I was on tenterhooks until Snow received my gift of the comb. I was excited for her to understand what it meant, that I loved her like a daughter. My mother had given it to me and I had given it to her. She wouldn’t say anything nasty and mean about me ever again.
I watched in the mirror all day, waiting for the moment when my maid reached her. It happened at noon, just like the day before. She received the comb, looked at the card, and then went inside the little home she shared.
Standing in front of the mirror, Snow pulled her red bow out of her hair and started pulling my comb through. She looked so beautiful, so grown up now. My heart swelled with images of her running home and into my arms. We would be an unstoppable force together.
The little people soon joined her. I concentrated so I could hear them.
“The queen sent me this comb,” Snow explained. The men all exchanged worried glances. I tried to ignore it. “Apparently she thinks I need to look after my hair better.”
“She’s so mean,” the grumpy one mumbled. “We should cut off all her hair while she sleeps.”
“How can anyone think you’re not the most beautiful of them all?” The bashful one asked. “Your hair is lovely, just as it is.”
“I guess she just doesn’t like me,” Snow replied, shrugging. If she really thought that, it didn’t seem like she was affected by it at all.
“She should leave you alone,” the sleepy one said before yawning. He was having trouble just standing without nodding off. I should have sent a doctor for his narcolepsy and see if there was anything that could help him. They were dressed like they were miners, that couldn’t be safe deep in the ground.
“We should stop her,” the sneezy one added, wiping his nose on his sleeve. Snow used to do that when nobody was looking too.
“Ow,” Snow suddenly cried out. She pulled the comb away from her head with a great clump of hair still attached to it. “This comb is poisoned, look what it did to my hair.”
All the seven men examined the damage, shaking their heads and then their fists. They were angry with me, just taking Snow’s word that I had sent her a poisoned comb. Apparently I was evil enough to do that.
I waved my hand over the mirror, not wanting to see anymore. So I was wicked and evil and only wanted to harm Snow White. That’s what they all believed and who knows who else she had told? The whole thing was a mess that I needed to fix. Otherwise Snow would never return and take her rightful place on the throne. Her father would be so disappointed.
I paced around my room, desperately trying to think of a way to repair our relationship. I had to do something and the longer I waited, the more people would hear the horrible gossip.
Besides marrying her father, I didn’t know what I had done to incur such wrath from Snow. As far as I could remember, I had never treated her anything but nicely. I tried so many times to include her in everything the king and I did so she would never be left out. I tried to give her space so she wouldn’t accuse me of replacing her mother, and I made her father very happy. I had done everything right, so why did she accuse me of being so very wrong?
My hopes for having a family were dashed. I suddenly realized that Snow would never be my daughter. She didn’t love me and would never accept me. But that didn’t change the fact that she needed to return to the palace and take over the kingdom one day. If I didn’t teach her what she needed to know, the people would suffer. And it would be much harder for her to understand her duties. I had to keep going. If not for Snow, then for my husband.
My eyes fell on a fruit bowl placed in the centre of my table. It was full of fresh fruit; bananas, pears, apples, and grapes. Perhaps if I sent her some fruit, she would enjoy the sweet tastes of home? She couldn’t accuse me of doing anything to the fruit, could she? I couldn’t go wrong.
This time, I wasn’t going to leave it up to my maid to send the gift. I would go myself, ensuring Snow knew that my intentions were only pure of heart.
I dressed for my travels quickly and took one last look in the mirror. I barely recognized myself these days, I looked old and aged. The years spent ruling the kingdom, the loss of my beloved husband, and the stress of dealing with Snow had definitely aged me prematurely. Staring back at me was nothing more than an old woman.
I sighed, asking the mirror one last time. “Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Who is the most beautiful of them all?”
“Snow White, my dear. While lovely of spirit, you cannot compete with a beauty such as she.”
So even my mirror was now turning on me. I should have known better than to expect anything else. Seeing all my wrinkles, I tended to agree with it anyway. Snow White was young and beautiful, I couldn’t deny it and I wouldn’t want to. She was going to catch a very handsome husband one day. They would make cute little children together and be picture perfect. That is what I hoped for her anyway.