As Penny grew into a young woman, her beauty intensified. Bachelor's became infatuated by her allure and news began to spread of the gorgeous young bachelorette. Although most found her looks intriguing, there was one in particular who was not impressed. The news of Penny had spread like wildfire and a woman by the name of Vicky had overheard her son, Casey, and two other young men discussing the young siren. Vicky was overcome with fury. She thought this day would never come. She sat and pondered the thought of losing her son. She decided that she would do everything in her power to make sure that Casey and Penny would never have a chance. Vicky called one of her close friends and began to spread a rumor that Penny was pregnant out of wedlock and that her family was a disgrace. Word spread quickly, and Penny's family was humiliated. Even though the rumors were false, the damage was done. They decided to take Penny to one of their vacation homes up in the mountains until things settled down. Her parents worried about her being all alone and decided to arrange a secret marriage. They found a promising young man that agreed to the secret marriage, but he asked for one favor. Penny nor anyone else could ever be made aware of his identity. He would be by her side every night, love her, provide for her, keep her safe, but before dawn he would leave and not return until nightfall. They accepted and the two wed.
At first Penny was petrified about the marriage arrangement, but after the first few days she fell in love. She didn't understand how she could feel so deeply for someone that she had never even seen, but she did nonetheless. It wasn't long before Penny's sisters found out about her secret marriage and they insisted on seeing her. Penny begged her husband to let her sister's visit and at first he resisted, but he eventually gave in to her demands. Although, he did warn her, "Penny, your sisters will try to trick you into revealing my identity. If you make that mistake I will leave your side and never return and you will live out your days in lonesome misery." Penny assured her husband she would never betray him and made arrangements for her sisters arrival.
Her sisters arrived and immediately began to question Penny. They demanded to know the identity of her husband, how he provided for her, and any other details they could think of. Penny quickly created a false identity for her husband, handed them gifts, and sent them on their way. The sisters sensed that something wasn't right in the relationship and began to plot their younger sister's demise.
Weeks later the sisters made a second trip to see their sister. Casey, again, reminded Penny that her sisters were trouble and that she must not disobey his wishes and reveal his identity. Penny, again, assured Casey that she would never betray him. Her sisters started with the usual small talk, but the conversation eventually turned to a more serious manner. They again questioned the identity of Penny's husband. Penny quickly made up another false identity and attempted to change the subject. Her sisters didn't buy into her story, and claimed that she didn't even know the identity of her own husband. Then, they began to tell lies of a dreadful man that had been spotted nearby her home. A deceitful and cunning man, that only meant her harm. They began to convince Penny that this man was her husband, and she started to believe it to be true. Her sisters advised her to hide a knife nearby at night, as well as a flashlight. They told her to take this man's life with the blade, but only after revealing his identity with the flashlight. She agreed and sent her sisters on their way.
The sun had set and Penny had her plan set. Just as her husband fell asleep she grabbed the flashlight and turned it to him, she then gasped in utter dismay. Before her very eyes was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. Shaking with fear she accidentally dropped the flashlight and awakened Casey. He was outraged. He reminded her of his warning and immediately fled the scene. Penny was distraught. She headed directly to her sisters for comfort. Her sisters welcomed her warmly until they realized why she had come to visit. She told them of her mistake, and how wrong they were about her husband. Her sisters then revealed the truth behind their intentions.
Meanwhile, word had made it back to Vicky about what happened. Vicky was livid. All of her fears had come true. Vicky sought out her son, and unleashed her wrath. She scolded her son, but saved her fury for Penny. Vicky then set out to locate Penny, all the while Penny was already searching for Casey to beg for his forgiveness. Penny decided to go to Vicky in hopes that she might get a glimpse of Casey one last time. Just as Vicky had started to threaten Penny, Casey intervened. Vicky saw a new side of Casey that day. He had finally taken a stance against his mother for something he believed in. He told his mother, "You can threaten and complain all you want mother, but it won't make a bit of difference. I've finally found someone that loves me for who I am, and I'm not willing to let that go so easily. Penny and I are in love and you can either support us and be a part of our lives, or you can spend the rest of your days in solitude." Vicky eventually came around and supported the two love birds. Although, there will always be tension in a mother-in-law, daughter-in-law relationship.
(Cupid and Psyche, by M. Simoncini)
Author's Note: Basically Cupid and Psyche is a strange and interesting love story. In a world of gods and goddesses there is a mortal girl who has immortal beauty, her name is Psyche. Her beauty does not go unnoticed and Venus, the goddess of beauty and also Cupid's mother, learns of Psyche's beauty and becomes jealous. Venus sends her son to make sure Psyche ends up living a miserable life, but Cupid has an idea of his own. Cupid secretly marries Psyche, but Psyche has to promise to never learn of his identity. Psyche ends up betraying Cupid and uncovers his identity. In the end though, they are publicly married and Psyche becomes the goddess of the soul. After reading Cupid and Psyche this week I decided that I wanted to give it a modern, comical twist to make it a little more relatable. Everyone knows mother-in-law relationships usually tend to be an issue for the wife in a new marriage. I thought it would be funny to make Vicky (Venus) a jealous mother-in-law. Penny (Psyche) and Casey (Cupid) would fall in love in a similar way, but I removed all of the gods, goddesses, suicides, and unrealistic aspects from the story to make it fit into a more modern day, real life setting.
Bibliography: This story is based on the love story Cupid and Psyche, from the Roman novel, The Golden Ass, by Apuleius, translated by Tony Kline.
I really enjoyed reading your story Monster in Law. It kind of reminded me of a mix between Rapunzel and Cinderella because of the evil sisters and the fact that Penny was kept hidden in a tower. I think you did a really good job about making it an interesting story that easily kept the readers attention. Great job, I can’t wait to read more of your stories!
ReplyDeleteProject Feedback:
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job writing this story, from description of characters to the narrative between all of the characters; it was all extremely well written and put together. I liked how you integrated the story from Cupid and Psyche , but were able to take out pieces of that stories and integrate your own. It was well put together, in a way that it relates to a more modern time. I enjoyed how you kept building the story during each paragraph, it allowed me to stay interested in the story all the through it.
I understand that the Penny’s sisters were trying their hardest to try and derail her relationship, but why were they trying to do that? Was it because they were filled with jealousy of her beauty or what was their reasoning behind tormenting their sister? That is something that you probably addressed, but I missed it. Anyways, you did a great job!
This was great! I read another re-telling of this same story this week, but I enjoyed the modern twist on yours.
ReplyDeleteI also have two sisters who are only four and three years older than me who always pressure me to get a boyfriend, because they met their husbands when they were 18 years old and I'm 21. I understand Penny's struggle with controlling sisters. But they have not asked me to kill anyone.... yet.
Was Casey trying to keep his identity secret because he knew his mother would be angry with Penny? He must be a smooth talker to convince someone to marry him without showing her his face. I know in the original story it is Cupid and he shoots himself with his arrow, which probably helps his game when it comes to the ladies. I really enjoyed that in this story he truly loves Penny and its not because of some sort of magic. That really hurt my heart whenever Psyche found out her fiancé was under a spell. I also liked how Casey stood up for Penny to his mother. It was a beautiful ending to a great story.