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| "The bond of family is a priceless treasure..." |
One night, the old widow summoned her daughters. All her daughter assembled and sat in front of her, paying attention to what she has to say.
“My daughters..” started the old widow, ”I have called the four of you, in order for you to know, that now is your coming of age. I’ve witnessed how much you have grown in all aspects. And as your mother, I am very proud to have you as my daughters. You were once little girls, but now you have grown into fine young women. Today is the eighteenth year of your life and as rite of passage; I give each one of you a prized heirloom, treasured by our family.”
The old widow started to hand each one of them their gifts, sealed in lacquer boxes.
“Please open it…”, she said to them.
Each daughter started opening the box that was given to her.
The eldest daughter opened her lacquer box. Inside the box is a parasol.
The second daughter opened her lacquer box. Inside the box is a lantern.
The third daughter opened her lacquer box. Inside the box is a folding fan.
And finally, the youngest daughter opened her lacquer box. Inside the box is a hairpin.
The four daughters are very happy to receive their gifts thanked their mother.
“Thank you so much, mother!” they said in delight, as they all bowed their heads in respect.
“I am very pleased. Please treat these gifts with love, as you have loved me and care, as you have cared so much for me. I am getting old now. So now, I am hoping that all of you would find a suitable man to settle down with and get married.”
The sisters then started to look at each other, as if each one of them knows what the other has in mind. Having a silent agreement, each one said a similar thing to their mother.
“Time may pass but no matter what happens, we will never leave you alone. Each of us may give birth to our own daughter, but all of us can never find and have another mother…”
The widow was very pleased with this and started to bless each one of her daughters.
One day it came, as each daughter came back home from work: the eldest from gathering firewood, the second from fishing, the third from the market and the youngest from fetching water from a nearby well, they found out that their mother was missing. They looked at every nook and cranny of the house, but to no avail.
“Mother is gone! What are we going to do? What are we going to do!?” cried the youngest daughter.
“Stop crying! I am not very sure on what happened…what do you think ?” said the eldest asked the second.
“It is impossible for mother to leave the house without us knowing it…” the second daughter replied.
Suddenly, the third sister came running from afar. She was quite out of breath and flustered.
“What is it? Do you know where mother is?” asked everyone.
The third daughter was catching his breath for a moment. After a little while, she told her sisters the bad news.
“There was this news in town that a fire-breathing monster came down from the mountains and taking people as captives. They said it was sent by the evil lord who lives in a castle, up the mountain.” she said.
“The evil lord, so he was the one who took mother.” said the second daughter.
“I’m scared” said the youngest as she clung to her older sister.
“I know. I heard stories of how cruel he was. They say he make slaves out of the people he manage takes as captive.”
Suddenly, the eldest, boldly stood up and said.
“But we cannot allow it as is. He took our mother. So we are going to take her back. We swore that we will protect our mother and we are not going leave her alone. So that is what we are going to do. Don’t you agree with me, my sisters?”
“Yes!” the rest of the sisters agreed.
So the four sisters, decided to travel the long road to the evil lord’s castle and rescue their beloved mother. They packed up their things and left at dawn. Never did they know that the evil lord himself is expecting them to come.
They are already walking far when all of a sudden, a large cloud of thick fog blocked their way, making it impossible for them to see what is in front of them.
“What are we going to do now?” the four sisters said to each other.
They tried to think of a plan on how to make it through the fog, when suddenly the third sister caught an idea.
“I’ll try and use my fan to clear the fog in front of us; maybe even for just a little bit, it might work.”
The rest all agreed with the third sister. So the third sister brought out his fan and waved it. When all of a sudden, a very strong gust of wind came from the fan and blew the cloud of fog away and allowing them to clearly see the road ahead. After that, the fan turned old and broken.
This made the sisters think about the gifts that their mother gave them and the secret they contain.
“So, the gifts that mother gave us possess some extraordinary powers. I wonder if each of our gifts has the same?” they asked themselves.
As they moved on to their journey, the sisters came in front of a very dense and dark forest. It was already nighttime and the sisters are unable to travel in the dark. The darkness of the forest is dangerous and wild animals are known to prowl. Knowing this is the case, the second sister volunteered to use her lamp.
“I’ll light up my lamp and guide us outside of this forest.”
When she lit her lamp, the lamp shone so bright, that its scattered light seemed like daylight, allowing them to see through the darkness and find the way towards the exit. The bright light also repelled any danger that they might encounter from the wild animals. After they making their way towards the exit, the lantern’s light fainted, as it also turned old and shabby.
