The Fatigued Bride

Once upon a time, Bernadette lived in a hut with her mother, father, six brothers, and two sisters, and in this hut, they play-acted, and sang, and spoke of many truths of religion and philosophy, and all were happy.

Then one day, a witch saw their joy, and cast a curse upon them to torment their happiness, and turn all things to bitterness. Amid many illnesses, deaths, and pain, Bernadette fell ill, and for seven years, she lay abed with unconquerable fatigue.

One day, she received from a doctor’s assistant a book on healthy mindset, and joined a community of women dedicated to positive living. In this community, she met a queen who captured her heart, and she spoke eager words to her of praise. “How can I learn to be positive like thee?” she asked, and the queen took Bernadette under her wing, and taught her many things.

“Dost thou know of the world outside thy narrow chamber walls?” the queen asked. “It is a place of mournful suffering, and deep loss, a land of wailing and torture, where there is no succor for lost souls. Will you help me create a haven for these souls?”

Bernadette was eager, and they began to build, and Bernadette felt her long fatigue lift from her body, until she was almost well. Seeking to build her own life, she departed her family’s hut with her brother, and together, they set-off into the world.

Brother and Sister found a cozy home in a village, beside a stream running under a bridge, and made their home, playing house, and imagining that they had found all the good things to be had in this life. But one day, her brother returned home to Bernadette and began to heap abuses upon her head. She wept, astonished at his words and wondering wherefrom came such horrid things? And the memory of the curse came over her, so that she knew there were worse things than fatigue. He cast her out of their home, and she was left to wander in the world.

“Truly,” she mused to herself, “the world is a land of suffering and torture, and I have no haven into which to flee.”

Long she wandered across the earth, from place to place, in forests of steel and through streets of sin, until she found herself upon the doorstep of a Christian retreat, hidden deep in the woods of a far-off mountain.

“May I stay a little while, and earn my bread?” she asked, and they welcomed her gladly.

“Stay forever,” they urged, and Bernadette received a soft bed, warm food, and clean water to quench her thirst.

“I shall stay here a little while,” she said to herself. “But this is temporary - I know it is not my permanent home.”

The retreat received many visitors, and Bernadette learned to clean the house to receive them: to make the beds, and clean the laundry, and make everything spotless and pure. She continued her work for the queen from a distance, and dreamt of creating a haven, and most of all, she dreamt of finding a husband - a husband who would recognize her worth, and create for her a permanent home.

But as the months ticked by, her fatigue returned. She no matter how positive she remained, nor how hard she strove, her strength ebbed from her again, and she feared the return of her seven years of pain.

“Shall I return to the dust from which I was born?” she wept, hoping for death as a release from stagnant life. “I cannot marry, nor find a husband, nor work for him, if I can do no more than lie upon the ground.” Yet even in her misery, such thoughts could not rule her anymore. Long had she striven against them, and to feel illness was not to be ill within the mind.

“I care not what circumstances dog my steps,” she realized. “If God in His goodness hath decreed that I suffer, then be it so. If God hath deemed that suffering be better than creating a haven for lost souls, then let His will be done. And if God choose that I marry in spite of my afflictions, then who am I to say Him nay? He be the author of life and love, and His will is greater than mine.”

And so it was that helpers came to Bernadette, in her deepest solitude, for her family had departed their hut in search of her, and now discovered her lying abed in the forests of the mountain.

“We shall take her home with us,” they said, “for she cannot remain here.” And her sisters held her, and her brothers cheered her, and her father blessed her, and her mother fed her good food.

“We shall speak again of religion and philosophy, and sing songs together, and she shall abide with us in our new home, until the Lord sends the man destined for her from eternity. And though it appear to all the world like she is dead, she will not be weary from the waiting.”

End of Part 1 - Part 2 shall be released at this time next year