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He had told the story again and again. He watched them fall in love and fall apart, again and again. He watched her hop on that train again and again. He told him how to get to her again and again. He eventually stopped trying to change it. Nothing changes anyways.
In the beginning, he tried to let it change on its own. Stay out of it, play his part. Orpheus can figure it out. He never did. Nothing changes
Then he started to change things. Minor things, his wording, his timing. Nothing changes.
And today, it’s time to tell it again. This time he observes. Watches as Eurydice walks into his bar. Watches as Orpheus rips a newspaper into a flower. Watches as he presents it to her.
“You’re so sweet!” Eurydice smiles. He pauses from his obsessive cleaning of the bar. This is different. There’s a change.
He watches as things go back to how they normally are. Nothing changes. Orpheus sings his song, Eurydice falls in love.
Persephone arrives, still no more change. Persephone leaves. Nothing changes. Eurydice leaves, nothing changes.
“Mr. Hermes!”
“Hey, the big artist. Ain’t you working on your masterpiece?” He regrets the words once he says them. Nothing good ever comes of this conversation.
“Where’s Eurydice?”
You know the conversation. You know how it goes. You know how ends.
“What if I said she’s down below?”
“Down below?”
“Down below. Six feet under the ground below. She called your name before she went but, I guess you weren’t listening.” Play your part, the rest will fall into place.
He watches as Orpheus goes to the underground. He watches as he emerges without her. Empty handed and alone. Broken hearted and alone. He watches the boy he raised turn into an empty shell. Nothing changes.
He tells it again. Nothing changes. Again and again. Nothing changes.
No one knows that’s it’s a retelling. No one except the Fates. The Fates knew the story as well as he did. Vocalizing and causing chaos. It’s fun to them, a game.
He doesn’t know how long he’ll be cursed to this fate. He just knows that he can’t watch it end tragically again. He can’t watch his godson go through the same pain again and again. He can’t.
The next retelling, he tries something different.
“Orpheus, can you run to the market? I have a list of what we need.” Hermes calls.
“Okay Mr. Hermes!” Orpheus grabs the list from him and bolts out of the bar, just as a young lady walks into the bar. ‘Score’ thinks Hermes. ‘One for Hermes, zero for Fate’
“A whiskey please.” The young woman-Eurydice- places some coins on the counter. He passes her a bottle and she takes a swig.
“I just need to warn you. Don’t talk to anyone here. Especially strange men. They may seem friendly, but most of the time they aren’t. We’ve had quite a few, incidents here.” She looks at him sceptically.
“How do I know I can talk to you then? You’re a strange man.” She takes a sip.
“Just trust me ma’am. I don’t want you getting hurt.” He sighs. He forgot how stubborn she is.
“Mr. Hermes! I got the stuff!” He comes running in with a paper bag filled with food.
Eurydice watches him, something Hermes can’t recognize in her eyes. “Thanks kid. We’ll need it for when Persephone comes.”
“That’s tomorrow?” Eurydice seems shocked.
“You didn’t know? People have been having small party’s everywhere for the return of summer.” Eurydice looks at her palms.
“Summer isn’t much better than winter anymore. Everywhere’s either too cold or too hot nowadays.”
“I’m gonna bring spring back.” Orpheus announces suddenly. Hermes shakes his head. ‘Here we go again’
“How?”
“I’m gonna sing a song.” He begins to realize what he saw on her face earlier. Love. Admiration.
They fall in love. They fall apart. Nothing changes.
He tries again. Another day, another retelling.
He’s been doing this for years. Between retellings, he gets a break of one day. The chalk board he keeps track of the days on is the only thing that changes between retellings. 728 tally marks. Well, 729 now.
He doesn’t know what he did, but on the 459th retelling, he made a change. A major one.
When Orpheus and Eurydice started their journey from the underground, doubt still came in, but didn’t take over. They… he made it from the underground to the surface, her still behind. He was so excited to be in the light again that he turned, not realizing she wasn’t all the way out. She was sent back to the underground. Nothing changes.
He begins to watch a little more closely. Watches the major events, Eurydice going to Hadestown, Orpheus singing his song to Hades, the two walking together. He watches for things he can change. A plan begins to form.
He finds a chalkboard, and begins to write out his plan, this retelling abandoned.
“Stop her from going to the underworld? But how…” he’s thinking out loud. “Don’t accept her ticket? Can’t do that… convince her not to go? She won’t listen…” he sighs, setting down his chalk.
“Mr. Hermes? What are you doing?” He whips around.
“Oh, hello Orpheus. What do you need?” He quickly positions himself in front of the chalkboard.
“I was just getting some drinks… what is that? Why does it say ‘Happy Ending Plan’?What does that mean?”
“Nothing child. You should go back up. It’s almost time for your toast.” Orpheus nods sceptically and runs back up the stairs. Hermes lets out a sigh of relief.
Upstairs, Orpheus walks over to his lover, beers in hand. Hermes is supposed to be manning the bar, giving Orpheus a night off, but because he’s been in the basement the whole time, Orpheus hasn’t had a second to breathe.
“Go get him.” Eurydice takes his hand. “It’s your night off.”
Orpheus shakes his head. “He’s working on something. Not sure what though.”
“You’re too nice. I love you.” She gives him a kiss on the cheek.
“I love you too. Oh! It’s time for my toast!” He quickly runs to stand on the table in the middle of the bar. “To the patroness of all of this, Persephone! Who has finally returned to us with wine enough to share. Asking nothing in return except that we should live, and learn to live, as brothers in this life, and to trust she will provide. And if no one takes too much, there will always be enough. She will always fill our cups. And we will always raise them up, to the world we dream about, and the one we live in now. Cheers.”
