Once upon a time, there was a family of three who lived in a
small village at the edge of the sea. The family of three was made of a
hardworking father, a protective mother, and a beautiful but naive daughter.
The Father and the mother had tried for many years to have a child until their
daughter was born. They had prayed, sacrificed, and done all the noble things
the pair could have done until they were blessed with a daughter of their very
own. She grew up quite like the other kids in the village, with slight variations.
She was taught lessons, but instead of going to the village school, she was
kept home and taught for fear that she would get hurt on her way to or from the
school. She played with children, but was always dressed in thicker clothing,
so as not to be injured. She went for walks on the beach, but was kept under
constant watch. Her parents treated her like more of a priceless vase, than a
living, breathing, growing child. The daughter did not seem to mind. She saw
how much her parents loved her, and if this made them happy, she was all too
keen to please. On the daughter’s 16th birthday celebration, the
whole town came to rejoice with the family. Everyone took note at what a
beautiful young woman the daughter had become. This made the father and the mother
very afraid that someone would come to take their precious girl. After the
party, they instructed the girl to cut off her beautiful hair and only go
outdoors at dawn and dusk, when the rest of the village was in their houses. The
daughter happily did as she was told. One day, while walking on the shore line at
dusk, she spotted someone, a man dressed all in furs. He made his way over to
her, and as he did, she noticed that he was carrying multiple weapons. At
first, this made the daughter nervous. Her whole life had been aimed to keep
her away from such items. But, then she saw the man’s face. His face was kind,
and handsome, like the face of an old friend. The man asked her about the
animals around the village, but she had nothing to tell him as she was generally
kept inside. The next day at dusk, she ran into the same man again, only this
time he had a telescope with him. The man asked about the clarity of the stars
at night, but again she had nothing to tell. That very morning at dawn the girl
ran into the man again. The man asked her about the local markets in town, and
for the third time, the daughter could not give him any information. A few days
later the daughter came back from one of her shore line walks at dusk to find
the man she’d met in the days before at her home. The man had asked her parents
for her hand in marriage so that he could show her the world she had so far
missed out on. The parents were afraid of losing the thing they loved and wanted
most in the world that they declined the man’s offer. The daughter was devastated.
She craved this man and the world he had to offer. The next night on her shore
line walk at dusk, she spotted something in the distance. The man was rowing in
a small boat. The man offered to take her away, and show her the world. The
daughter chose him in an instant.
Years later, and elderly couple showed up on the
married couple’s doorstep. They were surrounded by children and pets. The
daughter recognized them at once as her parents. They had realized the error of
their ways, and saw the daughter and the world she lived in for what it was, a
beautiful, wild thing**Author's note- I modified this from the story The Lion in Love. It was about a lion who was in love with a girl, but her parents would not let the lion marry her because he had claws and fangs. The lion had them removed, the parents still said no, and the lion was devastated. I wanted to give the daughter a chance to choose for herself without humiliating the other party involved. I also wanted to change the lion to a man, as well as make the parents less cruel hearted.
Bibliography: The Lion in Love, from The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs (1894). Source
Lion Statue
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