"Oh, honey! It's so good to see y- Oh my goodness! What on earth happened to your shoulder?" Cupid's mother, Venus, exclaimed.
Cupid's shoulder was wrapped tightly with thick white bandages and held in a sling.
He hung his head and sighed before replying, "well, Psyche and I got into a bit of an argument and I accidentally bumped into the cabinet. I apparently managed to hit it just hard enough to knock off a candle that had been lit all day and the hot wax spilled all over my shoulder. Since I was so angry with Psyche, I didn't let her help me and the wound got worse."
"That's awful my sweet son! I warned you not to marry a worthless and cruel woman like Psyche!" Venus said hotly.
"No, no, mother. It wasn't anyone's fault. We just had a slight misunderstanding!" Cupid claimed.
"Fine. Fine. Go get some sleep and rest that injured arm of yours," Venus demanded.
Ever Since Cupid and Psyche secretly got married against Venus's wishes, she had held a grudge against Psyche. She was determined to think that Psyche was only after Cupid's vast inheritance and had no real life skills for herself.
*Knock knock knock*
"Who on earth could that be?" Venus wondered.
As she opened the door, a scowl instantly took over her face. Standing on Venus's front porch was Psyche begging to come in a see her husband.
"How dare you show up at my home after causing my poor son so much pain!" Venus snarled at Psyche.
"I'm so sorry, Venus! I never meant for Cupid to get hurt. I just got a little heated at him because he never wants to spend any time with me during the day! I just sit at home alone with absolutely nothing to do!" Psyche pleaded. "Please. May I see him?"
"Until you can prove to me that you are a woman deserving of my son's love, you may not see Cupid! If you can successfully complete three tasks that I give you, than I will leave you and Cupid alone and you two can live a happy life together without fear of my interference," Venus told Psyche coldly.
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| (Cupid and Psyche from Wikimedia Commons) |
Authors Note: For this week's storytelling assignment, I chose to take a spin off of four of the chapters from the Cupid and Psyche Unit. In the story, Cupid and Psyche are a married couple and Cupid only comes to see Psyche at night when she cannot see him. When Psyche decides one night to ignite a lamp and finally see her husband's face, she is drawn to his handsomeness and accidentally burns his shoulder with the lamp as she kisses him. I decided to switch this story around a bit and make it a little more modern and have the burn that causes Cupid to go to his mother, Venus's, home to come from a candle burn. Also like in the story, Venus holds much hatred for Psyche. In the original version, Venus is thrilled to see Psyche arrive at her doorstep so that she can torture her with impossible tasks. In my version, I have Venus angry at Psyche for showing up, but she still gives the opportunity of winning her favor by completing tasks that would have also been difficult to achieve.
Bibliography: "Cupid and Psyche" translation by Tony Kline. Website: Un-Textbook
I really like your version of the story! It would be awful to be Psyche and not have the approval of your husband's mother It seems to me, that if your mother-in-law doesn't like you, then there is no amount of tasks that you could do to win her over. But maybe Psyche will be successful!
ReplyDeleteJordan,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your storytelling this week! My favorite part is when Cupid was too stubborn to let his wife help him with his injuries - it make me chuckle. I know a few men with that quality! I'd be curious to see what the three tasks are!