Golden Spiral vol.2 (51-92)

THE GOLDEN SP RAL

Star

by: Lavai Manus

I choose you.

A star. Shining so bright. The only one I want to see at night.

When the sun rises I miss you. I long for that glow that the sun cannot provide. Many tedious hours I wait for you to arrive. You are there.

Many Miles apart

Still I admire you, No, I love you. And because of that love I spend every night with you

Do you feel the same?

All the stars glowing around you, Do you choose one of them instead?

Doubts and worries fill my head like stars to the sky

But that glow...it calms me. It reassures me, like a warm blanket there to comfort me.

And I soon wait for you to become, A Falling Star.

Rapunzel Poem

by: Addison Lloyd

The forest grew wild and unbroken

Emerald fronds whispering veiled secrets to one another

In the heart of the glade stood a tower

The sole structure to puncture the lush green

Lost, forgotten by Time

Rough stone, weathered and worn by countless years, A lofty spire, despite its isolation, standing proud and tall

Moss had begun to ascend the tower

Vines greedily snaked their way up,

Branding verdant lacerations across the tower’s stone shell

But try as She might,

Even Nature could not breach the stronghold

Her soldiers of thorn and twig were no match for the sentinel’s ancient armor

Within the tower rest a young maiden

Rapunzel, as legend knew her, her hair a river of molten gold

flowing and cascading down her shoulders like a waterfall

Each of her days were the same

Blurring together

Smudged by the eternal flow of time

She was to awaken with the rising sun, To greet those first honeyed rays

Filled with inspiration, she would go on to paint

In those hundred flaming hues she found thrill

Unbridling her imagination, her mind racing, she would ponder

What is out there?

Then she would settle down to read

Falling into the tender embrace of words and ink, her mind was opened to the boundless possibilities

Dragons and knights

Enemies and lovers

The wise and the noble

Silently, she would wonder

Who is out there?

Now, as the sun set,

Drenching the tower in magnificent shades of crimson and violet

The moon began to peek over the treetops, It’s halo of silver light an otherworldly crown, Rapunzel would take this time to journal

Perched on the railing, aborder between the known and the unknown, Rapunzel brandished her quill and began to write

The stars were diamonds that pierced the matte carpet of night Specks of ice that glinted mysteriously down at her

The moon was round and full

A single silver eye to split the stygian blackness

With her pen in hand, Rapunzel reflected on how much she didn’t know

What kind of places are out there?

She looked down at the paper

It’s surface, yellow and faded with age, Washed pale by the moonlight

Rapunzel could not keep count of the many letters

she sent flying away on wings of parchment and wind

Spiraling, whirling into the limbo of night like paper eagles

If they had ever reached anyone, Rapunzel did not know

They were just as foreign to her

As she was to them

She peered over the edge of the railing

The darkness was thick

The void inky and seemingly impenetrable

Rapunzel thought for a moment

She knew that if she left, there would be no going back

But a tiny voice reminded her that if she stayed, she would never know the answers to her endless questions

What, Who, Where

Unbraiding her expanse of golden hair,

She tied it around the steady stone railing

And sent the rest hurdling into the gloom

She could hear it thud softly against the earth

The echo declaring the promise of freedom

Grabbing on to her own hair, but barely feeling the pull, Rapunzel considered her decision for the last time

But deep inside, her mind was already made up

The unknown was calling

Its tantalizing siren song filling her with an unquenchable curiosity

The kind of curiosity that could only be satisfied

If she dared to dream

At last, she took the plunge

The final flight to freedom

Raflynn

StoryandTranslationby: GenesisAriasOrtez

Illustrationby: FabricioHernandez

Mr. Spurlock was talking about which sentence used the colon correctly, but I was focused on anything else. My phone buzzed on the table and he shot a glance my way. When he turned back to the board I checked the notification. My favorite Youtubers, Rapunzel and Flynn, uploaded a new video. The thumbnail was a picture of a younger Rapunzel and Flynn. The title was “How we met!” I couldn’t wait to watch it at lunch.

In the lunchroom, some of my friends called for me to sit with them but I said I had some work I needed to do. Coach Johnson was the lunchroom monitor, but said I could still go back to the classroom and eat. The room was cold and the lights were off: perfect conditions for watching the Raflynn video. I opened my phone and found the Youtube app. The second video on the homepage was the one I wanted. The thumbnail was Rapunzel's wide eyed smiles. I clicked the picture and the video jumped to a full screen view.

“Hey guys!” The two cheered in unison to start the video.

“A lot of you guys have been asking for this video for a while,” Rapunzel said.

