In the frozen wilderness, a young girl was being raised by her father. They lived in the mountains where it was so cold, sweat and tears would freeze before they could fall. The daughter worked long and hard at home to take care of her father. Her father was an emerald miner and their life was happy and carefree. Her father would tell her stories about caves full of stars so beautiful it was like walking through the sky. The girl wanted so badly to see these stars, she would beg and cry out wishing to have one. One winter, on the coldest day of the year, it was the child’s birthday. Being used to an extra bowl of stew as her present, her father said he has something special for her. He pulled out a small brown satchel from his pocket. When the girl opened it, she could not believe her eyes! It was a star! Her smile shone just as bright as the star in her hands as she ran around the dinner table in excitement. She hugged her father with tears in her eyes and sobbed,

“oh thank you so much baba, I don’t think I can ever repay you.” The man took his daughter into his lap and wiped away her tears.

“You need not,” he said, “for the greatest treasure is having you for a daughter.” They finished their dinner in bliss and slept soundly that night.

The father had warned the girl to not display her star to anyone else. She didn’t understand why, as she wanted everyone to enjoy the star’s beauty just like she did. But she was good and listened to her father. There weren’t any other kids in the mountain, as only the labourers lived there, so the little girl often found herself creating her own entertainment with labor and her star. Without complaints, the girl worked hard for herself and her father. One day, the family needed to replenish their food supply, so the girl headed to the village at the foot of the mountain. She visited the market, where she bought a sack of potatoes and greens. As the girl was leaving, she caught sight of a woman who had been watching her.

“Come over here little girl,” she beckoned. As she approached, the woman swooned, “my- why child you are so beautiful! Your hair is as dark as night, lips as red as blood, and your skin! It’s as white as the snowy mountain from which you came.” The girl looked at the woman happily. “Does your father work in the mountains?” the woman asked. The girl nodded politely.

“He works in a cave full of stars.”

“A cave full of stars? How could that be? I’ve never heard of such a thing”

“It’s true!” the girl said, grasping at the tiny satchel around her neck. “The stars are even more beautiful up close and shine just as bright even during the daytime.” The woman smiled and eyed the girl’s hand clutching the tiny sack.

“Oh, why- a woman like me could only ever dream of seeing something so beautiful. I would give up my finest pair of boots to simply bear witness to its marvel.” The girl rocked back and forth on her heels, looking along the table where bounds of leather were crafted together with rope and steel to make hardy boots. Her sight stopped at a particular pair of dark red ox skin boots with shiny steel caps on the toes. The woman caught the girl’s gaze.

“What a hard-working man your father must be, and with such a sweet daughter,” the girl’s face lit up, “what say you repay his hard work with a new pair of boots?” The girl looked down at the sack of potatoes and greens she was holding.

“But I don’t have any money left,” she said.

“Oh… well that’s too bad,” the woman said, “I’m sure it would have made your father happy.” The girl paused.

“Just as happy as it would make you to see a star?”

“Why of course,” said the woman.

The girl slid the satchel back and forth around her neck, then beamed and moved the loop of the string over her head.

“I want to show you something,” she said. She carefully opened the sack and gave it to the woman to look inside. The woman peered inside and was in disbelief. She sat in stunned silence looking almost quizzically at the star in her hand. The woman eyed the girl up and down calculatingly, until smiling warmly.

“Thank you so much for showing this to me little girl, I hope you understand how happy it makes me.” The girl bounced up and down, excited to have caused the woman such joy. “I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” the woman said, packing the star back into its satchel and returning it to the girl, “I’ll let you take those dark red boots over there in exchange for letting me see something so beautiful.” The girl was elated,

“will you really? Oh, thank you! Thank you!” and ran to give the woman a hug.

“No dear, thank you,” she said, embracing the child.

It was before dinner time when the girl got back home and her father was still off in the mines. She stored the perishables she bought in a trough in the kitchen. She took the newly empty sack of potatoes and carefully cut the seam with a bone pick. Using the newly made fabric, the little girl wrapped the boots into a present. She finished cooking dinner and by that time her father had come home. They ate happily, and once they were finished, the girl said she had a surprise for him.

“Ho! What could it be?” he asked as she carried over a bundle of neatly folded and tied burlap. The father opened it carefully and looked in shock at the beautiful pair of dark red boots. “My child…” he said cautiously, “how did you get these?” He knew his daughter was incapable of stealing, so only the worst thoughts imaginable came to the father’s mind. The girl hesitated, but she was too pure to tell a lie.

