Sidapa and Bulan

We've only got one moon now, but he's still beautiful.

Hello, reader! It's the last Thursday of Pride month, and I had a doozy of a time trying to find another story. As we all know, there are plenty of gay stories from the Ancient Greeks, but I didn't want this to be a month of Ancient Greek stories, so I had to look a little farther afield. The story of Sidapa and Bulan comes from the Philippines. I wasn't able to find the story of this without some commentary. If you only want the story from the link above, skip down five paragraphs. If you don't mind spoilers, you can start from the top of the page. However much of the link above you choose to read, once you're done with that continue with me below to analyze this story.

We like to say opposites attract, and there's definitely plenty of opposites in this story. Sidapa is tall, dark, and kind of scary. Bulan is small, beautiful and nonthreatening. But they fell in love anyway. Some of the other versions I saw talked about said that Sidapa fell in love with Bulan specifically, not the other moons. It certainly is more romantic if he fell in love with a particular god and not just a crowd of them.

Although this story is shorter than I would like, I do appreciate that we see more than the initial attraction of Sidapa to Bulan. Sidapa does all these things to convince Bulan to come down and talk with him and the two fall in love. We know it's not just a brief thing because later when the serpent Bakunawa tried to swallow all of the moons, Sadapa protected Bulan. This also gives us a nice parallel. Bakunawa wanted the moons and decided to kidnap them so no one else could have them. Sadapa actually cared about Bulan and didn't try to limit his freedom. You know, what a healthy relationship is like.

The moral of this story is if you are beautiful and nonthreatening, then it's helpful if your honey can protect you from a giant serpent. Alternatively, don't be a giant serpent trying to kidnap pretty people or gods. It's rude.

Wish this story was longer? Have a different moral? Have a different story you want me to talk about? Comment below!

Sleeping Princesses Part 5 of 5

Hello, reader. It's the last installment of our story. I hope you enjoy it. If you haven't read part 1, start there. Otherwise, keep reading for the exciting conclusion.

               It had been days and even with all seven of the dwarves, they hadn’t been able to bring Snow back. The protections on the house repelled her, so they made a glass box to keep Snow in outside. Emil blamed himself. He should have been watching. He set himself up as the one to watch over Snow now. He studied the spell on her and tried to figure out how they could break it. He watched to see if anything changed after they tried.

               He hadn’t been to the mine in weeks when a procession made its way to their house. Warily, Emil rose to his feet, putting himself between Snow and the horsemen.

               When they drew closer, one man dismounted. “Ah, I see the stories are true!” he said, looking around Emil. “She is truly beautiful.”

               “You’ve had your look, now get out of here,” Emil growled.

               “Tut, tut. So little hospitality for a visiting prince.” The man grinned. “Shall we make an example of you?”

               “We’ve had plenty of your type around here,” Emil replied. “And I haven’t cared for any of them. Now get lost.”

               “But we’ve only just met. And I must try my luck with the sleeping princess.”

               “You won’t lay a hand on her,” Emil replied, picking up his axe.

               “How droll,” the prince replied. “Guards?”

               Emil had expected to be surrounded, but the guards tried to run him over with their horses. Emil fought back, injuring many good horses in the process, but there were too many. And yet more guards were picking up the box with Snow inside. Emil screamed, but wasn’t able to get to her. There were just too many guards and as the horses dashed around him, one of the horses kicked him in the head. Emil went down.

               Cautiously, a guard dismounted and checked. “He’s still breathing, your highness.”

               “Leave him,” the prince directed. “We have what we came for.” He brought his horse over toward where Snow slept in her glass box. “She truly is as beautiful as they say. A masterpiece.” He sighed and looked around briefly. “Move out.”

               And they all left.

~*~

               There was uneven footing in the woods and Snow was jostled in her box. The prince snapped at his guards to be careful with her, but there was only so much they could do. On one particularly bad step, Snow was knocked sideways and the piece of apple fell out of her mouth. Once the apple was removed, all of the magic the dwarves had been trying on her went to work at once. By the time they stopped for the night, Snow was conscious, but not sure where she was. She decided to pretend she was still asleep until she knew what was going on.

               She peeked through her eyelids and saw a fire playing over leaves and realized she was in a forest. She hoped it was the same forest the dwarves had been in.

               “Where do we venture to next, your highness?” a man asked.

               Snow caught herself before answering.

               “I hear there is another pretty maid in a spell just East of here,” a man replied. “Perhaps we shall secure her for ourselves as well.”

               The man guffawed and Snow’s spine turned to ice. He dared to talk about Aurora like that?