El Sr. Spurlock estaba hablando sobre qué oración usaba los dos puntos correctamente, pero yo estaba concentrado en cualquier otra cosa. Mi teléfono vibró sobre la mesa y él Sr. Spurlock lanzó una mirada en mi dirección. Cuando volteo hacia la pizarra, revisé la notificación. Mis Youtubers favoritos, Raflynn, subieron un nuevo video. La miniatura era una imagen de Rapunzel y Flynn más jóvenes. El título era "¡Cómo nos conocimos!" No podía esperar para verlo en el almuerzo.

En el comedor, algunas de mis amigas me llamaron para que me sentara con ellas, pero les dije que tenía trabajo que hacer. El entrenador Jonhson era el monitor del comedor, pero dijo que no iba a volver al salón de clases. La habitación estaba fría y las luces apagadas: condiciones perfectas para ver el video de Raflynn. Abrí mi teléfono y encontré la aplicación de Youtube. El segundo video en la página de inicio era el que yo quería. La miniatura eran las sonrisas de Rapunzel. Hice clic en la imagen y el video saltó a una vista de pantalla completa.

"¡Hola, chicos!" Los dos dijeron al mismo tiempo para comenzar el video. “Muchos de ustedes han estado pidiendo este video por un tiempo,” dijo Rapunzel.

“Yeah it has been the number one comment on our videos for a while,” Flynn cut in and a series of comments appeared on the screen, all of them asking for the pair to tell the story of how they met.

“So we figured we would go ahead and take you guys through how we met.”

“I was 17,” Flynn began.

“And I was 16,” Rapunzel picked up and two photos showed on the screen. One was of Rapunzel in a nice ball gown dress. Her hair was still long, but she looked ten years younger. The other was Flynn with three other boys that were about his age. They were arm in arm and wearing some kind of costume. Flynn’s beard was shaved, or non-existent yet, and his hair was shoulder length.

“I was a dancer,” Flynn continued. “At my high school in Mazatlán. We were very good and even traveled around sometimes. One day, my friends and I were at dance practice and there was a girl who kept staring at me. She even asked me for a picture before we left.”

“That was my cousin,” Rapunzel explained and the two laughed. “I wasn’t like staring at him and asking for pictures.”

"Sí, ha sido el comentario número uno en nuestros vídeos durante un tiempo", interrumpió Flynn y aparecieron una serie de comentarios en la pantalla, todos pidiendo que la pareja contará la historia de cómo ellos se conocieron.

“Así que pensamos en seguir adelante y contarles cómo nos conocimos.”

“Tenía 17 años,” comenzó Flynn.

“Y yo tenía 16 años,” respondió Rapunzel y aparecieron dos fotos en la pantalla. Una era de Rapunzel con un bonito vestido de gala. Su cabello todavía era largo, pero parecía diez años más joven. El otro era Flynn con otros tres niños que tenían más o menos su edad. Estaban tomados del brazo y usando algún tipo de disfraz. La barba de Flynn estaba afeitada, o aún no existía, y su cabello le llegaba a los hombros.

“Yo era un bailarín,” continuó Flynn. “En mi preparatoria en Mazatlán. Éramos muy buenos e incluso viajamos de vez en cuando. Un día, mis amigos y yo estábamos en una práctica de baile y había una chica que era muy fan mía . Incluso me pidió una foto antes de irnos.”

“Era mi prima,” explicó Rapunzel y los dos se rieron. “No me gustaba mirarlo y pedirle fotos.”

““Right, that was her cousin. Anyway, after that my friend and I were talking and he asked me about the girl who had been hanging around with us.”

“I never heard this part,” Rapunzel gasped and looked at Flynn.

“What did you say?”

“I said she wasn’t really my type.”

“Really?” Rapunzel asked. “But she was so pretty.”

“That’s what my friend said too. He was like, ‘you are crazy. She is the prettiest girl in this school.’ and I was like well maybe I don’t want to be with any of the girls in this school and that was when he told me that the girl had a cousin.”

“He sent me a friend request on facebook and that was the first time I had heard of him,” Rapunzel picked up the story. The two were sitting on their couch and now she leaned forward and the camera focused on her. “Of course, I ignored the request because I didn’t know who this random guy was.”

“Yeah she did,” Flynn confirmed.

“But when he sent the request a second time, I accepted it and we started talking. I’m not going to bore you guys with the details but it wasn’t exactly love at first conversation.”

“Correcto, esa era su prima. De todos modos, después de eso, mi amigo y yo estábamos hablando y él me preguntó sobre la chica que había estado con nosotros.”

"Nunca escuché esta parte",dijo Rapunzel y miró a Flynn. "¿Qué dijiste?"

"Dije que ella no era realmente mi tipo."

"¿En realidad?" preguntó Rapunzel. "Pero ella era tan bonita."

