I wrote this short story a few months ago for an online writing competition. The theme of the competition revolved around mythology, however it came with a twist that it could be any type of mythology so long as it was not Greek Mythology.
I decided to take inspiration from Fiji’s rare and unique flower called the Tagimoucia. This is a flower only found in Fiji, and nowhere else in the world. The name of this flower, when translated to english means ‘cry yourself to sleep’.
This name reflects the legend that surrounds the Tagimoucia, which tells a tale of a Chief’s daughter who is forbidden to marry her lover, so she runs away and cries till she turns into the beautiful, yet fragile ruby red and white flowers.
I’d like to remind readers that this story is loosely inspired by the legend and is its own creative story, and is not the legend itself.
The booming thunder rang out overhead as her bare feet carried her up the forested mountain. The heavy rain soaked her from head to toe, while her thick curly hair that usually sprung free like a cloud, now clung to the sides of her face. Droplets of rain were clinging to her eyelashes as she squinted, her eyes struggling to peer into the darkness of the night.
Despite the thunder that echoed from the sky, the rapid heartbeat thrumming within her ears seemed louder. She could taste the tears that dripped down her cheeks, mingled with the freshness of rainwater that sprayed against her Melanated skin. Branches snapped under her feet, stones dug into her soles, pain shooting up her legs, but still she ran with urgency.
She had no idea where she was running to, only that she needed to.
All her life, stuck on this island, forced to live under the burdens of being a chief’s daughter. She was exhausted. Her feet carried her up the steep terrain, and into the sleek slippery mud as she struggled to find a grip. Her hands reached out, grasping at branches as she stumbled around in darkness. Her laboured breaths sounding out, disturbing the quiet of nature as her lungs burned.
She hadn’t meant to disgrace her family.
He was only a friend, at first. A lover much later. It was innocent and sweet. Just two kids in the same village that found comfort in each other.
She recalled how the night began. How her parents’ gaze hardened the moment she arrived home. Her eyes immediately focused on the stack of handwritten love letters crinkled in her father’s hands; the familiar handwriting sent a chill down her spine.
His eyes, dark and accusing as he lifted a singular page for her to see better. A quiet expectation demanding an immediate explanation.
Right by the coffee table, her mother sat cross legged on the floor. Her face burning with disappointment.
Her throat tightened. There was no easy way to explain. Her mind grew fuzzy; her stomach churned with anxiety. Her father spoke with restraint anger, but her ears drowned out the words. A scenario already imagined many times before, and yet when it came, she was at a loss for words.
Her lips began to part, mind racing to force something out. Her gaze darted to the ground. Tears forming as her eyebrows knitted together.
“I said… Who is the boy you’ve been talking to?” he repeated. He waved his hand at the pages once more. Her lover had been smart enough not to sign his name.
She took a moment to compose herself, before she hesitantly spoke his name. The air in the room shifted as the syllables rolled off her tongue.
Her father’s face changed, betraying a hint of surprise before quickly schooling it into something neutral.
“That boy?” Her father said a little too quickly. She nodded, and his jaw seemed to clench at her response.
His hands balled into fists. A clear sign that he was angry enough to strike.
“We already promised you a long time ago…” He said gravely. “To a man from a chiefly family. Yet here you are flirting with some low life- “
“Don’t talk about him that way- “she begged.
“-scoundrel!” He continued. “He should know better than to- “
“I’m in love with him, Tata!” she blurted. Her father paused at the admission. “Please! I don’t want to marry anyone else but him! I don’t care if my engagement is an alliance!”
What followed came quick.
She stumbled back in surprise, instinctively clutching the side of her face where her father’s heavy hand backhanded. A sharp gasp drew from her mother’s mouth, despite how silent she had been.
She looked up to find her father already moving to leave, his back turned towards her.
“Tonight,” he said carefully, “I will send your cousins to get rid of him once and for all. He’ll regret the day he ever met you… “
She froze in shock. Surely, he didn’t mean that? Would he really have her lover killed?
Tears streamed down her cheeks, sending a sting where the assault had occurred.
“Tata, wait!” she sobbed.
He didn’t listen, slamming the door behind him without another word. She looked at her mother, whose face reflected hers. One of shock and horror, before quickly shaking her head and avoiding her daughter’s eyes. She moved to the kitchen to continue making dinner.
And so, she walked out of the house. Walking, turned into running, and sunset turned into darkness. The clear weather turned on its head, and it began to drizzle. As fast as it came, was as fast as it changed, the drizzling became a downpour, and she was too angry to turn back home.
Now, with only a trickle of pale moonlight illuminating her path, and the occasional thunder, she made her way through the mountains. A cold gust of wind caressed her as she ran further, a chill setting itself deep within her bones. Her lungs worked harder as she forced herself onward despite her exhaustion.
One foot after the other, until her right slipped in mud. She fell, her body twisting and landing hard into the moist ground with a loud ‘SPLOSH’!
She sat up slowly, eyes squeezed shut, face coated in the slimy mud. She grabbed the collar of her dress, using the inside fabric to wipe it off. Despite the rain she forced her eyes to stay open long enough to find herself in an unfamiliar clearing.
