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Jasmine
The girl knew no place but the tower.
The girl knew no being but the witch and the little that she knew of herself.
The girl saw nothing but the rich, rolling hills from her window.
The girl knew to do nothing but brush her long, dark hair and sing.
The girl loved nothing at all.
The girl knew no reason to live, but she wished there were one and that she knew it.
The girl wished with all her heart to be on the Below. She thought often of jumping out her tall window, but there were thorns growing below that would surely blind her. She did not know if blindness was a very awful thing in the Below.
When the witch wished to climb her beautiful, long hair, she would cry, “My child, let down your hair, quickly now, quickly!”
Then, the girl would lower her hair carefully and the witch would climb slowly up.
The witch was not very pleasing to look at, but perhaps in the Below she was pleasing to look at. The girl wondered at that often. She would sigh, supposing she would never know.
One day, the witch's voice was very odd. Deep, like nothing the girl had heard before.
“Are you alright, witch?” The girl cried back to the voice. She squinted at the thorn-covered ground, trying to see the witch, but she could not.
A sound came from below, and it was not something she had either done nor heard before. It was a sound of pure joy that sounded as if it would be perfectly wonderful to do. “Of course I am, child, now let your hair down. Quickly, quickly!”
The witch's voice continued to sound odd, but the girl let her hair down nonetheless.
When the witch began to climb, the girl realized that it wasn't the witch at all, but another person altogether. She quickly became frightened, but she also became excited.
She wondered if she should shake her hair about so that the person would fall to the ground. If she did, the person would surely be blinded, and she was not certain if that was a very awful thing in the Below.
She was thinking of this when she saw the person more clearly. This person was certainly pleasing to look at. She wondered if the person was also pleasing to look at in the below.
The person climbed higher and higher until it had climbed all the way into the window.
The person opened its mouth to say something, but the girl spoke first, “What are you?” The girl asked.
The person made the joyful sound again. O, how she wished to make that sound! It seemed to touch every surface in the tower and brighten it slightly. It livened the person's eyes and flushed its cheeks, making it even more pleasing to look at.
“I am a man.” The person stated.
“You are not a girl or a witch?” The girl did not understand. It was an odd feeling, not understanding. Nothing was quite as clear as it ought to have been. Time seemed to go too quickly, as if she had to struggle to hold on, otherwise she would be left behind.
“I should hope not!” The man made the noise again. How it was wonderful to listen to! She tried to make it too, but she only said the sound. It did not brighten surfaces, nor was it wonderful to listen to. She wondered if it flushed her cheeks, making her more pleasing to look at.
“Is a witch pleasing to look at on the Below?” She asked.
“No. Of course not.” The man made a face suggesting he didn't not find witches pleasing to look at at all.
“And are you?” She felt a small want inside her stomach. An odd, nattering want want to know, no matter how small the detail.
“I should hope so!” He smiled at her. His teeth were very straight, unlike the witch's. The witch did not even have all of her teeth, “Do you think so, my lady?”
“Yes I do.” She answered truthfully.
The man's cheeks became a different sort of flushed, he looked down at the floor of the tower and said, “I came up because I heard you singing before. You are a beautiful singer.
“That is... Good.” She said. She did not know what else to say. She realised she felt too big for the room, as if she were to move, she would knock something over, thought there was nothing to knock. She did not know what to say, so she began to sing.
When she was done he put his hands together quickly and made a very loud noise. The noise was very vibrant, and he was smiling. She supposed it must be a good noise.
“Please! I must know your name!”
Time began to go to fast again, “What is a name?”
He made the noise again. He must have been a joyful person. “It is something you call a person. Do you not have one?” She shook her head, a little understanding, “I will call you Jasmine, because you are as wonderful as the flower.”
“What is a flower?” There were so many things he knew that she did not! A great warmth spread through her chest, He could teach her so many new things.
“You really do not know?” She shook her head once again, “They are down there.” He pointed to the Below. “Do you want to come down?”
She sighed, “Yes, I do, but I cannot. There is no door and if I jump I will be blinded.”
“That' is a very awful thing. Especially if you knew no one and were alone.” His voice was not understanding, “It is not fair that such a fair lady stays in a tower on her own.”
She nodded, not knowing quite what a fair lady was meant to be.
He continued to come and everytime he came she learned something new. And everytime he came the warmth inside of her became warmer and grew bigger. Soon all she could think of was him.
One day, when she was the witch, the witch said sharply with an un-happy fire burning in her un-pleasing eyes, “You are in love.” She hissed. She stood up and found something sharp that shone in the light of the sun from her pocket. “Who is it?” The girl tried to ask what love was, but the witch interupted her, “No it doesn't matter. Give me your hair, child.”
Time seemed to be moving so fast that the girl could not think straight. She gave the witch her hair nearly without realizing it.
The witch took the sharp object and put it through the girl's hair. It immediately fell to the ground. The girl was taken not understanding. This was a different kind of not understanding, instead of going too fast, time seemed to stop completely. She tried to think about why the witch would do such a horrible thing, but she could not,
The witch came back from the window and said; “I have cast a spell on what was your hair, so that when your love climbs into the window, it will fall to the ground. You will both be trapped and perish.” The witch stared at her with cruel, burning eyes. “You have betrayed me by falling in love and having another in our tower. I will never come here again.
The next day when the man cried, “Jasmine, my love! Let down your beautiful hair!” The spell'd hair fell to the ground.
“No!” she cried, “Do not come up!”
He let a peal of the sound of pure joy (laughter, he had called it), and he began to climb.
Her eyes began to sting, and salted water ran from them down her cheeks. She knew why. It was because her heart was breaking.
Her face began to get far too warm and she could feel her heart pounding through her forehead. Here was another kind of not understanding. She understood what was happening, but she did not understand why. Time remained almost the same, and she could think, only she thought all the wrong thoughts.
When the man reached the window, he said; “My darling, why are you crying?”
She smiled. He always called her pretty names she did not understand (except for Jasmine, he had brought her flowers one day, she understood that) and he continued to teach her things while they were dying.
“Jasmine, where is your hair?”
She silently walked to the window and they both watched as her long, dark hair floated elegantly to the ground.
They looked into each other's eyes, and they both knew what to do. They knew how to be free.
They each took the other's hands and they jumped.
When they hit the ground, thorns pierced their eyes. They saw nothing and the pain was very awful, but they laughed throught the tears of blood. Though it was a very awful thing to be blinded, it could not be quite so awful since they were alone together.
The girl knew no place but where the wind took her.
The girl knew no being for long but herself and the man.
The girl never saw anything at all.
The girl knew to do nothing but whatever she pleased.
The girl loved nothing but the man, the sunlight warming her face and the untravelled path on which she walked.
The girl was named Jasmine.
A few notes:
Blahhhh there are places I wanted to fix up, but I cannot remember them now...
Twisted Rapunzel story? I don't do fairy-tale remixes very often, but Gail Carson Levine was a favorite of mine as a kid, so here you have it...
Second existential piece this (school) year! The other was Maria (GO READ!!!) I waited all three hours it took me (I was hand-writing it... Don't judge me) to write the line but they laughed through the tears of blood.
DISSECT!!!!!!!!!!! I lovelovelovelove criticism smile
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