Episode 5

After the lone wolf left, I got up to walk about in the cave. I was glad to be saved by the wolf. It had turned out to be a kind wolf, and I understood now, why it had not attacked me the first time it saw me.

The hours passed and from inside the cave I could see that it was almost mid-day. The heat of the day, unbearable, I walked to the mouth of the cave to take in some fresh air, and take a look at the surroundings. In which part of the forest was this cave hidden? Would White Rose succeed in finding me here?

Suddenly, I heard loud noises, that of wild animals mauling, shrieking, gnarling and gnashing of teeth coming from somewhere near.

I ran back inside the cave in fright. Didn’t the lone wolf ask me to stay inside the cave and not go anywhere? However, my curiosity got the better of me and I slowly walked to the front of the cave. I jumped onto a huge boulder and tried to see if I could see what was happening.

I was worried for the wolf. I could tell that it was caught in that commotion which sent the birds and other animals in the forest scurrying. The whole forest suddenly turned into a battle ground. I saw huge eagles and bats flying to where the savagery was going on. The sounds from the wild beasts were like a battle cry. It seemed to go on and on, making the whole forest its war zone.

More and more animals from all sides of the forest ran in droves to the battleground. It was indeed the battleground of the wild beasts and the lone wolf. Elephants, tigers, leopards and every creature of the forest, the birds and their clatter, created such a din, that it drowned out the noise coming from the fighting animals.

It was the fight between good and evil. It was the fight between beauty and the beast. It was the fight of revenge and greed. It was the fight of a few generations.

I jumped off the boulder when I heard White Rose’s voice commanding a halt to the fight. She tried to tell her beasts to stop. “Stop, let me have a word with that wolf. What? Is it so hard for you to kill it? It is only one, while you are large in numbers. Stop, now, I want to speak to that wolf.”

By this time, I had walked closer to the scene of the brawl. I stood looking from behind some large trees and bushes.

White Rose looked just as resplendent as when I saw her the day before, however, her anger was evident in her blue sparkling eyes.

She stood there, livid, her lips pursed, waiting for the wild beasts to stop with their threat of attack on the lone wolf. As her anger elevated, the skies which were raging under the orange Sun turned dark and threatening. Lightning flashed every now and then, and thunder rumbled loud and foreboding. It seemed like heaven closed its doors to the evil sorcerer and her misdeeds.

All the creatures of the forest stood in a circle, watching the terrifying scene before them.

The lone wolf circled the area a few times. He was surrounded by the wild beasts on all sides. The wild beasts, raging with venom, stood ready to lunge at him, teeth protruding, eyes darkened by evil spirits.

I knew that the lone wolf had no chance of survival. It had put itself out there to trap the wild beasts and White Rose.

It was a matter of survival for the wolf, so it had to try to kill them any way it could.

White Rose’s laughter reverberated throughout the forest. It sounded malevolent and evil.

“You must be joking,” she said sarcastically, “You stand no chance with my beasts, they have outlived generations of animals like you who have no regard for sorcery and dark magic. Well, we have an edge over you, with the spirits of our ancestors who have bestowed us with the gift of sorcery. Surely, I can kill you in a blink of an eye. Now, since you have summoned me here, with your unruly disturbance, you will pay with your blood splattered all over the forest by night time. Ha, ha, ha, ha!”

The lone wolf ignored White Rose, and kept on gnarling and lunging at the wild beasts. It kept prodding the wild beasts to attack it.

White Rose felt humiliated that her words were brushed away so carelessly and ignored by the arrogant wolf.

She screamed hysterically and lunged at the wolf, wanting to show that she too had the power to kill it and tear it to pieces. She wanted to show the creatures of the forest, that she was a powerful force to be reckoned with, that the forest was her kingdom to do as she pleased.

Not one of the creatures dared make a sound as they watched the scene before them in hushed silence.

The lone wolf foresaw that White Rose was about to attack it, and jumped on the wild beasts. The ignorant wild beasts, unable to control their rage, fell for the clever wolf’s plot and viciously attacked White Rose who was in its path, tearing her to pieces, instead.

