The Sugar Cane Worker- Briana Regalado

The Sugarcane Field Worker- Briana Regalado 9/11/12

 

 

Once upon a time, there lived a young woman with her pet raven. She lived alone in the countryside planting sugarcane for a living. One morning, she went to her sugarcane field and suddenly heard the trotting of a horse. The horse was a majestic beast, ivory in color with a golden flowing mane. Atop the horse sat a young man. He came simply dressed all in white with a straw hat. He passed by the woman and glanced at her longingly. The woman had long black hair, a small pale face and light wide-set eyes hidden by a veil attached to her straw hat. They both exchanged looks at one another for a while. The man hoisted the horse’s reins and trotted away. The woman stared longingly down the road where the young man rode away.

 

That evening, the woman watered her sugarcane from her field and again came the majestic horse. The woman glanced up and was thrilled to see the handsome young man. He stepped off his horse and approached the woman. The woman hesitated stepping back as the young man approached her. Just as she was about to enter her small cottage, the man grabbed her arm and turned her around gently. Now the man had not seen this woman’s face since it was covered by the veil. He asked her “Why do you keep your face covered?” The woman began to shake her head and move back. “Do not be afraid,” stated the man. “I want to see your lovely face.” The woman tilted her head slowly to the side. She thought to herself if only he knew what I am hiding. With a swift motion, the man lifted the woman’s veil to reveal a lovely face. The man asked for her hand in marriage under the moonlight and the woman gladly accepted.

 

 

  The next night, the young woman was getting her wedding preparations done when she saw a most unnerving sight. She went along the back of the house and in her sugarcane field laid her raven, stained in blood. The woman ran to her raven and cried out to the skies. Her fiancé came trotting on his horse from the village and saw his bride-to-be in the sugarcane field. Her fingers were stained with blood. “What has happened?” her fiancé asked. She explained that someone had killed her raven. The man looked down the road and saw a little boy running down the path into the Black Forest. The woman looked at her raven and pried open it’s small chest with a piece of sugarcane. She took out its heart and ran up to the mountain. The man watched as he saw his fiancé run down the path and into the mountains. He in turn ran down the path and followed the little boy.

 

  When the woman arrived at the top of the mountain, she saw a giant cloud storming ahead. She looked at the sky and cried out “Damn you! Damn whoever killed my raven!” and with that said, the woman sunk into the ground and lied on the ground for a minute. When she waked, she transformed into a hideous being. Meanwhile, the man followed the little boy down the path. They reached the end of the road and to the man’s surprise, the little boy was gone. In his place, he found a thin piece of oak bark with the pointed ends covered in blood. Stunned, he ran back to the house, only to find that there was a horrible cyclone approaching. He tried to run up to the mountain and saw what seemed to be his fiancé. When she found her, she was leaning on a lonely tree, awaiting her loved one. He ran up to her, excited to find her there. He pulled out the stained oak bark and held it up to her, finding that he was facing her back. He tapped her shoulder and she fell to the ground. He then kneeled and asked her what was wrong. When she turned around, he found her with grey skin, her silky black hair was straw like, her eyes were cataract due to her sighting of the moon and her limbs were bent in the opposite direction. He jumped up and screamed as she crawled to him, leaving a path of clear slime.

 

  The man ran into the village and was about to mount his horse but found him dead. He backed away and entered a secret temple. His fiancé had followed him slowly. He ran into the temple and saw a statue of the Gods. He picked one of the Gods and cried out, “Please stop her! Stop her and let all of us be free!” The statue fell to the ground and shattered. The man felt hopeless. He turned and saw his fiancé crawling toward him. He ran deeper into the temple and found a water fountain. The fountain was of silver marble and possessed healing powers. The man washed his face with the water and looked up. A bright light appeared in front of him. The light lead him outside. He followed the light and found a red lily. He took the lily and heard a majestic voice. It was one of the Gods. He listened carefully to what the God had to say. He took the lily, turned it upside down and brought it to the forest. He planted it upside down in the middle of the forest. After this action, the cyclone had disappeared. The sun came out shining bright and the sugarcane field grew back. The man’s wife also returned to her normal state. She ran to him and they hugged for hours. The woman asked what had happened for she had forgotten during her transformation. The man stated that nothing had happened to protect her from the madness and took her home.