Home on the Range The Disney Chronicles: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

A Special Sort of Death

In the creepy lab, the Witch stirred the cauldron with a huge bone while the raven looked. And poor Becky still had a neck cuff with a chain around her neck. The Witch cackled a little.

"Boil, cauldron, boil. Boil, cauldron, boil!" she said.

The liquid in the cauldron was yellow and smoke shaped like skulls appeared out of it.

"Death within thy depths I see, for one who dares to rival me." The Witch held a test tube with blue liquid. She dropped the liquid in the cauldron and it became blue. "Brew the magic recipe, boil, cauldron, BOIL!" she yelled, and a large cloud of smoke appeared.

She grabbed an ordinary apple attached on a string and dipped it inside the brew. "Dip the apple in the brew. Let the Sleeping Death seep through!"

She drew the apple back and it was covered in the strange brew. She wickedly smiled at it. And suddenly, the apple had a skull on the front. "Look! On the skin! The symbol of what lies within," she said.

The raven covered himself with his wings in fear. Becky also couldn't help but feel frightened when she saw the skull-shaped apple.

"Now, turn red..." And then the apple became as red as blood. "...to tempt Snow White. To make her hunger for a bite," the Witch said and chuckled.

The disguised Queen looked at the raven and showed him the apple. "Have a bite?"

The raven got scared and tried to get away from the apple. The Witch chuckled a little and pulled it away from the bird. But then... She looked at her cow prisoner. Tension began to rise for Becky when the Witch came closer, and like lightning, she quickly showed her the apple.

"How about you? Have a bite?!" the Witch asked.

When Becky saw it, she screamed in terror and tried to escape, but the chain and collar around her neck made it impossible. The old hag brought it closer to her to frighten her even more. She cackled in amusement at the sight.

"It's not for you. It's for Snow White," the Witch said with venom in her words.

"Why? Why do you want to kill your own stepdaughter? Whatever did she do to you?" Becky asked, trying to reason with the Witch.

"Oh, she did plenty of wrong in my eyes. She stole my beauty," the Witch said.

"Is that what's so important to you? Being beautiful for everyone and everyone, who's more beautiful than you, dies?" Becky asked.

"Yes. My radiance is the only light this kingdom needs," the Witch answered.

"And you wanna prove that by disguising yourself as an ugly witch and killing her with an apple?"

"I won't stay ugly for long, once I erase Snow White and every animal that dares to challenge me from the face of the planet."

"It won't work."

The Witch's eyes went wide. "What did you say?"

"I said it won't work. Subjects don't praise their queen for their beauty, it's the things they do like kindness, loyalty, and bravery. And with the way you described your stepdaughter earlier, I think she has proven to be more queen in her personality than you in your body," said Becky.

The Witch felt challenged and insulted. "You dare to challenge a queen?" she said with hate and rage in her voice.

She grabbed the chain and brought Becky closer to her frightening face which made the raven caw loudly. Her horrifying green eyes staring into the soul of the cow. "I would kill you right this instant for such an insult!"

Becky still felt a bit frightened by the sight of the Witch, but she kept a straight face. "But that can wait," the Witch said and released the chain. "I have great plans for your friends. Their beauty is evenly matched with Snow White's."

"My friends will stop you," Becky said.

"Your friends won't ever recognize me, and neither will Snow White," the Witch said.

The Witch looked at the apple. "Just imagine. When she breaks the tender peel to taste the apple in my hand, her breath will still, her blood congeal. THEN I'll BE FAIREST IN THE LAND!" She cackled very loudly, which made Becky tremble in fear. But then the Witch stopped cackling because she thought of something. "But wait!"

Becky then became very interested when she heard that and even more with what the Witch was about to say next. The Witch was in deep thought. "There may be an antidote. Nothing must be overlooked."

The Witch walked towards her book and went through a few pages until she found what she feared. "Oh! Here it is!"

"Well, well, well. It's seems there might be a chance to stop your plan, after all," Becky said with a smirk.

"SILENCE!" the Witch snarled angrily.

Then the Witch read the Poison Apple Antidote. "The Victim of the Sleeping Death can be revived only by Love's First Kiss."

"Just a kiss from the one you love? Is that possible?" Becky asked herself.

"Love's First Kiss," the Witch said like she didn't believe there was such a thing. "Bah!" She closed the entire book while she laughed.

Becky was uncomfortable again and the Witch looked at her again. "No fear of that. The dwarfs and the animals will think she's dead. She'll BE BURIED ALIVE!" And with that, the Witch cackled very loud and evilly.

The raven hid behind a skull while the Witch placed the apple in a basket with green apples and normal apples. She cackled even more and grabbed the basket. Then she walked towards Becky and opened the lock for the chain. She grabbed it and pulled Becky with her like a dog on a leash.

"Come along, dearie," the Witch said.

"No. Let me go!" Becky said while she tried to break free without success.

The Witch still kept cackling while she dragged Becky towards a trapdoor on the floor. The raven watched from behind the skull.

"BURIED ALIVE!" the Witch yelled and cackled while she closed the trapdoor slowly. The Witch and Becky went deeper into the dungeons to the catacombs. She opened a cell with a key. She threw Becky inside it and attached the chain to a wall again. She still cackled and locked the cell door while putting the key in her pocket.

"You'll never get out, not even to warn those friends of yours. There's a possibility that you're going to die in this cell," the Witch said while chuckling and then she looked at a skeleton on the ground. It looked like he was trying to grab the empty jug of water that was also on the ground. Becky saw it, too, and cringed in shock.

"Thirsty? HAVE A DRINK!" she said, and she kicked the jug into the skeleton, smashing it to pieces. The Witch cackled even more while a little spider appeared out of the jug.

Becky became even more frightened. The Witch went into a raft and used a large stick to steer it.

"Wait! NO! You can't do this!" Becky shouted while shaking the bars, but the Witch didn't answer back. She was gone while Becky was all alone in a dark and creepy cell that could possibly mean her death. She feared that thought.

She sat with her haunches on the cold floor, looking down. "No. My friends. They're somewhere out there and there's nothing I can do to help. I'm sorry, Maggie." And then she cried softly into her hooves. Never in her life had she felt so helpless and scared.

Outside, in the darkness of the night, the Witch emerged from the catacombs and steered the boat towards the shore. It was very misty that you couldn't see anything else, but it was no match for the Witch. She popped out of a bunch of reeds and went further on her way to face the one who dared to rival her.

I hope our dear girl and animal heroes will be fine.