30 November 2022

Here it is; the end of Nanowrimo. I wrote a more extensive on my thoughts reflecting on the month as a whole Dec 1, the day after, so I will not put too much here. It’s pretty short; I was struggling with motivation, a bit, and this rounded out the scene fairly nicely, at least for where the draft is at now.

Sorry about the delay in posting; I was feeling sick yesterday, and did not accomplish much of anything. Including writing, unfortunately. I’ll be posting the regularly scheduled post for Dec 1 at 9:30 like normal.

The day before Rapunzel’s birthday at breakfast, Hannah made a declaration. “We should make an extra effort to celebrate Aurora’s birthday tomorrow.”

The others at the table, sans Maleficent and Frederick, stared at her in shock. It was Phillip who broke the silence. “Um, but… Isn’t that the day she’s going to die, Your Majesty?”

Hannah nodded. “And that’s why. I want to make as many special memories together with Aurora as I can before we’re separated. Not many people are lucky enough to get advance notice on when their time will run out, after all.” She turned to Rapunzel. “Of course, that’s only if you’re okay with it, Aurora. It is your birthday, after all.”

Rapunzel blinked. She’d never thought about it that way before. She still didn’t think she’d consider herself lucky, but it did make her feel more positive about the circumstances. “Yeah… Yeah. I like that idea.”

So they did. The innkeeper and his wife baked and decorated a massive, lavish cake. While it was baking, Rapunzel set up a small chess tournament, which got far more noisy than chess had any right to be (mostly courtesy of Phillip). They even managed to con Maleficent into participating, which turned out to be the best thing ever for Rapunzel. They met in the finals, and that was the funnest, and toughest, game Rapunzel had ever played; even though she lost, she felt like she learned a ton just from watching Maleficent.

After the cake, Rapunzel tried to teach Hannah and Phillip how to paint, and it wasn’t long before it devolved into an all out paint war. They absolutely splattered the guest room of the inn they were using, and it wasn’t long before Frederick had the three of them down in front of the innkeeper to apologize. For his part, the innkeeper seemed more put out about getting the apology than the paint-splattered room.

Throughout it all, though, Isaac always wore the same sullen expression. He never smiled, and only participated the bare minimum. Not once did he meet Rapunzel’s eyes; in fact, when she tried to corner him to ask him what was up, he slipped away and vanished. Part of her wanted to think he didn’t want to admit she was dying that evening, and that they’d gotten too close in the last few weeks, just like she’d been afraid of. Something told her this was something else, however, and it bothered her she couldn’t figure it out.

When her parents presented her with a pet puppy that afternoon, though, everything clicked into place. She held the puppy ip to stare into its eyes, as a way to avoid looking at either of her parents. “Hey, Mom? Dad?”

They tensed; after the way Rapunzel lit up when she talked about taking care of the animals at the Tower, this wasn’t the reaction they were expecting. “What is it, sweetie?” Hannah asked.

“Generally, a pet is something you give to someone who can take care of it, right? So why are you giving her to me if I’m going to be dead within the next 24 hours?”

Hannah and Frederick exchanged glances with each other, then glanced over at Maleficent. Frederick scratched the back of his head. “Actually, Aurora, we’ve been thinking. And with Maleficent’s help, we’ve come up with a plan.”

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Most recently updated draft of Rapunzel, the Sleeping Beauty (potentially including unposted content)