“A lady was so happy when I showed her my star that she gave the boots to me as a gift,” she told him. The father noticed she still had the tiny satchel around her neck. He looked sternly at his daughter,

“I told you to never show anyone your star, you must be more careful.” His tone softened as he saw his daughter’s eyes sadden. “I know you had no ill intent and you wanted to make that lady happy,” he said, picking her up into his lap. “Thank you for bringing so much joy to others and to myself.”

Before falling asleep that night, the girl rolled around whimsically thinking about how happy everyone was that day. She pulled the string from around her neck and plopped her star into her hand. She stared at its sparkle in amazement. “My star! You’re my lucky charm” she said and laid her head to rest.

The following morning, the girl kissed her father goodbye as he headed toward the caves wearing his freshly tailored boots. The girl did her usual routine of cleaning the house and tending to the goat for a fresh pail of milk. The girl was returning home from collecting firewood when she saw two large men walking through her house. They were wearing large winter coats with ornate gold embroidery decorating the chest plates. An arm’s length sword laid on either of their left hips. She slowly approached her home, curious as to why there were guests. As she entered the doorway, a guard grabbed her arm and held it with an iron grip.

“Here’s the girl,” the guard said, as he looked down at her and snatched the tiny satchel right off of her neck. He opened it and out popped the girl’s star, “let’s go,” he said to the other. With that, the girl was thrown into a wooden cage affixed to two horses, with her star in the grasp of the guard.

“Please, I don’t understand,” cried the girl.

“It seems your father is a thief,” said the guard. This didn’t clear up any confusion for the girl as they rode to the bottom of the mountain. There, the guards got off of their horses and the woman from the day before approached them. “You were right about the man in the red boots,” said the guard, “his child had the gem just like you claimed, here’s your reward in return,” he said, handing her a sack of jingling coins. The woman’s eyes flashed as she quickly grabbed the sack of coins. This was much more valuable to her than any gemstone, a stone so precious that it could not be sold without raising attention, nor could any shabby old market bear the price that it’s worth. Yes, the coins were ideal for her.

“I’m so grateful to you little girl,” she said with a smirk as she walked past the carriage. The guards mounted back onto their horses,

“go tell the others the man is guilty, and have him transported to the palace to face trial.”

“And the girl?”

“We’ll take her to the chief and let him decide.”

With that, the men rode on with a caged little girl in tow.

“I did this” the girl whispered, overflowing with tears and guilt about what she had done. These tears, of course, could not fall.

The queen ordered for the emerald miner’s execution. There was no other judgement a thief could face, so by sundown, the deed was done. The king only involved himself in military affairs and the queen passed judgements as she pleased, thus, the fate of the lowly mountain girl was left in the hands of the palace chief. Rather than waste prison rations on a child, the little girl was cast aside and became homeless. No stranger to labor, the little girl took upon odd jobs for scraps of food or a place to sleep, but unlike before, she kept to herself. Her spirit became hardened and her emotions unremorseful. The only person she needed to take care of was herself. She would lie to and steal from any person if it was to her benefit, taking advantage of others in any way she could. This is how the people lived, without a bone of trust, one either reaped the rewards of deceit or paid the price of a fool. As she got older, the girl began to fabricate different personas. By earning the favor of wealthy men, she would steal books from their collections in the pursuit of knowledge and power. Her status in society climbed as she honed her craft, learning how to win people over with nothing but words and a commanding demeanor. It wasn’t long until bigger fish entered her pond. By this time, she had built a reputation for herself. She was well known for her soul being as black as smoke, eyes as hard as steel, and her heart as cold as ice. Soon enough, she placed herself beside the king as the new queen. Suddenly, all the queen received was praise, for being so beautiful and for being royalty. She cast aside the frivolity of her position and made one request, to have a mirror to remind herself who she is.

The previous queen found herself incapacitated and later died after childbirth. The daughter she bore was the pristine age of six when the new queen came into power. This princess was the most beautiful girl the kingdom had ever seen. Her hair was as dark as coal, her lips as bright red as a fresh apple, and her skin as white as snow. Her mother named her Snow White. Snow White was as pure as her name. Growing up happily spoiled and pampered, Snow White relied on others and was quick to trust them. She only knew of safety and was oblivious to the wretched nature outside the palace walls. This life changed for Snow White when the new queen began her reign. The queen hadn’t married out of love, she did it for success and power, and certainly not to be a mother. The queen looked down upon Snow White and the poor princess was forced to clean the palace floors, pull the garden weeds, and wash and sew her clothes. Tears would fall into the sudsy floor as the princess cried for her old life back. The queen found her incompetent, and the more the princess would cry, the colder the queen’s heart turned

On the princess’ thirteenth birthday, just like all of the ones before, there was no celebration held.

“You cannot do anything for yourself, so you are allowed nothing” her stepmother would say. The princess laid sullen in her room as she did all of the years prior.

