I was born different and unwanted. My family had isolated me when I was born with the sorcerer Merlin. I can understand why my family would not have wanted me. I was gruesome to look at. For one thing I was cross-eyed. My eyebrows formed in curious twists and turns. My nose was compressed and my mouth projected like the mouth of an average bullfrog. I had relentless pimples and warts on my face, which constantly oozed pus and a rancid odor. My skin was a bottle green and extremely unpleasant on me. Merlin loathed me. He wouldn’t even give me the chance to learn magic and spells. He constantly questioned why I was born repugnant and the rest of my family was engaged in splendor. Even I speculated, but Merlin was my only family. He was my master. And I was his servant. He had given me the name Maleficent because it meant “abhorrent beyond reason”. I had reviled the name from the start. But what could I do. The name was given to me on my fourth birthday. I had wanted it to be something like Rose or Dahlia or maybe Lilly. The sorcerer rarely spoke to me because of my ugliness. Whenever I did something wrong he’d curse at me and lock me in the cellar. I was good. I knew I was. But being in the cellar just too many times caused me to rebel.

The sun was positioned high in sky and stared down onto the earth with welcome arms. It was always pleased to see me even if the alchemist was not. I wondered about my real family every day. I looked out of my attic window and saw the townspeople. There were couples holding hands. Children sang in gay harmony. The cattle hummed. The birds chirped. I wished to be included in their banter. The sorcerer came into my room with breakfast. He looked at me with aversion, a face I knew too well and said that he would be gone for a week or so in the country. He also mentioned that he expected me to clean the house and sluice his clothes. I looked at him and shrugged my shoulders in a carefree way. He gave me a slap on the back and then shut the entrance to my room. Without as much of a smile or a frown he slammed it giving my bed a chance to hold onto the rickety floor for dear life. The reverberation of his high-heeled boots were heard down the stairs until he was out of the dwelling we called home. The estate was eerily quiet and disheartening. I was distraught. My master was leaving me but I knew that this was the perfect opportunity to escape.

My plan was straightforward. I would bundle a few goods and clothing and some coins in my pocket. The master stored all of it in a clandestine area where he thought no one would choose to look in. But because I had washed his things so many times I knew where it was hidden. It was always under his mattress. I knew if he had seen me anywhere near his pillage I would be in a lot of trouble. I took thirty pounds and placed it in one of my petticoats. I tucked it under my hat and shut the front door. I covered my face with the large sunhat Merlin had given me plus some spectacles I had made to shield my ugliness from the world. I stepped onto the village road of Sigourney and was on my way.

The path was full of merchants. There were tall people, small people and even people who were similar looking to monkeys. “Whoa!” I said. This was so interesting. The morning bustle of villagers strode around the area selling goods. The fresh smell of peanuts wafted into my large snout of a nose. “Hmm…” I said. I was getting really hungry. After all Merlin had just given me a small slice of wheat bread and some water. My scrawny body figure was not much of a sight to see. My body was full of ugly sores that protruded from my arms and legs. I tried as much as possible to keep them hidden under my carpetbag. I had just passed the old shoemaker’s apartment when an old lady stopped me midway and asked whether I knew a girl named Maleficent. I had no clue what she wanted from me. My own family didn’t even care. I informed her that I was the girl she was looking for. She grabbed me by the arm and led me to her domicile. I don’t know how long I was there but days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, and months turned into years. I was now educated with a brain. I was intelligent. I was EVIL!! I had finally broken out of my shell and now the world was going to know whom I was. My new master, the old hag, had taught me everything there was to know about everything. She taught me how to use spells, create potions and use dark magic. She was my mother’s stepsister and she knew everything about me. Her family had left her stranded too. It turned out my mother was actually a queen and my parents were about to give birth to a healthy baby girl, one that was beautiful, one that was going to be given many gifts from the wood fairies of the forest. They were unhappy that they weren’t able to bear a child earlier. I couldn’t believe what I heard. They deserted me and lied to all those people. There was no one to care for me or look after me. Those demons, my parents, were going to give their new and improved precious baby girl everything she wanted and needed. My aunt had said that she had heard that the wood fairies were planning to give the baby gifts of beauty; voice and…She had not heard the rest for she did not care. We were not invited however, but decided to give the king and queen a little surprise. My aunt wanted to let me shine and give that baby, my sister, a gift. Oh what I wanted was not give a gift of life or love for that wretched thing but the gift of death.


The baby was born soon afterward and I attended. I had not bothered to cover my face for it was time to show the world what I was. The palace was full of courtiers and young bachelors. I tried my best to keep from being noticed and stood in the back aisle. As the fairies granted their gifts on the child, Aurora, I took leave of my aunt and reappeared as a gust of black wind into the center of the audience. My aunt changed herself into a crow and sat on my shoulder watching the crowd of villagers with a malevolent smirk on her face.


“This baby will also be given a gift,” I said. “Not just any gift, but one of death. She will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die a most painful death. The reader knows the rest of the story. How Prince Philip and the three good fairies defeated me and lived happily ever after. Did I get my happily ever after? Did I not do the right thing? You, the reader, can be the judge of that.”