Free Frightful Fairy Tales by Dame Darcy

Ezmerelda, her father, and her husband. From this, they learned the depth of loss and gain in grandeur one could endure by indulging in gambling.

 
     
     
    THE SALT MAIDEN
     
     
    Let’s turn back the clock to a time when clocks didn’t exist. The earth was an orb as it is today, but it had no water, and the creatures that now live in the ocean were clearly visible squirming around in the mud, flapping their long slimy tentacles pointlessly and in vain. High above all this mess shone the beautiful face of The Moon. As she danced in her orbit, she looked down with interest which turned to disgust and then pity at the pathetic loathsome beasts below. The Moon is made of moon dust and rock, but originally she was an egg made from smooth white salt that had not quite solidified. As she rotated, thin strands of moonlight wafted down upon the earth and entangled it like spider webs.
     
    Months passed and eventually the egg began to crack. It took time eternal as we perceive it, but to her it was but a few moments. From the crack slowly emerged a beautiful baby made entirely of salt. Her skin was white, smooth, and luminous and her hair lay flat and still against her head, for there was no breeze on the moon. In contrast, her eyes were deep, dark and black as the endless surrounding universe. Tiny glints of star light reflected in her eyes as her salt heart beat.
     

    The Moon adored her daughter and showered her with intricate diaphanous dresses made from thin sheets of pressed salt. She did this by gestating them inside her hollow shell then pushing them up through the surface where they grew like white upside down oversized flowers until plucked by The Salt Maiden.
     
    As The Salt Maiden grew, she grew more lovely and more bored. To break the tedium, she would peer down upon the Earth through her telescope, searching the landscape below and watching the creatures and the wildlife. As the wind blew, it formed deep yellow waves. The Salt Maiden longed to run through the grass. Her heart yearned to pick the fruit ripening in the twilight.
     
    One stultifying afternoon, she peered at the creatures in the mud pits. Her circle of vision ran up from the creatures in the mud to the land mass sporting an army of flora and fauna. Then she saw him. The Salt Maiden couldn’t believe her eyes. Seeing him increased her loneliness two thousand times. As she watched him moving through the underbrush, gazing up at the sky thoughtfully, his eyes seemed to meet the gaze of hers through the telescope and her salt heart broke. She longed to hold him and run her fingers through his dark brown hair. If only she could kiss his beautiful white neck and taste his little perfect teeth. She informed her mother that she would be leaving soon and began building a salt ladder so she could climb down to the center of the earth and be in the arms of the one she desired. As she built the ladder, she checked on the young man below, to see if he was intuitively preparing for her descent.
     
    One day he stood by the giant mud pit digging up clams with his toes. Another time he made a pile of everything flammable he could find and caused a gigantic fire she could almost see without the telescope. Finally, the day came that The Salt Maiden would make her escape. She bid her mother farewell and started down the ladder towards the earth. Her mother was very sad indeed, but kept a stoic face as she watched her only daughter descend. The Salt Maiden began to sing:
     
    Loneliness I leave behind me
    As well as my loving mother
    Will my life be good? I ponder
    For I have known no other.
     
    Will his arms be strong and stable?
    Will the Earth be kind to me?
    Is this all a mere: delusion?
    The future is unclear to see.
     
    She repeated the song as she twisted further into delirium until she reached the earth’s atmosphere. It was too much for her. Without lungs, she couldn’t breathe and began to suffocate. She tried to call to her mother for help but The Moon