Mademoiselle Noir

Once upon a time there was a fair maiden who lived inside of a tall tower in the middle of the barren woods, unknown to the outside world. Her skin was as pale as a ghost - devoid of any warmth. Her hair as black as midnight, and as long as the horizon. She spent her days looking out the lone window of her tower letting her long black hair dance in the wind.

She was hidden away as long as she could remember and has always been content with her life. But the older she grew the more she wondered about the mysterious world outside of her tower. So every day she sat in the window and sang, longing for the type of love she read about in fairytales. When she was young she read of a girl who lived in a tower just like hers and her hair was so long that one day her prince found her and climbed up her hair to save her from the tower. Ever since that day, she decided that she would grow her hair so when her prince finds her one day he can climb up her hair and take her away from the tower.

Until then, she would patiently sit in her tower singing out the window letting her long hair dance with the whispers of the wind. Years passed by and she was no longer a young girl anymore but a young woman and she begin to wonder if her prince would ever come for her. She felt a deep sadness that she never felt before. The heaviness of this burden weighed down on her soul causing her light voice to become somber as she continued to sing out of the window. The days passed and passed and she began to feel angry. She began to feel like it wasn't fair. Where was her Prince to save her from this tower? This isn't how the fairytale went and she through the storybook about the girl in the tower out of her window. Anger, impatience, frustration, loneliness, sadness, she felt them all as she continued to sing out of the lone window of her tower.

"Moi je m'appelle mademoiselle Noir et comme vous pouvez le voir. Je ne souris, ni ris, ni vis. Et c'est tout ce qu'elle a dit"

Until one day, she stopped feeling altogether. She no longer felt the weight of these feelings. She no longer felt anything. Her heart became numb and indifference became her companion. She would sit with indifference in her lone window, atop that tall tower, still singing, still waiting.

"Moi je m'appelle mademoiselle Noir et comme vous pouvez le voir. Je ne souris, ni ris, ni vis. Et c'est tout ce qu'elle a dit"

"Ok, it's official. I'm lost", said the young man wandering in the woods. His boots were muddy, his legs exhausted, and he shivered from the cold that began to creep in the farther he went into the woods. He never wandered out to this part of the forest before and it gave him the creeps. The trees were dry and barren and their twig limbs hung limp as if sad to be alive. The air felt humid and wet and smelt of rain, earth, and moss. Other than the crunch of the dead leaves and twigs beneath his boots it was as quiet as a cemetery. Once in a while a few caws from the crows would break the silence. The thick bushes around him pulled at his cloak clinging to him almost as if trying to stop him from continuing forward ripping his cloak in desperation. He finally pushed his way through to a clearing where to his surprise stood a tall tower. The barren forest and the misty clouds around the tower hid it away from civilization well. He stood there in shock for a bit, head tilted all the way back, looking up at the tall tower. The stones were grey and cracked with thorned vines wrapping all the way around to the top. He couldn’t quite see the top since the most was heavy but he began to hear something. It sounded like the howling wind was singing to him except there wasn't any wind. Chills ran down his spine and as the mist began to lighten he could make out a woman sitting in the window of the tower. Terrified at what he saw he began to run as fast as he could back the way he came. Desperate to escape the reaches of her song he ran faster and faster. Until he could no longer hear the words of the dead girl's siren.

"Moi je m'appelle mademoiselle Noir et comme vous pouvez le voir. Je ne souris, ni ris, ni vis. Et c'est tout ce qu'elle a dit"

He finally reached his small village with his clothes muddy and tattered and fell to his knees. His eyes were wide with fear and his face drained of all color as the song of the dead girl rang in his mind. An older woman was on her way back from fetching some water for her horses when she recognized the boy who had just rushed into town and collapsed. She rushed over to him dropping her pale of water, the loud noise grabbing the attention of fellow townsfolk around them. People started to come over to see what all of the commotion was about when the boy sat up and stared at the woman as if he was looking right through her.

"Snap out of it boy and tell me what's wrong."

"I...I saw a dead girl," said the boy, "in the woods there's this tall tower and at the top there's a dead siren sitting in the window. She tried to steal my soul with her song. I barely got away! She's as pale as a ghost and her hair is as black as her soul and it was reaching for me trying to grab me to pull me up the tower!"

The townsfolk had heard of neighboring towns being infested with witches who could bring the dead back to life and they were terrified that their town would be next.

"She's a witch!" yelled a man. "She's going to steal our children's souls to stay alive!" said another.

Hysteria began to spread in the crowd and they all grabbed their guns, swords, and torches to set out to find this "dead siren" to protect their town and their children.

The boy led them through the forest and as they emerged into the clearing and looked up the tower they saw the dead girl sitting in the window singing her siren call to steal their souls.

"Moi je m'appelle mademoiselle Noir et comme vous pouvez le voir. Je ne souris, ni ris, ni vis. Et c'est tout ce qu'elle a dit"

Mademoiselle Noir took notice of the townspeople and just as she laid eyes on the boy her hair was set on fire. The townspeople cheered in delight chanting to send the demon back to hell.

An uneasiness filled the boy so he started to back away and stepped on something. He looked down and underneath his foot, he found the storybook the fair maiden had thrown out her window, about the young woman stuck in a tower waiting for her prince to climb up her long hair to rescue her. Realizing what he had done he looked up at the young woman and for the first time he saw her true beauty. Regret.

Her eyes met his filled with betrayal and regret.

The flames climbed her hair swiftly and fiercely, how she always imagined her prince would. With tears in her eyes, she sang her song one last time.

"Moi je m'appelle mademoiselle Noir et comme vous pouvez le voir. Je ne souris, ni ris, ni vis. Et c'est tout ce qu'elle a dit"

"(Me, my name is miss Black and like you can see. I don't smile, or laugh, or live. And that's all she said.)"

Fin.

A man came across this old tower one day It was straight like from a book he once read He lifted his head up and saw this young lady And here's what the lady said "Moi je m'appelle mademoiselle Noir Et comme vous pouvez le voir Je ne souris, ni ris, ni vis Et c'est tout ce qu'elle a dit" The man was so scared, he could only run away He ran to the town and then said "I just saw a lady with the longest dark hair And I think she's a living dead!" The people, so scared, took their guns and their swords They ran to the tower and then They saw the pale lady and felt a great fear When they heard how she said it again "Moi je m'appelle mademoiselle Noir Et comme vous pouvez le voir Je ne souris, ni ris, ni vis Et c'est tout ce qu'elle a dit" The people, they knew what this all was about She was clearly a demon from hell They decided to set her long hair on fire In the end it would burn her as well But the lady was no demon, she was a lonely soul Just like in that book they once read Still waiting for her prince while her hair was on fire Then one last time she said "Moi je m'appelle mademoiselle Noir Et comme vous pouvez le voir Je ne souris, ni ris, ni vis Et c'est tout ce qu'elle a dit" Translation: "Me, my name is miss Black and like you can see I don't smile or laugh or live and that's all she said."

Song by Peppina

The story was written by Kristina Darrah following the Tragedy of Mademoiselle Noir written by Peppina.

#shortstory #mademoisellenoir #lostlove