I Hate When They Call Me Snow White

“I can’t just stay in the cabin forever,” I shouted, as I stamped my foot down.

I was in the midst of fighting with Doc about my state of house arrest.

“It’s for your safety,” Doc said calmly.

I could never rile Doc up the way I wanted too. The only person who could was Grumpy, who was currently standing by the door with his hood pulled up on his head and his face brooding.

“If she wants to come, let her,” Grumpy said, clearly irritated by my constant whining.

“Yeah,” I said, crossing my arms.

“It’s her head she’s risking,” he muttered.

“Yeah,” I said, before understanding his implication.

Doc glared at both of us and firmly responded.

“No.”

He saw by the winding up of my body that I was getting ready for another round of fighting.

“Arabella,” he began, I still wasn’t used to him calling me by my real name, “you have to understand what we’re dealing with.”

He came and took my hands in his own.

“I understand that someone named the Huntsman is hunting me for my evil stepmother so she can kill me and take control of the kingdom forever until there’s nothing left,” I paused, “but you can’t expect me to stay in here forever.”

Doc smiled at my ludicrous argument.

“Not forever,” he placated, “Just for a bit longer until we find out a little more information.”

I opened my mouth to say something, but he cut me off again.

“You’re apart of this family and we’d never forgive ourselves if you were hurt,” Doc said sincerely.

I frowned. He was guilting me into submission.

“Fine,” I muttered, “but this can’t last forever!”

“It’s only been five days,” Stealthy called out from his perch.

“Come along, boys,” Doc called, before I could snap back.

He was forever cutting me off.

All of the men, except Dopey, filed out with a wave in my direction. Doc said Dopey should stay with me for protection, but it was mostly a convenience for the rest of the men. Recently Dopey had begun to behave like a cat and it was distracting to try make sure he kept up with the group when he was crawling around and licking himself.

I looked out of the window and watched the men disappear into the woods. I don’t know how long I sat there watching the empty forest, but eventually Dopey crawled up next to me and bumped his head against my legs. When I looked down, he meowed.

I leaned down to pet the small of tuft of hair on the top of his head.

"Do you want some milk" I asked quietly.

He meowed again and nodded his head. I smiled. Dopey, in many ways, was like a child. He was close in age as the others, but only physically. Dopey was not from the same village as the rest of the dwarfs. He was discovered on a hill right outside the village by Doc's father late one night. He had been abandoned by his own people, in a small basket.

He was obviously a sickly baby, but Doc's family took him in and cared for him as if he was one of their own. Eventually he became healthy again, but his mind would always be different.

Although Doc was only a bit older than Dopey, he took care of Dopey as if Dopey were his own child. All of the men did. Dopey, for all his differences, had the kindest heart of anyone I'd ever met.

I went to the kitchen to find his special bowl. It was a blue porcelain bowl with a sparrow painted on the front. I had found it a few weeks ago in the market, and he took a fancy to it.

I rummaged around the cupboards, knowing the men were prone to moving things around, despite my insistence on the effectiveness of organization.

"Where is your bowl, Dopey" I asked my pseudo-cat friend.

He meowed and pointed outside.

I laughed a little. Sometimes he took his bowl outside to share with the small animals who lived nearby. They loved him as well.

I opened the door and ventured into the sun, looking for the bowl.

I hadn't been outside for more than five minutes at a time in the last few days, to go to the bathroom or bathe, so I stood for a bit just to enjoy the sun.

I started humming and twirling my arms softly. Dopey began to dance as well as a cat could, I guess. I closed my eyes and lifted my arms to the sky. Then I began to sing the lullaby my mother sang to me as a girl.

Come away, O human child
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
For the world's more full of weeping
Than you can understand.

Where the wave of moonlight glosses
The dim grey sands with light
By far off furthest Rosses
We foot it all the night
Weaving olden dances
Mingling hands and mingling glances
Till the moon has taken flight
To and fro we leap
And chase the frothy bubbles
Whilst the world is full of troubles
And is anxious in its sleep.

I stopped singing when I heard Dopey's shuffling stop. The forest had suddenly gone quiet. The birds had stopped singing and all the animals froze. I opened my eyes to find Dopey, wide-eyed and staring past my head. I felt alarm pierce my chest. I didn't have any weapons around me. No one had ever found the cabin before...but then again, no one had ever gone looking.

I turned around slowly, keeping my fists clenched by side and my face stoic.

And there he stood.

He was tall. Too tall. He had a at least a foot on me and about one-hundred more pounds, it looked.

I couldn't see his face, as it was covered by a cloak, but I felt his gaze.

I willed my voice to come, but my throat was dry. I opened my mouth but a strange choking sound came out instead.

He still hadn't moved or indicated his identity, but I knew who he was.

Finally, I pulled myself together long enough to ask forcefully.

"Who are you?"

He didn't answer. He didn't even move. He just continued to stand there, staring at me with invisible eyes.

"Show yourself," I demanded.

Then in one smooth motion, he lifted the hood off his head and the sun lit up his face dramatically.

His hair was a bright bronze, it glowed in the morning sun. It was long and shaggy, coming up to right under his chin.

The next thing I saw were a pair of silver eyes so electric, I felt a shock run through my body.

And then I saw the scar. I'm surprised it wasn't the first thing I noticed. It was a big white jagged line that ran from the top of his face to the edge of his lip. It didn't look like a knife wound, but something much cruder.

