DISCLAIMER: Only the basic plot and characters are not mine.
Author's Note: Weeeeeee! I love this stuff. I kinda got tired of "Once Upon A Psychologist" so this is a new project I started tonight. For those of you who enjoy this allow me to recommend my earlier work, a Sleeping Beauty retelling, "Spindles and Roses". Enjoy!
~~Chapter One~~
**Demeter's POV**
It was early morning. I had climbed the short flight of clay steps to the highest window to watch the sunrise over the Eastern hills. This task was becoming more and more difficult each day as I was now seven months with child and was beginning to feel the weight of my lovely burden.
I settled myself down upon a cushion and unlatched the window so as to view the dawn more clearly, and smell the fresh spring air that Persephone had breathed into being. There was still a chill in the morning air and the beads of dew on the vines encircling my window felt icy to the touch. I shifted position to accommodate my ample belly and gazed out at the horizon.
The rosy fingertips of dawn were just tracing the fringe of low clouds, setting them afire with golden edges that slowly spread throughout the mist. The clouds were heavy and had begun to rumble, in warning of the coming storm. Even the air, and gentle breeze smelt of rain. I sighed as my belly made echoing rumbles. My baby was hungry.
I glanced downward into the garden next door. Our only neighbor was an elderly woman who was something of a recluse. I had met her only once, when we first moved into this little house, when I discovered that I was with child. She had a strange passion for growing herbs and other plants in her stonewalled garden, and seemed to get along well enough by herself. We had barely exchanged nods since I had introduced myself to her on the day of our arrival.
Looking into her garden I noted tomatoes, carrots, onions, and peppers, all unnaturally large. The tomatoes were the size of my head, carrots must have ran three feet down, the onions looked like small boulders in the early morning light, and the peppers, had they been carved out, would have made boats for children. However, none of these interested me, my eyes were drawn to the little brook that ran through the back half of her garden, the brook where she grew watercress.
The long narrow leaves were dark green and would have tasted ever so good in a salad. I knew that they were not mine, and that I should not long for them, but they say that women have unusual desires for certain foods in their pregnancies and as I had never been a mother before they frightened me a little. I feared I might loose the child should I deny her this rampion.
I wished desperately that the old woman were home. If she had been I could have offered to buy some of the precious leaves. As it was, she had been gone now for over a month, and her naturally irrigated garden was tempting me. The cravings ate away at the insides of my stomach.
There was a creak of the floorboards behind me and I turned to find my husband, Fritjof, coming to lay his hand on my shoulder.
"Demeter? Are you not well?" his eyes were filled with concern.
I laid my hand on top of his, "I just wish I could have some of that rampion. If only the little woman were home so I might buy it from her."
"Are your cravings that bad? Would not something else suffice?"
I sighed, "No. My baby wants rampion." There was a few moments pause until I said quietly, "The cravings are so horrible. I fear I shall die if I do not eat some."
Frit pulled me towards him. "I will get you some."
"No, that would be stealing Frit!"
He held my face in his hands and stared into my eyes, "I will not have you or the baby suffer. I will leave a few pieces of silver on her doorstep for when she returns. Surely an elderly woman won't mind for the good of a child and it's mother!"
I looked away, "I suppose not. But you will leave payment?"
"Twice the value."
**Fritjof's POV**
I was lucky there was a full moon tonight. It enabled me to see my way. The elderly woman's house was locked so I could not pass through it to her garden.
The garden was surrounded completely by high stone walls. I threw a rope with a hook on it over the barrier and used the rope to pull myself up on.
For a few moments I sat atop the wall catching my breath. I surveyed the garden to find the watercress and while I sat, was fascinated by her ingenious irrigation system. Being the merchant I am, I'm always on the lookout for new technologies.
At last I spotted the rows of rampion and leapt off the wall to retrieve some. I squatted down beside the brook and pulled up a few handfuls. Creeping back to the rope I dropped a few coins in payment on the woman's doorstep.
I stuffed the greens into my satchel and climbed back over the wall, into my own flower garden. I was rather relieved to be done with the unpleasant chore. Somehow this just didn't feel ethical, taking vegetables from an elderly woman like this, but I knew that my wife needed them, sweet woman. I did not want her to die. For it is said that when pregnant women's peculiar cravings are not filled that the pregnancy will not run its course properly. I would not feel at ease until the woman had returned and I had explained the situation to her.
When I returned home Demeter kissed me and quickly began making a scrumptious salad with a few of our own carrots and tomatoes. When finished, she licked her fingers and said, "That's better. She isn't kicking me anymore. I knew this would help."
I smiled and we went to bed. But that was not the end of it. The next day the craving returned, and the next and the next. Every night for the next two months I scaled the old woman's wall to fetch some rampion, and every morning my wife hungered for it again.
Towards her due date Demeter became ravenous and ate everything insight. I was scaling the wall two, sometimes three times a day to relieve her pains. There was now a small basket of silver pieces at the woman's doorstep in payment, but I still felt guilty for the small sin we had committed.
