phantomness
championshipping no miko!
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Title: Skinflint Liz
Author: Shadow/Phantomness
Fandom: Original Fiction
Theme: #9, Tightwad
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: This is vaguely based off various fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm. However, I have tried to write my own original story. Thus, I am the author and taking the writing without my permission is plagiarism and punishable under international copyright laws.
Once upon a time, there lived a rich nobleman named Bernard and his wife Elizabeth. Bernard was a generous man, with a fine crop of curly golden hair and a full beard. He laughed and dined heartily with his friends, and never balked at a bill, for how could a good time with friends be measured in gold?
Elizabeth, however, was a scrawny stick of a woman. She had a face as sharp as a hatchet, beady brown eyes, and thin, claw-like fingers. She painted her face with white lead and red cinnabar to look young, but her greedy, grasping manner made all avoid her. Even the servants stayed out of her way, wont to avoid her sharp tongue.
It was Elizabeth who instructed the maids to bake bread that was half ashes, and dilute the wine with vinegar. Her clothes were constantly mended and patched, much to the despair of Bernard, who did not wish to see his lover in tatters. She ought to wear lovely gowns as befitted her station. Surely he could afford it!
But Elizabeth forbade him to buy her new silks and velvets, and indeed, chased away the unfortunate tailor who had come to fit her new gown with a chamber pot to the head! She did not even wear her fine pearls and jewels for fear that the servants would rob her. Finally, her wardrobe was in such a state that the dresses could be mended no longer. To Bernard’s despair, Elizabeth simply cut three holes in a large sack which once had been used to carry flour, and wore the rude cloth as her covering. Thus, she soon became known in those parts as Skinflint Liz.
Under such a withering presence, even the round, rosy Bernard soon took ill and died. The servants gossiped that Liz had poisoned him for his gold, and even the rawest stable-boy would not have protested. They had seen the Count’s fine horses become naught but skin and bones after Elizabeth had instructed them to halve the oats and hay. How dare these creatures eat on days they did not bear the carriage? What a waste!
Now Bernard left behind him only one child, a young daughter named Harmony. Upon his death, Liz dismissed the servants, and would have even driven Harmony out, had not her old nurse begged to keep the child – without pay. Satisfied now, Elizabeth left Harmony in the care of the old nurse, and returned to her hut.
Harmony was a young, industrious girl, and soon married a shepherd. They lived quite happily together, and at the wedding, the old nurse stood in as mother of the bride.
Skinflint Liz, however, now that she had all of Bernard’s wealth, began to brood over it. Every day, she counted the coins in their coffers one after another, determined that none would escape.
As she brooded, Skinflint Liz grew meaner, and bonier, for she now lived off the meager foodstuffs that the servants had left before their dismissal. One night, after a meal of three dried peas and a cup of muddy water from the pump, and after counting every golden coin, Elizabeth had into a dream.
In her dream, she was chasing a golden donkey. Each step of its foot sent a shower of gold coins pouring to the ground. In vain Elizabeth filled her apron, for the heavier it was, the slower she ran, and the farther away the donkey ran.
Suddenly, she awoke. Still dazed, Elizabeth lifted the lid of the largest chest, to peer inside. The gold swam before her eyes, and she almost visualized the beast again.
With a loud cry, she dived into the chest, and the unsupported lid slammed down and killed her. Thus, with all her money, she could not even save her life.
End Story
I know it has a moral. I'm sorry...
Author: Shadow/Phantomness
Fandom: Original Fiction
Theme: #9, Tightwad
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: This is vaguely based off various fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm. However, I have tried to write my own original story. Thus, I am the author and taking the writing without my permission is plagiarism and punishable under international copyright laws.
Once upon a time, there lived a rich nobleman named Bernard and his wife Elizabeth. Bernard was a generous man, with a fine crop of curly golden hair and a full beard. He laughed and dined heartily with his friends, and never balked at a bill, for how could a good time with friends be measured in gold?
Elizabeth, however, was a scrawny stick of a woman. She had a face as sharp as a hatchet, beady brown eyes, and thin, claw-like fingers. She painted her face with white lead and red cinnabar to look young, but her greedy, grasping manner made all avoid her. Even the servants stayed out of her way, wont to avoid her sharp tongue.
It was Elizabeth who instructed the maids to bake bread that was half ashes, and dilute the wine with vinegar. Her clothes were constantly mended and patched, much to the despair of Bernard, who did not wish to see his lover in tatters. She ought to wear lovely gowns as befitted her station. Surely he could afford it!
But Elizabeth forbade him to buy her new silks and velvets, and indeed, chased away the unfortunate tailor who had come to fit her new gown with a chamber pot to the head! She did not even wear her fine pearls and jewels for fear that the servants would rob her. Finally, her wardrobe was in such a state that the dresses could be mended no longer. To Bernard’s despair, Elizabeth simply cut three holes in a large sack which once had been used to carry flour, and wore the rude cloth as her covering. Thus, she soon became known in those parts as Skinflint Liz.
Under such a withering presence, even the round, rosy Bernard soon took ill and died. The servants gossiped that Liz had poisoned him for his gold, and even the rawest stable-boy would not have protested. They had seen the Count’s fine horses become naught but skin and bones after Elizabeth had instructed them to halve the oats and hay. How dare these creatures eat on days they did not bear the carriage? What a waste!
Now Bernard left behind him only one child, a young daughter named Harmony. Upon his death, Liz dismissed the servants, and would have even driven Harmony out, had not her old nurse begged to keep the child – without pay. Satisfied now, Elizabeth left Harmony in the care of the old nurse, and returned to her hut.
Harmony was a young, industrious girl, and soon married a shepherd. They lived quite happily together, and at the wedding, the old nurse stood in as mother of the bride.
Skinflint Liz, however, now that she had all of Bernard’s wealth, began to brood over it. Every day, she counted the coins in their coffers one after another, determined that none would escape.
As she brooded, Skinflint Liz grew meaner, and bonier, for she now lived off the meager foodstuffs that the servants had left before their dismissal. One night, after a meal of three dried peas and a cup of muddy water from the pump, and after counting every golden coin, Elizabeth had into a dream.
In her dream, she was chasing a golden donkey. Each step of its foot sent a shower of gold coins pouring to the ground. In vain Elizabeth filled her apron, for the heavier it was, the slower she ran, and the farther away the donkey ran.
Suddenly, she awoke. Still dazed, Elizabeth lifted the lid of the largest chest, to peer inside. The gold swam before her eyes, and she almost visualized the beast again.
With a loud cry, she dived into the chest, and the unsupported lid slammed down and killed her. Thus, with all her money, she could not even save her life.
End Story
I know it has a moral. I'm sorry...
