Week 13 Story: Alice in Neverland

The journey to Netherland

One day, Alice and her sister sat on the bank and enjoyed the comic book. Alice thought that book was very weird since it didn't contain any words in it, just plain drawing pictures. Alice imagined the scenes that the pictures left in her mind.

Suddenly, she saw a very pretty butterfly flying very close to her. Alice noticed that the butterfly was two size bigger than normal. Alice was so surprise as she saw that butterfly came closer to her and look at her wristwatch and murmured, "Uhmm, we still have a plenty of time." Alice didn't hear anything wrong, but who are "we"?  "Me and the butterfly", she thought.

She knew in the world of fairy tale, animals could talk like people, but this was the first time she heard a word from a butterfly. She wondered where the butterfly come from.

Following the butterfly, there came a door. The door with nothing attached on and imposingly stood in the middle of the forest. Alice looked for the butterfly but no sign to be found. 

The magic door

"She probably behind the door," said Alice.

Alice looked for the key, but only saw a perfume bottle with a tag "try me" on. Alice didn't hesitate to spray a bit a flower fragrant on her and pretty much enjoyed it. Suddenly, a pair of wings appeared from her back and the door opened. 

She stepped through the door bravely and the view in front of her was completely different, not in a forest but in the garden with colorful blooming flowers. There she found a butterfly. The butterfly seemed very happy to enjoy the nectar. All the sudden the butterfly flew up to the sky. Alice's wings also started to flap and her feet was off the ground. Alice flew into the air like a bird. The butterfly flew for a long, long time.

During the fly, Alice noticed there were many things floating around her. She tried the honey bottle in a floating table and it was very good. She saw a book, and a radio also. A raven flew passing her made she remembered about her dog at home. Who would feed him as she could not be back home? And she wondered when the fly would be done?

Alice looked up at the sky. She noticed the differences. The sky was hiding behind the wide circle, just like she was inside the giant well and tried to come back to the ground. Alice was right. It turned out that she was living in a space in the bottom of the giant well. As she touched the ground, Alice didn't hesitate to discover her new world.

"Welcome to Netherland," a welcome sign in the road side stated.

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Author's Notes: 

I simulated this story based on the original Wonderland: Down the Rabbit-Hole is part of the Alice in Wonderland unit from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865).

The original story told about Alice, who saw a Rabbit that was in hurry to go somewhere and she decided to follow the Rabbit. The Rabbit was in hurry as he took out the clock from his waistcoat pocket and run. With all the sudden, Alice fell onto a rabbit-hole, which pretty much like a tunnel. Along the fall, she saw a floating bookshelf, a map, and an empty bottle Orange Marmalade. Alice was pretty much enjoyed the "journey" until she threatened herself that the fall would never ended. Then she worried about her cat, if she wouldn't be back home. After a long fall, she finally touched the ground and she realized that she was in the middle of the hall. She bravely went forward and ended up being stuck in a locked room. She drank a bottle titled "Drink me" and her body shrinked into a tiny little girl. She then turned into a giant when she ate the cake named " Eat Me". Fearful of being transformed several time, Alice cried out loud.

I made my story all contract to the original using the leisure butterfly compare to the hurried Rabbit, a fly versus the fall. I found more interesting if Alice actively sought for her own adventure.

Week 11 Story: Raven

Raven

Jack and the Beanstalk

Back in a time there was no earth and no people, the earth today was just a vacant space in the galaxy. There was a place in the galaxy called the Heaven, a different world that was separated with everything, floating in the air. Heaven was a place of a few giant residents. No one knew their origin, they just lived there many any years even before the earth was form. It was called Heaven because it was such the most beautiful place, where the rivers were never dried and flowers were never wither. The giant people were slow aging and they all knew magic at birth. However, just only one baby was born in thousand years.

