4I found this story while rearranging my stuffs in the laptop. It's something that I did for my writing assignment about a year ago. It's quite old, but I'd like to know your opinion. =]
The Sleeping (Not So) Beauty.
Have you ever heard about a fairy tale entitled "The Sleeping Beauty"? The one where a princess was cursed to sleep for hundred years until her prince charming came and rescued her? That's the reason why a young man, a knight from a far away land decided that he would save the princess and break the curse.
After spending months of traveling, the knight finally saw a castle; the one that was rumored to hold a beautiful princess as its captive. After walking thousand miles, after fighting many battles and lost all of his comrades, he finally made it to the castle. He was just a few steps towards his future bride. He was told that the princess and the whole living things in the castle were cursed to sleep forever until a real knight in shining armor would come and kiss her to break the curse.
The land suddenly trembled, and to the knight's surprised, an ugly monster came out of the castle and attacked him. Without wasting any time, the knight dodged the attack and took his stand. Taking out his sword, he stood bravely in front of the castle's main gate and fought the wicked monster.
The battle was hard, and he was slightly injured. Unlike the dead knights around, he proudly won the battle. Walking into the castle, he looked around, and saw everything in the castle was still lovely and untouched. Not even a dust was seen. It was as if the time stopped inside the castle. He saw people, cats, and even flies. They were all in a deep sleep. He tried to wake them up but to no avail.
He walked passed many doors, climbing up many stairs, and came across many sleeping figures but found nothing special. As he finally reached the top floor, his eyes fixed on the golden door in front of him. Though nothing differentiate the door from other doors in the castle, he knew behind it, lies his future; the only reason that kept him alive until now.
He opened the door, and his heart beat faster. He was anxious. How would the fair maiden looks like? Would the princess revive from her curse? Would they live happily ever after? Would the princess accept him as whom he is?
Clearing all those thoughts, he stepped in, and immediately he saw her.
"She is beautiful..." was all he could mutter.
It was true. For someone who aged more than a hundred years, she was still beautiful, still young. Taking hasty steps, he approached the sleeping beauty and held her small hand lovingly. He was in love at the first sight. All of his efforts getting here have been rewarded. He knew, with just a kiss, the curse would be reversed, and everyone in the castle would open their eyes, including the sleeping beauty in front of him; his love. Another step forward and he kissed the fair maiden lovingly.
Something unexpected happened. He felt his body was being pierced with thousands of needles and his lungs hurt. His nostril felt like it was going to explode. He felt extremely sick.
"She...!"
He backed away, and tripped. Trying to balance himself, he fell out of the window, and saw the massive amount of skeletons below.
This is being ironical, he thought. The only woman he thought that was going to start his life anew was the cause of his death. His body landed brutally on the skeletons, broken, and he knew he was dying.
"Why?" he asked. "Why don't you brush your teeth after 100 years of slumber? Your bad breath kills...!"
He closed his tired eyes, and cursed his fate. The knight finally understood why there were many skeletons there. They were not killed by the monster, they were not defeated by the ugly foes outside the castle. They were like him, the knights who were 'defeated' and 'killed' by the sleeping beauty's bad breath!