((I thought I'd write a tribute to David Bowie, and I wanted to share it here. Hope y'all enjoy. This is the Wattpad link))
David Bowie died yesterday. Though Nerissa had been alive for a lot longer than the Mundy pop star, she couldn't help but feel as though it was the end of an era. Above all else, she loved music, and she had loved Bowie. Yes, even more than that prince she had fallen for in the 1600s of Mundy time. Was that how long she had had legs for? Over four hundred years? She could barely believe it herself sometimes. Four hundred years since she'd been a princess. Four hundred years since she had had a tail. Four hundred years since she had decided that Atlantis wasn't good enough for her.
That hadn't been how it was, but it was how she remembered it now. She had thrown it all away. And for what? Love? No. Love did not exist. She knew that now. Fables had the curse of living for eternity, their invulnerability made stronger when Mundys continued to retell their tales. Someone like her was practically immortal thanks to the popularity of her story. Of course the Mundys had now given it a happy ending, but Nerissa knew that the version of her called Ariel wasn't real. There had never been a kiss. There had never been a happily ever after.
But she was digressing. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't tell the world she now lived in how wrong they were. One of the rules for living in Fabletown was that Mundys could never know that Fables existed. If they did, that would put many of them in danger, and as a community, they had agreed that living in Manhattan incognito was the best solution to staying alive. Their Homeland had been attacked by an antagonist known as The Adversary, killing many of them and driving the rest into exile. So even if Nerissa wanted to return home with her now figurative tail tucked between her new legs (not so new anymore), she couldn't. She was stuck in Fabletown. Stuck in this world, stuck in this town, with the two jobs she had, telling herself she was lucky to have found work at all at The Pudding & Pie as well as The Open Arms.
Her job as an escort was of course top secret, kept that way by her manager, Georgie Porgie, and it would remain that way if she valued her head (or so she had been told). The man was terrified of Bigby Wolf, and with reason too, Nerissa believed. The Big Bad Wolf was the scariest thing in Fabletown, completely loyal to the Mayor Deputy, Snow White. While she feared him too and steered clear whenever he came into view, the Little Mermaid couldn't help but hope that he would eventually find out, swoop in to save the day and let all the girls go free.
Catching her own train of thought then, she clenched her fist as she dug her nails into her palm. Still the little dreamer. She could hear the Sea Witch laughing at her now. The little dreamer who cared more for a dead Mundy pop icon than her own neck. The clock was ticking and she still wasn't ready for work. Georgie would have her head.
She glanced up at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and stared at it. Impulsively, she reached for her electric razor and taking it to her temple, she shaved a large line all the way down her scalp, the bright red locks of hair feather falling down towards her white ceramic sink. Nerissa gaped at her reflection. What had she just done?
Always so impulsive, she heard her father's disapproving voice.
With a shaking hand, Nerissa brought the razor back up to her temple and began to shave again. And again. And again.
She didn't stop until a quarter of her ruby red hair was no longer on her head, but draped all over her sink and floor. Calmly, she set the razor down and began to blow-dry the remaining locks on her head as she softly sang Starman. She still had the most beautiful voice in all of Fabletown.
Tonight she would show tribute to the greatest singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, arranger, painter and actor this generation of Mundys had ever seen, and she would not regret her decision. No, not this time.
David Bowie died yesterday. Though Nerissa had been alive for a lot longer than the Mundy pop star, she couldn't help but feel as though it was the end of an era. Above all else, she loved music, and she had loved Bowie. Yes, even more than that prince she had fallen for in the 1600s of Mundy time. Was that how long she had had legs for? Over four hundred years? She could barely believe it herself sometimes. Four hundred years since she'd been a princess. Four hundred years since she had had a tail. Four hundred years since she had decided that Atlantis wasn't good enough for her.
That hadn't been how it was, but it was how she remembered it now. She had thrown it all away. And for what? Love? No. Love did not exist. She knew that now. Fables had the curse of living for eternity, their invulnerability made stronger when Mundys continued to retell their tales. Someone like her was practically immortal thanks to the popularity of her story. Of course the Mundys had now given it a happy ending, but Nerissa knew that the version of her called Ariel wasn't real. There had never been a kiss. There had never been a happily ever after.
But she was digressing. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't tell the world she now lived in how wrong they were. One of the rules for living in Fabletown was that Mundys could never know that Fables existed. If they did, that would put many of them in danger, and as a community, they had agreed that living in Manhattan incognito was the best solution to staying alive. Their Homeland had been attacked by an antagonist known as The Adversary, killing many of them and driving the rest into exile. So even if Nerissa wanted to return home with her now figurative tail tucked between her new legs (not so new anymore), she couldn't. She was stuck in Fabletown. Stuck in this world, stuck in this town, with the two jobs she had, telling herself she was lucky to have found work at all at The Pudding & Pie as well as The Open Arms.
Her job as an escort was of course top secret, kept that way by her manager, Georgie Porgie, and it would remain that way if she valued her head (or so she had been told). The man was terrified of Bigby Wolf, and with reason too, Nerissa believed. The Big Bad Wolf was the scariest thing in Fabletown, completely loyal to the Mayor Deputy, Snow White. While she feared him too and steered clear whenever he came into view, the Little Mermaid couldn't help but hope that he would eventually find out, swoop in to save the day and let all the girls go free.
Catching her own train of thought then, she clenched her fist as she dug her nails into her palm. Still the little dreamer. She could hear the Sea Witch laughing at her now. The little dreamer who cared more for a dead Mundy pop icon than her own neck. The clock was ticking and she still wasn't ready for work. Georgie would have her head.
She glanced up at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and stared at it. Impulsively, she reached for her electric razor and taking it to her temple, she shaved a large line all the way down her scalp, the bright red locks of hair feather falling down towards her white ceramic sink. Nerissa gaped at her reflection. What had she just done?
Always so impulsive, she heard her father's disapproving voice.
With a shaking hand, Nerissa brought the razor back up to her temple and began to shave again. And again. And again.
She didn't stop until a quarter of her ruby red hair was no longer on her head, but draped all over her sink and floor. Calmly, she set the razor down and began to blow-dry the remaining locks on her head as she softly sang Starman. She still had the most beautiful voice in all of Fabletown.
Tonight she would show tribute to the greatest singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, arranger, painter and actor this generation of Mundys had ever seen, and she would not regret her decision. No, not this time.
Nerissa: