(Photo: © Rochelle Wisoff-Fields)
It will only be a hundred sleeps. They said.
What length a sleep would be, they didn’t speak.
She will awaken once the sleeps are done. They said. With eyes that darted and rounded shoulders that hid words and fingers that kept fiddling with the thread.
Nothing, she observed, of how she’d be upon awakening. What she might become. Who would tend her.
If she’d dream.
Will she still know herself? Know them?
“Only a hundred sleeps,” they said.
She turned sixteen.
They pressed her finger to the quill spindle.
Blood bloomed. Dark came.
The curse.
A yarn. A spin.
For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers
Na'ama Yehuda 
Ooh, very good. I’d assume 100 sleeps mean 100 nights – but you’re tricky. And that girl is also canny.
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Yeah, though who knows … eh? 😉 I’d always been intrigued by fairy tales, and by the fears – and wonder – they imparted. Now, about that prince … 😉
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A very intriguing way to tell the tale.
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Thanks, Sadje! I had always intrigued me – as did many of the fairy tales. Have you ever read “Women who run with the wolves” By Estes? I so so recommend it!
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You’re welcome! I’ll check it out. Thanks
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🙂 Thank YOU!
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🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
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A lovely riff on a well-known theme. I liked the fact that she knew
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Thanks, Neil! She knew, and yet, there was so much she didn’t know … 😉 Like every mystery – or life – I presume …
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Na’ama Y’karah,
Where’s that pesky prince to wake her with a kiss? Nicely told spin on an old story.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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That prince is probably held back reading all the fine print – enough for 100 sleeps, me think. … 😉 Glad you liked my … um … spin … 😉
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Excellent twist on the tale. Very well done.
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Thank you, Iain! It was irresistible … 😉
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I love this take, Na’ama! Talk about adding a whole ‘nother level to the story. Well done, NYNF!
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Thank you, Dale! 🙂 I had fun with that one, as you can see … And, yes, that pesky fine print they don’t tell ya about and leaves ya wondering … 😉
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I love that you did! 🙂
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🙂 I’ve come to the conclusion that it is fun to have fun.
Deep, I know.
😉
Your NYNF
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It is not only fun…. it is NECESSARY for our sanity.
xoxo
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Amen to that! 😀
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🙂
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A lovely rendition of a familiar tale, nice one Na’ama.
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Thank you, Keith! Sometimes one’s destiny is … well … what it is … 😉 (and not all the fine print is available to read …)
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As much as I enjoy such tales, I’m thinking “99 bottles of beer on the wall, take one down, pass it around. 98 bottle of beer on the wall….” I also noticed that the best for outcome is “and they lived well for the rest of their days.” None of that ever after Disney nonsense.
Well told, Na’ama. 🙂
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LOL! I hear ya! Though, the original fairy tales oft were not so rosy-ended, and not as sanitized as the Disney ones …
Now I have that song stuck in my ears. Thank you very much (NOT! 😉 )
🙂
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Sorry, Na’ama. But me too, and it was yesterday that it started.
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ah well, “sharing is caring” … 😉
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The dashing young prince is standing at the door. Five, four, three, two, one; Here I come. Ah, rescue has begun. 😀
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LOL! I can ‘see it’ in my mind’s eye! Hilarious! 😀
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That’s an interesting take on an old classic. Well told 🙂
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Thank you, Fleur! I am glad you liked it! Just had a bit of fun and took the fairy tale for a spin … 😉
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Oh I love this. These are thoughts her mother should have discussed with the fairy godmother. The princesses are never asked how they feel about all this.
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Indeed, the princesses are often quite passive in the olden fairy-tales … Interesting as a cultural mirror to children (and especially girls) being pawns and possessions … But I digress … 😉
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No, you’re totally right. 🙂 And some people want this back…
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They may want it back, but guess what? We don’t! 😉
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Where are a prince’s lips when you need them? Well-written story, Na’ama.
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Ha! And … thanks, Li! 🙂
It was fun!
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You’re welcome, Na’ama 🙂
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Good to know it is an indirectly fairytale of sleeping beauty
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In a way, eh? 😉 Not that it HAS to be … but, that was clearly a goodly part of the inspiration … 😉 Thank you for reading and commenting!
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I like the poem, enjoyed it. ♡
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🙂 Yay!
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