Thursday 31 March 2016

The Cruel Giant

This is another of my Welsh Folk Story made into a modern tale.  For other Welsh Folk tales click here.
Mair was flustered. She couldn't find the Worcestershire Sauce anywhere and her dad couldn't have steak without a drop of his favourite condiment on it. Why did they always change where things were in this damn supermarket? Every week the cereal was where the tea used to be, or the pasta was where the spices were. She looked at her watch, she had just fifteen minutes to get home before her dad woke up. He’d want a cup of tea and a digestive biscuit before Pointless started, and if she wasn't there to serve it then there would be hell to pay.
“Excuse me,” she said to the young man in the Tesco uniform in front of her.
“Yes?” he said
Mair was speechless. It was as if Brad Pitt was standing in front of her. Okay Brad Pitt with acne and a bum fluff but still.
“Um where's the Worcestershire sauce?” She asked feeling herself redden.
“I'll show you,” he smiled and her knees went weak all over again. She quietly read his name tag. Idwal, what a lovely name.
Mair went back to Tesco every day for the rest of the week but she didn’t bump into Idwal again. She was beginning to think she’d dreamt him. Mind you, she had no idea what she'd say to him if she did see him; she couldn't exactly ask for directions to the Worcester Sauce again could she? And she'd never really spoken to any boys. And anyway why would he care about her? She was just a little mouse, no match for a future Brad. But there was no harm in looking.
It was six days later that she noticed he was working on the check out. She stood in line patiently waiting her turn.
“Hey Worcestershire Sauce girl.”
She blushed. She couldn't believe he'd remembered her.
“Hi,” she said not looking for eye contact.
“I get off in twenty, fancy a coffee?”
Mair swallowed hard.  Idwal was asking her out. But there was no way she could go. It was almost time for Pointless, her dad would want his cup of tea.
She shook her head, handed over her cash and scurried away, her body awash with mixed emotions, excited about Idwal, but hating her dad even more. It was like she was in a prison, but Idwal offered just a glimmer of hope, hope of escape.
The next day she went earlier to Tesco but there was no sign of Idwal. as she was walking home she heard a voice.
“Hey,” she walked on quicker.
“Hey Worcestershire sauce girl.”
She smiled and turned around.
They met everyday for the next month and then her Brad-lite did something she never thought would ever happen, he proposed.
A single tear ran down Mair's face. A tear of happiness and despair. For she could never marry this man, despite love burning in her heart for him. Her father would never agree.
She shook her head slowly and said that she should never see him again. 
“Why not?” Idwal asked.
Mair said nothing, she just sadly walked away.
Luckily for Mair, Idwal didn’t take no for an answer. He caught up with the beautiful young woman and begged her to tell him what was wrong.
“It’s my father,” sobbed Mair. “He’s a cruel, giant of a man. He would never agree to me marrying you, because then he would have no one to look after him.”
“So why not run away with me then?” Idwal asked. “We don’t need his permission; this isn’t the nineteenth century.”
Mair thought about it and then nodded. She should run away.
That night Mair packed her things including a mirror, a jewellery box and a pendant that belonged to her mother and then, when she was sure her father was asleep, slipped out of her front door and into the arms of Idwal who was waiting for her.

It was 10.30 am the next morning when Mair got her first text from her father.
“I’m coming to get you.”
Mair was terrified. How could he know where they were? She took her mother’s things out of the bag and looked at them. She held the jewellery box in her hand.
“Mum, please help me,” she whispered, and the jewellery box disappeared.

Mair’s father stood on the platform of Swansea train station waiting for the train to Cardiff. When he found out who had had the nerve to take his Mair from him, he would rip that little weasel into a million pieces.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, please can you exit the station. Please exit the station.”
Mair’s father stamped his foot. What was going on?
“Ladies and Gentlemen, there’s a suspicious package on platform 2. Please can you exit the station.”

It was 1pm when Mair got another text.
“You can’t stop me that easily Mair. I’m on the train.”
Mair was terrified. The bomb scare hadn’t worked. She took her mother’s things out of the bag and looked at them. She held the pendant in her hand.
“Mum, please help me,” she whispered, and the pendant disappeared.

Mair’s father sat on the train with a smile on his face. Not the smile of a pensioner thinking of his daughter, but the smile of a psychopath devising ways to make the person who took his daughter away, suffer.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, we are sorry to announce that there are leaves on the line and that we will need to move slowly through the next section of track. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.”
The train crawled along the track, the warped smile had gone from the angry giant’s face.

It was 4pm when Mair got another text.
“You can’t stop me that easily Mair. I’ve got to Cardiff.”
Mair was terrified. The leaves on the line hadn’t worked. She took her mother’s mirror out of the bag and looked at it. She held it tightly.
“Mum, please help me,” she whispered and the mirror disappeared.

Mair’s father stood on the platform waiting for the train to Barry. He was getting close, he could almost smell his daughter and the man who had taken her from him. He punched his fist into his hand.
“Ladies and gentlemen we are sorry to inform you, that all Valley Lines services have been cancelled.”
Mair’s father couldn’t believe his ears and he knew what was coming next.
“There will be a rail replacement bus service.”

The giant let out a roar that echoed around the whole of Cardiff. Even Mair in her bed and breakfast in Barry heard it. Mair’s father couldn’t go on. He’d been defeated by the ineptitude of the Welsh railway system.

I couldn't find the original on the internet so here it is from my stories of Wales Book. 









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