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Literature Text
It is said that when the leaves fall from the trees,
When the grass is yellow from holding frost,
When the pumpkins are large and ripe--
When ghosts walk the world freely--
If you walk out to the fields at night,
You will see a maiden, weeping at all she has forever lost
It had been her father’s land
For miles upon miles he’d owned
Fertile land with a thriving village.
He had been a good lord to his tenants;
And a loving father to his daughter--
He held nothing back from his girl.
When he took a wife it was because
He believed his daughter needed a mother.
His wife’s three daughters he had thought
Would be sisters, companions, for his girl.
He wanted Isabella to have a full life,
Including a full happy family.
He could not have foreseen the raid.
He could not have planned on the bandits.
He had no reason to anticipate that
Death would come to his own door.
With a heartless hand,
Death stole his from his little girl.
With a cool calmness all was settled,
The girl’s new mother took over,
Control of all the land and tenants;
Thoughtlessly spending money on her own girls,
While taking everything from Isabella,
Treating her as a common orphaned girl.
Isabella soon found herself out,
Working the land in threadbare rags.
Who she had been was soon forgotten,
All that mattered was who she now was.
Day after day she slaved in the fields
Earning barely enough for room and board.
Autumn came, bringing cold and frost.
While her step family went to dances
She still toiled away in the fields.
When they returned from the parties
She would be working in the kitchen.
Hard at work scrubbing the floors.
An edict came to demand an appearance
Of all unwed maidens of marriageable age
To attend the prince’s grandest dance.
Rumor spread he hoped to find a bride
From his own home country
Who could be trained to rule at his side.
Nothing could be said to stop her going,
Isabella would have to attend the dance
Along with her three step-sisters.
She fashioned a gown from tattered hand-me-downs
Taking care that it would be perfect--
Only the youngest step sister offered help.
Her chores completed, the dress made,
The night came with its excitement.
Isabella helped her step-sisters prepare
Then, with Leyah’s help, dressed herself.
Her step-sisters journeyed by private carriage,
She shared a hired carriage with other servants.
The castle was decorated for the dance,
Every candle burned, no corner was in shadow.
Each maiden eagerly eagerly waited her turn
To catch the princes' searching eye
And to be invited to dance with him--
Hoping to win his favor and heart.
High and low born alike mingled together
Many forming clusters as they talked
Around the dance floor where
Those with grace dance the night away.
Isabella withdrew to the room’s edge,
At her side was the gentle Leyah.
The prince and his brother walked the room,
At times stopping to speak with girls
Or asking two girls to join them in a dance.
Even the older two step sisters were invited
To dance with the royal brothers--
Both only wanting the older prince’s favor.
The brothers came to Leyah and Isabella,
The younger brother danced with Isabella
While the older spoke with Leyah
Near midnight they traded girls
And as Isabella walked with the prince
Her eldest step-sister intercepted them.
Isabella was accused of stealing silks,
Alison claimed her step-sister had stolen jewels
Just to make herself the gown she now wore.
Instead of cause a scene, Isabella ran--
She ran from the hall, from the castle
Ignoring the shouts for her to stop she ran.
She returned to her family’s home on foot,
Arriving there the same time as her family’s carriage.
Even though she did not steal the dress she wore
She was punished as if she were a thief
Then locked away in the cellar as punishment,
Her lovely gown now torn and stained.
Leyah waited until first light of morning,
Then mounted a horse and rode to the palace
And begged to speak with the prince.
He listened to her explanation of Isabella,
And of what had all happened in her life,
And how the girl had been treated.
Impressed with how Leyah sought justice
For a step-sister her mother hated,
He took her to his parents to claim her hand.
For Isabella, guards were sent out at once
With orders to return with the girl in hand,
Her life would change again--for the best.
The guards arrived with their orders,
They were showed where the girl had been thrown,
But what they found was sad and cold.
In the night the girl had died, alone and crying
In the rags of her gown, covered in blood.
Her body was brought to the prince.
Her step mother was accused of murder,
For she had taken the law into her own hands.
The older two step-sisters were accused of helping
Their mother with the murder of the girl.
On top of these charges were theft was added,
For they had stole everything from the girl.
Leyah alone in her family was saved from the block
Because she had tried to help Isabella.
She was fully accepted into the royal family
Upon her marriage to the crown prince.
Though she had testified against her own family,
She wept at their death, wept because of what they’d done.
It is said that when the leaves fall from the trees,
When the grass is yellow from holding frost,
When the pumpkins are large and ripe--
Ready to be picked by those working the fields--
If you walk out to the fields at night,
You will see Isabella, weeping at all she had forever lost.
Anywho, great story I enjoyed it a lot