“Da” - A Fable

Once upon a time a rich girl lived in a fabulous city of a fabulous land. She grew tall and willowy with blonde tresses, and was nurtured by a father who garnered wealth and power within and without limits. Despite all they had, they craved more. Not satisfied with one, the father possessed a string of wives: the first was the daughter’s mother, the second a showgirl and the third and current one born of a foreign land. For her part, she was his Good Daughter whose ambition helped make him the Most Powerful Man in the World. But over time, she encountered closed doors in the Residence and the time spent with father dwindling to nothing. Jealousy made her suspect the Third Wife who was always standing beside him in stylish clothes and long tresses to compare with hers. Her thin lips always seemed to hover above a meeting place and opaque sunglasses, worn in sun or rain, hid personality and intent. 

The Good Daughter looked for any reason to criticize the Third Wife: those lips, her insect-looking sunglasses and saccharine foreign accent. Then quite by accident, she espied the Third Wife meeting a Mysterious Mustachioed Man in the park. He was strange and foreign and wore a heavy fur coat suitable for Siberian winters. Conspiracy! Collusion! What else would he have to do with her father’s wife?  She watched for the next meeting and proof of their purpose. 

One day at a public appearance, she noticed something odd: the Third Wife wasn’t wearing sunglasses despite the harsh sun. Later, as she mulled that over, she learned her stepmother had slipped out of the Residence. She raced to the site of the last illicit meeting and found them sitting on a bench. “Aha! I knew you were up to something.” But, in a surprising silky voice, the Mysterious Mustachioed Man invited her to sit. “I’m investigating the Most Powerful Man in the World, because no one rises so high without disregard of basic human decency.” 

Taken aback, the Good Daughter rallied. “She made him do it.” “No, he did it because of you,” the Third Wife said, “and because of who he is. I wanted him to be content, but he believes past success makes future wins a certainty.” The man added, “The dubious past has a way of catching up. If you understand, say ‘Da.’”