Week 3 Story: Twin Wars
One beautiful day in the Land of Duplication, a young mother gave birth to two gorgeous twin baby girls, Mary and Marlie. The twins were identical so everything about them was the exact same.
As the sweet girls grew up, nothing changed; they dressed the exact same, they finished each other's sentences, and they exclusively played together. They even had the twin powers that when one twin is sad or hurt, the other twin feels the emotional pull.
As years passed and the girls got older, something changed... their similarities declined and their mother's attention shifted... The mother seemed to focus more on just one of the girls, specifically Marlie, and left the other, Mary, feeling lonely and unwanted.
The loneliness of Mary escalated to isolation while Marlie thrived with success in friendships, schoolwork, and community activities. Venus grew envious and enraged with the treatment she received from everyone, even her own family. She constantly wondered, "how can we look and act the same, but Marlie gets all the praise and happiness while I get nothing?"
Mary did, however, have one friend named Sebastian. They were each other's best friend. They had a dark sense of humor and always related to the other's complaints and dark character.
Eventually, Mary's envious nature grew to a state that was too much to handle and she snapped. She read about this witch that lived deep in the Dark Forest that could grant any human a single wish for a price, of course.
Mary and Sebastian set off to find this witch. They traveled the whole day and finally came to her haunted cottage; sure enough, it was in the darkest part of the forest where no flowers bloomed and all the trees were rotting. Mary explained to the witch that her sister gets so much glory and attention, while she gets nothing.
The witch was intrigued by the story and did not hesitate to help Mary get revenge for all the years of loneliness. With an evil smile, the witch told Mary, "I will help you get what you want, but it will come with a price," and Mary replied, "I do not care what the price is, I wish Marlie could feel what I am feeling."
The wish was not specific, but the witch granted it and Marlie was overcome with the despair that her sister felt. The wish did not alter the attention she received, but it did make her feel the pain that Mary felt.
Days went by and Mary felt satisfied because Marlie was not the happy, optimistic character that she used to be; there was a dark sense to her now.
Sebastian never once felt like he needed to be around Marlie because he had Mary; however, now that Marlie had a darker side, Sebastian was drawn to her. Marlie and Sebastian soon became close friends and he stopped hanging around Mary as much. The price that the witch was talking about was paid. Mary's envy became too much and resulted in more dissatisfaction because she got what she wanted, but she lost her best friend in the process.
Twin Girls with a Pearl Earring by Rene Bui (2005)
Author's Note:
This story was based off the original story Cupid and Psyche. In the original story, Psyche and Venus look-a-like, but Psyche receives a numerous amount of attention even though all the commoners compare her beauty to Venus'. Venus gets so frustrated that Psyche is "more beautiful" than her and asks her son, Cupid, to revenge her and make Psyche fall in love with a wretched man. Cupid shoots Psyche with an arrow and then Psyche fell in love with Cupid. After Psyche pursued Cupid, he, then fell in love with Psyche as well. This made his mother, Venus, furious because yet another person has fallen at Psyche's feet. In this story, the twin girls are a spin-off of Venus and Psyche, the look-a-likes from the original story, but instead, they are related. If anyone has siblings, they should know that sibling rivalries are more intense than just any envious rivalry. The sisters have to live with each other and see one another thrive or fall, sink or swim, if you may. In this case, they are both equally beautiful, but at some point in their lives, Marlie just became "the better twin" and was the better "swimmer," and Mary's envy caused her to "sink." Sebastian was Mary's best friend and they were drawn together because the dark side that they both shared. However, once Marlie had the characteristic of darkness, Sebastian too was intrigued by her and gave his friendship to Marlie instead of Mary. The witch from the story was made to show that wishes are not always what we want them to be, especially if the wish is made with envious nature.
"Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche" from Myth-Folklore Unit translated into English by Tony Kline.
Hi Caitlin!
ReplyDeleteI was surprised by your take of the story! When I was reading your story, I was wondering what story this was based off of. I was especially surprised when the sisters were representative of Venus and Psyche! This connection between the sisters and Venus and Psyche perfectly echoed your overall theme! Wishes are not always what we hope them to be. I wonder why the mother preferred one daughter more than the other. Did something happen between the mother and the twins for something like this to happen? Did the favorite twin even have a small feeling as to what the other twin was going through? Since these things were not mentioned in your story, I was wondering if you could add more background to explain the missing details. These details would make the story more illustrative and detailed! Also, what if the future was added into the story? This way, readers can see how the relationship between the mother and the twins has evolved. These are just some tips, and I hope I was helpful.
Hi Caitlyn! I read the story of Cupid and Psyche as well, and I think it’s so creative how you turned it into a sister-sister rivalry. As the story got darker, I was more and more intrigued to read what happened next. I was very surprised when the witch’s price turned out to be Sebastian ditching Mary to be friends with Marlie. I didn’t see that coming at all! A question that came to mine while I was reading was, was there a reason why Sebastian has a darker side too? How can he relate to Mary? I think it would be cool to give some type brief back story or explanation to his dark side. If you want, you could also have the witch give Mary some type of riddle or vague clue about what the price will be, so when Sebastian becomes closer with Marlie, she would realize what the clue meant. Great story! I loved reading it!
ReplyDeleteHi Caitlin!
ReplyDeleteGreat job on setting up this story. I really enjoyed how you developed the jealously of Mary. Sebastian is a great character, a question that came to my mind was how did Sebastian and Mary become friends. The price that the witch sets is pretty dark and brutal. I like how you didn't try to fit your narrative into a cheap happy ending. I liked reading this a lot, nicely done!
Howdy,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how you began the story. Illustrating how similar the twins was nice, and I found it hilarious how you included the fact that they also have twin powers. I wonder, did Marlie not feel how sad Mary was, because of these twin powers? It may be interesting to explore Marlie’s thoughts and see how she felt about the entire situation. I liked how you ended the story. I always enjoy a bit of justice and seeing people get what they deserve. Mary had no regard as to what would happen to her sister, so it felt just that her friend left her for her sister. I am curious to see what would happen after the story. Maybe see how Mary reacts to losing her best friend could be very interesting. I saw one small typo within the story that would be a quick fix, in the fourth paragraph of the story you accidentally said Venus instead of Mary.
Hi Caitlin,
ReplyDeleteLike some others, I was surprised to see that this was based on Cupid and Psyche, since Psyche and Venus — one being mortal and one a goddess — are not quite identical, to say the least.
I liked your incorporation of the “witch’s wish with a cost” trope: it’s so typical of later European fairy tales, at least, and it’s fun to see it integrated with the older Grecian and Roman mythology.
Best,
A.M.