Once upon a time, there was a man and a woman who long wished in vain for a child. And finally on the longest day of the year, at noon, the couple was blessed with a beautiful son. The boy was born on the sacred day of the solar solstice and he himself was like a little sun. He had such light golden hair that resembled rays of the sunshine and his childish smile that seemed
to illuminate everything around and make his parents impossibly happy.

“Oh, dear, we have a blessed child,” said the husband, “Our son was given to us by the Sun itself. For that we should name him Cyrus and he will be our personal sunshine”.

All their relatives and friends were so happy for the family and adored the baby from first sight. Especially joyful for a precious child was his godmother Gothel. She was an old friend of the family and loved the boy as if he was her own child. It was her dream to have a big family with her husband, but her poor health didn’t allow her to do so. And so, she put all her
love in the Sunny Boy.

As the years passed, Cyrus grew up as a happy child to his parents’ delight and was spoiled by everyone’s love. A few years after his birth, his parents gave him a younger sister, whom at first he was very happy about. But deep down he was afraid that he would be loved less from now on. And so, he started to spend more time with his Godmother as he thought she was the only person who still cared for him.

“Remember, Cyrus”, once Gothel said to the boy, “I will always be there for you, even when nobody else is”.

More years passed and the little boy had grown into a young lad. Like all those years ago, his parents loved him fiercely and still called him their Sunshine. However, he did not look like a little sun anymore and seemed to be more like a rainy cloud. His beautiful hair still was there but it like his smile was lost forever. The boy no longer gave his parents and sister his bright smile and always walked around with a sad or annoyed expression. And how could he not be annoyed all the time? Cyrus was of thirteen years of age now and believed he was a grown, independent person. He did not need his parents to call him silly names and tell him what to do all the time!

“Why can’t they understand that I am not a child anymore? It is not like they really care about me though. They have their favourite daughter, they only have time to criticize me or tell me I am too young to be an adult!” Cyrus often told his Godmother.

“Oh, Cyrus, don’t be too upset about it. You still have me. Your parents are just fools if they don’t see what a fine young man you are,” Gothel always answered him. She was the only person who treated him fairly and wanted to listen to him. And once she told him, “Imagine if we lived together, just you and me. We would live happily as there is no one else who knows us better than we do about each other. I would be the best mother to you!” Then she carefully looked at him and asked, “What if we run away together? I will take you with me to another town and we will live our best life!”

“Run away?”, the boy asked hesitantly, “But wouldn’t my parents search for us?”

“You always tell me how they don’t care about you, so why would they?” The woman tried to convince him. “But, of course, if you don’t want to or are afraid, I understand. After all, you are still so little…”

“No!”, exclaimed Cyrus, “I am not! I’ll go with you!”

The next day, they both were ready to leave. When his parents were not at home, the boy sneaked from the house and went to the place where his godmother planned to meet him. He was nervous and anxious and couldn’t help but think about his parents. Would they miss him? Would they try to find him? But then he became angry at these thoughts. He could live without his mother and father! After all, if he went with his godmother she wanted only good for him! After that, he saw her coming and forgot about any doubts.

For several hours, Gothel and Cyrus rode without stopping till they reached the closest town in the South. There, they bought an old but cozy house. It was small and the boy’s room was in the attic.

“Cyrus, you should not leave the house for now,” his godmother told him. “We don’t want to be caught and we should wait ’till everyone in our town will forget about us.”

But it had been only two weeks since their arrival when Cyrus decided to disregard Gothel’s request. He was so bored sitting in his lonely room without any books or games and wanted to have some fun. And from his window, he saw a handsome boy with dark hair playing in the street every day. He was very pretty and his laughter was so loud and lovely that Cyrus wanted to join him in his game very badly. And so, on the day when his godmother went to the market for groceries, Cyrus left the house for a short walk. On the street, he immediately heard a familiar laugh and at the same second, someone crashed into him. It was the laughing boy.

“Sorry!”, exclaimed the dark-haired, “I didn’t see you!”

“Oh, no worries. I’m fine”, answered the blond-haired boy, “My name is Cyrus, by the way”.

“I’m Ehann, nice to meet you! Do you want to join? We’re playing tag”, suggested the new friend and Cyrus immediately agreed.

The game was so exciting that the boys absolutely forgot about time. But suddenly a loud shout interrupted their fun. It was his godmother, Gothel. She grabbed his arm and roughly dragged him into the house.

“How could you disobey me?” she cried in her anger, “I told you to sit in your room!” Cyrus was shocked by his godmother’s reaction. He had never seen her so furious and angry before. He felt fear and resentment and tears appeared in his eyes. The woman also noticed that. “Don’t!” she cried out, “Boys don’t cry, you silly boy! Go to your room and think about what you have done! I hope you were smart enough to not tell anyone your name!”

Cyrus didn’t dare to tell her about Ehann and quietly went upstairs. Once he was there he heard the sound of the locking door and realized that Gothel had locked him in. He tried to fight his tears but could not hold them. He remembered his mother and her soft touches

“Don’t ever be shy to show your emotions, honey”, she always told him, “You can cry or laugh no matter what everyone thinks and that’s okay.” Oh, how he missed his family all this time. He wanted to fall asleep and wake up back at his home surrounded by his parents and little sister. With that thought, Cyrus closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

The next day he woke up to the sounds of familiar voices and gentle touches. The boy raised his head and saw the beautiful face of his mother. She had tears on her cheeks but she smiled happily at him.

“Mum, is that really you? Or am I still sleeping?” Cyrus asked incredulously.

“Oh, it is me, my dear. We finally found you!”, she answered, placing a kiss on his forehead.“Your father and I were so worried!”

“Mummy, I am so sorry, so sorry!”, the boy started crying, feeling guilt and relief at the same time. “I shouldn’t have gone away, I missed you all a lot!”

“Sweetheart, we all missed you, too. This is not your fault, we don’t blame you. But next time, please, come to us and tell us about your feelings, don’t run away. Your dad and I will always listen to you”, his mother soothed him. “We searched for you everywhere and in all of the close towns people looked for you. And only yesterday someone told the police that they saw a blond-haired boy called Cyrus here”

“I promise, mum, from now on I will be honest with you about my feelings. But can you promise me something, too?”, the boy hesitantly asked and after a short nod continued, “Can you call me by my old nickname again?”

The woman smiled warmly and knowingly.

“Of course, my Sunshine.”

Aida’s retelling of “Rapunzel” by the Grimm Brothers explores the themes of family, gender neutrality, and child abduction. This gender-swapped rendition parts ways from the family narratives that exist in many traditional fairy tales by showcasing that oftentimes family dynamics are healthy and loving.