Prairie Snow came from a long line of people who worked hard all their lives. They had come to the prairie after difficult journeys, over mountains and through deserts. Prairie Snow was beautiful and had some of the old country’s magic in her soul. She loved nature and all animals, and even could speak to some, who would follow her on her walks.
The King of the Prairie was a vain and cruel man. He spent his time inventing rules that would curb the free will of his subjects. He hoped to become Emperor one day, and thought that bluster, rather than kindness, would help him achieve his goals. The King had two sons, the younger one a gentle soul, like his mother, but the older was vain and cruel like the King himself.
One day the King’s older son spied Prairie Snow in a grove. He decided she must be his. Prairie Snow was frightened by his rude advances, and tried to get away, but alas the King’s son was carrying weapons of war, and she was no match for his strength. She cried, but he “had his way with her” (this may be dystopian, but it is still a fairy tale).
Prairie Snow felt dirty, she stopped singing. Her parents, distraught, took her to see an old woman who was told to know magic and to restore happiness. Alack the day, said the old woman, you must now carry the burden of this evil man’s child. In olden times I could have helped you, but the King has forbidden me to help, and I dare not cross him. Hyena Spirit will say he wants to help you, but he is not to be trusted. Fair maids like you have died in his lair.
Prairie Snow went home and cried for weeks, her burden feeling heavier and heavier, until one day she felt a change. Several drops of blood fell on the ground and mixed with her tears. She was very sick and had to take to her bed. Her neighbors on the prairie came to see why Prairie Snow no longer walked in the forest. They too missed her songs and her smiling face. When they saw the blood and the tears, they hissed at her “Killer! What have you done?” Prairie Snow was very afraid then, for she had done nothing. The baby had died within her although she had not gone to Hyena Spirit. She was in pain, and did not know whether she was happy or sad that her burden had disappeared all by itself, and so suddenly.
After a few days, the King’s men came to Prairie Snow’s village, led to her house by her evil neighbors. “Is this the young criminal?” they asked. “Yes, this is the baby killer”, said the neighbors, hoping to profit from Prairie Snow’s misery and from her family’s humiliation.
Prairie Snow was taken away from her family, and fell into a deep sleep very much like death. The village mourned her, and their cries reached all the way to the King’s castle. The King’s younger son rode to the village where beautiful Prairie Snow was lying asleep. He gently touched her hair and so doing woke her. “I will marry you and thereby end your shame”, said he with a smile.
“I am not ashamed, for I was never guilty”, said Prairie Snow. “My body is mine own, and now that I have awakened from this deep sleep, I have no wish to marry you, although you are a good man. I have important work to do.” She got up, and at that point the legend of Prairie Snow becomes shrouded in mystery. Some say that the drops of blood and the tears sank deep into the soil and fed the grass, going deep into the roots. The wind carried the seeds of grass across the prairie, and the story of Prairie Snow made its way into every house, until the People of the Prairie rose up against the evil King and peacefully ended his reign, restoring the rights the People of the Prairie had enjoyed for generations.
The End.