Week 2 Storytelling: The Girl of the Forest

There once was a girl born of the Earth. She had no family except the animals and the trees. Wandering the woods, she spent hours with the things she loved most. The flowers knew her scent, and the birds knew her voice. She was the mistress of the Dandaka forest and was endlessly content with her surroundings.  

One soft, summer afternoon the girl, Soorpanaka, was lounging beneath the shade of a large oak, trailing her fingers in the cool river beside her, humming along with the birds above. Suddenly, a dark vibration filled her body and chilled her. The birds stopped humming. The rippling of the river ceased as it stilled with suspense. Soorpanaka heard the crunching of leaves under a heavy foot and quickly climbed the large oak and peered down. Below she saw a creature exuding more evil than she had ever felt before. She had heard stories of Ravana but never realized their dark truth until that moment.

“Why do you hide from me, little one? Do you fear me?” He spoke suddenly, his eyes fixed on the distant horizon.

Soorpanaka swallowed. “You are a stranger to me and this forest. I have no reason to trust you.”

“I am Ravana, the most powerful demon of this and all other worlds. And you are Soorpanaka."

She slowly climbed down the tree, her pesky sense of curiosity slightly piqued. She regretted her decision as soon as her feet touched the ground, as it put her at a disadvantage. Ravana’s stature was double hers. 

She lifted her chin and eyed him suspiciously, “What do you want?”

Ravana explained that he was looking for allies to build an army. The forest was located in an excellent tactical area and he wanted someone to rule it who would report to him.

“You already know this forest, so it is only logical that you become my eyes and ears,” Ravana said with a smug smile.

Soorpanaka could feel herself shaking, but spit the words out before she became silent with fear. “No. I will not ally with someone of such pure evil. We will not fight you. Just leave us alone."

Ravana’s eyes immediately filled with anger, the skies above him becoming dark, and he stepped closer to Soorpanaka.

“It is unwise to not do as I say, small girl. You will give me command of this forest.”

Soorpanaka paused. She did not know much about the world. Her encounters and experiences ranged no further than the edges of the forest. But she knew what good felt like. She knew kindness and love. And it was clear to her that the creature standing before her knew nothing of those things. She took a deep breath. “Get out,” she said with all the firmness and power she could muster.

Ravana took a step back. His shoulders relaxed and his lips curled into a cold grin. Without a word he turned and walked away. Soorpanaka let go a sigh of relief. Still shaking, she sat below the large oak and closed her eyes. She started to take a deep breath to calm herself but dense smoke replaced the cool air. Her eyes opened wide as fire and smoke began to quickly engulf the forest. Frozen, she sat by the river as all that she loved perished before her.

 

The birds in the trees flocked into the sky, their calls echoing the distress happening below them. The beautiful, thick ivy that weaved and curled so beautifully now turned to ash in an instant. Animals were scurrying left and right, jumping to cross the river to the other side. Flames followed the path of flowers and moss and shot up trees, leaves burning in seconds. Tears fell from Soorpanaka's eyes as a deer came to her side, nipping at her clothing, nudging her from the fire.

Soorpanaka blindly walked into the river, falling to her knees as her favorite oak tree turned bright with flames. She screamed out, a devastating noise that echoed in the suddenly cold, dark sky.

After the fire had ceased, Soorpanaka walked numbly through the forest of charcoal and ash. The hot ground burned her feet but she felt nothing. The smoke filled her lungs and stung her eyes but she felt nothing. She came lastly to her beloved oak tree. What once stood in majestic power and beauty was now nothing more than a charred, black stump. Soorpanaka slumped down against it, her body turning dark with ash and scarred with burns. Numbness turned to bitter cold. Her heart stopped aching and starting beating with vengeful deliberateness. She would find a way, somehow, to ruin Ravana like he had done to her. Somehow.

--

Years later, Soorpanaka was walking through the Dandaka forest. Evidence of the fire still remained on her body. The forest had healed but Soorpanaka had not. She noticed a small cottage had been built on the edge of the forest, where the famed Rama and Sita resided.

“What a beauty that woman has,” Soorpanaka thought as her eyes followed Sita. “No man would be able to resist a woman with such grace and kindness. No creature, either…” Her mind began to turn. Ravana would surely fall into obsession with this woman at first sight of her and take her as his own. Rama would never stand for something like that...

A cold laugh split the cool air as Soorpanaka began to walk slowly towards the cottage, her body transforming into a beautiful woman.

~~~~~

Author’s Note: This story was based on Soorpanaka in R. K. Narayan’s ‘The Ramayana,’ in which Soorpanaka is a rakshasa and the sister of Ravana. She comes to find Rama living in a cottage in the woods and is so completely struck by his appearance that she falls madly in love and does just about anything she can to seduce him. I decided to add a background to Soorpanaka because I hate the idea that someone is evil for no reason. If something happened to them that made them that way, there’s that small possibility that maybe they could be good again someday! I did not make her Ravana's sister because I felt it would not have made much sense for him to take such a drastic measure towards his own sister. Family ties seem to be very important in this culture. My story ends where the story in 'The Ramayana' begins. After reading my version over, I realized it takes on a very similar plot line as the movie Maleficent, where the story of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ is retold from the side of the antagonist. As far as style, I like when there is narrator telling a story who acknowledges that they are telling a story, which is what I did here.The image I included was meant to create an image of an Eden-like forest in which Soorpanaka lived. While written description can be helpful, I believe some things just have to be portrayed visually. The more beautiful the forest was portrayed, the more understandable Soorpanaka's devestation. 

Hopefully at the end of the story you were able to sympathize with Soorpanaka a little bit. The background I created is not meant to excuse her actions in 'The Ramayana,' but it is meant to give a little insight as to why she is the way that she is.Things are usually more than they appear, and I believe that when you're reading a story, you should always question elements that don't seem right to you.

Bibliography

• Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic.

• Surpanakha, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surpanakha#In_popular_culture

Picture 1 - beautiful forest (Source)

Picture 2 - burning forest (Source)