The Yielding

Once upon a time, there was a girl of most unattractive beauty, with a willful spirit, and a naughty personality. Her antics led her into trouble at every turn. She was without friend, pushing everyone around her away by her unpleasant actions and her unyielding penchant for causing harm. She would not listen to a soul, whether they were right or wrong, she could think only of herself. Her family despaired of her ever finding true happiness, so alarming was her behavior.

One day, while dancing naked in the wood, as was her dirty secret, she came upon a handsome wood sprite who became enchanted by her vulgar display. He asked the girl why she was dancing naked there, touching herself, and rubbing her body on all of the nature around her, as though these objects were a substitute lover. “Because,” she answered. “No one loves me at all. I am far too ugly to be looked at and I can’t make myself behave. So the trees become my man, and the wind his touch. The rain is his manhood and I take it into me, imagining that he is filling me with his lust.”

The sprite was overwhelmed by her honesty and sultry actions, and so he bore her to the ground. “You are now mine,” he whispered. “You will take all of me into you and I will transform you body and soul.” And so the girl, bearing his body upon her own, welcomed him in as though she had known him forever. Their coupling was fast and rough, and as they came together, the girl was instantly under his spell.

She woke hours later beside a cool stream alone. Leaning over the water to drink, she was amazed to see her reflection, and to find her self quite changed. Gone were her plain features. Gone the crooked nose and thin lined mouth. Gone the flat dull eyes and straggled hair. She had blossomed into a rose in the first bud of its beauty. Flaxen hair, clear face, aquiline features and fuller lips were topped by crystalline eyes that seemed unfinished.

The sprite had set a spell upon her, one that had changed her inner spirit outward. The girl was suddenly shamed by her nakedness, fearing discovery by someone in the wood. Fleeing for home, she darted from tree to tree, but found she was unable to avoid passers by. The formerly empty wood was suddenly filled with onlookers of all sorts. People who never before would have given her a second look, were suddenly surrounding her and staring at this naked girl.

Just as the girl dropped to her knees and buried her face in her hands, a hunter rode up on his horse, a large band of men surrounded her, as though she were their prey and they had caught her scent. The leader of this band of men reached down and pulled her up on his horse. The man looked down at her in amazement. “I must have you,” he declared before galloping speedily away.

The girl tried her best to form a reply, some sort of glib remark or forceful protest, but found she could not speak at all. She thought to fight him off with her bare fists, but found her arms useless for anything other than holding him tightly around the waist.

After some time they arrived at a darkened castle, their way illuminated by a single dim torch. Trees surrounded the castle, burying it in their foliage. The girl was sure she had been here before, the wafting scent of the trees familiar to her senses.

The man carried her through a door unlike any she had seen before, the wood rich and velvety, the grain almost reaching out to touch her as though it were alive. Upon the other side, light burst into her eyes like an exploding star. She could hear birds singing and the noises of the forest were soothing as old friends.

The man lay her on a carpet of deepest brown that smelled of the earth she frolicked with. He stood above her, gazing at her beautiful body. Her mind warred with her, calling her to come back, yet warning her to stay where she was. The girl was comforted by both thoughts.

“Turn over,” the man suddenly ordered. Startled by his tone, the girl tried to refuse, but her body moved of its own will, turning away from the man to lay on her stomach. As she turned she realized she was once again near a pool of sparkling water. In the dazzling light, she could clearly see her reflection. Again she saw changes in her appearance. Her beauty had grown stronger; more marked and stunning were her features.

“Get on your hands and knees,” ordered the man, his tone brooking no refusal. Surprised by her immediate reaction, the girl quickly moved to assume the position. Again her reflection changed. Again she became more beautiful, her lips filling lusciously, her breasts fuller and softer.

The girl’s thoughts were in a spin, turning this way and that between acceptance and refusal. She found acceptance to be the more soothing this time.

The man came behind her, putting his hands all over her body, touching and caressing gently, pulling and pinching roughly, hitting her upon her backside, her legs, her tenderest parts. And yest she remained where she was, never moving a single inch. The man pushed her face closer to the water as he entered her from behind, searing her body with his fullness. He continued to batter her legs and arms with his fists. He pulled her hair and twisted her nipples roughly as he ravished her from behind. She made no sound. She remained perfectly still, until the man was fully sated. He fell to the floor next to her, but still she remained unmoving, staring into the pool as her reflection continued to change. Her eyes were now more focused, their centers turning shapes and colors, as though flowers were growing within them. Her cheeks had bloomed with rose, and her lips were glistening in the light. Her brow was raised, her face a sheen of ecstasy.

How long she remained on her hands and knees, she did not know. For many hours the performance was repeated. The man would come upon her and use her body in crueler and more devious ways. And still the girl remained.

The sun never changed it’s position; casting light over the castle and the pool. The girl’s eyes never left her reflection as she watched her face become incomparably beautiful until she could no longer bear to gaze upon it.

As soon as she turned away from the pool, her body relaxed and she fell onto the floor next to the man, now deeply asleep. She closed her eyes and pictured the sprite she had met that morning, dancing in the woods with her old self. For the first time since her adventure had begun, she had thoughts of escaping, running away to that place, to be with the handsome sprite.

Looking over at the man, she was stunned to realize that she was alone again,  in the middle of the wood where she had danced. The trees above her were the same, but the sky had changed, and the sun had gone. Rising up on her elbow, she looked round for the pool, but it had disappeared. In its place was her sprite, sleeping peacefully, his hand on her ankle. Her body bore marks of her experience, scratches and lashes, and bruises were everywhere upon her, but they caused her no discomfort.

Reaching out to touch his face, the girl lightly stoked his cheek until he began to stir.

“Please…can you tell me what has happened to me?” the girl asked him.

“You are mine, now,” he answered. “I have captured you and you spirit forever.”

“But I am much changed,” replied the girl. “I am beautiful now.”

“You were always beautiful,” he said. “Only no one could see it when you were unfavorable.”

“I do not want to be ugly again,” the girl said. “I want to be still and quiet and have things done to me that have never been done.”

“I will see to that,” said the sprite, and before her eyes, he transformed back into the man from the castle.

Taking the girl by the hand, he lifted her up into his arms once again and carried her away with him into the sun. From that day on, her beauty increased alongside her submission, as she learned to be giving and to accept great love.

And the two lived happily together forever.

Emily