I wrote a story inspired by the Glass Menagerie. I am making watercolor illustrations to go along with the story, plus narration, then turn those ingrediants into a video product. Unfortunately, however, a good video takes a while to make, therefore i will not have it completed by 9:20 AM this morning. I hope viewers and my teacher wil forgive me for my lateness. I will be able to complete this project over the break, and have the URL ready by the next time we meet.
I have the story ready here.
The story of Mana.
Once upon a time, there was a marsh, and living in the marsh was a manatee called Mana. Mana grew up in the shallow waters of the marsh with his older brother, Ani. Together, they lived an ordinary life, a constant agenda of sleeping, eating, swimming, and eating. Occasionally, a roaring engine would come by, and the sound would scrape and injure his older brother who was always trying to protect Mana. Mana was tired of the marsh and was tired of being protected.
Sometimes Ani would tell stories. He would talk of where their parents came from and how they disappeared. Ani described they had gone to the ocean, and it was vast and beautiful, but Mana highly doubted Ani’s observations for as long as he had known his brother, he had never been to the ocean. Mana would always ask, “How do you know what the ocean looks like if you’ve never seen it?” and Ani stated that he would know it when he saw it. There was one story, Mana was always curious about, and it was how they came to be. Ani told Mana that a long, long time ago, they were once human. They were once a people who fell in love with water. They made love to the ocean, and the manatees became their children. Mana wondered what it’d like to be human, to see the ocean, to love it so much to be a part of it.
One day, when Ani was sleeping, Mana decided he wanted to see the ocean. He moved toward the shore, until it became shallower and shallower. At first he was scared, scared he would not be able to come back, but before he knew it he was wiggling along the sandy floor. His flippers became hands, his body became longer, and his tail became two long legs.
Mana had become a human. Ashamed of what he had done, he could not go home. He could not face his brother this way, and Mana abandoned the marsh and left for the ocean.
Mana traveled as far as his human legs could take him. He went to many places, New York where he made friends, Chicago, where he developed a taste for pizza, Memphis where he learned how to dance, and finally, New Orleans, where he picked up the trumpet. Now the trumpet was an unusual talent, especially for a manatee, but it’s long sounds, round and deep reminded him of his older brother. When Mana finally met the ocean where the levies broke, he was surprised by how his brother‘s words rang in his ears. It was vast and beautiful, and it spoke to Mana. The Ocean spoke one word and that was “Small.” With this tiny message, Mana realized he would have to go back for his brother.
When Mana returned to the marsh, his brother was gone. He searched and searched, but could not find him. He asked his brother’s friends who were now old and crinkly with wives and children, where he could have gone. They stated that a long time ago he was taken by a group of men. He went west, in search and came across a man from Africa in a place filled with books. His name was Seif, and he was man who had a knack for finding answers. Mana told Seif his story of how he was once a manatee and had become a man. Seif said he had heard stories from his tribe of men living in rivers, but had never thought it could happen. According to their tales, manatees were sacred and that to kill a manatee would bring about bad luck. Mana asked Seif to help him, and Seif agreed. Together, they went in search of Mana’s brother.
After many restless nights and days, Mana and Seif reached a place where the land was flat and golden. There, they met a Native American man named Enapay. Enapay was a healer and he could feel Mana’s pain. Enapay heard his story, fed them both, and let them stay with him in his humble cabin. That night, he awoke Mana and told him he knew where his brother was. By the light of the fire, he showed him a pot. Inside the pot were fish bones and spices. He asked him. “Why did you leave the marsh?” Mana replied. “I was bored. I was trapped by water, and wanted more than an ordinary life.” Enapay asked him. “But what did you lose?” Mana looked at him, and Enapay placed the thin bone in his hand. Instantly, Mana knew. His brother was dead. In the silence, Enapay spoke, “We are all trapped, whether by fishtails or by legs. We cannot free ourselves, and to free ourselves is to lose a part of who we are. Here is your brother. I did what you could not. I have freed him.”
Mana took his brother’s remains from the old man, and but could not return to sleep. In the morning, he revealed to Seif what had occurred that night. Seif lashed out at Enapay, but Mana stated he did not feel any ill will toward him. Mana asked Seif if he would take the bad luck from Enapay and give it to him. Seif reluctantly agreed. With Badluck in one hand, and his brother in the other, he departed from Seif with warm gratitude and heart, bid his farewell to the healer, and set out for the western shore.
At the Pacific coast, Mana released the bones into the ocean and burned the Badluck into his eyes. Now Mana’s eyes would always and forever be marked with sadness. Mana stood on the cold rock and kicked off his shoes. With his trumpet hanging over his shoulder, he swam and swam until his legs could not work anymore, until they became a tail, until his arms became flippers and he was once again a manatee.
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