Lorelei’s Moonstone
Once upon a time, in a very small, very poor village near a wealthy gated community there lived a young girl named Lorelei. Lorelei lived in a small, Cape Cod with a roof that needed repair, gutters that were hanging off, siding that should have been replaced over a decade ago and her yard was overgrown with weeds.
Both of Lorelei’s parents died when she was very young. Her father, a navy seal was lost at sea and presumed dead when she was only a toddler and her mother re-married when Lorelei was five. Her step father had 2 twin sons, Richard and Paul who were eight.
When her mother and step father first married, the union was wonderful. Her step father adored her because she was his little princess. He lavished her with gifts and her step brothers became jealous. They would tease her and play mean pranks on her. Lorelei would run off to a nearby orchard where she would walk through what she pretended was a fairy forest, which really was a beautiful tunnel of old oak trees, carefully cultivated to form a natural canopy over a path that led to a creek where she spent hours collecting pretty rocks and crystals.
One day, while walking through her fairy forest, Lorelei spotted a group of kids from the gated community. She didn’t know them from school. They went to private schools, and she rarely ever saw them except behind the large, black gate that separated their world from hers. She actually felt sorry for them. They had a golf course for a playground; there were no trees to climb or places to explore. They did of course have that magnificent swimming pool but Lorelei was perfectly content taking a dip in her swimming hole in the creek. She had her own waterfall, and would float on her back while dragonflies landed on her toes and butterflies kissed her nose. She pretended they were fairies and would talk to them as if they could understand her.
Lorelei climbed up into one of the oak trees in her fairy tunnel and watched the children playing. She had never had friends before to play games with, her step brothers never included her in anything they did and she kept to herself at school. She watched the children as they formed a circle. One of them drew a pentagram in the center of the circle and they lit candles on the North, South, East and West points of the pentagram. They began chanting rhymes and Lorelei decided to climb down to get close enough to hear what they were saying. As she climbed out of the tree, one of the girls noticed her in the woods.
“Hey you!” she called. Lorelei was frightened. She slowly walked toward the circle; there were three girls, and one boy. Timidly, Lorelei spoke. “I wasn’t trying to spy on you, I come here every day and I’ve never seen any of you.” The taller girl, a very pretty girl with dark skin and eyes the color of the pyrite rocks she found near the creek and wild dark curls that framed her ebony face stepped forward. “If anyone asks, you never saw us. We aren’t supposed to go past Iron Gate, but we paid Sonya’s maid (she waived her hand toward the short, skinny blonde with a pixie haircut who reminded Lorelei of a picture of Tinker bell in her Peter Pan movie) to drive us past the gate and if anyone finds out, she will be fired for sure. Lorelei suppressed a giggle, realizing that Sonya was even wearing a short leaf green shirt and pointy green slippers.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul,” Lorelei said more cheerfully now, realizing these children seemed friendly enough and weren’t angry with her for watching them.
“What are you doing?” she asked them.
The boy piped up. “I’m Lucas. Toni (he nodded toward the pretty girl with dark skin), purchased a hope chest from an estate sale a few weeks ago. She had no idea that there was anything inside the hope chest until it was delivered to her home. She opened it up and inside there were crystals, books, an athame, candles, tarot cards and runes. She found a spell in one of the books that is supposed to put us in control of our parents. We are tired of them telling us what to do, where we can go and who we can talk to.
“Could I watch?” Lorelei asked.
“Even better, why don’t you help us re-cast our circle since you broke it.” The other girl who had been quiet until now said. She looked younger than the other kids. She had bright red hair, pulled back in braids on both sides of her head. She reminded Lorelei of Pippi Longstocking. Her short upturned nose was dusted with freckles and unlike Pippi, she was dressed in very expensive, designer jeans, the cutest pair of heels that Lorelei had ever seen and a shirt that Lorelei had admired at the mall that was marked $75.
Lorelei joined the circle and took their hands, the group began chanting and the chant was so catchy that Lorelei joined in. Afterward, Lorelei showed them her favorite spot to climb trees, gave them a tour of her fairy forest and showed them a nest she had found a week ago that contained three small robin eggs.
When Lorelei returned home, her mother was furious. Lorelei had never stayed gone that long and her brothers enjoyed every moment of the tongue lashing that her mother gave. Her mother was normally a soft spoken, gentle woman but she loved Lorelei so much, and was so wrought with worry that she grabbed her paddle and spanked Lorelei. Shocked, because her mother had never laid a finger on her or scolded her with such fury, Lorelei lashed back and said “I hate you mother! I wish you were dead!” and stomped off to her bedroom.
