1937, during the Great Depression
It was a brisk, white day in September when I arrived here. It had been getting unnaturally cold lately, and everyone was worried. I had lived in the area my entire life, Roanoke, a lovely mountain town in Virginia. There was a reason that my family had lived there for the last fifty years, the natural beauty was captivating. I had spent many years gazing at this mountain through the windows of my humble apartment, and now, in the midst of my nineteenth year, I had finally stepped foot on it. There was a small cabin on the mountain, that nobody had lived in for over a decade. I had found out about it from a friend, he knew my fascination with the mountain. I packed up my things, and moved into the cabin. It was unfurnished, except for a large object, cloaked in a white sheet. I pulled off the sheet, to reveal a large mirror. After a few months, I was done furnishing the cabin. Complete with new paint, new carpets, new furniture, and new doors, the mirror was still there, unmoved from the spot I found it in. It was December of 1937 when I heard the singing for the first time, "my girl, my girl, where will you go. I'm going where the cold wind blows, in the pines, in the pines, where the sun don't ever shine, I would shiver the whole night through." I didn't own a record player, I couldn't afford one. I didn't know where the sound was coming from. I searched all over the house, until I realized that it was the mirror. I wasn't scared, in fact, I was drawn towards it. The singing stopped after about a minute. I went into town to buy a loaf of bread from a merchant I had been buying from since the crash. As I walked, I couldn't get the song out of my head. I hummed it uncontrollably, to the displeasure of everyone around me. After a few minutes, I found my merchant. He heard me humming, and started singing the song. I asked him if he knew anything about the song.
"I'm sorry mam, nobody knows anything about the songs origins. It's been sung for years, decades, maybe even centuries, but no one knows who or what wrote it..."
"What do you mean by who or what?"
"Well, everything has an inspiration. It can all be traced back to something. But no one knows anything about that songs inspiration."
I walked home feeling stupid and confused. I laid down and tried to fall asleep.
I woke up in the middle of a blizzard. I wasn't in my house anymore, I was deep in the forest. I screamed, cried out for help, until I realized that I was miles away from civilization. I felt myself slowly freezing to death. I looked for something, anything that could prolong my life. "That tree!" I thought "It's hollowed out!"
I eagerly climbed into the large tree. "Good! I can wait out the storm in here! It should be slightly warmer than the outside."