Finally, the sisters arrived in front of the entrance of the evil lord’s castle. The castle is surrounded by a very dark and sinistral aura, beholding the evil that lives within. Scared but still determined to save their mother, the sisters entered the castle. As they walked inside the castle's courtyard, the large, fire breathing monster blocked their path! The four sisters came running as fast as they could, trying to escape the monster who chases them from behind. Suddenly, it spewed fire towards them. The sisters felt helpless, as they thought they are going to be burned to ashes, when the elder sister quickly opened her parasol trying to shield them from the monster’s flamethrower. Surprisingly, it worked. The parasol defended them against the monster’s flames.
“I’ll try to fend off the monster’s flames. While I do, quickly run towards the entrance!” commanded the elder sister.
So, the other sisters quickly made their way to the castle’s doors and there they waited for their elder sister. The elder sister made sure everyone’s safe. Then, she tried to save herself from the monster’s flames. She made her way near the doorway. In a wink of an eye, the elder sister quickly dodged the monster’s flames as she leaped towards the door. Then, other sisters quickly pushed the door and locked it to safety. After the grueling ordeal, the four sisters moved on forward. As for the parasol, it turned into a useless, broken parasol, full of holes afterwards.
As they are walking inside the castle, they heard some voices of people crying for help. The sisters ran towards the direction of the voices and they arrived in a dungeon cell. There they saw a large number of townspeople, imprisoned in a very large cell.
“Hey! There's somebody outside! Let's ask for help!” shouted one of the prisoners.
“Oh please, we beg you young girls. Please free us from this prison…” requested an old man.
The girls felt the duty to help the people but they don’t have a key to open the prison doors. The sisters tried to think of some plan, when suddenly the youngest sister suggested:
“I know this might be a little bit unusual, but maybe we can try picking the lock with my hairpin.”
The other sisters thought about what their younger sister suggested and agreed it wouldn’t hurt if they try. So, they tried lock-picking the doors and luckily, it worked. They managed to free all the prisoners; but sad to say, they never found their mother with them.
“Where is our mother, tell us!” said the eldest.
“We beg you!” said the second.
“Please tell us where our mother is.” said the third.
“We have to rescue our mother!” said the youngest.
Seeing the love, determination and courage which lies within the hearts of the four, the people told them that their mother was kept at the top of the castle, inside the evil lord’s throne room. Thanking the people for their help, the four sisters quickly rushed towards the top of the castle.
Arriving at the top of the castle, the girls finally found their mother. They are so happy to see that their mother was unhurt and well, when all of a sudden the evil lord appeared in front of them.
“I will not allow you take her away from here!” he shouted in a powerful voice.
“We will not allow you to take our mother! We will protect her against you!” the four sisters shouted.
Furious, the evil lord shape shifted into the fire-breathing monster and started to rampage at the top of the castle. The sisters are very scared thinking that they no longer have the power of their heirlooms to protect them. Even so, they tightly embraced themselves to their mother. Suddenly, the youngest among sisters, bravely stood in front of the monster.
“I’ll no longer cry nor be afraid! I shall protect my mother and my sisters, even if it cost me my life!” she shouted.
The monster laughed at her. “Hah! What do you think you can do against me? You’re nothing but a small fry waiting to be devoured!”
The youngest daughter didn’t allow herself to lose composure as the monster mocked and threaten her. Holding the precious hairpin her mother gave her, with all her strength, she threw it towards the monster. As if guided by an invisible hand, the hairpin darted towards the heart of the monster. The monster cried in pain. Then, out of the sky came out thunder and lightning, bolting towards the monster and killing it in a flash. Afterwards, the hairpin broke.
Finally, the castle lost its dark and evil aura. The cloudy sky opened from up above and light finally shined within the evil lord’s former dominion. Mother and daughters are finally reunited.
“Mother, we are saved! We are finally safe!”
“We are very happy to be with you again!”
“We promise you we will never leave by your side!”
“We love you mother!”
Their mother teary-eyed by the things her daughters said, finally explained everything:
“I am very happy to see how each of you changed and grown today. That evil lord was a former lover of mine. He tried to make me love him, using his power and wealth. But my heart was never his. So I chose to marry your father, the man that I loved. We lived a simple yet peaceful life. Experiencing content and joy, I never regretted my choice. The evil lord was never happy, so he tried to take me by force. But your father protected me from him. That is until your father died. But I was so happy, that I gave birth four of his daughters who possess his heart and spirit. That might be the reason why your heirlooms had extraordinary powers. These heirlooms…are gifts from your father when we are about to be married. I treasured them for so many years. I told you to take care of these, right? ”
All the daughters came and held on to their mother and said:
“Time may have made you age, old and wrinkled you are; our love for you will never change. Because you are our mother and you will always be; because we are a family. And that is what we treasure the most.”
And so, the widow and her four daughters went back home together, with a stronger bond than before. Then after, the four daughters were pronounced as heroes by the townspeople. Long time has passed after their mother died; the four daughters then got married to four princes, the very sons of the emperor who rules their land and they all lived happily ever after.
- Story written by Sir Night Celestine
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