SLEEPING
MONSTER – JUNIPER’S DAUGHTER IN TROUBLE
She was in trouble and running for her life through the forest. She was mortal
now, so very human and frail, as fragile as a spring flower under threat from
an immense frost. The frost dragon was chasing Juniper’s Daughter through the
forest, a night terror threatening to suck the very lifeblood from the witch. A
slow horrible awful human death with no rebirth, for she had made a pact with
her number one enemy, Satan, and bargained her soul away for a mere mortal man,
to save him from the gallows. To save his life so she could be with him for one
short human lifetime, together.
Her Mother Juniper had gone crazy and tried
to kill her daughter with lightning from the sky and small meteors from space.
Slightly wounded and very scared, the former witch knew her Mother had failed.
The woman who was once Juniper’s Daughter lived and ran for her life, her
Mother abandoned her only child who had cast her lot in with the Devil. For the
sake of a mere mortal man who was condemned to death for stealing a chicken,
such was the way in medieval Saxony. Would my Mother really kill me wondered
the panicked girl? Would she?
The ice dragon made another pass, sending freezing
air and ice thundering down into the trees, missing the vulnerable girl by
yards. Soon she would be hit, she knew this; this was her predicament now but
events from before led to this moment. How could she forget them?
***
A storm appeared before the man could be hung; torrential rain flooded the town
square forcing the executioner and population to flee to higher ground leaving
the thief on the gallows. Juniper’s Daughter caused the storm to save her love;
against her Mother’s wishes, for the man wasn’t innocent, he was a criminal
with a dark past of black arts and murder. That he had gotten away with due to
Satan backing him, he thought the theft of a single thin chicken to feed his
starving stomach would go unpunished and noticed, for the first time in his
life he was wrong. Satan was about to cause an earthquake to topple the gallows
and free the man but something stopped him seconds before the ground shook. A
freak storm not of his doing – Juniper’s Daughter was here!
Clouds coiled in the blue sky darkening it,
rain fell down in torrents drenching the crowd who wanted to see a hanging,
good medieval entertainment. Now with the man free and in the arms of the witch,
Satan flung a lightning bolt down hitting the witch and burning her badly. She
was on the edge of death with the former captive holding her head in his hands,
enemy and witch crazily together in a surreal situation.
He cried for the first time in his life,
never had he shed a tear for the hundreds he had slain before but now he did
for the witch who had freed him. She was his mortal enemy, for he was allied
with the Devil and darkness, all they stood for made the evil man feel alive. Now
something had occurred. A freak happening, he should have killed the witch,
burned down the village and killed its inhabitants but he didn’t. When the fire
struck the witch almost killing her, the evil man screamed, “Master, oh mighty
Satan please don’t kill the witch! She freed me! If it wasn’t for her I would
be dead, save her Master!”
“My slave, you have worked with my enemy and betrayed me. You deserve to die
like she does, by letting her free you give her power over you and against me!
No, she must die! You have one last chance slave to be totally subjugated to
me, if not I’ll burn you down along with your new friend! You must finish off
Juniper’s Daughter; kill her with your own bare hands. One more murder won’t
make a difference. Then I’ll forgive you and forget about this little episode.
Hurry now!” thundered a voice from the heavens, full of ominous hostility
and hidden violence.
“I am still evil and still work for you, you know that! How can you doubt me?
Look into my mind and soul. I let the witch free me for you! But I do love her and
she can work for us. Ask her before you kill her, I refuse to murder her. She
helped me and didn’t hurt me,” feebly replied the criminal to the dark
rain laden clouds. His voice was barely heard over the poring rainstorm.
“Yes I know you work for me, think it over what I said!” bellowed the
Devil from up above, making the ground shake.
“But…” stammered the mortal man.
“Let him kill me then Satan! I’m as good as dead already!” announced the
witch coming round after being hit by the lightning bolt fired by her enemy.
“Yes my dear but I’ve changed my mind!” replied Old Nick.
“What do you mean? What tricks and games are you playing with us now!”
screamed the condemned man, rage filling his puny body.
