Once Upon Her Time

Once Upon Her Time is a collection of three mythology/fairytale adaptations that tell the tales from the female protagonists’ perspectives.

A girl looking into the mirror with her mother by her side. — Portia looking at the dress her mother made.

Once upon her time…

Portia, an angel from the cloud, lost her magical dress while attending a ceremony on the surface. Without her dress, she was unable to fly back. She met a woodcutter who helped her and fell in love.

A man and a girl sitting on a tree log in the sunset.

Peaceful days always go by so fast…

A year after their marriage, Portia accidentally found out that her husband was the one who stole her dress and manipulated her into their relationship. Upon learning the truth, she left her husband but faced misunderstandings from both other angels and the people on the surface.

“…Yesterday, I was still looking forward to attending the town fair over the weekend. I was still picking out the herbs for breakfast. I was still joking with my husband about the chicken in the backyard. But today, my husband became my captor. My home became my prison. The people who should restore justice for me cast me away. I had nowhere to go. I had nothing else to lose.”

Justice awaits…

While Portia was exiled from the cloud, her husband directed rumors against her, claiming she was a witch. Unable to get justice from both places, Portia’s anger and grief burst into a phoenix and burned down the crowd that came to execute her.

“…There I saw him again in the crowd, immense fear on his face. The man who ruined my life, the man who took everything from me over and over again. Now he just stood there, pathetic, small, like a helpless child who feared punishment. How I resented him! How I resented the suffering he brought upon me! Tears rained down from my eyes and spread into a firestorm. The pungent smell of burning wood filled the air. The flames formed a barrier around the pond, cleansing the vice and evil within.

‘Justice!’ I yelled, ‘Justice!’

When the first ray of sunlight hit the ground, everything had turned into ashes.”

The Story continues…

Once Upon Her Time is the first long-term project I’ve ever created. Fairytales and mythology stories are something that I’ve always loved throughout my life. As an imaginative (perhaps rebellious even) child, I often questioned the endings of the stories. Why does every princess story end with the two “living happily ever after”? Why does the protagonist make such decisions?

Taking inspiration from my childhood imagination and adding a hint of adult perspective, I finished the first story of this book, “Portia”. Throughout the story, Portia is the protagonist herself, full of emotions and struggles, instead of a prize won by some random “hardworking, handsome single man longing for a wife”. Hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I do!