Sorry Ellie, but majority rules
The sisters take the thread, and the other two gifts vanish into the mist, as if they were never there in the first place. As they hold the ball of thread, it unspools by itself, drifting through the air around them until the two sisters are surrounded by a dazzling field of shimmering light.
“The thread swirled around the pair, and from then on they were safe from all harm. No dangers the world could throw at them would pierce the barrier it formed around them. The family was amazed at the sight, but the merchant merely smiled, for they understood what the gift had meant. The merchant turned to the big sister, and gave her another offer. ‘How would you like to come and work for me? My home could use someone like you, and while the work is difficult, it will pay well, and you’ll be able to make a brighter future for yourself and your family.’ After some thought, the big sister agreed, and she went to leave with the merchant.”
The big sister and the merchant start moving away, but as they do, the field around the two sisters also moves. The little sister looks around, unsure, and when the edge of the field reaches her she is pulled along, following the big sister who doesn’t seem to realize what is happening.*
“The thread that protected the pair also connected them to each other, and they would never be able to stray far from each other. So when the big sister left with the merchant, the little sister followed close behind, and both of them made their way to the merchant’s home in the city.”*
The mist shifts around as the entire scene dissolves, replaced with a variety of different sights: a dark ocean floor, eerie shadows drifting in the background, a dismal looking kitchen with a sink filled with roiling magma and noxious fumes, and a fabulous looking party, bedazzled with blinding wealth. In each scene, the sisters were put to work for the merchant, their bodies breaking down from the dreadful conditions, but quickly being repaired by the thread around them, only for the cycle to repeat.
“The work that the merchant put them through could hardly be called work. Knowing that the thread would protect them from any and all danger, they subjected the pair to the most horrible things imaginable. The merchant made them dive deep deep down to the bottom of the sea, past all sorts of monsters, in search of hidden treasures. They had the sisters clean and polish their dishes with lava and poison, burning their lungs with every breath. They even took pieces of the sisters away, selling them off to their rich friends who used it to regain their youth.”
The scenes of anguish vanish into mist like all the rest, replaced by one of a dimly lit room filled with nothing but two uncomfortable looking beds. On each one sits one of the sisters, facing each other. Even without faces, it was clear from the body language of the mannequins that they were miserable, worn down after an indeterminate length of abuse.
“Throughout it all, the sisters were together, each one enduring the pain of the other. The big sister felt overwhelming guilt, for she knew that it was only because of her that the little sister was there. Every night, the big sister said to the little sister ‘This place isn’t meant for you. Please, return to our family where you will be safe from this hell.’ And every night the little sister replied ‘I know, but I can’t leave you. We must face this together’. One night, though, something broke inside the sisters. One turned to the other and asked ‘Why are we still together?’”
“How did the sister reply?”
On some deep level, you know that once again, the story is waiting for a response from you. That you are the one who decides how they answer. And on an even deeper level, you know that there are only two answers that you can choose from.
[I can’t survive without you] [You can’t survive without me]
