The Girl Behind the Thorns
Story by Rebecca Duras. Illustrations by Alina Adreenko .
There was once a young woman named Regina whose sparkling eyes and rosy cheeks shone through her unruly black curly hair and homespun dresses. She lived with three giant witch-mothers in a forest cottage surrounded by a wall of thorns. Beyond the thorns, long-toothed dragons and other beasts roamed the land, making it a dangerous place to pass.
Her witch-mothers reminded her often that she needed to be protected from the monsters waiting to attack girls just beyond the hedge, and that she was safer with them.
“Look at those skinny legs!” Witch-Mother Cara said, poking her with a broomstick. “You’d never outrun the dragons with your weak paws.”
“You’re so stupid,” Witch-Mother Mia huffed when Regina made a mistake mixing magic potions. “You’d stumble into the middle of a werewolf den and get eaten immediately.”
“And that face,” Witch-Mother Sofia cackled. “You’re so hideous, even the monster with a thousand arms wouldn’t want to take you.”
The cruel criticisms that the witch-mothers threw onto Regina were like dark spells that kept her blind to her goodness. Regina grew her black hair out until it formed a stormy cloud around her face to protect her from their harsh remarks.
One day, while Regina was clipping the thorn hedgerow, she realized that she was tall enough to see out of a small gap in the hedge. She moved towards the hole and stood up on her tippy-toes, bracing herself just if there might be a one-eyed monster staring back at her. Her witch-mothers were tall enough to see over the hedge, and they always described in great detail the fanged monster armies that waited outside.
Peering through the hedge, she saw trees. Grand maple trees whose arms were decorated with bangles of leaves. She pushed aside a few branches to make the hole bigger and saw something twitch in one of the trees. She sucked in her breath, bracing herself in case she would meet the eyes of a sizeable hungry dragon.
Her friend, Norton, a black and orange speckled salamander, sat on her shoulder. “Move to the side so that I can see as well,” he said.
“What are you doing?” asked Witch-Mother Sophia from behind.
Startled, Regina let go of the hole in the shrubs and turned around to face Witch- Mother Sophia.
“I’m sorry I was looking. I swear I wasn’t going to do anything,” she babbled, lips trembling.
Witch-Mother Sophia took a handful of her hair and dragged her backward.
“You ungrateful brat!” she shrieked. “We’ve told you thousands of times you’re not allowed to even look at the forest. We were kind enough to rescue you from it many moons ago. But since you love it so much, Let the dragons deal with you!”
She opened the tall metal gate and pushed Regina through it. The gate shut behind her with a resounding thud and Regina laid sprawled out on the ground. She began to cry.
She felt something land on her back.
“Norton! What are you doing?”
“Right, this is a proper mess we’re in,” Norton said, “They threw me out too. I suggested they were too harsh on you, and they picked me up and flung me over here.”
“There’s only one thing to do,” Regina said. She began banging on the gate. “Witch- mothers, please! Take us back! I promise I will never look into the forest again.” The only sound from the other side was laughter.
Regina slumped against the gate. “It’s no use. Our only choice is to sit here and wait for the goblin armies to eat us. We have to find a place to hide.”
“Wait,” Norton said, “I have another idea. My parents are the magician-rulers of the kingdom on the other side of the forest. One day I wandered too far into the forest, fell into a pit, and then the witch-mothers kidnapped me and cast a spell on me, turning me into a lizard. If we go to my parents, they can turn me back into a human and give you a place to live.”
“You could have told me this before,” replied Regina.
“Would it have made a difference? You never wanted to live the cottage.”
“Are you sure your parents will just let you back in?” Regina said, biting her lip. “Won’t they be mad at you for being away for so long?”
“I don’t think so. They love me very much,” Norton said, “I would have tried to escape earlier, but I was afraid I’d get eaten by a bird. But if you go with me, then you can protect me.”
“No,” Regina said firmly, “We’re going to get killed if we go deeper into the forest.”
“I just really miss my family,” Norton said and slid off Regina’s shoulder. He curled up under a leaf, looking forlorn.
Regina thought about all the times Norton would whisper jokes in her ear after the witch-mothers yelled at her to make her feel better, or warn her when they were in a bad mood. “Fine,” she groaned, “I’ll help you. But don’t get surprised if we get eaten along the way.”
“Thank you so much!” Norton said, wiggling his tail.
Walking slowly, Regina cautiously walked into the forest. Every twitch of a tree or snapped twig made her jump. She tensed her body, expecting a dragon, its fangs dripping with blood, to jump out.
After hours of walking past gurgling streams, mossy tree stumps, and red-dotted mushrooms, she released the air from the depths of her stomach.
“Do you think the witch-mothers lied to us about the forest?” she asked Norton.
“I never saw any scary beasts in the forest,” replied Norton.
Regina frowned and continued walking. With her eyes wide, she looked up in wonder at the lush green canopy of tree branches and the elaborate bird’s nests nestled under the leaves. “I didn’t know it was so beautiful out here!”
The journey was slow. Regina’s legs were weak since she’d never walked far. She was often distracted by the forest’s wonders, stopping to admire a caterpillar or a path of purple forget-me-nots.
“Can you hurry up, please? And stop tripping all the time!” complained Norton.
“If you’re in such a hurry, why don’t you get off and walk yourself?” Regina snapped. She braced for the incoming punishment. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”
Instead of shouting at her, Norton laughed. “Don’t apologize. You were right to be upset with me, I’m just anxious to get home, and every time you trip, I bump my head on your collar. If you tied your hair up, you would see the path better.”
