“Ina” is a post-apocalyptic fairy tale by Brendan Healy. Put simply, “Ina” is about a girl’s voyages at the end of the world. Brendan was inspired by the animated film 9. A freshman English major, Brendan hails from Crystal Lake, Illinois.
Josh Rappaport
Josh Rappaport
ina
By Brendan Healy
Ina was born at the end of the world.
Stars fell from the sky as the world was plunged into eternal darkness.Yet, to a pair of lovers the brightest star of all had befallen them at world’s ending. A shining baby girl was born, the mother cried and looked to her lover, “ It’s a girl, Daniel, a beautiful baby girl! What shall her name be?”
Daniel looked at the baby girl. She shined and glimmered unnaturally bright, like water when the moon shines down upon the ocean. Daniel looked outside by the near window, “Do you not hear the noise, can you not see what lies outside our doors? Tornadoes and fire have engulfed the landscape, the shores have drowned in the wake of a thousand Tsunamis, entire cities have fallen into the pit of the Earth!”
Daniel gave a grave look back towards the mother, “What good is a name now?”
The mother tried to hide her sadness at his words. “We cannot despair now, Daniel. Look at our child. For she shines brighter than all the stars and looks at me now without fear of our end. We must endure, rebuild from what will remain. You and me and our only child.” The mother’s words rang inside the small cabin against the house’s shaking sounds emanating from outside.
Daniel looked deep into her eyes and was calmed by her serenity. She had always been his and he had always been hers. Yet, Daniel could not escape the harsh reality of their situation. Any moment a tornado would sweep them away to their deaths or perhaps they survive only to be trapped inside their cabin during a fire and then slowly baked alive. Daniel didn’t want to watch them suffer, not ever.
Daniel walked towards the door, hiding the tears streaming from his face and spoke to his lover one last time. “Ina sounds nice,” he muttered. He walked outside, to face his almost certain death. “Daniel, Daniel!” The mother wanted to chase after him but she was too weak from giving birth. Alone with her newborn, the mother spoke to the newborn. “Then that’s your name, Ina. My Ina.”
Years trudged on by, the storms and the chaos slowly passed away as there was little left to destroy. Ina and her mother lived on, laughing, crying, running, living life in silly delusion. Yet, in the ruins of society one becomes appreciative of simple pleasures. As Ina grow into a nine year old girl she enjoyed scavenging for food and water, something so simple became her pastime.The mother would cook whatever Ina would find, giving Ina the best bits so she would not feel hunger or thirst. Ina’s mother taught her basic skills to survive: how to speak, walk, read, and write. They grew very fond of each other, holding hands every day through sun and starless nights. Ina’s mother promised they would always be best friends.
One day Ina was walking towards a lighthouse on a hill. Ina always wanted to see one and she simply loved the sound of water. It was so smooth and relaxing. At times Ina felt as though the water was speaking to her with each new wave embracing the oncoming shore.
“What are you doing here?” cried out a voice. It was a different kind of voice than Ina knew. It was deeper and more powerful than her mother’s voice. Ina was scared. “What kind of creature makes such a sound?” A man walked up to Ina, his hair covered in ash. Ina couldn’t help but stare at him. “It doesn’t look like mother either. Doesn’t It get annoyed by the ash in its hair?”
The man spoke the first words. “It’s incredible someone like you is even alive. Do you have a name?” Ina, still frightened, didn’t know how to respond. She spent the next couple of seconds blankly staring at this odd creature until she thought of a response.
“Why do you cover your hair in ash?” Ina asked. The man chuckled for what seemed like the first time in years. “No, no.” he responded. “That’s just how how my hair looks—old age and all that. Mind you, I think it suits me rather well.” The man could tell that the little girl was still startled by the sight of him. He pulled an apple out of his pocket and then offered the apple to Ina. “You can trust me, besides you must be starving.” Ina hesitated for a moment then took the apple from the creature.
“Maybe It’s not so scary after all,” Ina thought. “Besides, mother always fed me apples.” Ina began to eat as she had not eaten in awhile. She stopped for a moment, then looked at the strange creature. “What kind of animal are you?” she asked. The man chuckled once more for he hadn’t spoken to another human being in years and Ina’s question amused him. “Me? I’m ...I’m just a silly old man, really, who wanders from place to place, toilet stall to toilet stall.” The man gave Ina a sly, crazy grin.
