The Tale of the Wenzelwerf

“Cold again” she thought, as she snatched the heavy gray house coat down that hung from her bed post. She promptly wrapped the house coat tightly around her body, tying the gray cloth belt into a firm knot, as if the strength of the belt would prevent any more heat from escaping her body. “Always cold” she thought, as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. A wave of shivers began creeping their way through her small body just as she settled into a sitting position. She hastily reached for the pair of matching gray slippers that sat waiting for her barely sticking from underneath the bed, soft and warm inside the slipper warmer. In their carefully positioned place at the bottom of the old wooden bedpost. With a wide yawn she hurriedly slid one foot after the other into the welcoming warmth of the slippers. Raising her fisted hands in the air, she stretched allowing the thoughts of an eventless morning to run wild in her mind. She smiled as she allowed herself to fall softly back onto the bed. The sultriness from the slippers rushed through her, sending the chill of the morning air fleeing from her body.

“Satchmo” a voice from the other room bellowed, interrupting her joyous thoughts and devouring the blissful silence of dawn. Satchmo gripped the edge of her full-sized mattress, jolting herself back into a sitting position. “I’m awake Father” Satchmo replied in an annoyed but respectful tone. Satchmo dropped her head allowing it to hang in the defiant realization that whatever hope she had of a peaceful morning was shattered along with the silence.

Satchmo didn’t care for her name. So, everyone just called her Moe. It was an odd name for a girl to go by, however considering the alternative she didn’t mind a bit. No one outside of her immediate family even knew her name. Besides the obvious, such as her teachers or doctors and such, but even they called her by her chosen nickname. Her best friend Gayle swore that she knew her name at some point in time, but even she had been calling her Moe so long that she couldn’t remember. So, at the end of the day even she, could only recall Moe as Moe.

Moe and Gayle had been friends for as long as they could remember. Their Fathers had gone to school together and became the best of friends. When Moe’s mother had gone missing, Gayle’s father and mother, Weston and Tiffany were a big help. In fact, Weston was the only person in the whole village that didn’t secretly think Moe’s father, Bregarth, had anything to do with her mother’s disappearance. Even Tiffany had her reservations about the matter. Still, Tiffany helped Bregarth with Moe and her sisters whenever she could. “All girls need a mother figure in their lives” she would say, anytime the opportunity permitted itself. And the opportunity permitted itself a lot. For instance, the first day of school, When Satchmo wanted her hair done into a fancy style. Try as he might, her father was just not capable of doing such hairstyles. Or the time Moe started to develop as a young lady and needed to go shopping for bras and many more times after that.

Moe couldn’t stand the look on her father’s face every time Tiffany would go on one of her rants. So, she learned to do a lot of things herself and started helping her father with her younger sisters whenever she could. Even though her father never complained about Tiffany’s boasting, Moe could tell it bothered her father all the same.

Satchmo was the oldest of six children, all of which were girls. Moe was only nine years old when her mother had gone missing. Her parents waited five years before having another child after Moe was born. After that they had a baby every year until Moe’s mother went missing. At that time, Jaray, Moe’s youngest sister was only a few weeks old. Once Moe turned 16, her father told her about the day her mother went missing. She never suspected her father of having anything to do with her mother’s disappearance. She also didn’t expect for him to tell her about the day her mother disappeared when she asked him. She was expecting him to brush it off or file it away under the “adult business” category. Unexpectedly, Bregarth did neither of those things. He continued tidying up the house as he did every evening and told her the events of the day her mother disappeared from the moment he woke up till the time he noticed she had been missing. He would occasionally stop cleaning and stare into dead space as he went over certain points in the story. As if he were trying to find something he may have missed. He spoke like he remembered the day so vividly as if he relived that day, every day since her mother went missing. Moe could hear the heart break and longing in her father’s voice. When Bregarth finished telling Moe what he remembered. He Knelt down in front of her as she sat unmoving, wide eyed and listening in the wooden kitchen chair. “I knew that you would ask about your mother one day” he said “and though I’m surprised it took you this long to ask. I’ve always told myself that I would tell you the truth as I know it”. As Bregarth stood up and began to walk away he briefly looked over his shoulder and said, “You should know that I will never stop believing that your mother will return to us. I don’t know how… or when… but I know she will make it home” It was in that moment as her father looked her in her eyes that she realized, it wasn’t heartbreak and longing she heard in her father’s voice. It was hope. After seven long years her father still believed that her mother would return. Her father still had hope, and that made her heartbreak in a way that she never knew was possible.