Raven was five hundred years old, but still was a baby boy. He was intelligent and a dynamic person. He got bored because there was nothing fun in here because everything were so perfect but he didn't have any friend. He just wandered around everyday to find fun things to do. One day, he wondered what would happen if he dropped a pea out of the Heaven, and he did.

Several days passed, a vine grew up from a pea. It grew so fast, in three days it reached the Heaven. He thought if the vine could not live down there, that must be a safe place. Therefore, he transformed to a Raven, with a black feathers and a sharp beak and flied down. This place was dark so he lighted the light first, the place had nothing on it except his giant vine. He had a new idea. He would tried to make a new world based on the image of the Heaven, but smaller version.

He turned back to Heaven and took some clay. He formed a man and then a woman from that clay, and he breathed the breath of life for both. The man and the woman were as small as his hand. The man and the woman were functioned after three days. So Raven put the man and the woman inside the pod of the pea. Next, he created mountain and river.

He called his new place Earth. To make the earth more cheerful, he formed fishes, reindeers, flies, mosquitoes, mouses, sheep. He also planted many trees for woods and timbers, trees for fruits and many cereals for foods. He prepared everything to welcome the new people.

And three days had passed, the first man dropped down of the pod of the pea. He was surprised at first, and Raven came to help him. Raven taught him to collect fruits to eat, found clean and clear water to drink. Later, Raven showed him how to make a house from the woods. Raven also taught him to defend with wild animal and catch the fishes for food. He also made careful recommendations to the first man to teach other people everything he taught the man today, so the later generation would survive by themselves.

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Bibliography: Alaskan Legends unit. Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911).

Author's Notes: The Raven Myth doesn't mention anything about the origin of Raven and where he came from. I am also curious why the Man came from the pod of the pea, so I took a position to tell the origin of Raven and the subsequents. In The Raven Myth: The Skyland and the Sea, Raven took the first man to see the skyland, where people there was just small. I then altered them to the giant one and chose that place to be the one that Raven came from. I also took the idea from Jack and the Beanstalk to transform the Earth to a miniature world for Raven.

Week 9 Story: The Pain of an Immortal

Source: True Happy

The Pain of an Immortal

A Japanese Sentaro, who had inherited a huge fortune from his parents, became a billionaire at the age of thirty two. He owned many endless rice fields, and many facilities as well as precious jewels. At first, he was happy because of his wealth, he bought a bigger house, a new car, and everything he wanted without considering the prices. He brought his little family (his wife and his son) to many different places and interested in trying different cuisine. They went on a lot of cruise to the West and celebrated a lot of parties just for risk people.

But, the joy and the pleasure did not last very long, Sentaro felt tired after so many days stay out all night for the parties. Sentaro's health did not allow that. He felt himself growing weaker with age. Then, he started worry about his death and his fortune after the death. Sentaro had heard about the legendary of the King who sought for prolong life with the "Elixir of Life" magic. Although he was not totally believe in the tale, he still prayed for it every night before sleep.

At the age of forty, his business went down a bit, but he didn't care much about it. He kept thinking about the Elixir of life. He wished if there was some power to give him what he wanted in exchange for the money.

At his Fifty year-old, he felt the pain when the Death eventually took his wife away.  She got a blood cancer. Despite of how much money he put on the treatment, there is no medical solution to cure. This was the first time he clearly experience the pain of losing his close relative. And he knew  that the Death would come for him, one day. He continued to pray.

Another ten year passed..

And another ten year had passed...Not only nothing happened to him, but also his business grew larger and larger. Sentano could not describe how happy he was to attending his son's wedding with his strength. He thanked to God that replied to his desire.

At the age of eighty, his friend, one after another passed. He eventually felt alone and he also forgot to wish every night for a Perpetual Life like before. He still lived with his son.

Then, one again he experience the pain of losing his only son when he turned to ninety. Sentano had never thought that he would be the only one saw his loves passed away with his own eyes. This was the first time he experienced the pain of a long-lived. He had quit to wish long time ago.

