Faust Legend

Gabby DeLoof

March 2, 2012

1^st Hour- Faust Legend

A Desperate Housewife and Jack

In a small, suburb of Detroit lived a woman named, Mary and her seven children. Mary was a single-parent due to a previous divorce.  Despite the latter, Mary still had a pretty nice life as her ex-husband was a millionaire. One would say that she married for money and somehow ended up with not only the money, but a house full of kids. There were 4 older boys aged 11, 9, 7, and 6.  The girls were 5, 3, and 1.  Her home accommodated the family nicely.

Inside the house, Mary’s bedroom was the largest with a jacuzzi, workout area and small library with a fireplace. It was nicely decorated with a contemporary flare, and painted in bold black and white colors. There was no expense spared to make this the most inviting, comfortable, and luxurious room in the house. The boys’ room had two sets of brown, wooden bunk beds that were half falling apart with nails and splinters protruding from the frames. The mattresses were hard, bumpy and made it miserable to sleep. The room itself was so cramped that no matter how they moved it was inevitable that someone would always hit the other.  It was painted in a pale pink and there were many chips and dents in the walls and woodwork.  In the girls’ room were one twin bed and a mattress on the floor for the baby. The two other girls fought for their space each night in the twin bed. There were no curtains or shades, but only a small five inch by five inch glass block window. No daylight ever permeated through, but the faded yellow paint was the only brightness seen.  On the walls were placed wooden crosses and pictures of the Holy Family from happier times when the children’s’ father had hung them. Also, there were bibles and religious books in every room as if this were a deeply, devout religious family in a previous time.

Mary had it all. She made sure that she came first when the alimony and child support checks came. Those days were especially delightful for Mary as she went on a shopping spree to the closest designer mall. Mary was always nicely dressed in the most expensive clothes, jewelry and shoes. Let’s not forget the weekly trips to the spa for her massage, nails, and hair appointments. While Mary tended to her needs, the boys were responsible to take care of the girls and the house. Even when Mary was home, she made sure that the boys cooked, cleaned, and did the yard work. The girls weren’t spared from chores as they had to wash and fold clothes. There was never nothing new for the children. They wore torn and ill-fitted clothes, while their hair was disheveled and made them look like hippies. Toys were unheard of and they were lucky if there was food in the house for them to eat.

In addition, Mary had a temper. If things were not done to her liking, or if the children fought or when the baby cried then you wouldn’t want to be around. It was a pitiful sight as Mary physically hit and beat the children. If one of them looked at her the wrong way, she would poke them in the eyes. The beatings were almost daily. The children endured not only physical but emotional abuse. Mary constantly yelled and degraded the children just because she felt like it.

On one particular cold and rainy night in order to escape from her children, Mary decided to relax in her jacuzzi. She unwound with the fireplace aglow and quiet music playing in the background. She started to doze off and was in a dreamlike state wishing that she was married to a successful, handsome man without any children in her life. Just then, something startled her. It was a figure in the fireplace. She couldn’t make it out too clearly, but it looked like a donkey. However, this one was colored red with two small pointed horns upon its head. It wore a coat similar to that of a zebra with black and white stripes which matched the walls in her room. In a low voice he introduced himself as Jack, and told Mary that he could make her dream come true. “Just sign on the bottom line that you will be the best wife in town,” neighed Jack. Mary was so elated she couldn’t believe her ears, and quickly grabbed a pen and signed the document. In a flicker of the flame, Jack had disappeared with the paper into the fire.

Soon Mary awoke to find herself married to a man named Joseph. He spoiled her rotten with daily roses, kisses, and diamond jewelry. You name it, she got it. Any woman would have been happy to be with Joseph. Despite the luxuries and love that her devoted husband provided, Mary was not a moral and worthy wife.  At least once a week Mary cheated on Joseph, and would go out with other men. She never lifted a finger to cook, clean the house or wash clothes. Moreover, she would not consent to giving Joseph the children he so desperately wanted.

Shortly into their marriage, Jack had reappeared from the fireplace as Mary lay asleep. An intense warmth filled Mary’s body as she awoke to find Jack hovering over the bed. She started to sweat bullets as he spewed forth flames and the words, “I am here to take your soul!” Perplexed by his message she questioned what he meant.

“You signed the contract to give me your soul if you did not live up to being the perfect housewife. You failed to uphold your end of the deal.”

Mary quickly thought about what she had done and her mind ran wild as to how to make amends. She jumped out of bed, searching for a bible, promising to read it, and swearing to be a subservient wife. She was grabbing for everything, trying to hold on to the bed and her husband as flames soon engulfed her body. In a second she was whisked up to live the rest of her life in the fires of hell with Jack.