               “Did you want to try to break this one’s spell?” the first speaker asked.

               “Not yet,” the prince replied. “Let’s wait until we’re safely back at my castle.”

               “It’d be a shame if she took a look at you and ran away,” the first man replied with a laugh.

               “For shame, Lambert,” the prince replied jokingly, “I would be her true love. Why would she want to run from me?”

               “I can think of a few reasons,” Lambert replied with a snigger.

               Fortunately, the two of them moved away and Snow lay still, barely daring to breathe. These men thought they had her and that they could get Aurora? Never. Snow knew that no matter how angry she was, if she tried to fight them, she would only lose. So, she waited.

               Eventually, all of the noise quieted down. Then she started to hear snores. Snow was grateful that she didn’t feel sleepy at all. “How long as I out?” she wondered. But there were more important things to think about now. Slowly, Snow opened her eyes and looked around. There was no one around her. She put her hands up and opened the glass lid. Thankfully, it opened without a sound and Snow slipped out of it. She saw the horses and made her way over to them.

               Moving carefully and quietly, Snow picked out a mount and untied him. She found a saddle and put it in place on top of him. The other horses whickered at her a little, but she managed to soothe them and Snow led her chosen horse away. She held her breath, but she had a better chance of escape if she was stealthy now and rode later. It seemed like it took forever, but Snow and the horse picked their way away from the camp headed toward what Snow believed was the East.

               Eventually, Snow turned around and realized she couldn’t see the camp any more. Sighing in relief, she managed to mount the horse and got it walking. It didn’t want to go very fast in the night since it couldn’t see and Snow didn’t want her only chance of escape to twist an ankle. But at least they were a little faster now.

               Slowly, the sun rose and the horse began to pick up the pace. By the time Snow could see clearly all around her, she was able to get the horse to trot directly toward the rising sun. They were heading East and Snow was going to see what happened to Aurora.

~*~

Everything began to look familiar, but it was still a shock when Snow pulled up in front of the giant hedge of thorns around Aurora’s castle. All she could see of the castle was the tallest tower.

               Snow dismounted and looked up, fear suddenly gripping her. How was she going to get in there, let alone save Aurora? She didn’t even know what she was up against. But it didn’t matter. Snow shook her head and squared her shoulders. She had to try. Snow walked forward and the hedge slid away, allowing her to pass. Tentatively, Snow stepped forward she turned around, but it had closed up behind her. Snow gulped. It seemed she was truly in this now.

               She walked forward, trying not to be scared by the size of the thorns moving near her face. They seemed to move away from her, but Snow didn’t want to try reaching out to them in case they decided to change their behavior.

               Eventually, Snow made it out of the thorns. She turned around, but there was no telling where she had come through. She turned back toward the castle and noticed the bodies in the courtyard. Heart in her mouth, Snow raced forward. The first person there was Gerta, a downstairs maid. Snow turned her over. Gerta was breathing, but her eyes were closed.

               “Wake up,” Snow said, shaking her a little. Gerta didn’t move.

               Snow set her back down gently. She looked at the other people in the courtyard and noticed that all of them were breathing as well. It was like everyone had just fallen asleep where they stood. Was this the curse the dwarves were talking about?

               Slowly, Snow made her way into the castle. She wasn’t sure where to look first, but if everyone was sleeping, maybe Aurora had still been in bed when the curse hit. It made as much sense as anything else, so Snow walked to Aurora’s room.

               She opened the door and saw Aurora laying in her bed. It looked like she was just sleeping too. Snow tiptoed over and said, “Aurora, wake up.” Nothing happened. Snow tried gently shaking her, but Aurora kept sleeping. Snow used to find Aurora’s little snore comforting, but now she would give anything to make it stop so Aurora would wake up. Snow shook her a little harder and began yelling Aurora’s name.

               Nothing worked. Aurora kept sleeping. Snow held Aurora to her and started crying. “What am I supposed to do?” Snow asked. “I’m here! Why can’t I save you?”

               She set Aurora back on her bed and stared down at her. “What am I supposed to do?” Snow asked, tucking a stray strand of hair behind Aurora’s ear. Snow stared at Aurora’s face. She wasn’t sure she could live a life without her. She’d bring a doctor in here, someone who would know how to fix this. There had to be a way to get back out.

               “I won’t give up,” Snow said. She looked around. There was no one here to see. She remembered what the dwarves had told her about breaking fairy spells. Tentatively, Snow leaned forward and kissed Aurora’s lips. “I promise I’ll fix this,” she whispered. She sat up.

               Aurora’s snoring stopped and she opened her eyes. “Snow?” she asked.

