Storytelling Week 10: The Fairy Bride
There was once a beautiful girl named, Neen-i-zu, which meant, “My Dear Life.” Neen-i-zu was a beautiful girl who was loved by all of the people who knew her. She was different from the other girls in the tribe, though. While other girls preferred to learn trades that would make them more pleasing wives, such as basketweaving and cooking, Neen-i-zu preferred to get lost in her thoughts and explore the forest. She was atypical, and everyone knew it.
Neen-i-zu could spend hours in the forest, playing with the animals, walking through the trees, and lost in her day dreams. Her most common day dreams were about a life where she could stay happy in the forest forever. She would be so thrilled to live in the forest and be at peace with nature. Her mother wasn’t pleased with this. Neen-i-zu’s mother loved her so much and wanted the best life for her. Her mother believed the best option was to marry her off to a hunter, so she would always be well fed. Neen-i-zu hated the thought of marrying someone who only thought of killing animals. It hurt her heart, but marrying the hunter was her only choice. As much as she wanted to disobey, family came first and she could never go against her mother's wishes.
On the day of her wedding, Neen-i-zu was the most gorgeous girl around. Everyone was excited for her wedding except for Neen-i-zu herself. Knowing that she wouldn’t be able to explore the forest at will once she was married, Neen-i-zu went exploring into the forest one last time, just hours before the ceremony.
She slowly wandered through the forest, taking in everything around her. The trees, the little stream, and all of the animals. She was crying sadly as she moved through the trees when she was suddenly caught off guard. The most beautiful creature she had ever seen had peeked around a tree and made eye contact with her. Neen-i-zu froze, unsure of what to do. Slowly the creature, a gorgeous man-fairy, came up to her. He gently wiped away Neen-i-zu’s tears from her cheek. Instantly she fell in love with this fairy, and she knew in her heart they were meant to be with each other.
The man-fairy had known of Neen-i-zu’s predicament. He had always watched her from afar, but he had always been too shy to express his love for her. Knowing this was his last chance, he gained the courage to approach her. He expressed his love for her and she reciprocated, both ecstatic to have finally found true happiness.
Neen-i-zu was so happy and they married in that moment. The marriage was a magical kind of marriage. Once they were married, the magic of the forest made Neen-i-zu into a fairy so she could stay with her fairy husband forever and live the life she had always dreamed of. The couple lived happily ever after in the forest until the end of their days. It was Neen-i-zu's dream come true.
Author’s Note: This was based on the story, The Fairy Bride. In the original story Neen-i-zu had the same backstory that I wrote about. However, in the original story, Neen-i-zu went into the forest before her marriage and was never seen again, except for by her hunter husband-to-be. Her hunter husband-to-be saw Neen-i-zu walk unto the arms of the man fairy, while in her wedding dress, and embraced him. When he saw this, he assumed she became a fairy-bride and told the rest of their people. There was actually no story of how exactly she became a fairy bride, though. I didn’t like that the original story skipped how exactly she became a fairy bride, so I wrote my own version of how I thought it would happen. I thought about making the story dark, but I decided against it. I wanted to make the story sweet, because I thought that such a good-natured person like Neen-i-zu deserved a happy ending, especially after being so misunderstood her whole life. Also, I tried to imagine the backstory of her fairy husband, so I decided to make him shy to explain why they didn't get married until the last minute. I hope you enjoyed my version!