Moe silently made her way to the kitchen where she knew her father would be preparing breakfast and getting ready to wake her younger siblings. “Happy Birthday” Bregarth told Moe in a cheery voice, as she pulled a chair out to sit at the table. He slid a warm muffin on the oak table in front of her. The Kitchen filled with the delicious sent of baked bananas and walnuts. The sweet scent of the banana muffin danced through Satchmo’s nose and onto her taste buds, putting a huge smile on her face. “I know that we agreed that your eighteenth birthday is special, and you could have the day all to yourself” her father started “but…” “Come on father” Moe interrupted. In an exhausted voice “You promised, and I have been looking forward to this one day all year” but before Moe could continue her well prepared “debate of the birthday” speech, her father cut her off. “Let me finish” Bregarth said in a calm but happy tone. Moe let out a deep breath as she put her elbow on the table, placing her face in the palm of her hand. She looked up at her father and patiently waited for him to tell her the list of things he needs her to take care of and how he really depends on her to help him get her little sisters ready for the day. Instead, he placed a small package, wrapped in plain brown paper on the table in front of her. The package was small enough to fit into a jacket pocket but to big to close in one hand. “As I was saying” Bregarth continued, smiling as he watched a huge smile return to Satchmo’s face. “You cannot open this until, as you put it… “the best birthday ever” is over and your back home”. Moe Jumped from her chair nearly knocking the table over as she flung her arms around her father’s neck. “I love you so much father” she squealed. “I love you too Satch” Bregarth replied as he gave Moe a tight hug. “Now get ready and get going before your sisters wake up” he said.

Moe was showered and was snatching her coat from the coat rack in no time. Moe grabbed the package along with the muffin from the table and headed for the door. She could hear her siblings beginning to get out of their beds. “I’m serious” Bregarth said. “Wait till you get home to open the gift, I want to watch you open It”. “Okay, okay” Moe replied as she closed the door behind her. “I can’t believe I actually get the day to myself”, Moe thought as she walked down the path behind her house. Moe was beyond herself with excitement as she headed toward Gayle’s house. Moe laughed to herself as she noticed that she was more at a trot then a walk. Moe was so excited that she barely noticed the older gentleman struggling to make his way up the hill with a donkey. “Looks like Mr. Otterhime”, she thought to herself. Mr. Otterhime lived four houses down from Moe and his donkey was always kicking the gate open and escaping. He was to far to make out his face, but Mr. Otterhime was the only one in town with a donkey. In a rush to make it to Gayle’s house, Moe briefly struggled with the choice of rather to help Mr. Otterhime or hurry to Gayle’s house. With a shrug Moe decided that five or ten minutes to help Mr. Otterhime wouldn’t hurt. She had the whole day after all and it was still early. “If I slow my pace and walk slightly down hill, I should intersect with Mr. Otterhime without taking me to far off course. “Good morning Mr. Otterhime” Moe shouted as she made her way toward her neighbor. Mr. Otterhime didn’t reply, nor did her turn around to acknowledge that he heard her. He Just kept tugging on the rope inching closer to the houses with the donkey close in tow. Moe didn’t think he was being rude, just really distracted with the donkey. “What in the world has gotten into that donkey today” Moe thought as she got closer to Mr. Otterhime. “I’ve never seen him this resistant before” she thought. “Mr. Otterhime” she called out again as she got closer. “Do you need any help” she asked. As each step took Moe closer to Mr. Otterhime, she felt herself slow down drastically. “Is that a goat!?” She asked herself. Nobody she knew owned a goat! In fact, goats were extremely rare. So rare that she had only seen pictures in history books. “Mr. Otterhime?” Moe asked in a low puzzled voice, as she froze in her tracks. Realizing she was really close to her suspected neighbor Moe took a step back. As if the Man and the goat simultaneously felt Moe take a step back, they both froze. The goat was no longer struggling, and the old man was no longer pulling. An intense feeling of fear rushed through Moe, as she slowly took another step back. As Moe was midway through another step back the old man said “don’t be afraid child, I have a message from your mother” his back still turned to Moe. Moe froze in her tracks as the old man continued to talk. “My name is Arnold and I know that it is your eighteenth birthday”. Arnold continued “your father gave you a gift and your mother needs me to bring it to her in order to return to this land you call home” Moe couldn’t help the feeling of dread that continued to grow inside of her. Before Arnold could get another word out, Moe turned and bolted back up the hill. As she ran as fast as she could, she heard Arnold shouting after her to stop. Sure Arnold was chasing after her, Moe turned to look over her shoulder to see how close Arnold had gotten to her, but instead she saw him jump onto the back of his goat. Moe was sure Arnold would head straight for her. Mumbling something under his breath that Moe was to far to hear, Arnold started his donkey running in the opposite direction. Shocked, Moe Stumbled and fell. Still looking at Arnold she instinctively began crawling backwards. Arnold pulled a staff from what seemed to be thin air. Arnold Struck the Staff against the ground and disappeared. Moe couldn’t believe her eyes. “Am I going crazy?” she thought blinking rapidly trying to make sense out of what she had just saw. “Moe” she heard a familiar voice calling over and over. Gayle walked up behind Moe and placed her hand on Moe’s shoulder. Smiling Gayle joked “I was just on my way to rescue you”. Moe turned and looked up at Gayle, the fear still clearly on her face. Gayle’s smile dropped instantly. “Are you ok Moe?” Gayle asked. Still in shock and disbelief Moe was unable to answer....