Dear Reader,
Today begins my stories regarding the Advanderings of Mary Lily and the Shoes Ben. Our time together will follow her adventures and wanderings because she has very many. Some of them are physical, like the time she almost fell off a mountain. Other times are spiritual, like the time she considered becoming a Buddhist. And still others are mental, like the time she asked herself the question, "Would I rather have an elephant's trunk or a Kangaroo's pouch, and why?" In all of these times, she often wears her shoes Ben, so named since they have "been just about everywhere." She frequently adorns her feet with Ben because she finds a familiar face in a new place comforting, even if it's the same tattered blue canvas and white rubber soles standing with her in her latest predicament. Now, I shall tell you of our friend and her loyal shoes as we commence The Relayings of The Advanderings of Mary Lily and the Shoes Ben.
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Mary Lily is a student at a small Christian college in the Midwest. She is five feet, four and three-quarter inches. Don't ever disregard those three-quarters because "three-quarters is a lot when your height is equivalent to two pennies" according to our friend Mary Lily. She has abominably curly, brown hair. She can't decide if she likes it or not because it's not waves nor is it ringlets and it doesn't "cascade to her shoulders like the hair of some mythical woman with legendary power over men." She often compares it to a small creature that occasionally tires of its parasitic reign on her head and decides its relationship with her is mutualistic. When that happens, she'll either have ringlets or have the opportunity to straighten her hair to a state that Helen of Troy would envy. While she may not admit it, on those days, any observer will tell you her hair makes her as Athena. On those days, her hair is full of whispers that promise whirlwinds of excitement.
Although Mary Lily remains thoroughly confused about her opinion of her hair, she is confident that she has the most awkward body that only makes one say, "aw, how deplorable, I mean, adorable." As a third party, I can attest that she is not as bad as her comments would lead someone to believe. However, she does remind me of a penguin. Or a duck. But only in the most superficial of ways. On both instances, it is a testament to her ability to look good, wearing a plumage of both vivacity and class, as well as graceful or demure while in repose. In motion though, her shape limits her capability to look anything outside of ridiculous. Mary Lily is slightly short, as we discussed, but she is well-endowed just below her neck. However, just under that endowment is a nice pouch of pudge that begs to be poked so the recipient goes "WOO-hoo." Her hips are of a nice width and she "neither exceeds nor under-delivers in the behind arena." Unfortunately for dear Mary Lily, her legs taper down in the most attractive of ways to graceful ankles and feet easily covered by tantalizingly cute shoes. Alas, this heavy top and tiny bottom make one think of a duck, with its stick thin legs and oversized torso, or a penguin, that curves from head to hip and then slims down to its two feet that waddle around. Poor, adorable Mary Lily. She's a catch, but only those who seek the cuteness in the world will ever try to fish for our friend.
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When people ask her what she's about, she often invites them to join her on a floor somewhere to proclaim the joy of naps, popsicles, books, walks, swings, and God while they both look at the world from a new perspective. She is about dresses. She prefers those that emulate the 1950s and 60s as well as those that remind one of yacht parties. She also enjoys dresses with a pattern reminiscent of gilded pages and English gardens. She won't say no to anything that twirls when she whirls around in circles nor will she deny a material that comforts the fingers. However, she's also about fireplaces in the winter, and ice cream during the summer. She's for Christmas music playing after Christmas because any sooner and "you're worse than the superstores that try to force Valentine's candy on Christmas shoppers!" She's about trying peanut butter on anything and she'll never turn down a good meal with a friend... or a new person.
Perhaps it is her whimsical clothing or comfort with unique things, but people trust her. She will easily persuade newly met individuals to tell her the size of their family, where they're from, the state of their homesickness, how much they love such and such a person, and the last time they smoked pot. Of course, if they hang out a second time, she will also know when their birthday is, how old their favorite pet was when it died, and the best coffee shop to go to in their home town. However, as personable as she is, you're just as likely to find her alone in the library jamming out to classical piano and typing out a new story as you are to see her up in a tree, in the woods, blasting indie dance music from her phone while she watches the trains roll through the marshes.
She spends a lot of time outside. Born in the South and a product of the East Coast, she finds rest in dark green leaves dancing in the wind while soft moss cushions her footfalls. She spent her days as a child meandering through swamps, forests, mountains, and beaches. Ask her what she loves and eventually she'll tell you, "Yellowstone. It is the only home my soul has ever known. It is as varied and constant, barren and bountiful, isolated and surrounded, as well as peaceful and chaotic as my mind." She aims to travel through all the great national parks one day. However, she also aims to swim the Mariana Trench, ski the Alps, lay on the beaches of Thailand, and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Sweet Mary Lily. She looks like she'd prefer to die under the auspices of wildflowers while a filmy white dress trembles lightly in the wind that might walk lightly on her cold-growing skin. In reality, she hopes to end her days disguised as a camel herder in the Sahara or swimming for buried treasure in the Bermuda Triangle.
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While the most important character of our time together is the odd Mary Lily, we cannot neglect her companions Ben. Ben are quite cute in a cheerleading, hipster grandmother sort of way. They are from Target and were purchased at the height of a high school crisis that only a new pair of shoes could cure. Ben are sailing blue but turned dark navy from dirt. They are canvas on top and white rubber on the bottom. However, their sole is also partially made out of another material that resembles cloth, canvas, and straw. All Mary Lily knows is that Ben's sole is not just rubber. There are holes at the heels, where the canvas top meets the rubber bottom. There are holes in the sole, where the balls of Mary Lily's feet have stepped so many times that a rip occurred right at the beginning of the arches. However, Ben have endured those holes for over a year. They have seen Mary Lily through one awkward friendship, a break-up, many friendships, road trips, research, long walks, family crisis, and college up to now. While many shoes exist that resemble Ben, because they too were purchased from Target, Mary Lily's sweet companions are quite unique in appearance. Ben "poifectly complements" Mary Lily on her travels.
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Now that you have met the subjects of my letters, I will give you time to develop expectations and hopes for them that they won't possibly achieve. However, I assure you that our friend Mary Lily will certainly present her own ideas, dreams, and activities that will make you forget you ever had alternative thoughts about The Advanderings of Mary Lily and the Shoes Ben.
-Leaves of Grass.
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