Week 6 Storytelling: The Woman and the Farmer

In present day Chicago, Anna went about her daily routine. While out and about she was constantly approached by men because she was a rare kind of beauty. Knowing how beautiful she was made her into a selfish person and she immediately shot down anyone who approached. This was all in spite of her dear parents pleads for her to find a nice boy and settle down. Anna ignored her parents because she felt she deserved the most attractive man the city had to offer.

After some time she decided to create an online dating account. This way she could comb through pictures in search of the most handsome man available. In a small rural town a few hours away a lonely farmer joined the same website. The only dilemma he had was choosing a profile picture. He was so ugly he tried not to look at himself in the mirror as much as possible. So, the farmer searched the internet for a suitable picture. He choose one of the best in hopes that whoever he met would fall in love with him and not the pretty face. In his preliminary searches on the dating website he came across the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Instantly he became consumed with reaching out to this woman…

It wasn’t surprising the amount of men who contacted her so quickly on the website. Just as she did with those who approached her in person she shot them all down. That is until one profile picture grabbed her attention. He was so handsome and exactly the kind of man she always pictured herself with. His request was the only one she responded to.

Back on the farm the farmer couldn’t contain his excitement when he heard back from Anna. He knew he needed to be charming and win her over now before she saw him in person. The two messaged one another constantly and they both fell head over heels for one another for all of the wrong reasons. When the time came for Anna to venture out to his home and meet him her parents begged her not to go. Like always she disregarded the wishes of her parents.

When the woman arrived at her destination she was shocked to see a small rural town surrounded by farmland. How could someone so handsome live in a place such as this? Hopeful she walked from the bus stop to the diner they were going to meet at. She walked in and sat down not seeing her man already there. Ten minutes passed before a hideous farmer approached her. He confessed to misleading her but promised he intentions were pure. Anna was stunned and angered but she had no choice but to go home with him because the next bus would not be there for two days.

Upon arriving to the farmhouse Anna was introduced to the farmer’s frail old mother that lived with him. While he plowed the fields she was tasked with taking care of the old woman. In their short time together the old woman grew very fond of Anna and before the next bus came she gave her some money to take a cab and get out of the small town. Anna left and returned home to her parents to tell them all about her weekend of misery. She went on to find her happy ending but from this point on she was less picky on the appearance of the men she spoke to.

Author’s Note: The story that I based this off of was The Disobedient Daughter Who Married a Skull from the Nigeria Unit. In the story there is a beautiful young woman who turns down all suitors because she wants to be married to the most handsome man in the land. A skull from the spiritland admires her from afar and collects the best looking body parts from other beings. He builds himself into a perfect specimen and goes to the woman. She falls in love because of how handsome he is and despite her parents’ concerns she marries him and goes off to the spiritland. Once there the skull returns the body parts and she sees him for who he truly is. She is in charge of taking care of his old mother so she does so because she is trapped in this marriage and new land. The old woman grows fond of her and tells her the people of the spiritland are cannibals and she must leave to save herself. It is definitely a really odd story but when I read it I immediately knew how I could retell it in a modern sense. With internet dating someone can easily become someone they aren’t to lure others in. It’s actually a pretty scary thing!

Risky Business