Now, only him was left in his big and luxury house. His business growth bigger. He had a lot of money, but there was no one joined him. People who belong to his generation had went to another life.

Now, he realized that he had been forgot how to live in a right way because he scared of the death, the thing that everybody would experience in some point in time, and valued money. He was supposed to be happy with his little family giving the chance that he had inherited, but he was not. He forgot to enjoyed his happy life with his wife and his son. He wished, one again, let him go with them so he could build a truly happy life forever. It is meaningless to live alone with the money.

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Author's Note: I modified the story based on The Man Who Did Not Wish to Die. This story is part of the Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki) unit. Story source: Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908).Sentaro in the original version wishes to have a perpetual life, so he sought for a hermits, he could fill his desire. Then a God, Jofuku, ordered a paper crane to take him to the immortal life, where people had never died. However, in this world, people believed that the only truly happy life is the life after death, where they could come to the Paradise. Therefore, they sought for many way to die including drink a toxic chemical or eat the poisonous foods. However, despite of their desperate to die, they still alive. Sentaro after along time lived there, got bored and no longer wanted a immortal life.
It turned out that the whole adventure was just a Sentaro's dream that the God Jofuku relied to his desired. Jofuku wanted to show him that  his desired was not mortal.

Week 7 Story: The Dream of One's Life

source: Cartoon

The Dream of One's Life

Mr. D

Mr. D, a zemindar and also a richest person in the town, one day takes a walk around the riverside, which will soon be his property, admires of his wealthiness. He suddenly sees a farmer, who lies down in the grass field as his feather bed, crosses his legs and whistles with full of joys.

A zemindar fetches a sign, full of sorrow. He wishes he can have more time to enjoy like the farmer, Mr.R.

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Mr. R

He is a farmer, who has exposed to the sun and rain for the whole time, worrying about the crops. The harvest soon comes the reaping, but if it keeps sunny like the last several weeks, he will not have enough money from the harvest to pay for the landlord. 

It is a beautiful day. The weather is so mild out. The forecast predicts that it will rain for the next two or three days. Despite of its good new, he still looks sorrow. He lies down and thinks: "I wish i can own a land, so i don't have to worry about paying the rental". 

He looks far down to a small land along this riverside, whose owes by Mr. E.

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Mr. E

Receive an inheritance from his parent, Mr. E now is the owner of this small land. However, the land is useless for him, since he is a miner but his land doesn't contain any mineral. The land is left alone without pruning, digging and nourishing. Therefore, there weeds growing chin high in that place.

Mr. E, who just returned from works, drinks a sip of water with all the heavy breathing, sits down and thinks about his future. He gets tired of the manual labour. He really want to work in an office, dealing with the paper works like Mrs. A.

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Mrs. A

Mrs. A is a legal assistance in a small bank of the town. She has been working here for five years. Although she gets bored of being around the walls, putting pen to paper, and fingers to keyboard, she works really hard for promotion from her job. 

Mrs. A stares off into space and certainlly looks to the office space of her boss, Mr. M. The room is empty. Mrs. A really wants to have a life living like her boss, who travels a lot on business and participates in many business parties.

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Mr.M 

Mr. M is a manager of the bank. He's gonna be the branch manager when the new bank branch open in a few weeks. This time is touch for him. He has to go out a lot for business. He was sent on a risk management teaching courses in Belgium and just got back last day. Today he has to receive special guests from the parent company.

Mr. M goes back to the office after finishing the first meeting. He sits down the swivel chair, spins around and stops when confront the window thinking. He has another meeting at 1:00 pm and he should works overtime tonight so he can follow the schedule. But he misses his family.

 e hadn't spent more than an hour a day with them for a while. His son misses him so much, too. He wishes he have more time. Then he thinks about Mr. S.