“Don’t listen to him! He does this all the time, the bastard!” shouted the
witch, looking up at a black cloud. She was sure now the Devil controlled those
same clouds that she had cast upon the village to keep all witnesses away. She
couldn’t think clearly due to her wounds and intense pain.
“Be quiet witch!” said the Devil, firing another shot of lightning a metre
from her head; the wet grass hissed and burst into flame. Juniper’s Daughter
struggled to move from the flames with great difficulty.
“Stop this mischief!” shouted the man raising his fist to the sky.
“Help me, I’m in great pain. He’s right I’m finished. Kill me and put me out of
my misery,” begged the witch, her life slowly leaving her.
“Juniper’s Daughter, I will heal you and let you live!” whispered Satan. Was
this more trickery? “On one condition and one alone. Do you want to hear my
proposal?”
“What is it? You only lie and cause pain and suffering, how can you
heal?”
“Listen witch. If you make a pact with me and become human and not immortal,
giving up your witchcraft, talents and right of immortal life, I will spare
you’re life and that of you’re lover. I promise to let you both live together,
in peace. I will also free your love from his dark debt to me. Do we have a
deal?” beckoned the Devil playing his hand. Silence descended on the rainy
village, water threatened the injured witch and her new friend. They had to
move or be washed away soon.
“What are you going to do?” whispered the man looking into Juniper’s
Daughter’s blue summer eyes, his façade of evil momentarily dropped and she
knew she loved him, that they were soulmates. She nodded and smiled painfully.
“I accept your offer! I will do whatever is necessary to be with my love. Even
betray my magical path, my Mother and myself. I accept your offer!” humbly
spoke the witch, head bowed in defeat; this was one fight she had lost but a
gained a small victory – saving her lover. Now they could be together.
“Okay nice to hear it. Now I will heal you from your wounds and strip you of
your power and immortality,” came the reply from the black clouds. Suddenly
a huge white light filled the heavens, the witch thought it was her Mother
intervening but it wasn’t, it was Satan healing the witch and taking every bit
of her magical powers. When the bright light faded the dark clouds were gone
and the sky was a cloudless blue like her eyes and the former witch was normal,
she was a mere girl, a young woman with her new love, a former evil man who had
worked for the Devil. She stood up and embraced her love kissing him, he
returned it. On hearing distant voices from over the hill the couple ran to the
tree line away from the water filled village square to escape the returning
villagers.
“Why did you do that? Agree to what he wanted? Are you mad?” asked the man
with a shocked expression to the lady before him. She looked at him and took a
minute to answer: “My dear, when you love someone enough and you want to save
them and it’s reciprocated, you will do anything for them. Including changing
your way of life, like I just did.”
“I think I understand. You mean you did all of that just for me? Hell. you must
love me like I do you!” stammered the man, reaching out to take the blond
woman’s hand and kissing her again.
“Yes I did all that for you, just as you would have for me. Let’s hope Satan
keeps his word, eh?”
“Yes. Thank you my love but you know what people say about making a pact with
the Devil. Anyhow, now is the start of our future together.”
“Our future together, yes I like the sound of that. Tell me my love, what is
your name?” asked the pretty lady who had endured so much.
“My name… my name is Lee. He, Satan, gave me a name but I can’t remember
it for some reason. Not that I want to,” Lee told her kissing her.
“My name used to be Juniper’s Daughter until just then, my real name is Anna.
When I was a witch I had no name just Juniper’s Daughter. Now I’m
Anna,” Anna, formerly known as Juniper’s Daughter announced. Like falling
leaves, Anna’s past as the witch Juniper’s Daughter left her. She felt
strangely vulnerable and well… human.
“I feel alive and in love my dear Anna! No darkness or evil. How do you feel?”
“Oh Lee my love I feel so alive, very vulnerable and so human! I’m so happy and
in love with you!”