“Eso es lo que dijo mi amigo también. Él estaba como, 'estás loco. Ella es la chica más bonita de esta escuela’. Y pensé, bueno, tal vez no quiero estar con ninguna de las chicas de esta escuela y fue entonces cuando me dijo que la chica tenía una prima.”

“Me envió una solicitud de amistad en Facebook y esa fue la primera vez que escuché de él,”retomó Rapunzel la historia. Los dos estaban sentados en su sofá y ahora ella se inclinó hacia adelante y la cámara la enfocó. “Por supuesto, ignoré la solicitud porque no sabía quién era este tipo al azar.”

"Sí, lo hizo," confirmó Flynn.

“Pero cuando envió la solicitud por segunda vez, la acepté y comenzamos a hablar. No los voy a aburrir con los detalles, pero no fue exactamente amor a primera conversación.”

“She was sooo serious,” Flynn added and Rapunzel laughed.

“I was,” she confirmed and nodded her head. “At that age, I was very serious.”

“A few months later, my team was dancing at another high school in a competition and I saw Rapunzel there. Seeing her in person made me realize just how stunning she was, so I sent her another message. We talked for a while and she said she was at the school and even said she liked my dancing.”

“I did not,” Rapunzel protested.

“And so we agreed to meet up at the convenience store near her school. I thought it was an odd place for a date.”

“But I wasn’t allowed to date,” Rapunzel said. “My father had strict rules and among the strictest was that I wasn’t allowed to date or be alone with a boy, ever. I told him this as we walked from the convenience store to a park nearby.”

“But she still agreed to see me again,” Flynn said to the camera and winked.

“I did,” Rapunzel said. “I just couldn’t stop thinking about him. He suggested we could go to the fair with our friends separately and then meet up once we got there. But-”

“Estaba tan seria,” agregó Flynn y Rapunzel se rió.

"Lo estaba," confirmó y asintió con la cabeza. “A esa edad, yo era muy serio.”

“Unos meses después, mi equipo estaba bailando en otra escuela secundaria en una competencia y vi a Rapunzel allí. Verla en persona me hizo darme cuenta de lo impresionante que era, así que le envié otro mensaje. Hablamos un rato y ella dijo que estaba en la escuela e incluso dijo que le gustaba mi baile.”

“No lo hice,” protestó Rapunzel.

“Entonces acordamos encontrarnos en la tienda de conveniencia cerca de su escuela. Pensé que era un lugar extraño para una cita.”

“Pero no se me permitía tener citas,” dijo Rapunzel. “Mi padre tenía reglas estrictas y entre las más estrictas estaba que no se me permitía tener citas ni estar a solas con un chico, nunca. Le dije esto mientras caminábamos de la tienda de conveniencia a un parque cercano.”

“Pero aun así accedió a verme de nuevo,” dijo Flynn a la cámara y le guiñó un ojo.

"Lo hice," dijo Rapunzel. “Simplemente no podía dejar de pensar en él. Sugirió que podíamos ir a la feria con nuestros amigos por separado y luego encontrarnos una vez que llegáramos allí. Pero-"

“But she stood me up,” Flynn said and a frowny face emoji appeared over his face on the screen. “I was so upset that I ignored her messages for a while after that. We went about six months before we started messaging again.”

“Flynn was quite the womanizer in those six months,” Rapunzel said and Flynn blushed.

“Anyway,” he began, “a few months later I messaged her about a dance that was coming up at my school and she said she wanted to go.”

“But it was complicated, since I wasn’t allowed to have a boyfriend. I was still only sixteen and my dad’s rule said no boys. The night of the dance though, I told my parents I was going to a friend’s house and I went to the dance and we had a good time,” she said and they both smiled at the memory.

“I asked her to be my girlfriend.”

“And I said yes.”

“That is when it got complicated,” Flynn said.

“My brother had seen me sneaking out to the dance and he told my parents, so they were waiting for me when I got home. They had logged into my computer and found all of our messages. It was a dark time after that.”

“Pero ella me dejó plantado,” dijo Flynn y un emoji con el ceño fruncido apareció sobre su rostro en la pantalla. “Estaba tan molesto que ignoré sus mensajes por un tiempo después de eso. Pasaron unos seis meses antes de que comenzáramos a enviar mensajes de nuevo."

“Flynn fue bastante mujeriego en esos seis meses,” dijo Rapunzel y Flynn se sonrojó.

“De todos modos,” comenzó, “unos meses después, le envié un mensaje sobre un baile que se avecinaba en mi escuela y ella dijo que quería ir.”

