Week 2 Story: The Reader and the Terror

** updated story is on my portfolio **

(Image Information: Amsterdam Tulip Season)

     Once upon a time, a pretty girl named Mary lived across the ocean. Now Mary had grown up in the United States, but her family had recently moved to the Netherlands, and more specifically, Rotterdam. Mary has two older sisters, and her dad, Mark, recently passed away. This is why they moved to Rotterdam, as their mom, Martha, has some childhood friends living there. While Mary's family lives in Rotterdam, Martha travels to Amsterdam four times a year to shop at their market. 
     The time was upon the girls for Martha to go to Amsterdam. As always, she asked what the girls so desired. They were not overly wealthy, but this was one of the few times a year they splurged on what they wanted or needed. Mary's two older sisters both had long lists and asked for dresses, jewelry, fancy pastries, and the newest, most stylish shoes. Mary only requested her mom bring back some beautiful tulips, as they were her favorite flower and they only bloomed at this time of year. 
    So Martha traveled and loved her time at the market, and loaded up everything her two eldest daughters required. Unfortunately, she forgot to get Mary some of the beautiful tulips she had requested. She remembered this as she passed a castle on her way home. She got off the train at the nearest station and walked back to the castle, where the biggest flower garden she had ever seen lined the walkway to the castle. She figured she could snag a few tulips from the front corner and be on her way, but before she even got the first one, a horrendous bear came upon her.
     The bear demanded to know what she was doing, and Martha, in tears at this point, stated that her youngest daughter had requested some tulips. Mary is a great appreciator of natural beauty, and nothing else made her quite as happy. On hearing this, the bear told Martha she may return home, but she must send Mary back to him. So Martha fled in fear, and relayed the bad news when she arrived in Rotterdam. Mary, a curious girl, longed to see the beautiful flower garden and decided nothing the bear could do to her would be terrible. 
     Once Mary arrived at the castle, the bear asked to learn more about her. Mary revealed that she loved reading, but there were never enough new books at home. The bear was shocked, as he had an entire library of books, stacked from the floor to ceiling. He told Mary she may read the books and enjoy the flowers, as long as she remains with him. Torn with love for her family, Mary decided to stay. Books and flowers made her the happiest, and the castle provided enormous amounts of both of these things. 
     As the weeks and months went on, Mary grew accustomed to her life at the castle. She enjoyed finding new nooks and crevices to read, and loved going on walks through the garden with the bear. Eventually, the bear asked her to marry him, and she accepted. After their wedding, the bear turned into a handsome prince, and invited Mary's family to come live at the castle with them. 


Author's Note and Bibliography
     While crafting this story, I tried to stick to the original while modifying slight details. For example, Mary is the main character in The Key of Gold also, but I used tulips instead of roses. I also specified the setting in order to make the story come alive more, as the original is vague. Additionally, I reverted some of it back to the Beauty and the Beast tale we know and love by writing about Mary's love of reading (like Belle). Because the original is vague in terms of specific details, there was a lot of space to rewrite the story and put a new twist on it! 

Story source: The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis (1922).

Comments

  1. Hi megan!
    I loved this rendition of beauty and the beast! I also retold this story and since it's such a classic there is so many ways you can work with the story to make it brand new. you had great imagery and i like that you still kept elements of beauty and the beast that were character traits. great job and i really enjoyed reading this, keep up the good work!

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  2. Hey Megan! I love that you included books in this. The library reveal is honestly the best part of the more familiar Disney retellings of Beauty and the Beast. Who wouldn't stay at that point?! I also really appreciate that you changed the flowers to tulips. The bulbs of those were worth so much money at one point so to me that's just sort of a great...kind of hidden historical bit in the story. I really enjoyed reading this.
    -Eli

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