Now, Lorelei’s father had just come home with her step brothers. They had only witnessed Lorelei’s cruel words to her mother and their jaws dropped when she stomped off in such a manner that they had never seen before.
A few hours later, Lorelei heard a scream coming from the kitchen. She rushed out of her bedroom and saw her mother lying in the floor. Her mother often had fainting spells but this time, her mother had hit her head on the hutch and there was a small puddle of blood running down the side of her face. Her eyes were closed and she did not look like she was breathing at all. Lorelei grabbed the phone to call 9-1-1. Her step father and step brothers tried to perform CPR but she was gone.
After the coroner took her mother’s body Lorelei’s step brother, Richard looked over at her angrily. “It’s your fault!” he yelled. “You wished that your mother was dead, and she died! You killed her.” Her step father and step brother Paul were silent, but Lorelei could see on their face that they were both thinking the same thing.
Her step father began drinking heavily. He had never so much as had a beer in front of them before her mother died but he was picking up a half gallon of moonshine from the neighbor every night when he came home from work. Lorelei could hear him crying at night and his sorrow made her feel even more horrible.
That night, she snuck out the window and found her way to her fairy tunnel. When she got to the clearing near the creek, she stood in the pale moonlight and fell to the ground, tears streaming down her face. She begged and pleaded to the gods and goddesses to hear her cries and reverse the spell and bring back her mother.
Fireflies danced in the oak tunnel, and as she cried, more and more of them swarmed around her. The fireflies began to take the shape of a woman. She had bright yellow hair, her skin was luminescent and she was almost transparent.
“Who are you?” Lorelei gasped.
“My dear, I am your fairy godmother” the woman replied. I have watched over you for many years, and because of your kind and gentle nature I have been granted the opportunity from my authority to help you. I cannot bring your mother back. You used magic, and magic has consequences. I can, however; help you out in a time of great need. I have a moonstone amulet for you. You must wear it at all times. When the moon is full, I will come to you and assist you. I can only help you on the first night of the full moon and you must have this amulet with you or I cannot come to you.
Lorelei put the amulet on a thin chain around her neck. Feeling somewhat better, she walked back home. The next morning, her brothers were especially horrible to her. Her step father, in a drunken stupor had broken dishes in the kitchen. Lorelei’s mother had always cooked and cleaned up after the men and since her death, they had not picked up after themselves once. She took it upon herself, feeling guilty for her mother’s death to take on the chores that her mother had often done for them.
As the years passed, Lorelei now eighteen cooked, cleaned, and even did laundry for her step brothers who never appreciated a thing she did. Her step-father, who spent most days in a drunken haze, lost his job and he hadn’t opened a piece of mail, or paid a bill since her mother passed. He had simply lost all hope and Lorelei wanting to help decided to get a job.
There was an advertisement on craigslist for a housekeeper position at one of the manors at The Gates. The woman hired Lorelei to work for her, but she was not very trusting. She followed Lorelei around, micro-managing her every move. She even expected Lorelei to get down on her hands and knees and clean each intricately designed tile porcelain tile and by the time she got home she was exhausted. She had even more work to do when she got home. Her brothers, both 20, still lived at home and expected Lorelei to wait on them hand and foot.
One day, Lorelei overheard her boss discussing a fundraising gala that would be taking place in a few weeks. She was preparing items to be auctioned during the event and asked Lorelei to help put baskets together. Her boss talked about the gala and who would be there. Many wealthy and powerful people would attend, the ladies would wear ball gowns and the men would wear tuxedos and there would be dancing. Her boss, Sue Ellen Hawthorne, looked over at her one day when she was helping arrange auction items and said,” why Lorelei! I have talked so much about the gala, the thought never occurred to me that you might like to go and see it for yourself!” Lorelei was overjoyed at this idea. She had never been to anything so fancy in her life and she envisioned the mansion as a castle and the men as princes and how she might be swept off her feet by Prince Charming.
“Mrs. Hawthorne”, she said. “I have nothing extravagant to wear to such an event. I have no shoes or dress that would be appropriate. I’m afraid I cannot go.
Mrs. Hawthorne looked at her in shock, and then gasped. “My dear! Oh my, I am so sorry. I did not mean that you should attend the gala as a guest. I was hoping that you would work for me. I have a uniform that would be quite appropriate for you, I would like you to help set up and clean up after the event. I can’t imagine what on earth would make you think you could be a guest at the gala! It is a fund raiser gala for a charity, not an event for a charity case such as you.”