“Lets make love my dear; I want to make love to you right now. I want you so
badly,” Lee commented embracing his lady. Both lied down on the soft grass
in the forest and made love. Now their union was complete. They were together
in their hearts, minds and in one another’s arms.
From very far away two exceedingly powerful
beings thought and planned – Satan wove his little evil plans and Juniper
who was Juniper’s Daughter’s, now Anna’s mother, made plans to leave her
heavenly spiritual realm to take up battle against her oldest enemy – the
Devil. And when she was earthbound Juniper would have words with her daughter,
Anna. Strong words!
***
Six hundred and sixty six days later after their pact, Anna ran through the
forest trying to escape the ice dragon that had butchered her husband Lee and
would soon swoop down upon her and bring her the same fate. Anna screamed and
dodged an icy blast of super cold air and ice daggers that thundered into a
huge tree, missing her by a metre. Next time the soaring beast wouldn’t miss. The
tree line thinned out and a clearing opened out before the fleeing girl. The
treetops gave good cover, why she was still alive. Now she was screwed and with
nowhere to hide, the circling ice dragon would kill her at will. She accepted
this and walked out into the clearing, fuck it! Soon I’ll be with Lee and happy
once again! If only I was still a witch I could kill that dragon, sent by
Satan, and bring Lee back to life. But I made a pact with the Devil and he gave
us 666 days of happiness and then murdered my husband! At least we had that
time together! Anna desperately thought. Walking out of the trees Anna became a
clear target for the circling ice dragon, which swooped down upon her at two
hundred miles per hour, its wings beating like a huge drum. Not long now…
Something happened. The ice dragon never opened fire upon Anna; it crashed into
the earth in a huge bang that shook the ground, sending up grass, bushes, earth
and bits of ice dragon into the air. Anna ducked while debris rained down all
around her, what the hell? Had her magical power come back now Lee was gone? A
voice came to her, crystal clear, one she had heard forever but thought she
wouldn’t ever hear again:
“Anna, my dear Anna how are you? I’ve missed you so much. I’m here my
dear!” Juniper, Anna’s mother announced, stepping from out of the trees.
“Oh Mother, I’m so sorry for my betrayal of you and of my path. Please forgive
me! Don’t kill me! Please don’t kill me!” cried Anna, breaking down to
sob. She slowly walked over to her Mother and fell into her arms. In the middle
of the clearing the ice dragon slowly melted away to nothing. Down in Hell the
Devil screamed in rage, he would have his revenge! At least his former slave
Lee was dead.
“I forgive you my dear. And I would never harm you. I’m here to help you. I
didn’t like your actions but you did it for love and that is the righteous
path. What you gave up, your magical powers and your immortality was a very
humbling act of true unconditional love. For that I respect you, myself I could
never be that strong,” consoled her Mother.
“Thank you for forgiving me and not killing me. That ice dragon was sent by the
Devil and killed my husband, I tried to help him but I as so
powerless,” sobbed the girl.
“Against an evil monster like that even I’d have my hands full. I wouldn’t kill
you, not out of revenge for your pact with the Devil before but tell me one
thing. Do you want to be with your husband Lee? Do you?” asked Juniper to
her daughter.
“You know the answer, yes I do want to be with him,” replied Anna who was
once known as Juniper’s Daughter. She knew what was coming.
“Okay then, do you want me to make it so? I will send you to our spirit realm
up above so you can be with your dear husband in spirit. Myself I will take
over here on earth and fight the Devil and his evil. Just say yes and I’ll send
you painlessly over to the other side to be with your Lee,” Juniper
offered, her deep green eyes showing compassion and love and something else, a
determination to see the fight through. Her daughter never had this
determination, though she was strong and very skilled even now as a mortal.
“Yes,” was Anna’s reply. Juniper raised her hands and placed them on her
daughter’s head. A blinding white light rose and blotted everything else out;
Anna felt a huge rush and then nothing. Time ticked slowly by it could have
been a minute or a million years, when she opened her eyes Lee was before her,
his spirit glowing white, true unconditional love emanated from him. Now Anna
and Lee were finally together forever…
***
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