An Open Letter to Snow White
Dear Snow,
You probably don't remember me.
I'm the last dwarf- Silence.
Doesn't really roll off the tongue like the others,
you know.
Now when my brothers first brought you home,
I was so excited to have
someone to call my sister. I've always
wanted one of those.
But as soon as I saw the look in their eyes,
I knew exactly what they were thinking.
A pretty girl means she's pretty nice
and if she's pretty nice, she's pretty trusting,
and if she's pretty trusting she's pretty easy-
to over power.
I can still feel the ringing of
broken vocal cords head. I covered
my ears to drown out your screams. I so desperately
wanted to help and
yet
I froze.
Terrified that if I tried
anything,
I would be next.
Over the next few weeks, I watched
as you hid your sorrow in your work,
trying desperately to ignore
the unwanted markings that littered your arms,
but as we all know
the fairer the skin
the harder it is to hide the bruises.
I watched as you
scrubbed the floors
until your fingers
bled
red.
Red like anger.
Red like passion,
like lust,
like fury,
like...bravery.
Which you had so much more of
than I did.
I listened to you cry.
I listened to you weep
until the willows gave up on their mourning
and took part in yours.
I watched as you
withered away into
nothing
more than a husk of the girl
I once knew. Watched as sorrow
craved its way into you as you
begged for your prince charming to come,
but no one listened.
This is not a fairy tale.
This is learning to kill a
mockingbird. And when I saw
the scars on your wrists, I knew the
end was near and yet
I
did
nothing.
Your story is flawed,
but you know this.
For the witch did not trick you.
Rather
you willing walked into death's embrace
because the thought of dying
was more bearable
than staying here
another
second.
So here I stand on
the anniversary
of your death.
I can't stay much longer.
The others will
be looking for me.
So,
high ho,
high ho,
I dearly miss you Snow.
High ho,
high ho,
I wish I'd told
them
no.