Heart to Heart with Mother(35)

When everyone left Bella opened her book.

◇◇◇♡♡♡◇◇◇ LITTLE SNOW WHITE cont:

Bless me!" said the woman, "how badly your stays are laced. Let me lace them up with one of my nice new laces."

Snow-White did not dream of any mischief; so she stood up before the old woman who set to work so nimbly, and pulled the lace so tightly that Snow-White lost her breath, and fell down as if she were dead.

"There's an end of all thy beauty," said the spiteful queen, and went away home.

In the evening the seven dwarfs returned; and I need not say how grieved they were to see their faithful Snow-White stretched upon the ground motionless, as if she were quite dead.

However, they lifted her up, and when they found what was the matter, they cut the lace; and in a little time she began to breathe, and soon came to herself again.

Then they said, "The old woman was the queen; take care another time, and let no one in when we are away."

When the queen got home, she went to her glass, and spoke to it, but to her surprise it replied in the same words as before.

Then the blood ran cold in her heart with spite and malice to hear that Snow-White still lived; and she dressed herself up again in a disguise, but very different from the one she wore before, and took with her a poisoned comb.

When she reached the dwarfs' cottage, she knocked at the door, and cried, "Fine wares to sell!" but Snow-White said, "I dare not let any one in."

Then the queen said, "Only look at my beautiful combs;" and gave her the poisoned one. And it looked so pretty that the little girl took it up and put it into her hair to try it; but the moment it touched her head the poison was so powerful that she fell down senseless.

"There you may lie," said the queen, and went her way.

But by good luck the dwarfs returned very early that evening; and when they saw Snow-White lying on the ground, they thought what had happened, and soon found the poisoned comb.

And when they took it away, she recovered, and told them all that had passed; and they warned her once more not to open the door to any one.

Meantime the queen went home to her glass, and trembled with rage when she received exactly the same answer as before; and she said, "Snow-White shall die, if it costs me my life."

So she went secretly into a chamber, and prepared a poisoned apple: the outside looked very rosy and tempting, but whosoever tasted it was sure to die. Then she dressed herself up as a peasant's wife, and travelled over the hills to the dwarfs' cottage, and knocked at the door; but Snow-White put her head out of the window, and said, "I dare not let any one in, for the dwarfs have told me not to."

"Do as you please," said the old woman, "but at any rate take this pretty apple; I will make you a present of it."

"No," said Snow-White, "I dare not take it."

"You silly girl!" answered the other, "what are you afraid of? do you think it is poisoned? Come! do you eat one part, and I will eat the other."

Now the apple was so prepared that one side was good, though the other side was poisoned.

Then Snow-White was very much tempted to taste, for the apple looked exceedingly nice; and when she saw the old woman eat, she could refrain no longer. But she had scarcely put the piece into her mouth when she fell down dead upon the ground.

"This time nothing will save thee," said the queen; and she went home to her glass, and at last it said--"Thou, Queen, art the fairest of all the fair." And then her envious heart was glad, and as happy as such a heart could be.

◇◇◇♡♡♡◇◇◇

While she was reading the staff came in and fed her. Gave her medication and soon she was asleep.

Zane worked late into the night. He could not get himself to go back to the penthouse or his mansion. Both remained him of Bella.

As he finished off the third bottle of scotch for the day his mother walked in.

"Go home dear and rest." his mother said.

"Do you remember the book you gave me when I went off to boarding school?" He asked.

She smiled, "Le Petit Prince by Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, yes I remember. It was to remind you to come home."

"I no longer can do that, the baobabs trees have now deep roots and have destroyed my tiny planet. I will now be lost." He sank his head down as he drank.

His mothers heart was moved, "Son would it really be that bad to marry Heather?"

"I will not fight you or father because I love Bella and her family more then life itself. I will marry Heather and treat as a member of your family but I won't ever touch her. I'll give up some sperm if you wish a grandchild. Doctors can do the rest."

She watched her son and his pain.

"Funny the other night I dreamt of three children and two grandchildren with Bella. I woke for the first time looking forward to living. Bella told me once that true love and happily ever after are only in fairytales. But for just that once I wanted her to be wrong."

"Son, go home rest. You'll see it won't be a bad life, you with Heather. She cares for you."

"I have no home to go back to the baobabs trees destroyed it. Please leave."

His mother got up to leave, we're they wrong? Would she really loose her child over an arranged marriage?

She would visit in a few days to find out. She picked up the phone, "Zane is staying at the office. Bring him clean cloths and some food please. And watch over him as you usually do."

His secretary has always taken care of him since he was a child. She would know how to help him.