In their haste to kill the lone wolf, they attacked the sorcerer who controlled their immoral soul.

White Rose died just as she killed thousands of innocent women for their blood. Her own wild beasts mauled her to death.

When she breathed her last, I saw the wild beasts falling dead to the ground one by one. Their wicked bodies were quickly ravaged by the eagles that had flown into the forest to eat off their carcass.

The forest fell silent again. Now that the spell was broken, the creatures were liberated from the dark side of evil.

The lone wolf walked away from the gory scene, never to be seen again.

I marveled at its intelligence. It had planned to kill the most evil sorcerer in the kingdom, with utmost precision and bravery.

I saw myself transform to the woman I was before. I ran out of my hiding place, unable to contain my happiness.

I couldn’t wait to see my grandmother again. I hoped fervently that she was alright.

As I passed the garden where once the beauty of a white rose captured the hearts of anyone who came across it, it looked like a tomb for the dead. There was nothing there except for the stench of rotting flesh.

I raced back home.

My grandmother, who lay on her bed, languishing in sorrow, was beside herself with happiness when she saw me. We hugged each other so tight, and I rained kisses all over her face.

“I promise never to leave you again, Grandma.” I whispered, as we cried in each other’s arms.

I never ventured deep into the forest again, though I heard that the garden of the White Rose lay lost under the rubble of a thousand stones.

The day White Rose perished, her flesh torn and devoured by her own wild beasts, the thunder roared and the earth crumbled.

Now, the garden of enchantment lie lost beneath dirt and rubble, never to entrance again.

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THE CURSE OF THE WHITE ROSE – The Poem

By Shobana Gomes

Shallow creepers entwine the dark spotted vertebrae of the once healthy plant,

“Its diseased leaf is one that cannot be disguised,” she whispers in the hollow of her throat,

For surely, little sprouts hear her speak while in her hideous form.

She revels in a secret, hidden in the bosom of her well concealed blistered heart.

By far the most beautiful white rose blooms every night, from a plant diseased, in a forested curse,

Only to wither and die, when morning embraces the dark.

Walking aimlessly, plain and ugly, the seductress waits for night to befall yet again,

A regimented schedule,

The timekeepers of the night, her tireless pursuit,

It is they, who will emancipate her human form.

A white rose a night she seeks, to devour both in form and spirit, to keep her ugliness away, to resurrect her youth,

She, a derelict of the human species,

Though once a beauty, she is now obscured by the curse of the diseased rose.

The sky now darkens, the bright of it gone,

The seductress succumbs to its call, speaking rabidly in vile tongue, inviting the unknown,

She moves sideways, rhyming with the eerie winds that blow, for the diseased plant moves at her bidding.

Soon, there are many tongues lashing viciously at her.

She screeches and screams for the white rose to bloom,

“Bloom, you vicious beauty, your curse has destroyed my wretched soul, blistered my heart, and uncoiled my ailing mind. Harken your spirit and redeem my guise once more. Give me back my beauty which blooms in you. Give me back my youth before it withers in you!”

The diseased plant move in answer to the seductress’ vile call,

A leaf drops to the ground; it burns with the vengeance of hell bent fire.

A tiny bud springs forth, restores itself, and begins to bloom,

A brilliant white rose, vivacious in its splendor, its beauty - a revealing glory.

Masking its lethal poison, a deceitful portrayal of innocence, it tempts the seductress with its murderous venom,

Like a woman out of labor, relieved of pain, the diseased plant lie in reprieved resignation.

The seductress retrieves the white rose, albeit gently, a revolting smile on her face,

She consumes the fragrant petals, one by one,

The forest is silent, the creatures deviled by the seductress’ evil.

The diseased plant will rise once again to empower the seductress, when she beckons the blooming of the white rose with her lewd calls at nightfall.

The Curse of the White Rose becomes the unraveling of a seductress!

(The End)