--------------------------------------------------------------------Mr. S

Although Mr. S is in his late fifty, he is an idle person. He always complains about every jobs that he took and keeps changing from a miner to a farmer to a worker. Recently, he quit the job at a bank because he got bored. Now he stays at home, playing with his children. 

He has a lot of time so he wakes up late, plays until night and goes to bed late. His biological clock just doesn't want to work properly. 10:00 am, and he yawn drowsily with tiredness. 

Although he is fun playing with the kids, but her wife seems to not happy. She worries about the uncertain future, how can she raises up the kids without his financial assistant. 

He is thinking:"I wish i can win a lottery, become the richest people in the town like Mr. D, so he don't have to work or to worry about money anymore".

-------(And the circle just go around and around, never stop)-------

Author's Notes: This version is based on the idea of The Man in the Moon in Laos-Folklore Unit by Katherine Neville Fleeson (1899). In The Man in the Moon, the Blacksmith, who always complain of his life, wishes to change the others multiple times. God hears his wishes, turns him into the stone, stone-cutter, and the sun. God gets weary of his changing, then changes him one again into the Moon forever.

Take this idea, i converts a bit to account the dreams of every person. Since "the more you have, the more you want", a rich person want to have time to relax, poor people wishes to have more money. Busy people want to take a day off, while those unemployed really want to have a job.

Therefore, people all around the world have different sorrows, but all relates to others about their "dreams". Although i am not rich, but i have time to enjoy my favorite book, in which others may be a "dream".

Week 5 Story: Buddha's Reborn.

Legend has told that the deity must undergoes Forty-nine incarnation to be cultivated into the future bliss. This is his last life, to become an ordinary person and to understand all of the suffering and difficulties. When he really understands thoroughly the rules of "birth, old, illness and death", and the law of "causes and effect" he will be able to enlighten the supreme power. However, success or failure depends on can he overcome the lure of seven human feelings (joy, anger, love, hate, sorrow, passion, love) and the six root afflictions (application of thought, examining, decision, energy, rapture, desire).

Like many others, he reborn into a normal family in the Kapilavastu kingdom, ruled under the control of King Suddhodana. In a day of his reincarnation,  the hermit Asita came to the king and report that the sky appeared the new stars, which appeared super shine. Asita said that there will be a supreme lord who his reborn will soon make this country better.

The King send his guards to find the newborn. What a strange coincidence that a whole kingdom just appear only one pregnant woman.

Buddha walked on a lotus. Picture from Wiki

Month passed, she gave birth to a boy, but unluckily, she died after that. The King soon adopted him and officially named him Prince Siddhartha. At the same day, all lotus flowers in the kingdom are flourishing, spread a soft aroma. Prince Siddhartha appeared healthy, and beautiful. He also appeared with a light pale pink nimbus, just like the color of the lotus. Anywhere he came, lotus was born, people was happy. The whole kingdom felt highly enthusiastic. The king decided to open the three days party to celebrate of his newborn. The King also brought the nature mother of Prince to the national Buddhist temple to worship.

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Author's Note: Based on the Life of Buddha: The Birth of Siddhartha by Andre Ferdinand Herold, I changed the context a bit. The original version doesn't mention about the seven feelings and six root afflictions. Because of the limited in English, I can't take into account many things about Buddhism that I know. However, I believe that a Buddha should born in a normal way to understand a normal life.

In the story of Andre Ferdinand Herold, Maya, a Queen, dreamed about the elephant that entered to her womb. She then later pregnant, then born to Prince Siddhartha under the precious tree. She died about seven days later.

I add the lotus to the story because most of the Buddha i know (via pictures and movies), all sits and meditates in Buddha's throne made from lotus. 

The hermit Asita heard about the birth of Siddhartha. He came to the king to see the Prince. He told that the Prince soon became a supreme Lord Buddha.