Ina began to smile. She liked this “man” creature. She found him more pleasant by the second. Ina had noticed his oddness, how he was wearing only one shoe and one sock on different feet, and how his ears jiggled in the soft wind. The man asked her another question. “Are you on your own? Seems odd you could still be breathing out here.” Ina knew how to respond this time. “Oh, I’m not alone. My mother is with me and we’re best friends!”
The man was giddy beyond belief. “People! Wonderful, stupid people! How I’ve missed them!” Of course the man was now talking out loud to himself and Ina was laughing hysterically.
“You can see my mother if you want. She’ll make us something to eat. We’ll just have to wait until she wakes up though.” The man was still excited. “Of course I’d love to meet your mother. I’m sure she is tired, on her own taking care of you.”
So the man went back to the lighthouse and collected his valuables for their trip. “So why are you all the way up here little lady?” asked the man.
“Like I said, mother is taking a nap and she told me I should go on a long walk towards somewhere nice. She said she was about to take a very long nap. ‘But don’t worry,’ my mother said. ‘Just carry my picture with you and we’ll always be together!’” Ina laughed. The grin that had plastered itself onto the man’s face turned into a stone, dead face. For he knew what had happened and the little girl was clueless. “How cruel was your mother?” thought the man. He called out to Ina who was skipping in the sunlight, “Little girl?”
“Hi!” replied Ina. “Come here, little girl. I wish to tell you something.” Ina came skipping back. “Maybe It has another apple for me,” Ina thought. The man looked Ina in the eyes. They were young, innocent eyes, eyes they had seen the good in a world gone dead. Now, he was about to drown those eyes in tears. So the man explained the truth about her mother to Ina, the awful truth. Nothing, not even death, can be worse than telling a small child that they’ve lost their mother.
Ina heard and Ina listened. When the man was done, Ina began to grasp the gravity of what she had lost. Then the floodgates opened. Ina began to scream against the wind, large, wet tears gushing from her eyes and creating a small ocean in a hole in the ground. Her screams of sorrow and terror filled the empty air. Ina’s torture went on for what seemed like an eternity, until at last she could speak a few words. “Who’s gonna hold my hand now?” Ina looked at the man for help, anything. The man knew what she needed to hear. “I will,” he said sincerely.
Ina and the man, hand in hand, went back to where Ina lived to give Ina’s mother a proper burial. Ina, exhausted from sadness and because the man didn’t want to have the girl watch, went straight to bed. The man went to the mother’s bedroom to take her body outside and he came upon a face that filled him with sorrow, regret and happiness all at once. His name was Daniel and that little girl was his daughter. Now, he realized his true purpose of being at this old shack where Ina lived: to bury his greatest love and take care of the daughter he had abandoned.
Once Ina woke from her slumber she noticed Daniel was there, waiting for her. “Good morning, Ina. That is your name, right?” Ina was still in deep mourning, “...Yes…” Ina was surprised he knew her name. After what Daniel did, leaving behind the person he cared about most, Ina’s mother had still cared enough to take the name he offered for their daughter.
Years passed as Ina survived with Daniel, who had never given her his true identity nor their connection to each other. Danel had wanted nothing more than to tell her the truth. He dreamed of the day when he could tell her, “I love you,” but he could not bring himself to do it. For it would break his heart.
Ina and Daniel would often walk separately now. Ina was a little old to walk while holding someone’s hand. Age had made Ina easily bored and somewhat boring as well. Daniel would take her to where the stars had fallen to the Earth and tell her about the end of the world. He took her to where a once great city fell into the pit of the Earth. They played games and they began to start a garden. They were restarting life to bring a simple beauty back to the world. Then one day they decided to go back to the lighthouse. Despite Ina’s growing boredom and sadness, she still loved the sounds of the water, how It spoke to her.
So when Ina heard the voices from the water again, the voices were even louder, each spash of the waves calling her name.
Daniel had walked ahead and Ina was annoyed when he did that. Ina was sick of being ignored, sick of feeling like Daniel was hiding something from her, sick of being left behind by everyone she loved. She was worried as she watched Daniel grow older and slower. Ina believed the world would always leave her behind and alone. She only wished to bring the world back to life and to see her mother again. For once in her life Ina dared to jump into the water. She wished nothing more than to free fall from the cliff at the top of the hill and be assured by the whisper of the air and then embraced by the hard, cold water.
Ina walked toward the edge of the cliff and jumped off. Daniel looked back in time to see her falling. “Ina!” he screamed.
