#5 - The Whitening of the Snow

Sleepy, Grumpy, Bashful, Sneezy, Dopey, Doc and Happy weaved their way through the woods with great speed, smoothness and silence. The seven dwarfs dwarved* through the bushes with the elegance and fluidity like the sharks in the sea towards the Cave of Wonders, where the magic lamp lay.

It was their only hope to save Snow White from the poison that ravages through her body.

Sleepy ceased to be sleepy, Grumpy was grumpier than ever, bashful set aside his shyness, sneezy swallowed every cough that ran up his throat, dopey adopted wisdom beyond anyone's comprehension, Doc turned practical, and Happy was solemn as they travelled to the edge of the enchanted forest of Belle, the lost princess, to the outskirts of the great desert in search of the genie, who could grant them wishes of all wishes.

And they would wish for Snow White to be spared from her impending death.

After all, it was their fault that Snow White ate the apple of death in the first place. They should not have let her out of their sight. Who could have led her to eat that damned fruit in the first place, they wondered throughout the journey.


*

Queen Cinderella quietly entered her bedroom and closed the doors behind her.

She walked towards her dressing table and removed her white hood and cloak, revealing her wrinkled and ugly face. She looked in the mirror, staring at the "old angel" she had made herself to be in order to trick her stepdaughter into eating the Apple of Death. Snow White was naive, she thought, to believe that the angel of light would come to her aid and bless her soul.

Then again, Cinderella thought, she once believed in the Fairy Godmother. And it turned out she was lucky the Fairy Godmother wasn't some evil power hungry woman who wanted to ruin her life.

Alas, Cindy was. Sad luck, Snow White.

Cinderella washed away the makeup with water from the basin, and dried her hands and face. She faced the mirror, checking to see if she's left a spot of dirt somewhere.

"Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" Cinderella asked Mirror.

"It is you and you alone, Your Majesty," replied Mirror in this whisperous tone, "Snow White showed that your beauty is not eternal, that your power is not eternal. You might have put her away, Cinderella, but another will rise, another will grow. You can kill them one after another, but one day you will be too old to do that. You're mortal, Cinderella. Listen to me."

"You think I don't know that, Godfather?"

"You don't! Tell me, what have you gained from Winter's death other than your own worthless pride and a good massage of your ego?"

"You're becoming short sighted, Godfather. Has the confines of the mirror hampered your power of vision?

"No, my queen. It has not. Winter was stolen by you-"

"Her name is Snow White! Do not ever call her Winter again. That is not who she is!" snapped the Queen. She opened the window, and pushed the mirror to face the world. "Look at the kingdom. It prospers. You say I am evil, but have I not brought joy and prosperity to this land? Is not me whom these people who live their lives comfortably, have their fruits of the farms bought for a good price, have their manufacturings of products sold to generous buyers? Is it not me who brought success to this land?"

"But that is not the full extent of your desire, Cinderella. We both know you want to rule the world."

"And I know I never will!" Cinderella shouted into the invisible face in the mirror. "That is why I took Snow in the first place! If I were as unselfish as you think I am, the world would have ended by now under my tyranny and oppression. I would have died old and and full of days, rich and limitless in my power, at the expense of every single soul. I am not a queen of darkness."

"But you are a queen of evil nonetheless."

"So are you, Godfather of Fairies," countered Cinderella.

"The confines of the mirror is good space for reflection and contemplation," whispered Mirror.

"Turning good, eh? Repenting of your evil ways?" asked Cinderella sarcastically.

"That is still in question. But reflection is good. Perhaps you'd like to join me here. With all the mirrors around you, you'd be able to take a real good look of yourself."

*

Sleepy, Grumpy, Bashful, Sneezy, Dopey, Doc and Happy stood before the lamp of destiny.

They had walked seven days into the desert, found the Cave of Wonders and entered it bravely. They had resisted all forms of tempations to touch the treasures that surround them as they journeyed through the endless maze of twists and turns. The dwarves dwarved through them easily, for they were expert miners, and such dark tunnels of stone caused them neither fear nor confusion, and their persistence had led them to the chamber of the lamp, where the rusty old home of the genie, the lamp, lay.

*

A glass coffin?

The prince had noticed the glimmer from afar, and proceeded towards it with caution. He did not raise his shield nor draw his sword in case of sudden surprises. His heart had told him that he was in a place of peace, and this young prince trusted his heart. He always had since he was a child.

He walked towards what looked like a glass coffin, shining brightly and beautifully under the gleaming sun.

*

The dwarves leaned around the pedestal that held the lamp.

"Do we rub it?" asked Doc.

"Why are you asking the question, Doc? You've always been the smart one," commented Grumpy.

