Fairy Tales

Fall a Real Problem

 Maria’s Insecurity

By Eliza

  Far away, deep in a bountiful forest, lived many nymphs AKA Spirits of the Trees. They worked hard to protect the trees they lived in. The nymphs ran through the forest with their sister nymphs laughing at and teasing mortals that would wander into the forest.  One nymph’s name was Maria.  She was not the fittest nymph but she was one of the most joyful.  She always had a smile on her face and loved to talk.  She would always have time to talk to anyone. Her hazel eyes invariably seemed to be filled with joy.  Maria never ran through the forest, but always took time to smell the roses and to enjoy the marvelous beauty around her.

Her size did not usually cause many problems.  The exception to this was when other nymphs wanted to play.   She always struggled to keep up in their games of tag and the luring of mortal men to pits full of mud that often times had leeches and other unpleasant qualities.   On late summer nights, when the sun had gone over the horizon, the forest cooled down from the sweltering summer heat.  Nymphs from all over the forest would gather in a grove surrounded by a virulent mass of vines and thorns that only the nymphs knew how to navigate. In the grove, soft grass was gentle on their feet as they danced across the ground to the music of the south wind which carried music from the muses.   For nymphs, dancing gave them great joy.  They would continuously dance, moving faster and faster until they could dance no further and drop to the ground to sleep until the sun rose again . Many nights, during the dances, Maria would quickly duck out of the dance to sit at the edge of the clearing.  She watched in envy as her younger sisters would spin on their toes, flying across the ground.  Maria regretted that she was so out of shape:  She could never go that fast and even had difficulty with some of the slowest dances because the footwork was so elaborate. One night, she decided she was tired of being so big since she felt her bulk was separating her from her sisters.  Over the next three months, Maria stopped eating.  At first, she tried to eat nothing, but after missing two or three meals, she would cave and eat too much.  Over time, she changed her diet to just eating a little less every day.  Unfortunately, this did not help her insecurities.  Soon, she was eating almost nothing at all.  She would go as long as she could and then would eat the least amount needed to survive.  Her tree showed the effects her diet had on her leaves; they turned brilliant shades of orange yellow and red. The other nymphs watched in awe, and they were soon asking Maria how she made such wonderful colors.  At first, she was hesitant to tell them and was worried about their health, but one nymph told everyone else that Maria was being selfish to try and gain more attention.  Maria soon caved and shared her secret since she didn’t want her sisters to think of her that way.  Soon after, throughout all of the forest, trees had brightly colored leaves as their nymphs starved to cause the beauty. Only the pines remembered the North Wind would presently come.  In no time, his bitterly harsh winds came and started knocking off all of the unhealthy leaves.  The evergreens warned the others, but the narcissistic nymphs paid no heed :  The North Wind came and blew until the trees’ bright leaves fell to the ground.  The nymphs were horrified.  They were now naked, and without their leaves.  They ran down inside the trees and stayed in the ground near the roots throughout the long winter.  They rationed the little energy they had left until the beginning of spring.  With the coming warmth, hope returned.  Gaia,  the Goddess of the Earth, came up out of the ground and called to Maria's tree saying, “Maria come forth.” Maria slipped out of her tree, trembling in shame because of her foolishness and her nakedness.  She went to Gaia, knelt in front of her with her head bowed, and whispered, “ Please, Mother, how can I fix this?”  Gaia pulled Maria up, handed her a small pipe and said, “Share you tree’s life blood with your sisters and your leaves will grow back, but every time fall comes, you will lose your leaves again to go throughout winter bare.”  Gaia melted back into the ground before Maria could ask any questions, so she hurried over to her tree, picked up a big rock, and pounded in the pipe. Sap poured out in great quantities and nymphs from all around came to eat.  It was the sweetest sap ever made because it came right out from the sorrows of Maria’s heart. Fresh green buds began to grow on the branches. The nymphs cheered up enough to once again dance.