Week 6 Storytelling: Broken Skulls and Hearts

"No, no that's all wrong!" shouted the skull spirit of the dead as another potential body was burned in front of his sunken eyes. He scratched his bald, gray skull thinking of his ultimate masterpiece. Skull had spent hours searching through thousands of male bodies to pick the perfect characteristics for his human form. "She doesn't like blonde hair. Next. Hmm. He seems to have the perfect skin tone. I'll set him aside." Skull was attempting to marry the most beautiful girl in the village named Afiong, but she will not marry any man that was less beautiful than her. So many suitors have traveled far and wide to plead for her hand in marriage with promises of gold and riches, yet she had turned them all down because of their lack of beauty.

Skull must have searched through 10,000 bodies. He picked the perfect brain from the village's best medicine man and a chiseled chest from the adventurous lion wrestler in Kenya. Luckily, Skull found the greenest eyes from an exotic young lad in Brazil which matched wonderfully with the olive-toned skin of a man from Greece. The legs of the fastest man on earth complimented the broad arms and shoulders of Africa's most powerful swimmer. His human body was appearing to be piecing together quite nicely, until the spirit realized that he was missing the most vital essence of human beings: a heart.

"Where can I find the largest heart that can hold all of my love for Afiong?" mumbled Skull as he searched the world's cardiovascular systems. He peered through the bodies of the strongest men, but was disappointed when he realized their muscles were larger than their puny hearts. He then turned to the bodies of the most intelligent men, but he became frustrated when he noted the massive size of their brains in comparison to their little hearts. I'm such a fool! A beautiful woman like Afiong needs a heart from the most beautiful man. I'll find the perfect heart in the most beautiful man! thought the skull spirit. He then reached inside the chest of every countries' beautiful men, but returned empty-handed.

Time was running out for the skull spirit. He had to be reborn in his new body before sunrise. Skull reluctantly formed his own human heart that symbolized his eternal love for Afiong. It's better than nothing. Morning came. Skull walked towards Afiong's house as a radiant young man that appeared to be a god walking among mere mortals. As planned, Afiong was dazzled by Skull's strength, brilliance, and more importantly his good looks. Afiong immediately accepted his marriage proposal, and they eloped to the spirit world. Consequently, the skull spirit had to abandon his human form. Afiong was shocked to see Skull's lanky, bone-white appearance. She shrieked, "Monster! Where is my perfect husband with his green eyes and sculpted body?!" Skull felt ashamed by his appearance, but offered her his heart, "This is for you, my wife." Afiong slapped the beating heart to the ground with disgust and run away. Skull stared at his human heart that he molded so carefully for the love of his life. I thought it was the one with the most beauty that possessed the biggest heart, but I stand here, ugly and alone, with a heart larger than hers. 

Skull spirit with his broken heart. Source.

Author's note: I completely went off track from the folk story. In the original story, Afiong, the most beautiful girl, refused to marry a man that wasn't as attractive as her. The skull spirit accepted the challenge and took parts from several men to form the perfect man to seduce Afiong into marrying him. Afiong and Skull agreed to marriage, and they left to the spirit world (Afiong had no idea that her new husband came from the spirit world). In the spirit world, Afiong was made a slave and had to escape other spirits that wanted to eat her. Eventually she escaped and returned home where she swore to agree to any man that her parents approved of. She ended up marrying a man that was her father's friend and lived happily ever after. The moral of the story was to never marry a stranger. I took a different twist from the story by having the skull spirit genuinely pursue Afiong's hand in marriage. The idea of the spirit taking body parts from different men was interesting to me, so I made that the main part of the story. I also changed the moral of the story into something along the lines of outer beauty does not define inner beauty.

Bibliography: Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910).