The sensation was everything Ina had imagined. The air whispered to her and, as though time had slowed down once again, she look back at Daniel to see his body block out the sun. Ina crashed into the ocean waves.
Daniel had lost his only remaining purpose in life. Alone again, the thought of facing the cruel, indifferent world was biting at Daniel’s heart. Daniel felt abandoned and alone with an old friend whom he hated.
Just then the water begin to swirl and it’s massive body shifted around. A strong gust of wind knocked Daniel back as he witnessed the water rising from the ocean floor.
Inside the water, Ina was surrounded by an uncountable array of objects: a teddy bear, a credit card, some plastic bottles, all remainders of human life. Ina found she could walk inside and on the water. “What a strange sensation,” Ina thought. Ina went over to grab a baby doll. As she touched it, she immediately saw a small child playing with the doll, sucking on the doll’s head, content in the moment. Ina then went to touch a small shell and saw an older couple smiling at each other as they collected sea shells off a shore. Carving their names together into a tree, age would not wear them down.
Ina wondered what these images meant. Why couldn’t she see Daniel or her mother again? Instead, she was shown what the world was once filled with, old memories lost in a vast ocean. Timeless and forever. Ina then wondered if perhaps these images represented what might have been.
”Why can’t I see something familiar?” she wondered. Ina examined some tree bark and was shown a dead, grey forest. It reeked of death.
“No! Why must my images be sad?” Ina went over to a small, shiny ring and put the ring on her little finger. She was engulfed by the image of Daniel and her mother embracing each other. The water spoke to Ina, this time clearly and tenderly. “You will never be alone again, Ina. We shall never be alone again.”
Ina now understood why water had made her feel so good, why she felt the water could speak to her. “You fell upon this Earth by accident and the stars followed you. We settled into these waters hoping you would intermingle with us.”
Ina had never been so sure of her path than at this moment. “Don’t leave me!” Ina cried. She then felt pangs of guilt and sadness. Ina didn’t want to leave Daniel for she adored him so. “Could my friend Daniel join us?” The water replied, “He made his choice.”
Ina thought of leaving the water, yet she understood that with the images from the objects she could have anything she wanted for the rest of her existence. She could imagine the world as she wanted it to be. She need not suffer from further sadness that comes with human life.
So Ina lived in harmony with the stars in the rising waters. She would no longer feel abandoned and alone. She lived on in eternal bliss, forever.
Stars fell from the sky as the world was plunged into eternal darkness.Yet, to a pair of lovers the brightest star of all had befallen them at world’s ending. A shining baby girl was born, the mother cried and looked to her lover, “ It’s a girl, Daniel, a beautiful baby girl! What shall her name be?”
Daniel looked at the baby girl. She shined and glimmered unnaturally bright, like water when the moon shines down upon the ocean. Daniel looked outside by the near window, “Do you not hear the noise, can you not see what lies outside our doors? Tornadoes and fire have engulfed the landscape, the shores have drowned in the wake of a thousand Tsunamis, entire cities have fallen into the pit of the Earth!”
Daniel gave a grave look back towards the mother, “What good is a name now?”
The mother tried to hide her sadness at his words. “We cannot despair now, Daniel. Look at our child. For she shines brighter than all the stars and looks at me now without fear of our end. We must endure, rebuild from what will remain. You and me and our only child.” The mother’s words rang inside the small cabin against the house’s shaking sounds emanating from outside.
Daniel looked deep into her eyes and was calmed by her serenity. She had always been his and he had always been hers. Yet, Daniel could not escape the harsh reality of their situation. Any moment a tornado would sweep them away to their deaths or perhaps they survive only to be trapped inside their cabin during a fire and then slowly baked alive. Daniel didn’t want to watch them suffer, not ever.
Daniel walked towards the door, hiding the tears streaming from his face and spoke to his lover one last time. “Ina sounds nice,” he muttered. He walked outside, to face his almost certain death. “Daniel, Daniel!” The mother wanted to chase after him but she was too weak from giving birth. Alone with her newborn, the mother spoke to the newborn. “Then that’s your name, Ina. My Ina.”
Years trudged on by, the storms and the chaos slowly passed away as there was little left to destroy. Ina and her mother lived on, laughing, crying, running, living life in silly delusion. Yet, in the ruins of society one becomes appreciative of simple pleasures. As Ina grow into a nine year old girl she enjoyed scavenging for food and water, something so simple became her pastime.The mother would cook whatever Ina would find, giving Ina the best bits so she would not feel hunger or thirst. Ina’s mother taught her basic skills to survive: how to speak, walk, read, and write. They grew very fond of each other, holding hands every day through sun and starless nights. Ina’s mother promised they would always be best friends.