"Better to have been smart before than to be stupid and angry all his life," Bashful said.

"Surely, Bashful, you are speaking out of turn and out of place. You should be ashamed of yourself," said Sleepy.

"Usually you'd have been too lazy to notice such a thing, Sleepy. Why? The greed of the treasures here have permanently awaken you?" Sneezy said sarcastically.

"Why, Sneezy! you actually spoke that many words without sneezing? I'm amazed!" exclaimed Happy.

"And you have kept your joy indeed, Happy," said Dopey.

"You spoke!!!" shouted the other six dwarves at Dopey's sudden capability to speak with a complete sentence.

*

She was as white as snow. She was beautiful. She wasn't breathing. But she wasn't dead. The prince looked at her face. So beautiful, so fair, so rosy. Even in her deathly rest, her face carried a smile.

He held her arms and gently shook her, wondering if she would awaken from her sleep. But she would not.

The prince continued to look at Snow White's resting face, and thought of a tale his aunt once told him when he was just a boy. His aunt, now deceased, or "missing", had always joked about how she was once cursed to an eternal sleep by an evil witch. Her husband found her, a beauty in an everlasting sleep, in an abandoned castle. His uncle kissed her, and freed her from her curse.

This young prince wondered if she was telling the truth.

*

"Tell me, your highness, Cinderella, why did you kidnap Wint- Snow White, if its not raise her to be your heir? Your killing her has defeated yourself of your own plan."

"I was unprepared, Godfather."

"Unprepared? Or is it because you realize you have not raised her to follow your ideals. She grew up to be a girl of good conscience, much like her mother, and you've been unable to take that away from her."

"I admit I am driven by a corrupt conscience. But at least I have one. "

*

"We must rub the lamp. It is the only chance we have to save Snow White. I know all of you are afraid that the legends are wrong, that perhaps within this lamp lies our death instead of Snow White's salvation. But my brothers, it is a risk worth taking. And I will take it. I will rub the lamp," said Dopey.

Dopey picked the lamp up and rubbed the lamp three times. None of the dwarves stopped him. They stood there in silence as a wisp of smoke shot out of the lamp. A red genie, chained to the lamp, appeared and spoke, "You have three wishes to make, Master Dopey."

*

The prince leaned nearer to Snow White's face. If he were to carry on with his journey, at least he had given this fair maiden a kiss of blessing that her beauty alone would warrant.

*

At that point. No one knew what happened with the dwarves, the prince, and Snow White. No one knew if Dopey made his wish first, or the prince kissed Snow White first. The dwarves did not know that the poison of the Apple of Death can be dispelled by the kiss of a good prince, and of course the prince did not know the dwarves had found the genie who could give all things, including life.

*

"My kingdom is mine, Godfather. I will never let it fall," argued Cinderella.

"I hope you succeed in your plans, your Majesty."

"When I return next, be ready to advise me rather than try to convert me," said Cinderella as she left the room to tend to other affairs of the kingdom.

As the doors closed behind her, the mirror stayed silent, like another mirror. It showed the reflection of everything in the room. It stood there, reflecting. Reflecting. Reflecting. Suddenly, in the dim room, the mirror started to glow, and the voice of the mirror spoke to itself.

"The fairest..."

And the mirror showed nothing but a land of ever-winter.

*

The dwarves were not greedy. They did not ask for another wish for themselves from the genie. All they did was leave the Cave of Wonders with all that is left of them since they embarked on this journey.

The journey home seemed endless. The walked and walked and walked for days yet no forest was in sight. Slowly, they have run out of water and food, and they sat down in the middle of the desert, waiting for the sands to consume them.

"At least we have saved Snow White," commented Happy.

"We do not know that for sure. The genie did not assure us," said Grumpy.

"Well, at least we've tried, and we can die knowing we tried," said Dopey.

Soon after, they lie at the ground, semi awake, and life ebbing away from them.

At that moment, they felt the air change. The winds that blew dry air and sand at their faces slowly turned into cold air. Dopey opened half an eye to see what it was. It's not like he truly cared, for death was upon him anyway. But he opened half an eye anyway.

And he could see, from afar, the desert turning white. And that whiteness was coming towards them.

Dopey closed his eyes, thinking his exhausted mind is already seeing heaven. He opened them again, and he saw that the sky was raining snow on the desert.

"I am in heaven," mumbled Dopey to himself as he closed his eyes again. But as the air turned extremely chilly, he knew something was real. He opened his eye one last time, and saw heaven indeed.

With the snow and the icy breeze, was Snow White.

"She lives. She lives," and with that, Dopey closed his eyes for the final time with a grin on his face.

*

The End