Week 3 Story: The One That Got Away

Hey guys, there's an updated version of this story on my portfolio! Link


Once upon a time, there was a princess named Sita, who was so gorgeous and elegant. She was the wife of a very handsome, strong, and kind hearted man named Rama. Rama and Sita were so in love with each other that they would die for one another. Rama always wanted the best for his love and gave her anything she asked for. Rama built her a castle with a beautiful garden surrounding the whole place. Right behind their castle was also a dark and ambiguous forest. They never go into that area because there were usually rakshas, who are demons.

As Sita was walking around in her garden, she saw something in the distant. She couldn’t believe her eyes. It was the most magnificent creature she has ever seen, a golden deer. She yelled for Rama and his brother, Lakshmana, and told them that she wanted Rama to capture the golden deer. Rama then went to get the creature for his wife. After a while, Sita gets a feeling that Rama is in trouble. She insists Lakshmana to go and find him. She starts to cry because she knows that Rama is her everything and without him she’ll die. Lakshmana went after him because he too could sense something was odd about this situation. He knew there are some evil people after his family.

On her balcony alone, Sita sat crying and praying that her Rama comes back to her. She was so sad and upset at herself that she sent Rama after the golden deer. It would kill her if anything happened to Rama. As she was sitting on her balcony, there was a man in her garden. Sita didn’t notice him at first. This man was no other than the King of Lanka, Ravana. However, he disguised himself as an wise old man, trying to get close to Sita. He had his eyes on Sita for a while now. He has never seen someone as beautiful as Sita and wanted her to become his wife.

Sita notices that there was an old man standing in her garden. He calls for her to come down. At first Sita was a little suspicious, but she went down and thought he was just a harmless man. The wise old man asks Sita why she was crying. Sita tells him about her husband and the situation. After hearing her talk about Rama, the old man shows his true identity as Ravana, who also had ten heads, because he was mad that she still has feelings for Rama. Ravana tell Sita to come with him to be his wife, and that he is better man than Rama.

Ravana revealing his true self to Sita
(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

However, Sita tells him no that she is forever committed to Rama her true love. Hearing this obviously made Ravana more mad. He grabs Sita and places her in his chariot. The entire time Sita is yelling for Rama to come save her. Lucky for Sita, Rama was nearby with his brother Lakshmana.

Rama and Lakshmana were making their way back to the castle when they hear a faint sound. Rama stopped in his tracks to hear the sound more closely. Lakshmana asked his brother what was wrong. Rama looked at his brother and told him that Sita was in trouble. They ran towards the castle, in which they saw Ravana trying to take Sita. They take quick action to stop Ravana. Rama goes after Ravana, while Lakshmana helps Sita get out of the chariot. Rama manages to wound Ravana. Mad that Sita got away, Ravana leaves and threatens Rama that he’ll be back to take his revenge.  

At last, Rama and Sita are finally reunited. She was so thankful that Rama was safe and both men were nearby to save her. However, she was still worried that Ravana will try to come back to take his vengeance. Rama told Sita not to worry and that next time they’ll be better prepared. They all were just happy that no one was hurt and Sita got her Rama back.

Author's Note: This story is based on a public domain edition of Ramayana of The Golden Deer and Ravana and Sita. In those stories, Ravana comes up with a plan to take Sita. A orders a raksha to take the form of a golden deer, so that could lure away Rama and his brother that way Sita is left unguarded. Then Ravana will take the disguise of a wise man and abduct Sita. However in that version, Ravana was successful in kidnapping Sita. I changed the ending to where he was not successful. Another thing I changed was the setting of my story to them in the castle. In the original version, Sita was staying in a forest.

Bibliography: 

PDE Ramayana: The Golden Deer by Donald A. Mackenzie and Romesh Dutt. Web source.

PDE Ramayana: Ravana and Sita by Donald A. Mackenzie and Romesh Dutt. Web source.