One day Ina was walking towards a lighthouse on a hill. Ina always wanted to see one and she simply loved the sound of water. It was so smooth and relaxing. At times Ina felt as though the water was speaking to her with each new wave embracing the oncoming shore.
“What are you doing here?” cried out a voice. It was a different kind of voice than Ina knew. It was deeper and more powerful than her mother’s voice. Ina was scared. “What kind of creature makes such a sound?” A man walked up to Ina, his hair covered in ash. Ina couldn’t help but stare at him. “It doesn’t look like mother either. Doesn’t It get annoyed by the ash in its hair?”
The man spoke the first words. “It’s incredible someone like you is even alive. Do you have a name?” Ina, still frightened, didn’t know how to respond. She spent the next couple of seconds blankly staring at this odd creature until she thought of a response.
“Why do you cover your hair in ash?” Ina asked. The man chuckled for what seemed like the first time in years. “No, no.” he responded. “That’s just how how my hair looks—old age and all that. Mind you, I think it suits me rather well.” The man could tell that the little girl was still startled by the sight of him. He pulled an apple out of his pocket and then offered the apple to Ina. “You can trust me, besides you must be starving.” Ina hesitated for a moment then took the apple from the creature.
“Maybe It’s not so scary after all,” Ina thought. “Besides, mother always fed me apples.” Ina began to eat as she had not eaten in awhile. She stopped for a moment, then looked at the strange creature. “What kind of animal are you?” she asked. The man chuckled once more for he hadn’t spoken to another human being in years and Ina’s question amused him. “Me? I’m ...I’m just a silly old man, really, who wanders from place to place, toilet stall to toilet stall.” The man gave Ina a sly, crazy grin.
Ina began to smile. She liked this “man” creature. She found him more pleasant by the second. Ina had noticed his oddness, how he was wearing only one shoe and one sock on different feet, and how his ears jiggled in the soft wind. The man asked her another question. “Are you on your own? Seems odd you could still be breathing out here.” Ina knew how to respond this time. “Oh, I’m not alone. My mother is with me and we’re best friends!”
The man was giddy beyond belief. “People! Wonderful, stupid people! How I’ve missed them!” Of course the man was now talking out loud to himself and Ina was laughing hysterically.
“You can see my mother if you want. She’ll make us something to eat. We’ll just have to wait until she wakes up though.” The man was still excited. “Of course I’d love to meet your mother. I’m sure she is tired, on her own taking care of you.”
So the man went back to the lighthouse and collected his valuables for their trip. “So why are you all the way up here little lady?” asked the man.
“Like I said, mother is taking a nap and she told me I should go on a long walk towards somewhere nice. She said she was about to take a very long nap. ‘But don’t worry,’ my mother said. ‘Just carry my picture with you and we’ll always be together!’” Ina laughed. The grin that had plastered itself onto the man’s face turned into a stone, dead face. For he knew what had happened and the little girl was clueless. “How cruel was your mother?” thought the man. He called out to Ina who was skipping in the sunlight, “Little girl?”
“Hi!” replied Ina. “Come here, little girl. I wish to tell you something.” Ina came skipping back. “Maybe It has another apple for me,” Ina thought. The man looked Ina in the eyes. They were young, innocent eyes, eyes they had seen the good in a world gone dead. Now, he was about to drown those eyes in tears. So the man explained the truth about her mother to Ina, the awful truth. Nothing, not even death, can be worse than telling a small child that they’ve lost their mother.
Ina heard and Ina listened. When the man was done, Ina began to grasp the gravity of what she had lost. Then the floodgates opened. Ina began to scream against the wind, large, wet tears gushing from her eyes and creating a small ocean in a hole in the ground. Her screams of sorrow and terror filled the empty air. Ina’s torture went on for what seemed like an eternity, until at last she could speak a few words. “Who’s gonna hold my hand now?” Ina looked at the man for help, anything. The man knew what she needed to hear. “I will,” he said sincerely.