Everyone cheers, then goes back to their partying.
Meanwhile, in the basement, Hermes is still trying to figure out how to save the lovers. “What do I have to do. Won’t someone just tell me?”
A figure appeared in front of him. Then another, and another. “All you have to do, is help them. Then you’ll be free of this fate.” One speaks.
“But how do I do that?” He’s getting frustrated. They disappear.
Hours later, Orpheus is exhausted but worried. Worried about his godfather, who hasn’t left the basement all that night. He tells Eurydice he’ll be back and rushes down the stairs.
“Mr. Hermes? Are you alright?” He’s cautious, who knows what his godfather will be like right now.
“Not now child, I’m trying to figure out how to save your songbird up there.”
Orpheus’ face falls. “What… what do you mean save her? What’s going to happen to her?”
Hermes pauses. He messed up. “Nothing child. Ignore me. Please, leave me for now.” Orpheus nods and starts up the stairs.
He walks to his and Eurydice’s small house, pondering what his godfather had said. Before he can even step in the door, he’s turned around and is walking back.
“Mr. Hermes?” He says, walking down the stairs. “I know you told me to leave you alone but- oh.” He looks and sees him asleep on the chair next to the chalkboard.
He won’t mind if he takes just one look, right? He starts at the top.
‘Ideas: help him finish the song (how?), stop her from going (how?), make him not turn (how?)’
‘What we know: Eurydice gets desperate because her husband isn’t providing, because he’s too busy writing his song, so she goes to Hadestown. He follows, trying to get her back, Hades doesn’t let her go. He sings a song which makes Hades and Persephone fall in love again, and Hades gives him the challenge. He turns, and she goes back.’
‘This can’t be real… right?’ Orpheus gets scared. He rushes back to the house to make sure Eurydice is still there. He breathes a sigh of relief when he finds her sitting in the chair, reading a book.
He grabs his lyre, the instrument heavy in his hands. “Love, what’s wrong?” Eurydice asks, setting down her book.
“Would you ever go to Hadestown?” He asks bluntly. She’s taken aback.
“Why do you ask?”
“No reason.” He lies, his hands fidgeting over the neck of his lyre.
“Well one; I don’t buy that. Two; no, I would not.”
“Then why did Mr. Hermes say you would?”
“I don’t know, but whatever reason, we just need to make sure it doesn’t happen. I would never leave you love.” She sits next to him, grabbing his hand. He smiles at her.
“Do you want to help me with my song?”
“I would love to.”
And that’s what they did for the rest of the night. Not that Hermes would know. He was still down in the basement, trying to figure out how to save her, not realizing she was doing that herself.
After just a night of working on it together, he had a song. A full song, a full plan. Well, not really a full plan. He was going to sing his song for Mr. Hades when he came up to get Lady Persephone. Is it guaranteed to work? No. But is there a chance? Yes.
He didn’t have long to wait before Hades showed up to collect Persephone. Just two weeks went by before they heard the whistle of the train and a fuming Hades stepped out.
“Where is Hermes?” He booms. Orpheus squeaks as Hades turns to him. “You! Boy! You’re his godson right? Where is he?”
“He’s- he’s been in the basement of the bar for weeks. He won’t leave. He tells me to leave whenever I try to talk to him.”
Hades feels his heart ache a little bit, before brushing it off. “I had to drive the train myself all the way here, and I’m not planning on driving it back. Go get him, and if he says no, tell him I’ll come and get him myself.”
Orpheus nods before running off to the bar. “Mr. Hermes! Mr. Hermes! Mr Hades wants you. He’s mad. Let me in!” He pounds on the door.
“Go away Orpheus.” Hermes voice rings from the other side of the door.
“He- he said he’ll come and get you himself if you don’t come out.”
“I don’t care. I’m not leaving until I figure this out.”
“I can help you! Just come out!”
“No child.”
Orpheus sighs before walking away, back out the angry Hades. “He says he’s not coming out.” Hades frown deepens while he starts to walk away towards the bar.
“Wait! Before you go. Can I… can I sing you a song? You can say no, that’s fine but I was just thinking that maybe he’ll come out if we wait long enough and-“
“Sure son. Go ahead.” It seems as though the kings heart is a little softer this time. Maybe it’ll work out this time.
“Really? Ok.. here goes nothing.”
As he sings, you can see in the kings face the effect it has on him. And he and Persephone, they take each other’s hands, and brother you know what they do? They dance.
As they stand there and hold each other, Orpheus runs to Eurydice, and embraces her in his arms. “We did it.” He cries.
“No, you did it.” She smiles and pulls away. “You’re the reason they’re like this. You’re the reason spring will come back.”
So everyone was happy. Everyone lived happily ever after right? Hades let Persephone stay for the amount of time she was supposed to… right? Eurydice and Orpheus lived together until their final days… right? Hermes emerged from the basement when he found out that they got their happy ending… right?
Well, partially right. Hades and Persephone tried again. They succeeded. Orpheus and Eurydice worked together to get food and firewood, and neither needed to go down to Hadestown. And as a bonus, Hadestown became a better place. Better hours, better wages, happier workers.
As for Hermes, he spent so long in that basement, he didn’t realize that they had gotten the happy ending until they were long gone. He emerged to find only their daughter, Melody, old with children of her own.
He was damned to an eternity in a universe that no longer had Orpheus. He realized that retelling after retelling, he should have appreciated his godson more.
He regretted his choices. He regretted that he didn’t spend more time with his godson when he got the chance. He regretted that he thought so much about the future, that he didn’t take a second to feel the air.
We can all take a lesson from Hermes’ story. Feel the air. Smell the roses. Take your time, slow down, and feel the air.