“Pero fue complicado, ya que no me permitían tener novio. Todavía tenía quince años y la regla de mi padre decía que nada de chicos. Sin embargo, la noche del baile les dije a mis padres que iba a la casa de un amigo y fui al baile y la pasamos muy bien,” dijo y ambos sonrieron al recordarlo.

“Le pedí que fuera mi novia.”

“Y dije que sí.”

“Ahí fue cuando se complicó,” dijo Flynn.

“Mi hermano me había visto escabullirme al baile y se lo dijo a mis padres, así que me estaban esperando cuando llegué a casa.

Habían iniciado sesión en mi computadora y encontraron todos nuestros mensajes. Fue un tiempo oscuro después de eso."

“I was completely in the dark on the whole thing,” Flynn said and grabbed Rapunzel’s hand. “I got a message from her account that was like, ‘this is Rapunzel’s mom and dad. She is not allowed to date and we are furious she went behind our back. We ask you respect our wishes and do not contact her again.’”

“After that, I was not allowed to have any technology and had to go straight to school and straight home. On weekends, I was only allowed to go to the places my mom and dad went.”

“I wasn’t giving up that easy though,” Flynn assured the camera. “I hounded her cousin until she told me what happened and then I waited for Rapunzel everyday after school. I even started going to the same church service as her family, so I could win her parent’s over.”

“Three years passed like that,” Rapunzel said. “We would only be able to talk for a few minutes a day and my parents hated him. They started treating me really badly, until one day my dad confronted Flynn.”

“Rapunzel was almost nineteen and he pulled me aside and told me that he wouldn’t let her date me and they were going to find her a husband fit for her. I told him I was sorry, but when Rapunzel turns eighteen she will be able to decide for herself. After that, Rapunzel sent me a message that her father had hit her and she wanted to run away together and so I sold my stuff and we fled our home town and made a new life in Culiacán, Sinaloa.”

“Estaba completamente a oscuras sobre todo el asunto”, dijo Flynn y agarró la mano de Rapunzel. “Recibí un mensaje de su cuenta que decía: ‘Esta es la mamá y el papá de Rapunzel. No se le permite tener citas y estamos furiosos porque fue a nuestras espaldas. Le pedimos que respete nuestros deseos y que no vuelva a contactarla’.”

“Después de eso, no se me permitió tener ninguna tecnología y tuve que ir directamente a la escuela y directamente a casa. Los fines de semana, solo se me permitía ir a los lugares a los que iban mi mamá y mi papá.”

“Sin embargo, no me rendiría tan fácilmente,” aseguró Flynn a la cámara. “Perseguí a su prima hasta que me dijo lo que pasó y luego esperé a Rapunzel todos los días después de la escuela. Incluso comencé a ir al mismo servicio religioso que su familia, para poder ganarme a sus padres.”

“Así pasaron tres años,” dijo Rapunzel. “Solo podíamos hablar unos minutos al día y mis padres lo odiaban. Comenzaron a tratarme muy mal, hasta que un día mi papá confrontó a Flynn.”

“Rapunzel tenía casi dieciocho años y me hizo a un lado y me dijo que no la dejaría salir conmigo y que iban a encontrarle un marido adecuado para ella. Le dije que lo sentía, pero cuando Rapunzel cumpla dieciocho años podrá decidir por sí misma. Después de eso, Rapunzel me envió un mensaje de que su padre la había golpeado y ella quería huir juntos, así que vendí mis cosas y huimos de nuestra ciudad natal e hicimos una nueva vida en Culiacán, Sinaloa.”

Rapunzel, more soft spoken now, said, “On the way, I wrote a message to my mom telling her about the situation and she began to call my phone like crazy. She left messages begging me to come back and leave Flynn behind. She promised that she and my father would treat me better, if I just came home.”

“She even sent me a message saying, ‘Flynn Rider, this is not done correctly. Come back, for me please. We will talk about you two dating, if you just bring her home.’”

“All of the messages were really weighing on the two of us and so we decided we had to return to Mazatlan,” Rapunzel said.

“But not before we got married,” Flynn said and a photo of the two of them in wedding clothes showed on the screen. It was the same photo they had shown on their newest house tour video. "We got married to be able to be boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“My parents were not happy, but they knew there was nothing they could do.”

“I told her father, I was going to spend the rest of my life protecting and providing for his daughter and that has been what I have been doing ever since. Eventually, her parents came around and accepted our relationship and they have been the best grandparents to Sophia.”

Rapunzel, ahora con un tono más suave, dijo: “En el camino, le escribí un mensaje a mi mamá contándole la situación y ella comenzó a llamar a mi teléfono como loca. Dejó mensajes rogándole que volviera y dejará atrás a Flynn. Me prometió que ella y mi padre me tratarían mejor si regresaba a casa.”

