Week 9 Storytelling: The Musician's Bride

Mary lived a double life. On the outside, she acted exactly as her parents wished. She never wore short skirts or jean shorts. All of her tops had sleeves and their necklines could never be described with the word "plunging." She never wore makeup and most of her wardrobe was pink. She was their perfect little girl-- on the outside, at least.

On the inside, Mary was an old soul. She dreamed of a life that was full of meaning and passion and, most importantly, close to nature. The closest things to natural beauty in Mary's neighborhood were the small, bright green lawns surrounding the suburban houses whose blades of grass were so chemically enhanced they looked fake. In fact, hardy anything in her life felt like it was real. All the trees were small and neatly trimmed so that they hardly rustled in a breeze less leaves fall off and tarnish the yard. Everything was held neatly in place, extensively polished, and always of the highest synthetic quality.

Creative free spirit
(Pixaby.com)

This included the music everyone listened to, the newest cookie-cutter pop hits. Mary dreamed of music that made you feel more than the desire to tap your foot. She dreamed of songs that touched your soul and inspired you to feel what they songwriter felt and think deeply. She dreamed of bare feet on real grass, bare skin in cool (non-chlorinated) water, and nights spent looking up at the stars without a care in the world. Mary dreamed of being free.

When her parents thought she was diligently studying, she was really in her room daydreaming. Mary imagined someone coming to save her and taking her somewhere she could live out her fantasies. Ideally, he would be a musician, a man who could express emotions through strings of notes and thoughtful lyrics. He would let her be who she wanted to be and accept whoever that was-- someone completely different from anyone she had ever met.

Mary loved her family and friends, but they just didn't understand her. They noticed her rather melancholy, dreamy disposition, but they assumed it was just a phase she would grow out of. They wanted her to marry as soon as possible after high school, hopefully being engaged before graduation to a young man from a respectable family and with a promising future-- maybe a future accountant or state senator. Mary, of course, would stay at home, taking care of the household and, eventually, the children. The thought of being trapped in such a life made her yearn even harder after the life she much preferred.

One evening in the summer, Mary didn't come down from her room when she was called to dinner. Upon finding her room vacant, her mother checked the whole house but could find no sign of her. In a panic, she rushed to the neighbor's house and asked if they had seen anything. Mr. Johnson appeared rather weary, and wouldn't look Mary's mother in the eye. Eventually, he told her what he had seen: a young boy in torn jeans and band t-shirt throwing rocks at Mary's window. When she opened it, he played her a song on his acoustic guitar while she watched avidly as if entranced. After the last note was played, they spoke only for a moment before Mary made her way down the side of the house using tied up bed sheets. The two of them raced into the boy's old red Camaro and took off down the road in a flash.

As Mary's distraught mother hurried back to her house to inform her husband and, no doubt, call the police, Mr. Johnson couldn't help thinking that he'd never seen Mary look happier than she did in the passenger seat of that poor musician's car.

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Author's Note: This story is based on a tale called The Fairy Bride from American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921). In "The Fairy Bride," a young girl named Neen-i-zu dreams of a land where there is no pain or suffering and everyone is happy all the time. She believes this land lies just beyond the trees of an enchanted forest that no one has ever entered, inhabited by little trickster creatures called Puk-Wudjies. She spends all day in her secret place, staring at the forest and internally begging the inhabitants of the other world (fairies) to admit her. Her mother, however, is concerned about her daughter's behavior and wishes that she would settle down and marry a local hunter. Distraught at being told she will wed this man she despises, she asks to be allowed to go to her secret place one last time on her wedding day, but she never returns. A man explains that he saw her being led into the forest by a fairy youth as if in a trance and she was never seen again.

As you can see, my story is quite different from the original. "The Musician's Bride" is set in modern times and is not about finding a magical paradise, but the overall idea is the same. Mary is a romantic who frequently dreams of being swept away to a fantasy world where she feels she will be incredibly happy. Though different in some ways, I feel like Mary and Neen-i-zu share the same kind of passionate free spirit.