“That’s it,” she said to herself, “this year I will have a cake for my birthday.” The girl thought up ways to obtain a cake to fit her tastes. The thought of creating one herself caused her so much agony she cried out. “I must find a
way to buy one” she whimpered. With that, the girl snuck into the queen’s chambers and selected a sparkling earring from an array of gems. She called upon one of the guards to accompany her into town. Once there, none of the bakeries would accept such a currency, nevertheless, they continued their search, eventually trekking down into the beaten part of town. “Oh my life is hopeless,” she wailed.

“What seems to be the problem dear?” an old woman behind her asked. She was wearing a dark robe and had silver hair.

“It is my birthday and I cannot find anyone willing to bake a cake for me” the girl sobbed.

“Well what do you have to offer them?” the old woman asked. The princess opened her hand to show her the earring. “Why with something so beautiful, you could have any cake you can dream of,” the old woman said, studying Snow White, “a girl with features so delicate, you must resemble your mother.”

“It would be by magic because it would not be by blood,” the girl said solemnly. The woman’s eyebrows raised.

“Come child, I will bake you a cake, and with it, you can share with your mother and make amends.”

“Oh thank you!” cried the girl, “and in return, please take this earring.” The woman closed the princess’ hand.

“Helping you is a reward in itself,” she said with a smile. What Snow White was unaware of, was the bottle of poison the woman held under her cloak.

The cake was placed on the center of the table for the stepmother to see.

“How did you get this?” the queen asked bluntly. The princess did not want to miss her opportunity to redeem herself so she lied.

“I milked the cows, milled the wheat, and picked the eggs,” she said confidently. The queen stared at her, showing no emotion in her face, and turned to her chambers. A guard was posted at the queen’s door while she slowly paced across the smooth floor, looking into her mirror.

“The girl is learning yet I feel nothing for her,” she said to herself. “Am I cruel?” “Am I truly unfair?” she asked her reflection.

She heard a soft turn of boots.

“My lady, if I may?” asked the guard. The queen tilted her mirror to look at him. “You are the fairest in all the land, it is Snow White who has tricked you, she stole your earring in exchange for an old witch to bake her a cake.” The queen’s eyes pierced through the dimly lit room and the guard felt a chill shoot down his spine.

“Go collect her now,” she said, “send her to the coal mines and never let her return.”

Snow White wailed and protested as she was carted up the mountainside, but her cries made no difference. She was thrown along with the men to labor all day, striking her pickaxe down until she could no longer lift her arms. At the end of the day, she would reside in an abode filled with seven men, to whom she would cry about a life she once lived. The men would listen intently as she described the abuse she faced from her mother, being stripped of her freedom, starved, and worked until exhaustion. They could not understand how such a precious girl could be treated so poorly. After months of working in the mines, Snow White became so dehydrated she could no longer cry, her hands turned calloused and stained black. By the time a year had passed, she no longer remembered how she felt before she arrived, the only feeling she had was the need to survive until the next sunrise. One night, she began ruminating about the life she once lived and the bitterness she felt towards the queen. She walked around to each man’s bed, waking them quietly to not let the guard at the door hear.

“If the queen is gone” she whispered, “I can give each of you anything you desire.” Living such lowly lives, the men did not need to hear another word. With pickaxes in hand, they mumbled in low tones and plotted their coup that instant.

“Ah! Help! Help!” the girl cried out.

Acting on instinct, the guard opened the door to investigate, where he was met with a fatal blow from a pickaxe. The eight workers made their way down the mountain, leaving the guard with his sheath empty and Snow White wielding the sword.

They arrived at the palace and the seven men worked to knock down the guards, blow after blow, while Snow White tracked directly toward the queen’s chambers. The pounding of her boots resonated throughout the palace and left no mystery that she was coming. She slammed open the door to find the queen sitting calmly, observing herself in the mirror. “Snow White,” she said without breaking her gaze with her reflection. “Is this how you intend to thank me?” Her tone was icy, but it did not make Snow White falter.

“You took away my life,” said the princess.

“Little girl, I gave you the only thing you never had,” she replied, touching the mirror delicately. Snow White clenched her fist even tighter around the sword,

“someone with a frozen heart would never understand.”

“Then it wouldn’t be me who has the frozen heart,” responded the queen, finally looking Snow White in the eyes.

But with that, the sword pierced her heart.
When the ice shattered,
Snow was formed.

Olivia’s retelling of “Snow White” showcases the point of view of the antagonist from the classic fairy tale, the evil queen. Utilizing elements from the original story, Olivia’s retelling leads readers to question who is the true villain or if there even is one.