Week 4 Story: Mother-in-law and daughter in law

Author's Note: Mother and Daughter-in-law is always a subject in movies, but it also appeared in reality, at least in Viet Nam. To exploit the conflict of Venus (mother-in law) and Psyche (daughter-in -law) in the serie of Cupid and Psyche, which is created from a Roman novel, The Golden Ass written by Apuleius and translated by Tony Kline, I make up a new version of its, which happens in a modern society instead of mythological history.

The original version of Cupid and Psyche, Venus (Cupid's mother) are not satisfied with Psyche (Cupid's wife). Therefore Venus tried to stop this relationship by setting obstacles to Psyche. Follow the motif of Cinderella, Venus mixed the grains together and made her daugher-in-law to separate them piece to piece. She ordered Psyche to collect the gold wool from those wild and crucial sheeps, commanded her to collect  the divine water and brought to the underground where it could be transformed into a Jar of Beauty. Venus believed that Psyche couldn't done these job, but surprisingly she did with the help of others. Psyche then became a goddess and married Cupid under the witness of Jupiter. They lived happily ever after.

This is the picture in a Vietnamese movie, "mother and daughter-in-law". The picture depicts the contradictory story of mother and daugher in law.

Source: Thanh Nien

In this new version, the daughter-in-law, let calls her P, and her mother-in -law, V, will experience a different ending, which i believe are more sadness, but also depicts a true choice of a modern girl and in a modern society.
Assume the context appears in Viet Nam, a big city, where P marries a rich guy, and lives together with her husband's mother, V.

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- "If you are my daughter-in-law, then you should quit your job to be able to take care of your husband and the whole family. Furthermore, it is costly to hire a maid. It is better to save money. Don't you think so?"

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- "If you insists on taking that job, i do have a little request." The woman pause a while.

- "Yes, mom. Please tell me. I am listening to you."

- "Because you live in this house, so you should follow the rules here. No matter what you do, triple time a day you have to return home to eat with family. You don't have to prepare the meal at noonday, i will do it for you, but not the breakfast and the dining meal. That means you have to wake up at 5am and return home at 5pm in order to prepare the meals."

-" Mom, you know i am busy at work. I am a reporter, whenever it is a news, i have to go. I can wake up early but it is unable for me to be back at 5pm. You can ask my husband, he is also a reporter, so he will understand me."

- "I don't care. He is a man, but you the women. You can't compare like that."
And Mrs. V says again as the atmosphere becomes strain and tense.
-"Need to say more? "
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The old woman sits on the dining- table, sets her foot on the chair, inclines her head, looks scrutiny to the girl as she is busy to clean the floor. The woman says with an arrogant voice:

-"P, take a wet clout to wipe the floor."

- "Yes, but i just watered the floor before. I think it is fine to dry with a clout, Mom." P gently replies.

- "Well, you have to listen to me. I am your mother, not you. How the house can be clean if you do like that? Stand up and soak the clout. No more talking!"

-"Yes, mom. "

V is so hostile, yet, mumble something. While P  easy and willing to follow her order, soak the clout and clean the floor. Mrs. V sits there and waits until P done her job.

- "Now, go ahead a use the dry clout to clean one more time so it will dry."

- "Mother, it is very hot today so just leaves it there, i will open the fan so it will dry fast. Don't worry!"

One more time, mrs. V looks daggers at her.

- "Why everytime i told you something you always argues with me? You're rude. "

One again P is docile to do the job, but a little bit sufferings. Mrs. V still mumbles. A minutes latter, her son returns home after works. The widow welcomes warmly.

- "You got home early today, sweetie? Are you hungry? Let's eat. Here, sit here." As Mrs. V said, she reached the chair next to her and asks her son repeatedly without letting the boy say anything. V gentle and exuberance. "Wait a minute, i set the table for you."

-" P, what are you doing out there? Your husband had returned home. Come and prepare the dining meal for him. You want him starving to death, don't you?". Mrs. V changes her tune 360 degree toward P. So fierce and so loud.

