Snow White Redux, Part One (from a 10 minute free write: rewrite a fairy tale)

Snow White missed her mother desperately. The house was so empty without her, meals were so quiet. Snow's father was an excellent provider, but he did not like to talk and had never been affectionate.

One day at dinner, Snow startled to hear her father's voice, "I have found a new wife. We will be married in a month. You will meet her at the wedding. I want you to be a witness at the registrar's." And that was that. Nothing more was said, the arrangements had all been made.

When the day came, Snow White took the dress from the hanger over the door, slipped it out of the plastic protective cover and put it on, smoothing the taffeta and lace. Off the the registrar's they went.

She was beautiful, Snow thought, she might be a bit old for her dad, or maybe too severe... but she decided she shouldn't be judgmental. The wedding was short, the vows taken from the the marriage text, with 3 attendees, not including Snow White and the registrar. There were two men that Snow White's father worked with, and there was the registrar's wife, who rarely got to attend the weddings her husband officiated. She looked on with a smile and a tear. Snow signed the certificate of marriage as the first witness. One of the work men signed in the other place.

And so they returned home a family. Snow's stepmother's first act as the lady of the house was to paint the kitchen and rearrange the pots and pans. Her father showed more interest in the new look than he had showed in anything in the home in over 2 years. "Snow White" he called, "Come see. What do you think of the color?"

"It's very pleasant, ma'am."

Snow White's stepmother chuckled and stared Snow White in the face, "Call me Cilla."