Weekend 6- Mixed Bag

This weekend had to be one of the hardest weekends to get through. For the most part I have no idea why, and have every idea why.

First of all- I'm tired. I haven't slept through the night all week (last night included). The only night I didn't wake up at 2AM was Saturday night. I'm hoping this week will be different. I'm praying this week will be different. I don't know why I can't sleep through the night. It's not like I'm not active during the day, I have a decent diet, I don't consume large amounts of caffeine or sugar before bed.

Second of all- We're past mid season and I know the Faire is going to be closing soon. I was looking around on Sunday and suddenly had de-ja-vu to my first Faire weekend. I only have three weekends left of what has been the best experience of my life.

Thirdly- College classes start again in two weeks. I'm looking forward to my classes, but not the environment that I'll be in.

Fourthly- I very dear childhood dress-up-dress of mine was partially demolished Friday night. I've had this dress since before I was 4 years old. It was my "pretty" dress, my princess dress, my garden dress. I'm not girly and I love this dress. I wanted to pass this dress on to my little cousin (the daughter of my aunt who gave me this dress). I think it's really important to pass things down and preserve history, especially family history. The partial demolishing seriously threw me and I spent a little while on Saturday hugging a stuffed sheep consoling my inner child while trying to keep in character. Thank goodness Anne Drew had an odd attraction to fuzzy animals and puppets.
Now that I actually write this out- it sounds really silly and trivial. I guess in times of upheaval and eustress and non-positive stress, these are the things that make you seriously unsettled. 

Mostly it's just this reason- I'm dreading living with the feeling of loneliness again. I haven't been lonely all summer, and I hate the idea that I'm going to be going to back to being just a face in a crowd, seeing true friends maybe once or twice a week. I could elaborate, but that would mean telling my life story getting all deep and emotional.

This weekend has some really good points, apart from struggling to keep going all day.

-I tried a lot of new foods. They were all delicious.
-I had some great interactions with children. I was able to coax a really shy little boy to come and play Towers with me. I also got to dance with a princess during closing gate. I had a few other adorable little ones interact with me, but those two were my favorite.
-I got some crazy responses from patrons about how to get a captain out of jail. Most of them would result in his death. For some reason everyone was fixated on the captain dying. I felt bad for the captain and really wanted to look at some of those patrons sideways and ask "What the heck are you thinking?"
-I broke a photographer! Multiple times! It was beyond hilarious and I couldn't stop laughing.
-I got broke by a parody of "That's Amore." I laughed so hard I cried.
-I almost hit a bulls-eye when practicing archery!
-I had an amazing conversation with a fellow cast member and a very fun dinner out with friends.
-I got/am getting jewelry from a pretty shop, and the owners are some of the nicest people ever!
-I found a hat that I will buy next week for a reasonable price.
-I had epic poke/tickle sibling fights with one of the towne criers.
-I had an awesome bit with some of the Draco Disciples.  

So the good moments outweigh the moments I am currently blaming on tiredness/stress. Let's just say that I called myself fat (which is something I strive NOT TO DO) and unintentionally may have insulted someone else because of my self hate comment. I also forgot that they had coal in Elizabethan England, and made blatant reference to Thanksgiving while on the street. I will make fun of myself for the later two things and make a lesson to myself out of the first. The first lesson is this, when I am tired I need to watch my tongue.

The Shirt

Here is the last post to Anne's Clothes. To give everyone a fair warning, this post is a little bit longer than the others. While most of the others only took up half a page or less in my Microsoft Word document, this one was a little over one page. This post is also a bit more serious than the others. Instead of Anne's usual wit and sass (at least I hope I wrote her that way), this has a more bittersweet tone.

The Shirt

Anne scanned the horizon from the top of the crow’s nest. The wind whipped her shirt around her slight frame. The crow’s nest was the only place Anne felt any sense of real privacy. Growing up in London, privacy wasn’t as common as one might like and on a bark like the Gabriel, privacy didn’t even exist.

The crew of the Gabriel had grown used to Anne, or Andrew. They all treated her like a little brother, and Anne insisted on not being given any slack. A few times members of the crew had offered to help her out, but she was determined to do her share and prove her place. She needed somewhere to belong. 

Normally sitting up in the crow’s nest gave Anne a sense of freedom. Today the open space seemed to press in around her. She tugged at the ties on her shirt. The memory of Fanny’s words rose in her mind, when her mother told her that money was tighter than usual. Anne had known what Fanny’s next words would be, though she didn't want to hear them. 

