Annika, the Shoemaker’s Daughter
Written with my Thursday writing group with the prompts: forbidden, midafternoon stop and go pattern, cracking into the present, escaping into the future, stared and waved, towels dropped over her, cheese paddle, song, shoemaker’s daughter, she was a cheap exhibitionist, with the sun in her eyes, if you want to learn the truth of it
Everyone thought the shoemaker’s daughter Annika was a cheap exhibitionist but that could not be further from the truth. Every morning as she ventured out of her father’s shop into the front garden or the town square, the scent of fennel and mint would engulf her and a song would escape her lips. Some of her neighbors looked forward to her soft sincere trilling, others stopped their ears with cotton, but if you want to learn the truth of it, most people just ignored her.
Nonetheless, poor Annika was mortified. She didn’t want to sing. No, she had crashed into the present day from the past, under a dark magic spell, and she couldn’t help herself. When the sun was in her eyes, she had to do it. She had to sing.
No one knew she was trapped by this spell; no one knew except her own future self. When Annika from the day before fell through the mysterious portal hidden beneath the clothesline, she inadvertently tossed a half dozen damp towels onto the head of today’s Annika, who was quite surprised to see herself yawning and mumbling and glancing around in a confused midafternoon stop and go pattern. Despite her shock, today’s Annika surmised the situation quickly and dove through the portal herself, escaping into the future, leaving her past self to deal with the ramifications of her mistaken foray into time travel.
Annika of the Day Before became Today’s Annika, although this was not her intent. When she tried to tell everyone what had happened, all that would come out were rhyming song lyrics about moons and Junes, dreams and schemes, and the occasional bawdy sea shanty. Soon children were following her about, staring and waving. Annika ran when she saw them, which happened often. She became strong and fit from all the exercise, and her unruly hair curled about her face in a very pleasing manner.
Yet this didn’t matter to Annika’s mother, Mrs. Shoemaker, who was constantly embarrassed by Annika’s forbidden songs. She took to carrying a cheese paddle to hide her face. Oh, it was a sad pickle they were all in.
One day a traveler named Caleb came to town dressed in faded denim and flannel, carrying a backpack filled with granola to stave off hunger, and shoes to sell to pay for lodging. When he saw Annika and he heard her singing, his mouth dropped open. For Caleb was traveling backward in time a day here and a day there, and he had encountered the Future Annika years ago, and he was sure he had found her again.
Future Annika was a famous shoe designer creating stylish foot wear in red leather and blue suede. She was rich and beautiful, and Caleb—who had been a top recording star—was drawn to her when she designed a pair of hand tooled green boots for hm to wear on stage. They fell in love, but the charmed existence of Annika’s life was dependent on the dark magic that led her to escape her mundane village through time travel. When she dared to fall in love, the bill came due, cursing her beloved, much to her painful regret. But there was no fighting it. All she could do was arm him with a backpack which magically filled with granola and shoes every morning.
Now Caleb caught sight of the woman he loved—-at least he thought it was she—singing Beatles songs as she purchased fruit and vegetables at the farmer’s market. He approached quietly, glancing shyly at her as she altered the lyrics to Obladee Obladah to ask the vendor how much he was charging for the mandarin oranges. At this Caleb could wait no longer; he knew it must be his Annika because she loved Clementines so. He burst into song, an a capella version of Blackbird, for he knew it to be her favorite. Present day Annika turned and gaped in surprise at his strong well-trained tenor. She joined in, and moving slowly toward each other they harmonized beautifully. Every person in the square paused in awe at their endearing performance. When together they sang the lyric “You were only waiting for this moment to be free,” the spell was broken. Present-day Annika now spoke without singing, and Present-day Caleb was no longer compelled to travel.
Caleb soon discovered that Annika was not his Annika, but she was an Annika with whom he very much wanted to become acquainted. Though shy, Annika was grateful, and agreed to allow his visits at her father’s shoe shop.
It is impossible to know what happened next because the clock is turning, days are growing longer, than shorter, than equal again. But it is said that Annika and Caleb still enjoy singing together, and sometimes, not often, but sometimes, they both harmonize with the wolves who linger at the edge of the village when the moon is full.
Photo by Melanie Rosillo Galvan on Unsplash