Ina and the man, hand in hand, went back to where Ina lived to give Ina’s mother a proper burial. Ina, exhausted from sadness and because the man didn’t want to have the girl watch, went straight to bed. The man went to the mother’s bedroom to take her body outside and he came upon a face that filled him with sorrow, regret and happiness all at once. His name was Daniel and that little girl was his daughter. Now, he realized his true purpose of being at this old shack where Ina lived: to bury his greatest love and take care of the daughter he had abandoned.
Once Ina woke from her slumber she noticed Daniel was there, waiting for her. “Good morning, Ina. That is your name, right?” Ina was still in deep mourning, “...Yes…” Ina was surprised he knew her name. After what Daniel did, leaving behind the person he cared about most, Ina’s mother had still cared enough to take the name he offered for their daughter.
Years passed as Ina survived with Daniel, who had never given her his true identity nor their connection to each other. Danel had wanted nothing more than to tell her the truth. He dreamed of the day when he could tell her, “I love you,” but he could not bring himself to do it. For it would break his heart.
Ina and Daniel would often walk separately now. Ina was a little old to walk while holding someone’s hand. Age had made Ina easily bored and somewhat boring as well. Daniel would take her to where the stars had fallen to the Earth and tell her about the end of the world. He took her to where a once great city fell into the pit of the Earth. They played games and they began to start a garden. They were restarting life to bring a simple beauty back to the world. Then one day they decided to go back to the lighthouse. Despite Ina’s growing boredom and sadness, she still loved the sounds of the water, how It spoke to her.
So when Ina heard the voices from the water again, the voices were even louder, each spash of the waves calling her name.
Daniel had walked ahead and Ina was annoyed when he did that. Ina was sick of being ignored, sick of feeling like Daniel was hiding something from her, sick of being left behind by everyone she loved. She was worried as she watched Daniel grow older and slower. Ina believed the world would always leave her behind and alone. She only wished to bring the world back to life and to see her mother again. For once in her life Ina dared to jump into the water. She wished nothing more than to free fall from the cliff at the top of the hill and be assured by the whisper of the air and then embraced by the hard, cold water.
Ina walked toward the edge of the cliff and jumped off. Daniel looked back in time to see her falling. “Ina!” he screamed.
The sensation was everything Ina had imagined. The air whispered to her and, as though time had slowed down once again, she look back at Daniel to see his body block out the sun. Ina crashed into the ocean waves.
Daniel had lost his only remaining purpose in life. Alone again, the thought of facing the cruel, indifferent world was biting at Daniel’s heart. Daniel felt abandoned and alone with an old friend whom he hated.
Just then the water begin to swirl and it’s massive body shifted around. A strong gust of wind knocked Daniel back as he witnessed the water rising from the ocean floor.
Inside the water, Ina was surrounded by an uncountable array of objects: a teddy bear, a credit card, some plastic bottles, all remainders of human life. Ina found she could walk inside and on the water. “What a strange sensation,” Ina thought. Ina went over to grab a baby doll. As she touched it, she immediately saw a small child playing with the doll, sucking on the doll’s head, content in the moment. Ina then went to touch a small shell and saw an older couple smiling at each other as they collected sea shells off a shore. Carving their names together into a tree, age would not wear them down.
Ina wondered what these images meant. Why couldn’t she see Daniel or her mother again? Instead, she was shown what the world was once filled with, old memories lost in a vast ocean. Timeless and forever. Ina then wondered if perhaps these images represented what might have been.
”Why can’t I see something familiar?” she wondered. Ina examined some tree bark and was shown a dead, grey forest. It reeked of death.
“No! Why must my images be sad?” Ina went over to a small, shiny ring and put the ring on her little finger. She was engulfed by the image of Daniel and her mother embracing each other. The water spoke to Ina, this time clearly and tenderly. “You will never be alone again, Ina. We shall never be alone again.”
Ina now understood why water had made her feel so good, why she felt the water could speak to her. “You fell upon this Earth by accident and the stars followed you. We settled into these waters hoping you would intermingle with us.”
Ina had never been so sure of her path than at this moment. “Don’t leave me!” Ina cried. She then felt pangs of guilt and sadness. Ina didn’t want to leave Daniel for she adored him so. “Could my friend Daniel join us?” The water replied, “He made his choice.”
Ina thought of leaving the water, yet she understood that with the images from the objects she could have anything she wanted for the rest of her existence. She could imagine the world as she wanted it to be. She need not suffer from further sadness that comes with human life.
So Ina lived in harmony with the stars in the rising waters. She would no longer feel abandoned and alone. She lived on in eternal bliss, forever.