Hurt, and embarrassed at the misunderstanding, Lorelei looked away so that Mrs. Hawthorne would not see her tears. She asked to be excused and Mrs. Hawthorne, who although crass at times, felt sorry for Lorelei dismissed her early from work.
On Lorelei’s way home, she checked her cell phone. No calls. Nobody ever called her. She had no friends, all she did was work and nobody appreciated anything that she did. She looked at the app on her phone, it showed the moon schedule. Tonight is the first night of the full moon! She felt for her amulet around her neck. She pulled out the moonstone and rubbed it.
That night, after cooking dinner, cleaning house and helping her step father who had fallen asleep in his chair to bed she headed to her clearing in the woods. As she walked through the oak tunnel she envisioned fairies in the trees, whispering. When she got to her spot, just under the full moon, she pulled her moonstone out and rubbed it. Moments later, the first firefly appeared, then hundreds of them forming into the shape of her fairy godmother once more.
“What can I do for you, love?” her fairy godmother asked.
“I want to attend the gala as a guest! I want to meet a man who will fall in love with me and I want to live in a beautiful mansion in The Gates.
“Oh dear, I can help you with this wish however; it requires more magic that I am not comfortable using. I must warn you, a love spell comes with many consequences! You must listen very carefully to what I say. I will get you a beautiful gown, jewelry that Mrs. Hawthorne couldn’t afford, and matching shoes and a designer bag that the other ladies will envy you for. You will have money to bid on anything you choose at the auction, you will arrive in style with a chauffeur in a limo. Your gala ticket will be in your purse. All of these things will be in your room when you get home. You must remember however; many men will want to dance with you but the fifth man that you dance with is who will fall in love with you.
Lorelai, delighted with how beautiful she looked in her ball gown, and jewels set out to meet the driver. Her drunken step father never even looked up from the television. Her step brothers were playing video games in their room. Nobody stopped to admire her as she left her house but when she arrived at the gala she was greeted warmly by everyone she met.
Everyone wanted to know who this beautiful mysterious woman was that was new to their social scene. She was obviously quite wealthy, her gown had to cost a fortune and that jewelry she was wearing was worth more than their homes. Everyone wanted to dance with her, she accepted dance, after dance and after a few glasses of champagne forgot to pay attention to which man was her fifth dance partner.
It so happened, a very wealthy man had his eyes on Lorelei the moment she had been escorted into the mansion. His name was Beau, and he was quite older than Lorelei. She accepted his dance and when he looked into her eyes, he fell in love. Lorelei didn’t mind, he certainly wasn’t the best looking man at the gala but he was charming and rich.
He wanted to marry her right there, that day! Everyone was stunned. Never had anything quite that bizarre taken place at the gala but everyone had been drinking and went along with the wedding. Of course there was a judge who gladly agreed to marry the two.
That night, when Beau took her to his manor in The Gates as his bride, Lorelei felt happier than she had ever felt in her entire life. She was about to receive everything that she had ever dreamed of. She arranged a party to be thrown in honor of their wedding at her new home. Lorelei invited her step father and step brothers. Her husband offered his guest house up to them.
One night, Beau asked Lorelei about the amulet she wore around her neck. She pulled out the moonstone and to her surprise he looked horrified as if he had seen a ghost. His body began to contort and twist, his face became hideous and his body disgusting.
Lorelei frightened, did not know what to do. Beau told her to please not be afraid of him. He loved her but Lorelei could not look at him. He was too ugly. He told her that a few nights before the gala; a witch came to him and told him that he should not dance with anyone at the ball. A beautiful woman would be there, he would find her irresistible but he must resist dancing with her. He said that she would curse him with her moonstone and he would have to live forever as a hideous beast. He did not believe in magic or curses and he gave the woman very little thought until Lorelei pulled out that moonstone.
Before she could say anything, he angrily grabbed the moonstone and tossed it into the lake. Lorelei, sobbing, told Beau that had he not thrown the moonstone away, that on the next full moon her fairy godmother could have changed him back but because he had acted in anger that he was doomed now to remain a beast forever and that she could not love a beast.
Lorelei filed for divorce the next day and since there was no prenuptial arrangement she received half of all of his riches. Beau of course, inherited her drunken step father and lazy step brothers.
The moral of the story: The way you react in a moment of anger can alter the entire course of your life
Click here to read the cbs news article and watch the surveilance video footage.