“Incluso me envió un mensaje que decía: ‘Flynn Rider, esto no se hizo correctamente. Vuelve, por mí, por favor. Hablaremos de que ustedes dos salgan, si la traes a casa’.”

“Todos los mensajes realmente nos pesaban a los dos y decidimos que teníamos que regresar a Mazatlán,” dijo Rapunzel.

“Pero no antes de casarnos,” dijo Flynn y en la pantalla apareció una foto de los dos vestidos de novia. Era la misma foto que habían mostrado en su nuevo video de la gira de la casa. “Nos casamos para poder ser novio y novia.”

“Mis padres no estaban contentos, pero sabían que no podían hacer nada.”

“Le dije a su padre que iba a pasar el resto de mi vida protegiendo y manteniendo a su hija y eso ha sido lo que he estado haciendo desde entonces. Eventualmente, sus padres aceptaron nuestra relación y han sido los mejores abuelos para Sophia.”

“So, that is the story of how we met. The good and the bad,” Rapunzel said and the two exchanged a loving look.

“We hope you enjoyed it,” Flynn said. “Please, if you enjoyed this then like the video and leave a comment. We want to hear your stories in the comments.”

“That is seriously our favorite part of this weird Youtube life.”

“It really is,” Flynn continued, “You can find our socials in the description and as always-”

“Have a magical day,” Rapunzel shouted and Flynn moved his hand to the camera. Their outro music played and a screen popped up recommending their other videos. The bell rang to release my lunch back to class and the other students began to trickle back into the room. Before I knew it, class was starting and it was back to reality.

“Entonces, esa es la historia de cómo nos conocimos. Lo bueno y lo malo,” dijo Rapunzel y los dos intercambiaron una mirada amorosa.

“Esperamos que lo hayan disfrutado,” dijo Flynn. “Por favor, si disfrutaste esto, dale me gusta al video y deja un comentario. Queremos escuchar sus historias en los comentarios.”

“Esa es, en serio, nuestra parte favorita de esta extraña vida de Youtube.”

"Realmente lo es," continuó Flynn, "Puedes encontrar nuestras redes sociales en la descripción y, como siempre-"

“Que tengas un día mágico,” gritó Rapunzel y Flynn movió su mano hacia la cámara. Su música final sonó y apareció una pantalla recomendando sus otros videos. La campana sonó para entregar mi almuerzo a la clase y los otros estudiantes comenzaron a regresar al salón. Antes de que me diera cuenta, la clase estaba comenzando y volvía a la realidad.

The Sleeping Beauty Who Never Wakes

Story by: Isabelle Esslinger

Illustration by: Hailey Jackson

I hear a slight creak of the old, rotting wood making up the floors of my eternal bedroom. My daydreams vanish from my mind as I am abruptly brought back to reality. Faint, rapid footsteps fill the silence. The familiar sound comforts me. This sound is made by a rat scampering across the floor. He visits me frequently, searching for food crumbs, only to leave emptyhanded. The little rodent is the only living thing that comes to see me these days, and he has become like a friend to me. Aside from the speedy footsteps, the only other noticeable events that take place here are the occasional whispers of wind and booms of thunder.

Ever since the incident with the spindle, I have only been able to do two things: listen to the outside world, or become engrossed in my own thoughts. I cannot move or feel anything physically. However, my mind is sharp as a tack. My mind often races through my memories and my desires, and my imagination runs wild. It was never supposed to end like this. I was supposed to be saved from this eternal imprisonment. I would say I do not know how my life came to this, but that would be the epitome of a lie. I know exactly why this happened. In fact, I am significantly to blame. They call me

“Sleeping Beauty,” and since I am stuck here, not truly sleeping, yet never able to wake up, let me tell you my story. I will start from the very beginning…

I was born into royalty, named Princess Aurora. Everyone was happy and everything was perfect. But then Maleficent appeared and put a curse on me, an innocent infant, because she was angry that she did not get invited to the gathering. She proclaimed that I would die by pricking my finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel on my 16th birthday. My father was enraged, and he ordered that all of the spinning wheels in the kingdom be burned. Luckily, a good fairy named Merryweather managed to change the spell so that I would only fall into a deep sleep and could be woken up by a true love’s kiss. In order to keep me safe, two other fairies named Flora and Fauna, along with Merryweather, persuaded my parents to allow them to raise me in the woods. That is where I grew up: an abandoned woodcutter’s cottage in the forest where no one would find me. The three fairies convinced me that they were my aunts, and they called me Briar Rose. For 16 years, I remained safe with them. Maleficent's minions did not find me.

On my 16th birthday, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather sent me out to pick berries. In the meantime, they baked me a cake and made me a dress. While I was walking through the forest, I met a handsome prince and we danced. However, I suddenly remembered I was expected back at the cottage and I shouldn’t be talking to strangers, so I ran back home, but not before the prince insisted I tell him where I was going so he could visit later.