- "I am coming, mom. V still so gently responded."

Mrs. V starts to palaver to her son about his wife without  caring about P.

- "You should teach your wife. She is so impudent and impertinent. No matter what i say, she always try to contradicting me. I am your mother. I don't want her to ride over you."

- "Mother, my wife is young and know nothing. Can you teach her step by step?"

P heard all the conversation and feels disappointed. She is young but she knows what is right and wrong. She did all the job perfect but just not the ways her mother-in-law like. Speaking directly, Mrs. V have never like her before and doesn't want P to marry his son.

- "Mother and you can eat first. I am not feel right so i take a rest. I will eat later."

-" What's happen? Are you ok?"The husband raises his voice. Yet, his mother stops him.

- "Just ignore her. She will eat whenever she feels hungry.  There no need to worry about her."


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Several days later, P returns to her nature mother's home.  She know that she can't be happy if Mrs. V keep treating her badly like that, and her husband do nothing for her except unilateral listen to his mother.
If the son is a prince, the daughter is also a princess of her parent.

Week 3 Story: Eve & Lilith

"... And God sculptured Adam "in God's image".

- "Is he the first man in the earth, Grandma ? He must be so lonely."

- "He was the first man. But Darling, Adam will have his companion very soon."

- "I know it. I know it. Her name is Eve. I told you, i have learned this story at school already." The little girl runs her mouth pretty fast, and raises herself up in bed.

- "Sh...! Don't shout. You don't want to wake up everybody, do you?."

She gently claps the shoulder of her granddaughter and pushes her lay down again.

- "Before Eve, God had created Lilith, to be Adam's first wife."

- "That's weird. I thought Eve was the first woman and Adam's first wife."

- "God afraid that living alone with the animals would make Adam become wild and felt himself desolate. God formed Lilith from dust like Adam. Lilith appeared so pretty, more beautiful than every living creature that Adam had known. And she quickly grabbed Adam's attention".

Lady Lilith of Dante Grabriel Rossetti (1868). Soure: Rossettiarchieve

A small pause and Granny continues.
- " They were very happy together. They enjoyed walking around the garden of Eden, stopped by to admired the beautiful flowers in the daytime, and fondled the animals. They chattered with the moon and the stars in night time. However, their relationship gradually became strained and may even crack".

- "What's happen, Grandma?" the little girl looks curious.

- "Adam believed that he had great power over others because he was the image of God. He was burly and brawny. He was strong. He was intelligent. He was the ideal man that God created. Therefore, Adam was haughty, fury and full of pride. He always saw himself right and rarely listen to anyone, including Lilith. Lilith advised him and humbled him at first but he never listened".

- "Adam and Lilith both were formed from the dust. Therefore, Lilith was strong and incisive just like Adam. She thought she should received respect and equality from Adam. When she felt she couldn't withstand him, she told him she wanted to leave. Adam looked dagger at Lilith and wakenned God. He couldn't sustained a woman that had strong minded like her at all."

- " God manifested himself that He made a mistake when created Lilith, she shouldn't be created using the same material like Adam's. God made Lilith to evanesce before Adam's eyes and made Adam fall asleep. Then, He took out one of Adam's rib to make another woman. God named her Eve."

-" Eve was an image of Lilith, inherited a strong-minded, honest, and intelligence from Lilith, but more graceful, more sweet, more patient, and also more complicated. Lilith and Eve looked exactly the same. Because Eve was part of Adam's body, which God said, Eve would be Adam's destiny woman."

Granny stops and looks at her little girl. The little girl has been asleep since then.

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Author's Note: Based on the story of Adam and Eve, I transformed to a bedtime story in which a grandma tells her granddaughter about the first woman on earth. However, the characters, Adam, Eve and Lilith got changed a little bit as well as their background and context. In the original version, Adam is not self-important. Lilith flees out of Eden garden herself because she likes to enjoy the same equality as Adam. Lastly, Eve is not an image of Lilith.