               “Aurora!” Snow pulled Aurora upright and kissed her, and to her surprise, Aurora kissed her back.

               They parted and Snow stared at Aurora. Slowly, Aurora started to smile and Snow did too.

               “How long have you waited to do that?” Aurora asked, a shy smile on her face.

               “Too long,” Snow replied. They kissed again and Aurora’s door opened.

               “Sweetheart, you’re all right!” Queen Emilia said. She and King Grant stopped in the doorway.

               “Hello,” Snow said awkwardly. “Um.”

               “Only true love’s kiss could break the curse,” Queen Emilia said, looking at the two of them.

               “And it seems to have worked,” King Grant finished with a smile.

               Snow stared at them. “You’re…you’re okay with this?”

               “We’ve had a long time to get used to it, dear,” Queen Emilia replied with a smile.

               “Is that why you sent Snow away?” Aurora demanded.

               “We didn’t want her to get caught up in the curse,” King Grant explained, “but we thought that maybe…”

               “So, you knew about this curse and you never told us?” Snow asked.

               “We wanted to give Aurora a normal childhood,” Queen Emilia replied. “We can sort all of this out later. You broke the curse!”

               As much as Snow wanted to have it out with them, she looked back at Aurora and couldn’t help but be happy. Aurora squeezed her hand and smiled.

~*~

               As worried as Aurora had been about becoming engaged on her sixteenth birthday, she was impatient to become engaged to Snow. However, first Snow had to travel back to her kingdom and set a few things straight.

               Princess Aurora, King Grant, and Queen Emilia came with her, of course, but it was not their place to tamper with the justice of King Nicholas’ kingdom. Snow swept straight into King Nicholas’ throne room.

               “Snow!” Nicholas said, cutting off the noble who had been talking. “They told me you died!”

               “Not for lack of trying,” Snow said. “Your wife tried to kill me.”

               Queen Rebecca had jumped up from her throne as soon as Snow had come in, but she didn’t get far. Guards grabbed her and she turned to face Snow. “Why, dear. Why on Earth would I try to kill you?”

               “I’ve been thinking about that,” Snow replied, “and I know you’ve driven out anyone prettier than you in the castle, but that just seems so simple and petty. As much as I want to believe you’re only simple and petty. It has more to do with the crown, doesn’t it? If King Nicholas doesn’t marry anyone else, and I were to mysteriously die, you would rule the kingdom on your own, wouldn’t you? And your child would rule after you. This was all about power.”

               Queen Rebecca’s face twisted, her hands covering her belly protectively. “You stupid, selfish girl. I should have just cut off your head!”

               “I think that will do,” King Nicholas said, signaling to the guards. “Take this woman to the dungeon.”

               Queen Rebecca protested, but her yells soon dwindled away as the guards took her out of the throne room.

               “I should have done that a long time ago,” King Nicholas said, sighing and shaking his head.

               “I don’t know why you didn’t,” Snow snapped. Then she gathered herself. “Father, there’s one other thing I came to ask you.”

               “Name it! I’m so glad to have you back.”

               “I want your blessing for my marriage,” Snow said. Aurora walked up from the back of the room and held Snow’s hand.

               “To whom?” King Nicholas asked, looking at Snow.

               Snow swallowed. “To Princess Aurora.”

               King Nicholas stared at them. “Oh,” he managed. He looked beyond them to King Grant and Queen Emilia. “Do you two agree to this?”

               “We do, Your Majesty,” King Grant said.

               King Nicholas nodded. “Then, I agree as well. Blessings on you both.”

               Snow grinned and turned to Aurora. She couldn’t help kissing her.

               “Well,” King Nicholas said, “I suppose the only thing to do is start having their wedding dresses made.”

~*~

               The wedding took place a year later, as was customary. By that time, King Nicholas had restored diplomatic relations with the kingdom that Rebecca had come from. They had recently come through a civil war and Rebecca’s family was no longer on the throne. As the new king wrote to King Nicholas, he would be doing them a favor if they could execute Rebecca themselves. So it was that deep in the dungeons on the day of the wedding, Rebecca danced in red-hot iron shoes until she died.

               In the castle proper, the focus was entirely on the wedding. Snow invited all of the dwarves from the cabin and the fairy who had changed the curse to save Aurora’s life. The feasting went on for a week, if they are not feasting still.

Sleeping Princesses Part 4 of 5

Hello, reader. We've almost got this whole story posted! If you haven't read part 1, start there. Otherwise, continue reading below. The final update for this story will be posted Tuesday at noon.