I watched his eyes scan over my face and body. I would've been irritated by his blatant perusal, but I couldn't manage to feel anything besides dread.

Courage, Arabella, have courage. I thought to myself.

I decided to play stupid and perhaps trick him into thinking that I was not who he was looking for.

"Why are you here?" I asked as calmly as I could, trying to keep the quivering fear out of my throat.

He was silent before answering, "I am looking for the Princess."

I felt my body clench in fear, but I managed to keep my face clear.

"The princess?" I sneered, "that hoity toity bitch wouldn't climb down her ivory pedestal even if someone offered her a mountain of gold," I said, purposely swearing.

Princesses weren't supposed to indulge in vulgarity, right?

He didn't respond, but simply stared.

I suddenly felt something by my hand and nearly jumped five feet in the air. I looked down to see Dopey, who looked at me apologetically and meowed softly.
I pet his head softly and offered him a tight smile.

I looked up to find the Huntsman's gaze locked on the hand I had on Dopey's head.

"My son," I offered.

To this, he looked back into my eyes and I tried not to shiver. He lifted an eyebrow as if to question my sanity.

I always knew that I looked young for my age, but I had hoped that my recent weight gain would help me achieve a more womanly appearance, as opposed to a young boy.

I didn't offer anymore information, but continued our impromptu staring contest.

Finally, I asked him another question.

"Why are you looking for the princess?"

I had meant for it to come out as curious, but instead it was low and intense.

Something in his eyes shifted, they became a bit darker, but they never wavered.

He took a step towards me and Dopey began to growl. I was slightly surprised about how real it sounded.

The Huntsman paused at the sound and looked back at me with humor in his eyes as if to say,"Do you really think that will stop me?"

He took another step towards me and I fought my instincts to turn and run for the house.

"The Queen is looking for her," he said, his voice rich and deep.

"Why" I whispered, mostly to myself.

At this, he paused. He was no more than arms length away from me. I had to raise my head to look him in the eye, but I didn't see what the point was. His eyes were blocked and impenetrable.

He continued to stare at me and then he said just as softly, "She wants her heart."

I felt said organ squeeze in my chest and then begin to beat so rapidly I thought maybe he could hear it.

A stray wind blew past, blowing my hair in my eyes, and blocking me from his gaze momentarily. The only thing that rivaled my increased fear was my anger at said fear. With that wind, I felt the comforting presence of...something. Something was telling me to be brave and I felt something shift inside of me as I looked back into his eyes. I felt my fear dissolve as anger took its place.

I lifted my chin and hardened my voice. Without speaking any louder than he, I made my choice.

"You'll have to bring her my heart cold and lifeless, because you'll have to kill me to get me any farther than where I stand now."

For the first time I saw emotion flicker across his face. Shock.

Not at my identity, or even my statement, but at the utter conviction it had been said. Perhaps he had expected me to grovel or cower. I was proud at myself for not doing either.

And in an instant it was gone. I was most likely going to die, but I would go down bravely.

His eyes continued to rake across my face as he weighed the seriousness of my declaration. He was scanning for weaknesses and just as I thought of one his eyes landed on the growling dwarf crouched by my side.

Before I could even take another breath, the Huntsman lunged and grabbed Dopey. The next thing I knew he was holding my small friend against his chest with a knife pointed to Dopey’s neck.

I felt a panic like nothing else explode inside of me, and I couldn't think of anything besides keeping Dopey safe. Not being brave, not my own life, not the safety of the kingdom, nothing but the little cat struggling and clawing at the steel arms of my own personal devil.

"Stop," I cried, reaching for them out of instinct.

He pushed the edge of the knife a little harder into Dopey's neck, creating a menacing shadow. Dopey kept moving and looking at me with panic.

"Go to the edge of the woods, and I'll let him free," he said quietly.

There was no emotion behind his eyes. No triumph, no pity, no malice.

Without hesitation I slowly backed up to the edge of the woods, never taking my eyes off the knife that held Dopey.

"Tell him to stay" the Huntsman ordered again, slowly moving the knife away as I stopped at the edge, far away from them.

I felt tears threatening to spill as I looked at Dopey’s small frame. He was always smaller than the others.

"Dopey," I called out.

He stilled at his name and looked at me worriedly.

"You mustn't run after me," I said, with a quivering voice, "When he puts you down do you not come after us. Do you understand? Do not fight."

I saw the confused sadness cloud his eyes as tears began to spill down his face and on the Huntsman's arm.

I blinked away the tears and stood a bit taller, feigning strength.

"Dopey, do you understand? Do not fight." I said with force.

Dopey slowly nodded his head and meowed softly, tears still streaming down his cheeks.

I looked to the Huntsman and nodded. He slowly released his hold on the no longer struggling Dopey and began to walk towards me.

Dopey began to meow and crawl in a circle, staring at me.

"I'll be okay," I said, trying to smile.

The Huntsman was next to me now. He had paused a few inches away from me. I could feel the heat radiating off of him and I tried not to cringe.

I began to turn around but paused once more to face Dopey.

"Tell them I love them, tell Doc that I love them and thank you," I said, feeling a ball forming in my chest.

I knew Dopey wouldn't be able to relay this message, but I felt like I needed to say it. I needed to say it out loud to the house that had become my home.

With little hesitation I turned around and walked through the woods with the Huntsman behind me, sealing my fate and my impending death.