I combined the personalities of Lilith and Eve because it is exactly what a modern woman has today: dependent, consistent but emotional, etc. This person may be Wu Zetian, an Empress Consort Wu of China during Tang dynasty or Hillary Clinton, an American politician who was known as the First Lady of the United States.

I knew there are many different versions about the story of Lilith after leaving Eden, Lilith became evil. However, I made Lilith disappeared because i want to keep the pretty image of women in the world. 

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Bibliography: The Creation, King James Bible (1611). Genesis 1-2

                       Lilith, Louis Ginzberg (1909). The Legends of Jews

Week 2 Story: Beauty and the Ugly

Author's Note: In this new version of Beauty and the Basilisk, Emma meets a poor man with the disfigured face instead of the Basilisk. Their story began in a small house deep down the forest.

Beauty and the Ugly

His name was Charles. No one knew who he is and where he came from. People called him Ugly because of his appearance. Adults afraid of his strange behaviors. Children feared to look at him. They eventually moved as far as they could until no one but him alone in the forest. 

His old dark house surrounded by the wilted roses, just the bare branches with thorns. It made the house looked so creepy. Maybe the most valuable thing in the house was the jewel box with a gold rose inside.

Source: Golden Rose

One day, as he sat on the round table looking at the rose in the middle of night, he heard someone staggered down the trail, got closer and knocked the door.

- "Is anyone here? Sorry to disturb you at this time but i got lost and couldn't find the way home".

Ugly let the woman in without saying anything. Ugly left her alone so she could have some rest. After a while he came back, the woman and his jewel box vanished. He got angry and searched around but got no sign of her. As he became desperate, the sun rose and a beautiful young girl found him. Her name was Emma.

- "Does this belong to you?" said Emma. She then showed the rose wrapped carefully in a fabric.

- "My mom said she took it from this house. I am so sorry, but she sold the box and used the money already. I can do whatever you want to compensate it, please." She hesitated.

- "It's all my fault. I requested the rose when she gets back". The young girl tenderly nodded her head.

He took the rose, say nothing but looked at her. As usual, Ugly left home at sunrise. She could have gone, but she thought she should do something in return. Emma committed to do the chores and took care of him for three days even though she was skeptical and scared of his odds.

She opened the window so the light could get in, cleaned the table, the chair and the floor. She then watered the roses outside, picked some wild fruits in the forest and put them on the table. 

As he returned back later at nightfall, Emma saw blood dropped down from his hand. She worried that he would hurt her. The second day, Ugly still got back late, no blood, but looked so exhausted and irritated. Emma started to get curious why he always covered by the hooded cloak.

Illustration of Ugly in the black hooded cloak. Source: Storyblock

The day later, Emma realized that his arm was injured, and he seemed to get worse. While he fell asleep, she gently took the hood out of his face. She was frightened by his jagged teeth and sunken-in eyes. She instinctively felt that she was about to run but her nature didn't allow to do so.

Ugly suddenly woke up and wrap her hands.

-"I was just trying to help", a quavering voice.

It had been so long since someone got close to him like that. No one noticed that the rose bushes out there gradually recovered and the new flower buds appeared. He knew that Emma was the right person that he has been looking for- the only girl that could see his invisible cloak.

As Emma took off his cloak to clean the wound, the cloak suddenly disappeared, the roses bloomed again, the little house turned into a luxurious castle.Ugly eventually changed to his normal appearance while the wound healed itself.

- "Don't be afraid, my name is Charles."  He said under Emma astonished.

Charles was a prince of  Roseland. His father feared that someone would take advantage of him, so the king invited a exorcist to hide his handsome appearance behind the invisible cloak until he find his true love. And that was Emma.

-"Will you marry me?" He proposed.

...

(Open ended)

Bibliography: The Three Roses (from The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis 1922). Source: Myth -Folklore Anthology