              “We did it! She’s awake!” Roman said.

               Snow blinked her eyes open.

“Have you got a death wish?!” Emil yelled at her.

“No,” Snow said carefully. “What happened?” She was inside the cabin, lying on the table with candles around and her hair was wet. There were strange, thick smells in the air.

“The comb that little boy gave you was poisoned,” Jozef said quietly.

“What?” Snow was fully awake now. “Why would a little boy want to poison me?”

“It’s the queen’s magic,” Vit said.

Jozef sighed. “It seems like the queen gave it to him to give to you.”

“But how could she be sure he would come here?” Snow asked.

Emil shrugged. “All she had to do was follow some kid from the castle into the forest, get him lost, and give him the comb to give to you. Easy enough to do with her magic. What I don’t understand is why you put it in your hair.”

“I thought it was fine,” Snow said. “What happened after that?”

“We had to cleanse the poison out of you,” Vit supplied. “We had to wash your hair.”

“You just washed it?” Snow asked.

“We did a lot more than that!” Emil snapped. “You almost died! Think before you take anything else from a stranger, girl. This queen is dead set on killing you.”

“I know,” Snow said, slowly sitting up. “I still don’t understand why. I barely know her.”

“Maybe it’s political,” Vit offered.

“No, can’t be,” Emil snapped back. “Since when has this queen taken any interest in politics? She’s been far too busy trying to be the most beautiful in the kingdom.”

“I think I’m going to go to bed,” Snow said, standing up.

“Do you want supper first?” Jozef asked.

“Oh. Right. Yes, please.” Snow sat in one of the chairs and she wiped away the intricate salt designs that were on the table to make some space. She barely tasted the food, but she ate everything in front of her before standing up and heading to her room. This was twice in two days she’d nearly been killed. Out of nowhere, Snow remembered the old gardener at Aurora’s castle. He’d been so worried they were going to die climbing the little trees in the garden. “If he could see me now,” Snow thought, laughing.

She laid down in bed, her laughter quickly replaced by fear. She wished Aurora was there to cuddle with. Snow’s stepmother might try to kill her again tomorrow, and she might keep trying until she succeeded. It was a long night for Snow, but eventually, she fell asleep.

~*~

               The next morning, Snow woke up, found her protection stone and put it back in her pocket, and headed downstairs. Vit was waiting for her again.

               “So, what should I do?” Snow asked.

               “The others should be back with the horses tomorrow,” Vit answered her. “Jozef will take you the next day to Aurora’s castle and get you out of this kingdom. That should stop your stepmother.”

               Snow nodded. “Thank you for taking me to Aurora.”

               Vit looked away. “It’s the least we could do. And it’s obvious you’re going to go there wherever we try to take you.”

               “I’m glad you figured that out,” Snow replied. She sighed. “Have you eaten yet?”

               Vit nodded, so Snow got herself some breakfast and settled at the table with him.

               “I guess I’m not talking to any strangers today,” Snow said after a moment.

               Vit nodded again. “That would probably be for the best. Also, you should stay inside the house.”

               Snow smiled a little. “I can do that. Is there anything upstairs I should clean?”

               “Oh. You still want to clean?”

               Snow shrugged. “It’s going to be a very long day if I’m just sitting here with nothing to do. And I promised to clean while I was here.”

               “I suppose that’s true,” Vit replied slowly. “Well, as long as you stay in the house, I think it will be fine.”

               Snow nodded. “Is your house protected?”

               “Oh yes. That was one of the first things we did when we moved out here.”

               “How did you all come to be out here, anyway?”

               Vit hesitated. “We tried to make our way in the world, but we found out quickly that the world didn’t want us there. So we ended up here and we went back to mining. Stick with what you know, right?”

               “There’s more to the story than that,” Snow objected.

               Vit shrugged. “Surely.”

               After a moment, Snow sighed and shook her head. “Well, I may as well start out by cleaning the dishes again.”

               Snow tried to keep herself busy all morning while Vit was replaced by Roman. Then they had lunch. Lunch was tense and quiet and three of the dwarves seemed to run away once it was done, leaving Snow with Jozef.

               “So what exactly did you all do yesterday after I passed out?” Snow asked.

               Jozef looked at her for a moment. “I called the others back here and I got you inside as quickly as I could. I didn’t know if the queen was going to come by and try something.”

               “You called the others? How?”

               “We have an emergency communication system set up between here and the mine,” Jozef answered. “We haven’t always been welcome, so we’ve taken a few precautions out here.”

               “Oh.”

