Week 15 Story: They Mysterious Maiden

IN A LAND, far, far away there lived a maiden, and her name was Paulina. Now Paulina was not like any of the other maiden's who lived in the kingdom. This maiden was independent. She lived off in a forest, next to a river, in a cottage all alone. She did not like to be seen because she was always gawked and laughed at by the others. Even though she could brush it off, it always made her very uncomfortable. Unlike the ideal maiden, Paulina was six feet and three inches tall, she was as strong as an ox, and could put away more mead than any other man in the land. She had big burly arms, fingers like sausages, and thick thundering thighs. Because of her stature, she had to make her own clothes, which became quite good at. That was one thing she did not mind when forced to visit the kingdom's village, her clothes were more extravagant than anyone else's and she knew that other the other women in the village were envious. However, these women were not only envious of her beautiful outfits. In fact, they did not quite know it, but they were jealous of her confidence. Paulina always walked with a purpose and just by looking at her you could tell that she loved herself and nothing else got in the way of her mind

One day, Paulina had to run some errands. So, she put on her best dress and fanciest shoes, she fixed her hair, grabbed her satchel, and left for the kingdom. She first stopped at the bakery, no one could resist the temptation of a pastry after smelling the sweet air when walking by. After buying her sweet delight, she would normally sit outside the shop and enjoy it, however, there was a line waiting out the door, so she decided to slip out the back in an attempt to avoid the usual tormenting banter by the people of the town. She was not in the mood and knew herself well enough that she thought she might lash back out, but that was not proper. Upon closing the shop's back door, she ran into a strange old peasant man, who carried a lot of trinkets with him to sell. Now, this was a special occasion. The old man, who was actually a warlock, had been observing Paulina through his enchanted mirror, which showed the most beautiful maiden in all the land. He was pleased by her resilience and faithfulness to herself, so he wanted to help her. Paulina, unaware of the warlocks knowledge and powers, felt sorry for the old chap. So, she gave in to his bargain and bought herself an emerald ring. Little did she know, this old man had enchanted the ring. Upon placing it on her finger, she underwent a transformation. The ring made a person as beautiful or handsome as they believed themselves to be. Now, Paulina did not pick up on the changes that had been made when she put on the ring.

When she came out of the back alley, everyone who had waited in line at the shop instantly turned toward the maiden. Since this was not unusual for Paulina, she thought nothing of it. However, everyone else saw a gorgeous, petite, maiden with flowing strawberry blonde hair, and she smelled of honeysuckle and lavender. As she walked by the people, all the men and women starred in astonishment at her extraordinary qualities. The women became envious and the men filled with lust.

Paulina carried out her usual business, but then she noticed her petite image in the windows. She did not mind this because she liked having the option to hide her identity every once and a while, but she would not make a habit out of its use. On her last stop, she bumped into one of the king's guards, knocking him on his back. He had dark chocolate hair, smelled of moss and patchouli, and towered over seven feet tall. The maiden was so embarrassed that she left without her things and ran off towards her cottage. The knight quickly picked up her satchel and followed her into the forest. Finally, he caught up to the maiden but decided to fall back and wait for her to calm down.

Once Paulina had relaxed a bit, she sat on the edge of the river bank and dipped her feet into the water. She stared at herself and blushed, thinking how silly it was of her to run like that. She never let anything embarrass her, but the man was stunningly handsome.  The knight felt like this was the best time to approach her. Worried that he may startle her, he called out instead of sneaking up on her. Paulina, still startled, quickly jumped to her feet, but this time she did not run away. Instead, she let the knight approach her. The knight handed the satchel over to the young maiden and apologized for running into her in the village. She wanted to properly thank the knight, so she invited him to stay for dinner.

The knight accepted her invitation and they spent the night stuffing their bellies with a hearty boar stew and plenty of mead. When it was time for the knight to leave, the maiden stopped him and insisted upon giving him one last token of gratitude. The only other thing that she had was her enchanted emerald ring.  She slipped the ring off, causing her to change into her natural form, and placed it in his hand. The knight's jaw dropped and his heart began to flutter. Paulina stood there, confused by his reaction. The knight was amazed at her transformation, he was love-struck, and professed his undying love to the maiden, telling her that he wishes to have her hand in marriage. Paulina delightedly accepted his proposal and the knight took her back to the kingdom to bring the king their news. The king made sure that this couple was catered to their every need for their wedding. All of the king's people were invited, which made Paulina uneasy; however, she was not going to let a bunch of village fools ruin what was going to be one of the best days of her life.

Paulina slipped into her wedding gown, which she made herself, and stared at herself in the mirror. She then put on the ring and saw the changes, which brought her to tears. It was at that moment she remembered she found someone who truly loved her for her, and she felt relieved. So, she took off the ring and left it sitting on the counter, hoping someone else would stumble upon it and find happiness as she had. She picked up her bouquet and stood behind the double doors, waiting for the music that would signal her entrance. The tune began, "bum, bum, ba-dum. Bum, bumm, ba-dum. Bum, bum, ba-dum, dum, da-dumm, dum, da-dummm!" The crowd stood and turned towards the bride. She pulled her shoulders back, held her head high, and smiled from ear to ear, staring towards her groom as she walked down the aisle. For the first time, Paulina did not feel any judgemental eyes. The knight and his bride said their vows and they lived happily ever after.

THE END.

This is what Paulina looks like when wearing the ring.

Author's Note: 

This a revised version of a story I created not too long ago. You can go read the first version if you wish by clicking here. A classmate mentioned something that they wished was in the story. They suggested that they would add a couple more scenarios where the reader can see that Paulina loves herself and that it is just the society that does not approve of her image. So, I added in a few more things, along with other minor revisions, to help create a better understanding of Paulina's positive self-image for the reader and took out the negative thought, although there are still a couple of things. This version is a little bit longer, but I think my story needed more detail and explanations. Oh, I also gave a little more detail about the old man about who he was and how he knew of Paulina.

This story was based on the Stories from the Faerie Queene by Mary Macleod. It may be a little confusing, but the maiden, Paulina is actually a man. In the Stories from the Faerie Queene, Britomart is a girl who is disguised as a male knight. I thought it would be nice to create a fairy tale with someone who, to be politically correct, is a transgender. So, in that way, I have modernized the story a bit, even though it is placed in medieval times. I also took the idea of an enchanted item from the Faerie Queene stories, which in my story it was a ring that made Paulina look like the "ideal maiden." I thought it would be interesting to have the knight fall in love with her after seeing her true form, which is kind of like Shrek and Fiona. Everything else in the story is original ideas. Also, I hope you can hear the wedding song.