“I didn’t want this for you.” Fanny said with tears in her eyes. “I had to go into this business to help my family. I never wanted this for you, I can’t see any other way to keep us going. I’m not as pretty as I was.” Anne had joked with her mother about men for years, but Anne had never expected to join her mother’s trade.

A quiet childhood longing started to form into a plan. “I could go find my father.” Anne said quietly, glancing at her mother. “I could dress as a boy and find him. I know which men to look for.”

Fanny knitted her brows. “Anne, anyone would be able to tell you’re a girl, even if you did wear boys clothes.”

“I’ve grown up watching men come and go.” Anne shrugged. “How hard can it be to act like one?” Anne had vowed years ago to not become like her mother, for all that she was a good woman, but Anne couldn’t bear to tell that to Fanny.

Keeping up with the men had been harder that Anne had originally thought. She didn’t realize until she was already signed on that she had no plans other than going to sea and voyaging with a captain who might be her father. She didn’t know what would happen if she got caught, who might bail her out of jail for cross dressing, where she would go after she was done at sea. It was unlikely that the Captains would provide anything for an illegitimate daughter. 

The signal for the change in the watch came. It was time to clamber down from her safe spot. Frobisher was just a speck on deck, but Anne could tell he was looking for something. She wondered what he had misplaced this time. Men…

 That night as she lay in bed Anne allowed rare tears to slip out. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve and fingered the material of her shirt. It was the only thing she had brought from home of her old clothing. Some children clung to a poppet while they fell asleep. Anne fell asleep holding tight to a corner of her shirt and humming a song she’d heard some of the men singing earlier that day.

"Cold is the Arctic Sea,

Far are your arms from me.

Long will this winter be

Frozen in Frobisher Bay,

Frozen in Frobisher Bay."

 Fin.

There you have it. The story behind all of Anne's clothing. I actually debated whether to use Sailor's Prayer or Frobisher Bay as the ending lyrics, but the later seemed appropriate considering who Anne works for. 

Thank you to all of the character who I borrowed for my stories (and probably shall borrow again). To Everonword, thank you for doing quick edits on my stories so that they flow. Thank you, whoever you are, for reading my rubbish. I hope you've enjoyed these snippets.

Next week, if I am not too busy, I hope to write the event in which the crew finds out that Anne is a girl. Until then, I shall get packing for another wonderful weekend with the best people on earth!

How to get a Captain out of jail

This was prompted by a street bit that I did on Saturday where I asked patrons how to get Captain Frobisher out of jail without having to pay the bail money. I combined all of the ideas into one fantastic escape attempt! 

Anne's log Monday July the 23rd

Today we plan to break Captain Frobisher out of jail. We do not wish to pay bail since it would require the crew to forgo our own pay and most of the men haven't been paid yet. We have yet to find where the Captain keeps our pay, though Captain Hawkyns did leave a few clues. I have since asked many people who are versed in the art of escape and they have given me many ideas as how to sneak the Captain out of jail without actually paying the guards.

Firstly, the crew should try to bring gifts of strong beverages that will make the guards drunk and unable to understand fully what we are about. Then some guards will be served stew with herbs that will turn their stomachs sour and they shall have need to leave their posts to empty their stomachs or bowels, whichever ailment the herb shall cause. Then John and Stretch shall set a rat (or two) on fire and distract the remaining guards as I slip into the jail and find the Captain.
As soon as that has been done, the rest of the crew shall disguise themselves as farmers and with the aide of a borrowed herd of cows, send the cows into a frenzy charging towards the jail. The crew shall behave as if they lost control of their herd and will require the guards assistance in rounding up the beasts. While this distraction is going on, I shall unlock the Captain's cell (since I have acquired the key from the pickpocket Maggie Pie), and we shall run out the back entrance to a waiting straw filled wagon and I shall drive off with the Captain Frobisher hiding under the straw.

However, if worst comes to worst and our plans do not succeed we shall try the use of gunpowder to blow up the wall of the Captain's cell and hope that he does not perish in the process.

Fortunately, the crew's plan is put on hold as Captain Sir John Hawkyns has just sent me a message saying he is seeing to the release of Captain Frobisher this evening and I should ready the crew for the Captain's return.


Hope you all enjoyed the idea of the charging cows! It was my personal favorite.