When I returned home, the fairies revealed who I truly was. They brought me back to the castle through a secret entrance and prepared me to meet my family. When they left me alone briefly, Maleficent opened a secret passage into the room I was in. I fell under a trance and followed a floating green orb through the passageway. When I reached the top of the castle’s highest tower, the green orb transformed into an enchanted spinning wheel. I heard the fairies’ voices from somewhere behind me warning me not to touch anything, but I could not help myself. The trance I was in was too strong. So, under Maleficent’s orders, I slowly brought my fingertip to the spindle of the spinning wheel and pricked it. I then fell into a deep sleep. Flora decided to put the entire kingdom to sleep until I was awakened.

The fairies returned to the woodcutter’s cottage to find Prince Phillip, but he was not there. They went to Maleficent’s castle where they found Phillip imprisoned, set him free, and they all returned to the castle. Prince Phillip was led to my bedside, and he kissed me. This one kiss was supposed to fix everything. I was supposed to wake up, and then everyone else in the kingdom would awaken as well. That obviously did not happen. I remained trapped in my sleep coma because that kiss was not a true love's kiss. Phillip loved me, but I did not feel the same. Sure, I was enchanted by him. However, I could not love him because I was already in love with someone else. I may have left out this one small detail from the story. Let me backtrack for a moment…

A few months before my 16th birthday where I met Prince Phillip, I met another prince in the woods named Henry. Prince Henry and I had so much in common. Every day, I would tell Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather that I was going out to pick berries, but really I was meeting Henry in secret. Henry was everything Phillip was not. He was funny, charming, and kind. In the few months we knew each other, I fell in love. I could not imagine life without him. When Phillip approached me in the woods, I danced with him because I like to dance, but that did not mean I loved Henry any less.

When I did not awaken from Phillip’s kiss, he knew I did not love him as he loved me. This filled him with sorrow, and he left our kingdom to return to his own. Arriving back to his kingdom, he was greeted by Prince Henry because, well, Prince Henry was Prince Phillip’s brother. Prince Phillip soon learned that Henry was the one I was truly in love with, and he became enraged. Phillip was so infuriated that he drew his sword and plunged it through Henry’s heart. Then, he returned to my kingdom and killed Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather to ensure I could never awaken. If he couldn’t have me, then no one could.

So, here I am. My mind is here, but my body is failing me. Time after time, I try to move my legs and wiggle my fingers, but I am constantly faced with disappointment. There is no one left here to help me. Henry is dead. Flora, Fauna, Merryweather…they are all dead. My parents, along with everyone else in the kingdom, are still asleep from Flora’s magic because she is not here to undo it.

Some days it is depressing to live in a sleeping kingdom. I feel trapped in a bubble of isolation. I feel resentful, but I have no one to resent but myself. Well, maybe Maleficent a little bit. And maybe Prince Philip a good bit. But all of these problems revolve around me because I did not stand up to Maleficent. I am starting to loathe my life. Is this really a way to live? Only in my mind am I allowed to be free. I am imprisoned by my own body. I am convinced this is hell.

I miss the days that were not governed by my paralysis. I often dream of what my life could have been. I am a princess, and I could have had power, prosperity, and a promising future. But, the actions of one man who thought he was in love with me ruined any chance for me to be happy again. Maybe I brought this upon myself. Or, maybe he was just too selfish and blind to allow anyone else happiness. Maybe it is the devil himself punishing me. Punishing me for what? I do not know. However, it is not up to me to know anything anymore. There is nothing that can be done about my eternal sleep. So, now and forever, I remain floating through my thoughts, unable to move a muscle. I am but a corpse.

Setting the Record Straight

by: Grace Reid

Dear Fairytale Readers,

Hello everyone. I’m here to set my story straight. Now, The Brothers Grimm had good intentions in writing their famous story, “Snow White,” but they exaggerated and took many artistic liberties, without consulting me first. And don’t get me wrong, The Brothers Grimm are great guys, but they were about 18 years old, shorter than most of the other guys, and desperate for any attention whatsoever, so they decided to follow me around and write about me for their English 1101 class. Apparently, normal old Snow White was a little too boring for a creative writing piece, so they made their observations a little, flowery, let’s say.