               “While I was waiting for them, I took a look at the magic on you and I knew it was that comb. It started putting out poison once you put it in your hair, so we had to be very careful getting it out. Then we had to get all of that poison out of you. We did wash your hair, but there was a lot more to it than that. I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to get it all.” Jozef swallowed and looked at the floor. “Look, Snow, we can’t let you die here.”

               “Because I’m the princess of the realm?” Snow asked.

               “And because of who you are. You’ve taken all of this in stride, even when you were pretending to be a servant. None of us wants to let you die. That’s why Emil was yelling at you as soon as you woke up. He was worried.”

               “Emil gets worried?” Snow joked.

               “We were all worried. I’ve never seen a poison like that and I’m scared about what the queen is going to try next.” Jozef hesitated. Then, in a smaller voice, he admitted, “I’m not sure if we can stop her if she tries again.”

               Snow set down the duster and sat next to Jozef. “I’m not going to die, okay? I’m staying inside the house today and not talking to anyone else. It’ll be fine.” Inside, Snow was shaking, but she didn’t know how to tell Jozef that. She had always been the strong one for Aurora and now she was being the strong one again.

               “I hope so,” Jozef said, patting her knee. He sighed and stood up. “I think I heard Emil downstairs. How about you stay here until I’m sure?”

               Snow knew exactly what he wasn’t saying, but she just nodded. Jozef left the guest room where Snow had been cleaning and shut the door behind him. She heard him walking quietly down the stairs and making it to the first floor. Then she didn’t hear anything.

               Snow tried to convince herself that everything was fine, but it was hard not to be worried. Then she heard someone walking up the steps. Would it be better to stay where she was so she didn’t make any noise, or should she try to grab a weapon? It was probably Emil. They’d said the house was guarded. The doorknob turned and the door opened.

               Snow had never been so glad to see Emil. She sighed in relief and stood up. “Oh, it’s you.”

               “Who did you think it was?” Emil asked.

               Snow shook her head.

               “Jozef got you worried, huh? He does that.” Emil looked around the room. “Anything left to clean in here?”

               “No,” Snow admitted.

               “Good. Let’s head downstairs. I want to keep an eye out for Vlad, Marcel, and Havel. They should be back any minute now.”

               “Sure.”

               They headed downstairs and Snow put all of the cleaning stuff away.

               “Most princesses wouldn’t spend three days cleaning just because someone asked them to,” Emil admitted.

               Snow considered. “Aurora would. You’d barely have to ask her. Sometimes she’s too nice for her own good.”

               “I know all about that,” Emil said. “This whole contract with the king. None of us are against it, but Jozef was ready to jump on board before we even heard the terms. He’d give away the mine if he thought he should.”

               Snow chuckled and nodded. Then something caught her eye out front. There was a motion almost too quick to see and then it resolved into three horses standing in the yard with three dwarves on their backs.

               “Oh good,” Emil said. “They’re back. And they’ve brought a lot with them.” He looked at Snow and made a calculation. “Stay in the house. I’m going to help them unload.”

               “I could help,” Snow offered.

               “I know, but just in case. You’ll be safe inside.”

               Snow sighed, but nodded. “All right.”

               Emil headed outside and Snow watched them through the window. She saw Emil gesturing and pointing into the house. She supposed he was explaining about her. The other three dwarves nodded and didn’t seem too concerned. Really, she was as safe now as she’d ever been out here. Maybe her stepmother wasn’t going to try again today. Snow relaxed and headed to the back of the house. She didn’t want to see Emil explain any more about her.

               Something caught her eye and Snow looked out toward the dwarves’ garden. There was a woman out there. Was she stealing some of their food? Snow debated about confronting the woman or getting the dwarves, but she found herself just standing there and watching. Then the woman drew nearer to the house. It was almost like Snow couldn’t focus on the woman. She couldn’t see anything about her. But she looked pregnant.

               “Hello,” the woman said. Her voice sounded like it should be familiar.

               “Hello,” Snow replied. There couldn’t be any harm in talking.

               “Here.” The woman offered Snow an apple. It was beautiful. A bright red that spoke of how sweet the fruit would be.

               Snow’s mouth watered, but she shook her head. “No.” Why was it so hard to speak?

               “Here.” The woman thrust the apple at Snow.

               Snow shook her head and tried to open her mouth again, but her hand was reaching out through the open window and taking the apple. She opened her mouth to say no, but the apple came closer, and Snow found herself biting into it.

               She pulled the apple away from her face and looked at the bite she had taken. “What did I just do?” she wondered.

               The woman in front of Snow became clear just for a moment. Just long enough for Snow to see her laughing and laughing until everything went dark.