The Witch who wanted to be Happy

Once upon a time, there was the evil witch of the story of Snow White, who, contrary to how the story has been told for generations, did not die or get murdered after Snow White was rescued by her prince, but managed to escape. She lived a life of exile while Snow White became a Queen. As she listened to the stories being told about her nemesis, she suffered and suffered. The whole world, generation after generation, saw her, the rightful queen, as the archetype of the “Evil Witch”, the one to despise and abhor. “I am not evil, I am not! I am good! Snow White is the evil one, she has everyone fooled!” she gnarled to herself regularly. “Looking all pretty and innocent, all the while stealing everything that belongs to me!”.

For years she planned and plotted evil schemes to take back what was hers, but she did not execute any of her ideas, because she knew they would make her look even worse in the eyes of the world. She understood that anything she did to steal back what was hers from Snow White would just make things worse, it would inspire crusades of princes to come and kill her for once and for all. She just felt so horribly jealous of everything Snow White had. Why could she not have it? Why did Snow White have the right to the kingdom, to beauty, to a prince, and not her? 

She could not figure it out, and she had no friends left to ask for advice. Except for.. her mirror. She had broken it years ago, but perhaps, just perhaps, she could find it, mend it and ask it, “why does Snow White get everything and I get nothing?”

The mirror could only tell the truth, so for better or for worse, she would at least know!

Maybe she was born evil after all, and Snow White was born good, and that is why she will always win…

The witch set off to her old castle, hiding herself in robes to prevent people from recognizing her, but so much time had passed and people no longer cared. When she arrived at the castle, she found it abandoned and taken over by nature, vines covering everything except for the little tower where her bedroom had been. She hurried inside, throwing around a few spells to be able to pass through the weeds. Everything of value had long been stolen, but her mirror was there, in pieces on the floor. She put the pieces back together, and with a quick mending spell it was soon whole again. 

Finally, she could ask it:

“Why does Snow White get everything and I get nothing?”

The mirror instantly replied:

“Because you act out of self-hatred, jealousy and pain, nothing good can come out of that. You are human, just like everybody else, and beauty does not last forever. You hate yourself for losing your looks, and you were jealous of her for still having them. You wanted to fight nature instead of embracing it. You fought Snow White instead of embracing her as your daughter. That was your error. That is why you have nothing.”

The witch considered this, and felt its truth. While tearing up, she asked:

“So am I an evil witch? Was I born evil?”

“No one is born evil, your actions were just against your nature, and ended up causing you to lose. You cannot fight nature, you will always lose. Stop fighting nature, cooperate with it, trust it, and you will not only be good, but you will also be happy.”

The witch took the advice of the mirror and looked at herself, for the first time in a long time with love. She saw her wrinkles and felt how beautiful they truly were. She saw her grey hair and felt its softness. She saw her eyes and the depth of her soul and felt a pang of regret for not having reared children of her own, not being able to share all of her magical knowledge with them, but instead of being jealous of Snow White, who had many babies by now, she decided to put her maternal love to use and open an orphanage for all those children without parents. It was the best choice she had ever made: the children opened her heart and she taught them how to love themselves, just the way they are, always.

After many happy years, she decided to tell the children the truth about her past, because she understood that she was being hypocritical: she was telling her children to never be afraid to tell the truth, that they would be loved more, not less, but she was not being honest with them herself.

She gathered them around a camp fire and told her story, afraid that the children would be afraid of her now, or run away, or be disappointed or something even more horrible she could not even think of!

The opposite happened. After she finished, the children all gathered around to hug the witch, and told her how happy they were that she had decided to change her ways, because she was the best mother they could ever imagine. 

The witch smiled her most beautiful smile as tears streamed down her face, and felt that she had finally succeeded. She had finally won her very own happily ever after. 

The end.