Week 13 Story Planning: The Deal with the Devil

I'm planning on writing a new version of the story of The Ghost Mother, but this time I want to tell it from the mother's point of view. I'm thinking that it would give some perspective to the story if she had a good explanation for dying when the baby is born, and keeping it a secret that she is feeding it as a ghost. To give some backstory, the wife has been keeping it a secret from her husband that she is infertile and cannot bear children. They live in happiness and harmony otherwise. One day as she is out picking flowers or gathering food (or something else entirely), a figure approaches her. This would presumably be the devil or a demon warlock of some kind. The devil tells her that he knows she cannot bear children, but he offers a solution. He will impregnate her, but she must lose her life in the process. Her love for her husband is so great, and his desire for a child is equally great, so she feels compelled to give him a child in exchange for her life. She pleads with the devil that she get to feed the child, arguing that it will not survive without her milk. The devil compromises, and he agrees to allow her to visit the child at night. However, she will only appear as a ghost, and she must not be seen by any other humans. If anyone sees her, the baby will perish, and the ghost mother will remain a ghost forever. I guess she doesn't stay a ghost in the original, but I would like her to remain a ghost that cries forever. The husband will probably not hire a caretaker for the baby. I would rather write it that he takes care of the baby himself, and he discovers the ghost of his wife by himself.


Medieval Ghost found on Wikimedia, here.

Bibliography: The Ghost Mother, part of Russian Fairy Tales Unit by W.R.S. Ralston, found here.