“Ah..the day has come, for me to wed thee,” Psyche says to her future husband, Leo, as they wake up from their warm slumber. She is facing him, lying on his chest.
“Ha ha! You’re such a sucker for old-school love stories,” Leo laughs playfully.
“Well, you know how much I love Shakespeare. That’s how we bonded, remember? Young and innocent children, working in a play for school. Shakespeare’s famous Romeo and Juliet!” She jumps out of bed, twirling and reaching for near and far.
“Hmm…yeah…those were the good ol’ days..” He reminisces, watching his fiancee twirling around. As she is about to turn his way and reach for him, he jumps up and grabs her right hand, pulling her in close to him.
Their faces meet inches away…he kisses her forehead. “Now, my love, we shall prepare for the celebration tonight!”
She touches Leo’s chest, nearly pushing him away, “Wait..have you heard from Aro?”
He looks at her with his head cocked to the side in confusion. “You know what? No. I’m sure he’ll be at the reception. Now quick, we don’t have much time!”
It is already 8 o’clock, so they get dressed and head out to the church and the venue to prep for the afternoon ceremony and evening reception.
It is now 11 o’clock and Psyche is preparing for the ceremony in one of the dressing rooms in the church. She is accompanied by her mother, Pamela, her two sisters, Prim and Piper, and her grandmother, Penelope. Piper finishes up Psyche's hair and make-up, in slight tears. “My goodness...you make such a beautiful bride...”
(Wedding Preparation, Bride's ring. Flickr.)
“Oh stop! You just did my make-up. Don’t make me cry!” Psyche cries to Piper as she pushes her left shoulder playfully.
Pamela comes up to Psyche, brushing her left cheek lightly. “You really are beautiful…how proud I am of you.” They are all crying tears of joy, fanning their faces trying not to let their make-up run. Pamela then helps her put on her dress and as she is tightening the back seams...
THE DOORS SLAM OPEN…”Where is Psyche?!?” a man with a mask yells. Four other men accompany him with weapons.
“Ahhh!” The women scream in horror. The man that spoke sees Psyche, goes and grabs her right forearm. “Noo!” Her mother screams as she tries to pull her back from him. The other men come by and yank her off of Psyche and stand in front of each woman, preventing them from saving her.
The weapons were only used as threats.
“Let’s go!” the man yells at his comrades. They disappear into the night…
Psyche cries and screams, “LEOOOOOOOO! LEOOOOOOO!!!” They finally muffle her with a napkin dabbed with a sleeping chemical. She passes out.
~~~
In horror, her mother runs up to Leo, "Psyche's been kidnapped!!! Leo, please find her!!"
Leo runs out of the dressing room and out to the parking lot of the church. He's searching and screaming. “PSYCHEEEE! Where have you gone?!?!” He begins to run, not thinking about driving or anything. He just runs and runs, screaming out her name.
Wherever Psyche may be, she is still screaming and crying out for Leo as well.
As they do this, one mysterious passer-by, near Leo, is pointing a gun towards him and he shoots him!
Psyche jolts up from her bed and looks to her left…it is still Leo; it was just a dream or nightmare. Alive and well, she realizes that the man who kidnapped and ‘killed’ Leo was none other than Aro, their best friend. Without a sound, she bolts out of the house to visit Penelope.
“Grandma! I have something to tell and ask of you!” She runs towards the front door.
“What is it, my dear?” Penelope comes out, with arms wide open. They hug and she leads Psyche to the couch. As Penelope sits, Psyche falls to her knees in tears.
She explains the dream to Penelope, "What should I do now?"
Penelope tells her that it is only a nightmare. “Though the kidnapping occurred, nightmares are usually the opposite in real life. Something worse is usually something better in real life. So don’t fret, my child. It was just a nightmare.”
Two years have passed and Psyche is now with child. She could no longer bear the torment of her nightmare of Leo dying, over and over again. She left him for someone else.
Leaving her past behind, she is now faced with some troublesome issues, to please her mother-in-law, Venus. Psyche has upset Venus quite well and doesn't know what to do. Because of this, she heads to the church and prays with all of her might!
She begins her prayer, “Dear Gods and Goddesses of this world, please hear my prayer in hopes that I can please my mother-in-law. She is beautiful and can be kind, filled with bountiful spirit! I am with child and do not want to upset her further. I don't know what to do. Please help me…I will do anything to earn her praise.” Two angels, Ceres and Juno, appear as she prays her prayer. They hear her prayer and can only tell her, “It is up to Venus to forgive. You must let fate take its course. We can only watch over your child to see it well.” They come to touch her belly and pray for them both.
“You will have troubled times and good times. With this new life it is only but a challenge that you must accept.”
Author's Note: I chose to write about Apuleius's Cupid & Psyche: Her Dream & Psyche's Prayer. 'Her Dream' referenced a woman's dream of her being kidnapped, but rather than just being kidnapped and crying out for her lover, she dreamt of him being stoned to death by a stranger. She tried to tell a lady of the dream because she was afraid of it. The lady then told her of the story of Psyche and gave her advice on what dreams and nightmares mean. In the end, she comforts her in her distress. As for 'Psyche's Prayer,' she is trying to avoid Venus, Cupid's mother; Venus isn't very happy with her, but because Psyche is pregnant and already married to Cupid, she asks Ceres and Juno for help and advice as they are Goddesses that know Venus well. Though she asks them, they cannot help her after all.
The style of writing I chose is my usual narrative and dialogue. I feel that dialogue is important to showcase the actions and emotions of these characters. I chose these two to intermingle, because life sometimes gives us all challenges, and no matter how much we pray or cry out, we will still be tested and tried. All we can do is overcome these challenges, with the help of our loved ones and just those who support us most. It was quite difficult to write since I am fairly new to creative writing and what this class offers as well as the limitations I have in wording, it makes for a brief story. I wanted more depth with a still meaningful plot between the two shorts, so I hope it is conveyed.
Bibliography: Apuleius's Cupid & Psyche translated by Tony Kline,
link to reading.