First of all, there was no “Evil Queen” and “Magic Mirror” that told her that I was “The fairest in the land.” I was with the president of my sorority at Woods University, and we were getting ready in her bathroom. It was just a regular old mirror, and I think she suddenly got really insecure because I looked pretty good that night. Her doubts about my looks versus her looks were apparently validated in her mind, because when one of the Grimms were interviewing me for their literary piece, he asked me, “How does it feel to be the prettiest girl in Phi Mu?” He was just joking or flirting, I’m not really sure though. Anyways, little Miss President got really upset, and told Grimm to escort me out of the house because I was no longer a Phi Mu. Why did she get so upset, you ask? No one really knows, not even my psychology major friends.

When I woke up in the morning, I realized just how messy the room I slept in was. As I opened the door, I quickly noticed that the mess was not only inside Doc’s room, but throughout the entire frat cottage. Everyone else was asleep, so I decided to tidy up for them a bit, since they let me spend the night. That’s when Grimm came over to check on me, and he took the idea of me cleaning for the guys and ran with it, as can be seen in the original “Snow White” story. As the entirety of Kappa Dwarf woke up and came into the kitchen in search of food, I realized that they all had dwarfism. I guess I hadn’t noticed since it was so late and dark when I first went through the house. And let me get one thing straight; I did not regularly clean for the KDs. It was just that first morning, but the frat was very welcoming of me staying with them indefinitely, even without a cleaning agreement.

Now, I’m going to talk about the most infamous part of the “Snow White” story–the poison apple. Instead of an “evil queen” disguised as a ragged old lady bringing me an apple that would put me to sleep, it was the president of Phi Mu who brought me a fruit basket as an apology. Of course, I bit into my favorite fruit first, the apple. Don’t judge me, but at the time, I had recently developed an allergy to apples and completely forgotten. Well this time, I had the most severe reaction I had ever had to the bright red fruit, and I went into anaphylactic shock. I didn’t fall asleep, I just couldn’t breathe, and there was no “Prince,” just a pre-med student who happened to have an EpiPen on him. He also happened to be super cute, so we did end up together for a little bit.

And that’s the end of it. As you can tell, the Brothers Grimm took hold of my pretty normal, non-magical story and ran with it. Their flowery language and use of symbolism left a mark on the world, and on my reputation. Either way, I hope that this explanation has helped a few of you to see how my story, and my life, really played out.

Sincerely, Snow

White.

Snow Whit

ory by: y Whipple

ration by: very Sellers

One afternoon, after a long day of mining for jewels, the six other dwarfs and I returned to our small, cozy cottage in the woods to get a restful night. When we got there, we realized that something wasn't right. Everything had been touched. Someone had eaten off of each of our plates and nibbled off of each of our pieces of bread. Someone had drunk out of all of our cups. Someone has been sitting in our chairs.

“Who is sleeping in my bed?” Happy asked.

“Someone has been lying in all of our beds!” Grumpy yelled.

“It is a little girl.” Sneezy said as he stood next to Happy’s bed.

Just as he said that the beautiful little girl woke up from her sleep looking confused and scared. She told us that her name was Snow White and that she was the princess and that her stepmother tried to kill her. She said that her stepmother was jealous of her beauty and wanted her to be dead. The queen wanted to be the fairest of them all and didn’t want Snow White standing in the way.

“Can I live here with you?” She pleaded as she began to cry. “I have nowhere else to go.”

We discussed this for a few minutes and finally told her, “You can stay with us but you have to cook for us and clean for us and do all of the chores.”

“Of course I will. Thank you so much!” She exclaimed as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

The next morning before we went to work we warned her not to open the door for anyone because we did not want her to be found by the queen. After another long day of work we came home to find the princess lying on the floor of the cottage with lace wrapped tightly around her waist. Her face was purple due to her lack of oxygen.

"Hand me the scissors!” Yelled Dopey. When he got the scissors, he cut the lace off of the girl.

When she was able to talk we asked her what happened.

“A very nice old woman came to the door and was selling clothing and wanted me to try this lace for her. She seemed trustworthy so I let her in but when she was tying the lace onto my waist she pulled it as tight as it would go and then she ran out of the cottage with a grin on her face.” She told us.

Once again we warned her of the dangers of the queen and to not let anyone in.

We went to work the next day and when we came back, of course, Snow White had let the old women back into the cottage. We found her lying unconscious on the floor with a comb stuck in her hair. We finally realized that the comb was poisoned and we detangled it from her long, black, beautiful hair. She finally revived and was able to tell us all about how the old woman tried to kill her.

“For the last time, That old woman is the queen and she is trying to kill you!” Grumpy yelled.

Again, we woke up and went to work and we told Snow White to not let ANYONE into the cottage. Did she listen? Of course not. When we returned we found her lying on the floor. She was dead. We tried everything we could to revive her. Nothing worked. She was dead. We put her in a glass box and mourned her for days.

One morning as we were all eating breakfast, we heard a knock on the door.

