Week 3 Story: Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder
My name is Sarah, I am married to the love of my life named
Abraham. The townspeople say I
am the most beautiful woman in the world. So then why does my husband try to
hide me away during our travels? I believe that he has always been self-conscious
when it came to his appearance compared to mine, but none of that ever bothered
me. I loved him for his heart not his exterior. I always brushed off when he
would make comments about me going out into town until we traveled to Egypt.
Before we left our home, Abraham locked me in a box as if I
were a package to travel. As much as I fought him on this, Abraham would not
budge. He insisted that it would be the safest way to travel through customs
even if it meant paying a tax on me. During our travels, I was extremely weary
as I was thrown around in the box. When we finally arrived at the border, I
listened closely to hear the exchange between the officers and Abraham. The
officers accused him of lying about what was in the box in order to pay the
lowest tax. This went on for a while until the officers forced Abraham to
reveal the contents of the box. As I waited to finally see the light, I was
anxious as to what they were going to do with me. Would they imprison me? Or
Abraham? My heart beat quickly in my chest as I couldn’t imagine a life without
him.
As the light began to show through the cracks of the box, I
saw the officer’s jaws drop as if they were in a state of shock. They insisted
I be taken to the King. For what? I do not know. The whole journey to the Pharaoh
my mind was racing. What could they possibly want with me?
As we arrived at the palace and the Pharaoh turned the
corner, he immediately looked at me as though I was a piece of meat. Suddenly,
I realized why my loyal husband had been hiding me from the world. He was just
trying to protect me from the people who believe that they can buy my beauty
with money or fame. This rang true when the Pharaoh attempted to bribe Abraham
with jewels and other riches in exchange for my hand.
My loyal husband refused the Pharaoh and risked the
consequences all for my honor. In this moment, I prayed that to outsiders I
would look not as I had before, but like the average townsperson. Then there
was a whirlwind and when my head stopped spinning, I realized that the way the
Pharaoh was looking at me had changed. He immediately let us return on our
journey. Abraham was confused as to what had happened because my looks had not
changed in his eyes. It was this instance that I realized there are far more
important things than beauty and that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Author’s note:
The original story was in third person and outlined the
events above. When they arrived at customs in the original story, the officers
and Abraham went rounds about what taxes he should have to pay which eventually
led to them opening the crate. The officers thought that Sarah was a jewel so
they brought her to the Pharaoh. Once there, she told the Kind that Abraham was
her brother so he would not feel threatened. The King gifted Abraham with a
palace and riches where he went to pray. While this was occurring, the King
tried to make advances on Sarah, but a spirit appeared and plagued the King with
paralysis. He told Abraham that is he cured him he would release them both.
Abraham complied and they returned home.
In my story I decided to tell it from the point of view of
Sarah and add an alternate ending.
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| Fairy Tale Book: Pixabay |
Hi Maria!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how you told this story from Sarah's point of view. This kind of played out like a movie in my head, where Sarah was the all knowing narrator of the story on the screen. I was intrigued throughout the story, and a tad worried about what would happen to her when she was in the chest. I am always a fan of happy endings :)
I haven't read the original story but reading your take on it I found it very interesting and actually kinda want to read the original just to see how it would compare and contrast. I was a bit lost in time in the first sentence and couldn't tell if it was set in the future, present or past, I honestly was lost til I read the authors note. Despite this I found the lesson of the story illustrated in an enjoyable manner and the way that you had her speculate things in the box, giving her a voice of her own, immersed me in the story.
ReplyDelete- Anna Margret
Did Sarah's looks actually change or did the Pharaoh's impression on her just change? Did the townspeople see her any differently? Your story was fun to read. I haven't read the original story but from your authors note it sounds like you changed it up just enough. The fact that she had to travel in a box really stood out to me. I wonder what would have happened if the Pharaoh didn't change his mind. That would be a great spin off to your story! You did a great job of creating an interesting story!
ReplyDelete