The land was bare in the midst, except for the patches of puddles that had formed in this weather, with a few rocks and pebbles lying around in the ground. The trees seemed to surround the area in an almost perfect circle, and now the full moon was in clear view from where she sat. She closed her eyes once more, this time allowing herself to feel the rain against her skin and breathe the fresh crisp air around her. She allowed herself to grieve, her sobs growing louder as her legs kicked the wet soft dirt in frustration.
Letting herself yearn and desire, would now put a nail into her lover’s coffin.
She sobbed loudly, not noticing the eyes that stared at her through the forest. Frustrated, her hands and legs thrashed into the ground, not realizing the supernatural power that sat beneath the land. What would’ve been fine anywhere else, instead began forming a pit where she kicked. Anything done here, was amplified by the magic of what watched her from the trees. Her strength was enhanced, her tears became heavier and the world seemed to spin as she cried.
A wide and deep hole hollowed out where her legs dug, and her tears, with the help from the pouring rain, quickly began to fill it up. The water level rose higher until she finally collapsed into a deep slumber. Her tears had formed a lake, which she laid right next to. The moonlight reflected against the clear water, creating a sparkle that seemed to attract fireflies from the forest.
The Gods of the land watched as she dozed into sleep. Curiosity took over them, and they left their hiding spot to take a better look at this odd woman.
They towered over her sleeping form, their eyes drifting over her body. Her face was flushed, perhaps from running for so long, her eyelids puffy from crying. She laid there, a stark contrast of her when she’d first arrived, out of breath and huffing with anger. She looked almost peaceful, even as the rain poured over her sleeping body.
The thunder rumbled deeply in the sky.
Interested, they swiped their hands, seeing into the young woman’s future. She turned over on her side, clearly feeling their magic lay on top of her like a blanket. It seeped through her skin, and into her flesh. It traced every vein, looking, searching, reading her inside out. Finally, it moved into her brain, entering it and showing her and the Gods, her soon to be fate.
It was like a dream to her.
She stood there over a dead body which had been gently laid onto fine mats. It was her lover, she realised. His eyes and mouth were covered in large maggots. Flies buzzed around his Ghastly corpse, clearly finding joy in his decomposition. Two deep slashes etched deep into his chest, surrounded with black and blue bruises from an obvious beating.
Appalled, she staggered back.
The scenery swiftly changed before she could react further.
From darkness to bright, she stood under the hot sun. She could hear the waves crashing before she even saw it, feel the sand under her feet. Across from her, the fiancé she was meant to marry stood there dressed in his wedding attire. They stood before an arc decorated in flowers meant for celebration, but from the rigid down set look on his face there was nothing joyful about this moment.
The wedding venue by the beach rapidly faded away. This time she sat at the doorway of their house. A little rain puddle formed right by their doorstep. She peered into puddle and took in her appearance. Her eyes, swollen shut and a forming dark bruise under her cheek bone.
The sound of little feet running on floorboards could be heard from behind her. Her head swivelled, and her eyes rested on two young boys, whose faces were identical to her future husband’s. Instantly, she swatted them away and stood up infuriated.
One of them pouted and the other stretched out his arms. “Nana!” One of them called her, and without thinking she hissed in clear hatred.
To the Gods, they could see that this young girl would never be treated right by her spouse. She would be battered and bruised all her life. Her children would grow to never know a mother’s love. Her life from marriage to death would be nothing but suffering.
She had been bawling her eyes out for so long, that now a red tear trickled down her cheek.
She had begun to cry blood.
She was a soft, captivating beauty that made the Gods compare her to that of a gentle flower. They decided to reach out their hand, gently placed it on her chest. A blinding light began to reveal itself, and her body glowed, cutting into the darkness of the forest. A strong gush of wind blew, swaying the branches and sending leaves fluttering.
Where the woman’s legs rested, vines now sprawled out from the ground. A wooden stem grew, replacing her hips, following the shape of her waist and upper body. Finally, white flowers bloomed from the deepest parts of her pure soul, sprouting into hanging buds. Her tears, red and glossy vanished before transforming into delicate ruby red flowers that hung with the white ones.
The light flashed even brighter as her new form settled into the ground, before dimming and allowing for the flowers to sway gently. The heavy rain began to die down, allowing for the red and white flowers to breathe.
For final touches, the Gods reached into the after life and pulled out the string of her lover’s soul, before gently sewing him into each petal.
The two lovers, separated by life and death, now joined together as one.
The hours of night slowly dwindled, and the first morning rays gently poured in. A search party had been sent at dawn to scour the mountain in search of the Chief’s missing daughter.
Among them was her own mother, with a nagging guilt that tugged at her heart for not saying anything.
They called her name as they moved through the trees. It took hours till they found the clearing, the clear lake that had been newly formed.
Only the red and white flowers were found, with her dress lying in the mud. Tagimoucia, they called it- Cry yourself to sleep.
Hey! Hope you liked this short story, and if you did please like and comment:)
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