The Lady or the Tiger Ending

[dahlia_moon]

So, I was cleaning out my floppy drive tonight and came upon this thing that I wrote for an assignment my freshman year of high school. (Why is it that whenever you save a web page onto the floppy drive, it doesn't work or half of the file is missing? At least that's what happens on my floppy drives and it is driving me nuts because I had some good fics saved onto it but had to delete most of them because they ended up being blank). So, y'all get to see it now.

I think it's fanfiction, but I'm not sure. Technically, I think it is since the assignment was to write an alternative ending to a story. I'm not sure how many of you have heard of it, but this is the alternative ending to The Lady or the Tiger. Be warned: it is full of fluff and the mushy stuff.

[Written September 25 2005]

The Lady, or the Tiger Ending 

            The door swung excruciatingly slow, revealing only darkness. The air was still and every breath was held. Slowly and deliberately a silhouette appeared in the shadow. The outline of a tall, slim figure… a human figure. The young maiden came walking out into the arena. For a second, there was a pause, then everyone seemed to recover themselves and thunderous applause rang out. The king, along with everyone else, clapped with approved looks on their faces… The only one with a scowl was the princess. She hated herself for showing him to the door of the maiden, but she couldn’t face him getting his guts ripped out by a ferocious beast. Either way, she lost. She decided he should get married to the girl and she would just forget about him. The ceremony went on for a bit and, after awhile, the crowd dispersed home. The young youth and his maiden went on their way happily, while the princess sat on her throne, contemplating life and its unfairness.

            The next day rolled by uneventfully, but for the princess it was torture. It was torture being herself and losing her beloved. Oh, how she wished to be in the maiden’s shoes, to not have a care in the world, to be wed to a handsome youth. Sometimes it was such a bore to be a princess and love offered her a sort of escape from the clutches of being royalty. Now, she didn’t even have that and she blamed her father for it. He was controlling, but extremely protective of her. If he wasn’t, she wouldn’t have lost the only thing she really cared for.

            Several days passed by from that faithful day when a messenger came to the palace bearing news for the princess from her lover. Curious as to why he should be calling on her after all that happened, the princess agreed to meet him in the forest just outside of the kingdom in a few days’ time. The princess, still heartbroken, ordered herself to not bring her hopes up, in spite of herself daydreaming of him running back to her and leaving that wretched girl.

            The day of the ill-fated lovers’ rendezvous, the princess dressed up as a commoner, to fool everyone and to not attract her father’s attention as to where she was going and as to whom she was meeting. With each step that took her closer to her lover, the princess repeated to herself silently that she was just going to say good-bye to him and the same with him. He probably felt obliged to say one final good-bye to her. It was going to be nothing more. Yet, somewhere deep in the back of her mind, the princess couldn’t help herself to feeling like this was going to be their reunion. That he was going to leave his wife that he was forced to marry. He probably didn’t love the maiden the same way he loved her, and knowing him the way she did, he couldn’t possibly go on living a marriage that he didn’t want. At least that’s what the princess hoped for.

            When she finally saw him, she greeted him indifferently. Giving him the notion that she still cared for him would only show her weakness and this was not the time for her to be weak. He, on the other hand, dropped all pretenses and hugged her like the sky was falling. After the hugs, they sat on the wood and talked.

            The sun was slowly sinking below the horizon and purple, and pink, and blue hues streaked across the darkened sky. Twilight was befalling the earth, and the princess walked contently back to the kingdom. Her meeting was one of pure joy and she congratulated herself for having a tiny speck of hope. Her future seemed brighter to her now and she didn’t feel heartbroken. Of course, now that this whole charade happened, she realized she was going to have to be more careful about her love affairs, especially around her father’s presence. She was lucky that the tribunal happened to pick a maiden that loved once as well and was not over her lover either. She was lucky she had found true love that hadn’t given up on being with her.

            The two lovers would surely face more obstacles down the road, but for now, they were dealing with those one at a time, and whatever happened next they knew in their heart of hearts, they could face it together. And whatever time they had together, they would treasure it for always. 

The End

A/N: My only excuse is that I love happy endings.

Comments

[suna-sprite.livejournal.com]

Oh wow... I remember that assignment. Yours was so much better than mine! lol. Very beautifully written.
If I recall, in my ending, I had the man choose the door with the tiger. However, when the tiger came out, the princess was riding on the back. The prince hopped on and the two rode away from the kingdom. XD

[moon-destiny.livejournal.com]

Thank you. ^^^

Oh, I like your ending much better. My ending is lame.