Daughters of Eve

Once upon a time, in a land far far away, a terrible plague killed the queen, leaving a Daughter of Eve all alone in a world of men. Her father and brothers did what they could, but she was lonely and sad and sought the company of her best friend, a poor woodcutter who lived in the nearby village.

Afraid of everything, the Daughter of Eve would sit in her window and weep until a tiny bird would tell the woodcutter and he would come to save her. At first they only talked. She from her window. He from the cover of the woods below, but her piteous cries that now her mother had died she had no one to hold her close and cherish her finally wore away his sense of decorum and the woodcutter built a ladder. He climbed up and sat for hours holding her as she nuzzled helplessly against him murmuring about how grateful she was and how much she loved him.

And then one day, as you might have guessed, she discovered she was with child and the woodcutter offered to marry her and take her away to his hovel in the village, but this Daughter of Eve was terrified of living in poverty. Who would drive her around when he was out cutting wood? Who would do all the things her father and brothers did? It took a lot of people to care for this little princess of Eve.

No, she could not be expected to live that way, so it was arranged, the woodcutter would send her a fifth of his money every month to help defray the costs of raising another little Daughter of Eve. In the beginning this was enough. Everyone brought lovely gifts for the new baby and her mother felt very loved and special, the center of attention, but eventually that wore off and then life changed.

No one wanted to listen to a crying baby. No one wanted to change a wet and smelly baby and no one wanted to stay up all hours of the day and night caring for an unhappy or sick baby. By the time the child was a toddler this Daughter of Eve was heartily sick of her life, so she devised a plan. She would go off and join the army and when she got out there would be money for school and a way to better herself and everything would be wonderful!

Her brother, who was at university, came back to his dorm one day to find his abandoned niece sitting on his bed with her bottle and teddy bear. There was a note pinned to the bear: Be back soon, gone to join the army! The woodcutter will send money. He was shocked, because she claimed he was afraid to go to the village store in the castle carriage, but he was kind. He hid the child in his dorm and managed to care for the baby until her mother returned several years later.

Upon returning the Daughter of Eve was relieved to find her child potty trained and talking and much easier to care for, but she occasionally still needed time to herself and during those times she would leave the little Daughter on her grandfather's doorstep with a note: Be back soon, gone to (wherever.) The woodcutter will send money.

In between she often sat in her window weeping. Until the same tiny bird told a soldier that a beautiful Daughter of Eve was stranded in her tower, alone and unloved. And he rescued her. Of course he took the child too and soon her daughter was safely tucked in among his own children during the months he had custody of them.

Time passed and the soldier had to go far away to fight a war and the Daughter of Eve did not like living by herself with her daughter so they got on a train and went to visit his mother. It was only a temporary situation she said, until the soldier came home.  The mother took them in quite happily until the time came for her son to come get them. Then the Daughter of Eve asked the mother if she would keep the girl until she graduated from high school so she could go back to be with her husband alone.

The mother said no she did not feel up to that, so the Daughter of Eve rented a house near the mother and moved into it. She wrote her husband and told him to sell their beautiful big house now that she had rented one by his mother. We no longer need it she told him. He was concerned about where his children would stay when they came, but the Daughter of Eve convinced him that he only needed a small place, big enough for him. He would soon finish his time as a soldier and then they would move to a new place.

He did as she suggested before coming home to visit her and his mother. The little daughter stayed at the grandmother's while he was there and when it was time to go back, the Daughter of Eve told her own daughter that they would be leaving her with her real father and grandfather and uncles because there was no room for her in the new place. The girl cried and begged. She did not want to go back there. She said they did not want her there.

And she was right, but the mother convinced her husband that it was the best thing to do, so they dropped her off on the way home. Unfortunately the Daughter of Eve could not convince him not to pick up his own children along the way and so they had to put them down on pallets all over the house during their visit this time.

Meanwhile, back at the castle, the younger Daughter of Eve was right. No one really wanted her there. She sat in her mother's old window weeping until a tiny bird told her best friend from childhood that she was there. And, as you might have guessed, history repeated itself. Except this time neither the king, nor the uncles, nor the girl's father wanted her to stay when they discovered she was pregnant and her mother certainly did not want her living with her and her soldier husband in their tiny love nest, so it was arranged.

The young Daughter of Eve was put on a bus and sent back to the grandmother's town to, supposedly finish high school. She was to live in the rented house the mother had set up before going back to her husband. The grandmother felt sorry for her. She was so young. She had never lived alone before. She had never had a job and she was barely eighteen. All the younger Daughter of Eve knew how to do was fix her hair, put on make up and look pretty. How could the grandmother leave her all alone like that now she was pregnant?

It was arranged that a Grand Duke and Duchess, who had never been able to have children of their own and who loved them dearly, would take the baby when it was born so the young Daughter of Eve and the baby's father could finish growing up and have a chance at a happy life. Then the grandmother and the young Daughter of Eve settled in to live through all this and make the best of it.

But they did not count on the Daughter of Eve! She had wanted a child with her soldier husband, but his vasectomy was not reversible. Here was her chance to have all the joys of an infant with none of the work. She filled her daughter's head with thoughts of pretty pink diaper bags and sparkly clothes. She painted pictures of walks in the park showing off a gorgeous baby girl. She told her that the father must send her money to help take care of the baby. She arranged a baby shower and the young Daughter of Eve, like all children, was tempted by the prospect of this new baby doll she was about to have. They could stay with her mother and soldier step father for one year and then they would be on their own.

A year is forever when you are that young. The Daughter of Eve sat back, sighed and thought how lovely life was. All you needed to do was let people know what you wanted and what you were afraid of and they would take care of everything else. The world lay at your feet if you were lucky and she intended to stay lucky.