Sleeping Beauty Unplugged

By Avil Beckford

A long time ago there lived an evil fairy named Evel Fairy, who was feared by many. Whenever she made an appearance at events as an uninvited guest, people all around cowered, and she felt a sense of power. But all she ever really wanted was to belong, and she thought she was the most misunderstood person around.

Evel Fairy wasn’t always an evil fairy, but there is nothing like a woman spurned. Many years before, when Evel Fairy was called Princella, she lived next door to the King, and they were the best of friends. They did everything together and had so much fun. They were inseparable, and he always told her how much he adored her, so she just assumed that one day she would be Queen and he would be King. But she had a rude awakening.

Princella had no idea what happened, but when they were in their late teens King started to pull away from her, was always busy and no longer had time to do anything with her. And to add insult to injury, blond-haired, blue-eyed Queen moved into the Kingdom and he was smitten with her. For King, it was love at first sight. So typical for the man to be taken with the blond bombshell.

The only person who really mattered in King’s world was Queen, and Princella no longer existed. This was hard for Princella, in fact she was devastated. She decided to fight for her man, so she befriended the golden girl. Princella did a few underhanded things such like lying to win back her man, but they all backfired. King wasn’t happy about it and shunned her publicly. Princella left in disgrace and vowed to take her revenge on King and Queen. She went to the sorcerer in the woods who transformed her into Evel Fairy, and gave her “witchlike” powers. Instead of looking youthful, her newly acquired powers aged her.

Shortly after, King and Queen married, and he got reigning powers as was expected. The couple was very happy together, but it took forever for Queen to get pregnant. Despite this, King was devoted to Queen and always told her how much he loved and adored her. For a woman, there is nothing like the true love of a good man.

In time, Queen became pregnant and gave birth to a blond-haired, blue-eyed baby girl, who they called Beauty. With the birth of Beauty, King and Queen’s lives were now complete. When Evel Fairy heard about the birth of Beauty, she seethed with anger and started to carefully plot her revenge. Because she had spent so many years around King, she could anticipate his moves, and knew that he would have a christening party as a sign to show his gratitude for the welcome addition to his family.

Over the years, Evel Fairy had worked very hard to control her powers, and each day she became stronger. She had so much fun testing her powers on the King’s subjects, and they grew to fear her. Evel Fairy was out of control. She’d change people to animals, inflict pain and place curses if anyone dared to upset her in any way.

As was expected, King and Queen announced that they were holding a huge christening party. As a good omen, they invited six fairies to the party to bestow special gifts on Princess Beauty. Deep down, Evel Fairy was hoping that King would make overtures to close the gap between them, but no such luck.

Because the subjects loved their King and Queen, they worked hard to ensure the Big Day went smoothly. Evel Fairy found this type of devotion and dedication quite sickening, and was displeased that once again she was ignored and excluded.

On Christening Day, one by one each fairy approached Princess Beauty in her crib and bestowed the gifts of beauty, joy, wisdom, the spirit of generosity, health, and always the one to make a grand entrance, Evel Fairy arrived just before the sixth fairy bestowed her wish.

“People think that I am a villainess, and I have taken a bad rap for a long time. All I ever wanted was to be included, isn't that what everyone wants? I will not wait to be included anymore,” said Evel Fairy.

“My special gift to you,” said Evel Fairy when she approached the crib, “is that when you turn 16, you’ll prick your finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel, and you will die.” She made an even grander exit from the palace.

A symphony of gasps permeate the air, and the Queen burst into tears, a bit loud for someone of her standing.

“I cannot undo the curse, but I can certainly change the outcome,” said the sixth fairy. All eyes turned to the child’s savior.

“My gift to you Princess Beauty, is that if you prick your finger, instead of dying, you will sleep for 100 years.”

To protect his beloved daughter, the King banned the use of all spinning wheels.

As time passed, everyone forgot about the curse and life went on as usual. Princess Beauty lived her gifts: joyous, beautiful, healthy, generous and wise -- and the subjects loved her dearly.

Evel Fairy waited in the background for the eventful day.

On her sixteenth birthday, in true regal fashion, the King threw a huge party for Princess Beauty. While playing hide-and-seek with her friends, to get away, Princess Beauty climbed to one of the palace towers to hide, and found an old lady making the most beautiful thread on a spinning wheel. Like any child at that age, curiosity got the better of Princess Beauty and she tried the spinning wheel. She pricked her finger, and she and everyone in the country except Evel Fairy fell into a deep sleep.

As time moved on, and with no one to terrorize, Evel Fairy died not from old age, but from boredom. She went out with a whimper, not the bang expected from someone who wreaked so much havoc.

And no fairy tale would ever be complete if a Prince did not come to the rescue of the damsel in distress. On the one hundredth anniversary to the day when Princess Beauty fell into a deep sleep, a handsome prince who was poking around the abandoned palace found her fast asleep. Smitten by her beauty, he couldn’t help himself, so he kissed her, and broke the spell. They married shortly thereafter and everyone lived happily ever after.

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