“No! Let me go! I want to stay with mommy and daddy! Daddy,
help me!” I screamed
“It’s okay sweetheart.
Just go with them. You’ll be
okay. We’ll see you again soon.”
-----------------------------
Unfortunately, I was still too young to recognize that for
the lie it was. It’s been 15 years since
I last saw my parents. Fifteen years since I was stolen from my family to
become the plaything of the Princess Savitri.
Fifteen years of torment at the hands of the stuck-up princess of
Abanti. Fifteen years of doing
everything I was told to keep the dear little Savitri happy because she would
one day inherit the kingdom and probably marry a god. However, I had a different destiny in mind
for her highness.
You see, Savitri had met a man. And he was not a man that her father would
approve of. His parents were exiled
royalty and lived in poverty. They had
nothing. However, none of this mattered
to Savitri because she liked his appearance.
The man had jet black
hair, eyes of deep chocolate, and skin like caramel. His muscles rippled under supple skin and his
smile could bring a woman to her knees, if she was pathetic enough. This was all I heard from Savitri, regardless of the fact that I thought he looked like a rugged hog. I could see the real
man, which was simply one angry at the lot he was given in life and willing to
take it out on the nearest royalty whom he blamed for his problems. He tricked Savitri into falling in love with
him and she fell like a tree.
Instead of doing what us playthings were trained to do and
protect Savitri from negative influences, we pushed her towards this man. We constantly fawned over his gorgeous smile,
the dimples as deep as the ocean and eyes that you could drown in. Yuck.
But it worked.
Within days, Savitri announced that she would marry the
penniless beggar. It was a beautiful
ceremony, full of tears and blah blah blah.
Anyway, afterwards, the man was determined to return to his parents in
poverty and Savitri declared that she would follow him. Of course, her parents
objected and she rebelled and did what she wanted anyway. Only later did we find out that her new husband
was destined to die within the year. Us
playthings knew Savitri all too well and we knew that she would decide to die
alongside him. Poetic justice and what
not.
The whole point of this adventure was that we would finally
be returned to our families. Fifteen years
apart to be the forced friend of a pain-in-the-ass princess and we were finally
going home. It was a joyous reunion all
around. However, I did not know that
there would be an especially exciting result of this madness. Since Savitri left and died as far as
everyone knew and her father had no heir, the kingdom went to the next person
in line for the throne. And guess who received
that honor. ME! I’m the queen now, I’m
married to an amazing man, and my family is with me. And who says the little woman can’t win in
the end?!
Author's Note:
I chose to rewrite the story of Savitri from the point of
view of the girls that her father chose to be Savitri’s constant
companions. I just imagined that these
girls were taken from their families against their will and told that they had
to be nice and play with this snotty little princess because she was
special. I don’t think any child would
take being forced to be friends happily, especially after being taken from their
parents. I kind of summarized the
original story in my rewrite, although it goes a little further and talks about
Savitri after she leaves with her husband.
Like most women in fairytales, she chooses to die with her husband,
which I think is a little melodramatic to be honest. Anyway, I thought it would be great to have
someone else win in the end!
Bibliography: Nine Ideal Indian Women by Sunity Devee (1919), Internet Archive.
Image Info: Savitri and Satyavan. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
This was a fun story to read, Michaela! I have not read the story of Savirtri yet but after reading your story I may have to go find it and read it for next week. I've always thought one of the cruelest things that happen in our world still today is ripping children from their parents for really no good reason.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you decided to have a happy ending though.
I don't think I'm very familiar with the story of Savitri, but that was definitely a nice twist on it. I always find myself wondering about the Regular People in these stories, too--the servants, the soldiers, the citizens. It's a bummer that Savitri's "companions" aren't huge fans of her, but it makes complete sense in the context of your story. Now I'm curious about this handmaiden who became queen!
ReplyDeleteYour descriptive words are amazing. I really feel like I can see what you are talking about and describing. I really like this story because you have included so many sensory details about the characters. The dialogue also adds to the story. Money should never be the deciding factor when deciding to marry someone and I think that that is demonstrated well in your story.
ReplyDeleteThe stories I've read this week have all had a serious edge to them. I loved how deliciously sarcastic this was! You set up your concept really well, and that's a really good point to consider (that the companions were all forced from their families, etc etc etc). I really enjoy writing from the "under dog" perspective in this class, so I really took a liking to your story. I found it interesting that the lead companion went from being excited about going home, to becoming the queen. Did she have any resentment for not being able to be with her family (again)? Does she get to bring the family in? If you were to continue this story, I'd love to know!
ReplyDeleteI love this story! I don't think I've had the chance to read princess Savitri's story but after what you just told me about her, I kinda wanna go find out more about her. Was she actually this bad or did the girls make her into a villain because they were forced into being a servant? Either way, you did a really great job telling us more about these characters! Great job!
ReplyDeleteYour opening I feel was the best part of the story. It was written in a very strong light and I like the repetition to add to the emphasis. This really set a serious tone. I hadn't read the story yet, but it seems to be a good one. I like the coordination with it, and the extension you added to it. Great work, and maybe just add a caption to the picture.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the opening to your story was incredible! It packed so much emotion, that I was instantly hooked. I think you started and finished really strong and that made for a great story. Your writing is amazing and I have really enjoyed everything that I have read so far. I will probably be back if I need any inspiration for future stories. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI like seeing the discontentment of one of the characters. More often, the servants are happy and eager to please their rulers. It's an intensely personal story, but it would be interesting to see how this protagonist interacts with any other servants or with the plaything himself. Surely they've had some disagreements. I'm not sure if the word "rugged" in "rugged hog" is the best one. Most people have good connotations with the word "rugged" when it comes to appearances.
ReplyDeleteHa! What a fun twist. Yeah, I wouldn't like being forced to be friend with someone so unbearable. I like how you had the girls talk Savitri into marrying the beggar. It seemed pretty simple, too. They just had to pretend to drool over him and she went for it. And of course she died with him, how else would it end? It just seems right that way. I'm so glad that the new woman became queen! I didn't expect that twist!
ReplyDelete