. "What do I do now?" she wondered. She looked around at her dirty and dilapidated house, but it had no answers for her.