Regina hesitated, then ripped off a strip of her dress to use as a headband. “You know, you’re very pretty,” Norton said, “now that I can see your face.” “Oh shush,” Regina said, blushing.
That night, they camped in the forest.
“Do you know how to build a fire?” Norton asked.
“No. But I think I remember the spell Witch-mother Mia used to light the oven once last year.” Regina thought hard, then whispered a few words and pointed her finger. The pile of kindling she’d gathered immediately burst into flames.
“You’re brilliant!” Norton said. “I can’t believe you remembered that.”
“Witch-mother Sophia says I’m like a parrot—I can repeat things, but I’m too stupid to understand them,” Regina said with a smile, “but maybe I have some brains after all.”
She roasted acorns for dinner, and they had berries she’d gathered for dessert.
Looking down at her empty plate, Regina smiled with pride. She’d survived an entire day and night in the woods! Maybe she wasn’t that helpless, after all.
The next morning, they reached the edge of the forest and found a roaring river. A fox cowered on its banks. “Careful,” Norton said, hiding in her hair, “Foxes can be bloodthirsty.”
Regina tried to stay as far away from the fox as she could, but the path went right by it.
As they passed it, the fox pressed its belly against the grass and whined. When Regina stamped at it, it shrank back but did not run away.
“It can’t run away, poor thing!” she said. “I think its paw is hurt.”
“It’s a trap!” Norton shrieked, clambering to the top of Regina’s head.
Regina ignored him and sat down next to the fox. “Hey, fox, what’s wrong? Let me see your foot.”
The fox held out its paw, and Regina noticed it was sprained. “I fixed a sprain for Witch- Mother Mia just last year.” She took some sticks and made a splint.
The fox so stood up on its four feet. “Thank you for your kindness,” it said. “In return, I’ll give you some information.”
“See, Norton?” Regina said, “Sometimes it pays to be helpful.”
The fox continued, “You’re almost at the palace, but this river is the magical kingdom’s border, and it can only be crossed by unlocking the magical boat that’s a little further down.”
Before Regina could ask more questions, the fox ran into the forest.
Further down the pathway, they found a small rowboat locked to the dock with a gleaming golden padlock.
“You’ll have to use your magic to set the boat free, Norton because I can’t,” Regina said.
“Neither can I,” he said.
“But, you’re the heir to a magical kingdom!”
“I can only do magic while I’m in human form.”
“Then we’re doomed,” Regina said
“Regina, magic isn’t about lineage. It’s about what’s inside you! I know you have the gift.
If you didn’t, when you said the spell last night, it wouldn’t have worked.”
“But my witch-mothers always said…“
“Forget about your witch-mothers! They’re not important. Close your eyes and think about everything you’ve done so far, despite what they’ve told you.”
Regina closed her eyes and thought hard about their journey so far, how she’d helped them survive in the forest, and healed the fox’s wound. She gasped when she felt a soft warmth beneath her heart. When she opened her eyes, she saw that her fingertips were glowing.
She touched the boat on the riverbank, and the padlock sprang open. The boat glided across the river, and for the first time in her life, Regina felt peace in her heart.
The gates to the palace were right next to the riverbank. “To get into the palace, you need to know a special spell,” Norton said. “Hold me to the keyhole, please.”
“I don’t know the spell. Maybe if we call for a guard.”
“No need, I know it!” Norton whispered into the keyhole, and the gate swung open. He sprang out of Regina’s hands, and the second he crossed the threshold, turned back into a handsome prince.
He dropped to his knees. “Lovely Regina, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for bringing me back home to my kingdom and teaching me the values of kindness and bravery along the way.”
Regina stared at him. “You lied to me. You told me you couldn’t do magic.”
“I needed to be on the soil of my kingdom to get the strength to use magic. Maybe it could have worked at the border, but I wanted to let you try so you would believe in yourself! Now, if I may,” Norton continued. “Would you do me the honor of marrying me?”
Regina shook her head and then slowly spoke. “No. There’s so much left of the world for me to see. I want to go on adventures, and I can’t do that if I’m stuck in the palace being your princess. Besides,” she said, smiling. “You were a particularly annoying road trip companion.”
Norton smirked. “Annoying, but loyal. Alright, remember that whenever you’ve finished adventuring and want to settle down, I’ll be here.”
Regina and Norton said their goodbyes. Regina walked down the road, feeling afloat, so full of hope and curiosity she was for all the adventures that lay ahead of her.
“Stop!” she heard a familiar voice yell from the bushes.
Witch-mothers Cara, Mia, and Sophia sprung out onto the path.
Regina noticed they had shrunk. They barely reached her shoulders now.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Witch-mother Cara called.
“You horrible witches are the ones that threw me out!”
“We were going to let you back in last night. It was all to teach you a lesson,” said Witch- mother Mia, “so you would be more obedient.”
“Well, consider my lesson learned,” Regina said and marched down the path.
“When we saw you were gone, we decided to follow you and make sure you were safe. See how we care about you!” Witch-mother Cara said. “You can’t leave us now! We need each other.”
“Who will tend our garden?” chimed in witch-mother Sophia sweetly.
“You will!” Regina shouted. With a wave of her hand, she made a tree fall, blocking their path. Her witch-mothers tried pushing it away, but their arms were too weak since they never did any gardening themselves. As they continued pressing against the tree, they kept shrinking until the tops of their heads were barely visible over the tree trunk. Regina kept walking.
Regina became famous as a traveling gardener with a magic touch. People whispered that wherever she went, princesses escaped from towers, and girls rode off on adventures. Some said she secretly helped damsels in distress rescue themselves.
Whenever anyone asked for help, Regina would reply, “I help plants and people find the best places for them to grow.”