Author's Note: Weeeeeee! I love this stuff. I kinda got tired of "Once Upon A Psychologist" so this is a new project I started tonight. For those of you who enjoy this allow me to recommend my earlier work, a Sleeping Beauty retelling, "Spindles and Roses". Enjoy!
~~Chapter One~~
**Demeter's POV**
It was early morning. I had climbed the short flight of clay steps to the highest window to watch the sunrise over the Eastern hills. This task was becoming more and more difficult each day as I was now seven months with child and was beginning to feel the weight of my lovely burden.
I settled myself down upon a cushion and unlatched the window so as to view the dawn more clearly, and smell the fresh spring air that Persephone had breathed into being. There was still a chill in the morning air and the beads of dew on the vines encircling my window felt icy to the touch. I shifted position to accommodate my ample belly and gazed out at the horizon.
The rosy fingertips of dawn were just tracing the fringe of low clouds, setting them afire with golden edges that slowly spread throughout the mist. The clouds were heavy and had begun to rumble, in warning of the coming storm. Even the air, and gentle breeze smelt of rain. I sighed as my belly made echoing rumbles. My baby was hungry.
I glanced downward into the garden next door. Our only neighbor was an elderly woman who was something of a recluse. I had met her only once, when we first moved into this little house, when I discovered that I was with child. She had a strange passion for growing herbs and other plants in her stonewalled garden, and seemed to get along well enough by herself. We had barely exchanged nods since I had introduced myself to her on the day of our arrival.
Looking into her garden I noted tomatoes, carrots, onions, and peppers, all unnaturally large. The tomatoes were the size of my head, carrots must have ran three feet down, the onions looked like small boulders in the early morning light, and the peppers, had they been carved out, would have made boats for children. However, none of these interested me, my eyes were drawn to the little brook that ran through the back half of her garden, the brook where she grew watercress.
The long narrow leaves were dark green and would have tasted ever so good in a salad. I knew that they were not mine, and that I should not long for them, but they say that women have unusual desires for certain foods in their pregnancies and as I had never been a mother before they frightened me a little. I feared I might loose the child should I deny her this rampion.
I wished desperately that the old woman were home. If she had been I could have offered to buy some of the precious leaves. As it was, she had been gone now for over a month, and her naturally irrigated garden was tempting me. The cravings ate away at the insides of my stomach.
There was a creak of the floorboards behind me and I turned to find my husband, Fritjof, coming to lay his hand on my shoulder.
"Demeter? Are you not well?" his eyes were filled with concern.
I laid my hand on top of his, "I just wish I could have some of that rampion. If only the little woman were home so I might buy it from her."
"Are your cravings that bad? Would not something else suffice?"
I sighed, "No. My baby wants rampion." There was a few moments pause until I said quietly, "The cravings are so horrible. I fear I shall die if I do not eat some."
Frit pulled me towards him. "I will get you some."
"No, that would be stealing Frit!"
He held my face in his hands and stared into my eyes, "I will not have you or the baby suffer. I will leave a few pieces of silver on her doorstep for when she returns. Surely an elderly woman won't mind for the good of a child and it's mother!"
I looked away, "I suppose not. But you will leave payment?"
"Twice the value."
**Fritjof's POV**
I was lucky there was a full moon tonight. It enabled me to see my way. The elderly woman's house was locked so I could not pass through it to her garden.
The garden was surrounded completely by high stone walls. I threw a rope with a hook on it over the barrier and used the rope to pull myself up on.
For a few moments I sat atop the wall catching my breath. I surveyed the garden to find the watercress and while I sat, was fascinated by her ingenious irrigation system. Being the merchant I am, I'm always on the lookout for new technologies.
At last I spotted the rows of rampion and leapt off the wall to retrieve some. I squatted down beside the brook and pulled up a few handfuls. Creeping back to the rope I dropped a few coins in payment on the woman's doorstep.
I stuffed the greens into my satchel and climbed back over the wall, into my own flower garden. I was rather relieved to be done with the unpleasant chore. Somehow this just didn't feel ethical, taking vegetables from an elderly woman like this, but I knew that my wife needed them, sweet woman. I did not want her to die. For it is said that when pregnant women's peculiar cravings are not filled that the pregnancy will not run its course properly. I would not feel at ease until the woman had returned and I had explained the situation to her.
When I returned home Demeter kissed me and quickly began making a scrumptious salad with a few of our own carrots and tomatoes. When finished, she licked her fingers and said, "That's better. She isn't kicking me anymore. I knew this would help."
I smiled and we went to bed. But that was not the end of it. The next day the craving returned, and the next and the next. Every night for the next two months I scaled the old woman's wall to fetch some rampion, and every morning my wife hungered for it again.
Towards her due date Demeter became ravenous and ate everything insight. I was scaling the wall two, sometimes three times a day to relieve her pains. There was now a small basket of silver pieces at the woman's doorstep in payment, but I still felt guilty for the small sin we had committed.