“I am the prince!” A man called from the other side of the door. “ I have come for Snow White. I will protect her for the rest of my life.”

We pitied the man so we gave him the box. We knew that he would take really good care of the beautiful Snow White.

We helped him carry her back to his castle. While we were walking through the forest, Dopey tripped over a rock which caused us to drop the glass box. The lid came off and Snow White fell on the ground. When she fell, the bite of the poisonous apple that she had taken fell out of her mouth. In an instant she was awake.

The prince told her that she would be safe with him. She smiled from ear to ear. She was so happy to finally be safe from the queen and then her and the prince rode happily into the sunset on his big, beautiful white horse.

Fairy Tales: What Are They Really Teaching?

Luke Stembridge

When we talk about fairy tales we generally think of cute stories that teach our children right from wrong. While that may be what is popular today, that certainly isn’t how they were written originally. The original tales are much darker than we are originally taught.

Though we have always seen Rumpelstiltskin as a conniving character, I feel few have ever heard the real story behind him. A girl needs to make gold from straw, an impossible task. While she desperately tries to figure out how to do it, little Rumpelstiltskin comes along and says that he will spin the straw into gold in exchange for her necklace. This deal happens every night until the girl has nothing to give. In exchange for more gold, she has to give up her First born child.

I also feel the need to point out that in the sleeping beauty a witch cursed a child because she wasn’t invited to the baby shower.

Even the heroes aren’t all good. In the original tale of little red riding hood, the wolf eats both little red and her grandmother. However, there is a hunter who hears the commotion and goes to find the wolf sleeping. While the wolf sleeps, he cuts open the wolf’s stomach and frees the two victims. He then fills the wolf’s stomach with rocks so that he falls over and dies.

All in all, I think that fairy tales are terrifying, and are a terrible way to teach children. We should move to fables instead, they’re mostly peaceful, and thus teach kids to be more peaceful in turn.

Why We Need More Parables, and Less Fairy-Tales

Audrey Browning

Fairy tales are a key component in how children learn right and wrong. The problem is that fairy tales teach children unrealistic ideas of the world. To solve this problem, as a society we should focus more on parables, or stories that focus on a moral or lesson, for three main reasons.

Parables teach a lesson that can be applied to one’s life. Think about stories like the Tortoise and the Hare or the Fox and the Grapes. These stories share lessons on how to act in life. Think about the classic story of the Ants and the Grasshopper. The Grasshopper spends his summer playing while the Ants work, storing food. When the winter comes the Grasshopper has no food and he understands why the Ants worked so hard throughout the year. This story teaches kids to work hard at a consistent rate which translates to school and the real world. On top of this, in fables the solution is earned by the protagonist instead of being gifted by a stronger, usually magical entity. In Little Red Riding Hood, the lumberjack comes onto the scene and is able to kill the wolf. Little Red Riding Hood doesn’t work to fix the problem, the problem is just solved for her. Because this idea is so widely spread throughout fairy tales children are being taught that not having a strong work ethic is okay.

Last but not least, unrealistic violence is shown in fairy tales that isn’t present in parables. Think about the story of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf. In the story the pigs are personified and then eaten. In what world is this a good image to expose to children? Let’s go back to Little Red Riding Hood. Grandparents play an extremely important role in our society, obviously a story about a wolf eating a grandmother shouldn’t be so widespread. The carnage that takes place across fairy tales is extreme and graphic, why are we trying to filter what children are exposed to but letting fairy tales slide through the cracks.

In conclusion, parables are a far more educational, moral, and age appropriate way to entertain and teach children and they should take priority to the alternative.

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Letter From Mr. Spurlock

This first year of The Golden Spiral has been an amazing experience, and one I am extremely grateful for. This magazine wouldn't be possible without a lot of other people and I would like to take this opportunity to properly thank them.

Thank you to Mr. Lyle and the entire Carrollton High School leadership team for their support and commitment to making CHS a place that values all avenues of creativity and expression. Thank you to all of the CHS teachers and staff who helped students with their writing, art, or any other part of this process. I feel truly honored to work with so many amazing educators who support students in everything they do.

Thank you to Fred and Anne Richards for their support of the magazine.

Thank you to each and every student who submitted a story or piece of art. That simple act takes more courage and creativity than you know. Thank you to the parents and loved ones of every student who submitted something or helped with these first two issues. Your support has been overwhelming and made this magazine a pleasure to release into the world.

Thank you to the editing team that gave so much of their time and creativity to this magazine. It has been a pleasure to work with each of you, and I could not have asked for a better group of people to help get this magazine started. Congratulations and good luck to our five seniors who will go on to accomplish great things in this world: Alison Sellers, Avery Sellers, Charlie Brinkhof, Caro Dudley, and John Van-Valen.