Let's see where fate has brought our start struck lovers this week.
Seeds of Eternity
Part 2
by
Macie Snow
Seph. What a beautiful, perfect name. A perfect
name for the most perfect of goddesses. My
goddess.
I had to make her mine. And if she would not be
mine, I
had to free her. For if I did not save her, no
one would.
Who
was he? What sort of being could
penetrate
mother’s
defenses? For that is
exactly
what had happened. Mother created
barriers, specifically to keep others from
finding
me. So the fact that the stranger had
been
able to see or hear me at all should have
been impossible, and yet… But oh, what a
stranger
he was. A whisper away… Whatever
did
that mean?
Days passed. The days slowly melted into weeks,
and
Seph had yet to
call for me. Did I in someway make it
unclear
how she should summon me? I watch her as
usual, though she does no longer sing. Summer
would
soon be over, and I grew ever mournful. If she
did
not call to me before fall, all would be lost.
A
whisper away. Did that mean I needed to
whisper
his name and he would come? How
mother would be furious if I called him. But
would
she know? He was probably watching
me even now. I no longer sang, for I knew he
watched me. Though it pained me to hold back
my
song, I could not sing. The plants begged for
music.
I could not sing. I would not sing.
Why did she not call me? I could not enter the
garden
if she did not call. It took enough effort the
first time;
I could
not go to her again without her permission. So why did
she not call my name? Perhaps she truly felt
nothing for
me.
Perhaps I found her too late. She did not call me, nor
did she
sing. Summer was coming to a close. I would
not abandon her to a lonely infinity. I couldn’t.
Would
it really work, whispering his name?
It would be such a small thing, merely a tiny
breath on the breeze. Could that truly bring
him
to me?
Even if it did, what would come from it? He
could not court me in the way that men court
women
out in the world. I was different. Mother
would
never allow it. If she even got one glimpse
of
him, he would perish, and my cage would shrink.
No. I
could not give into the temptation of seeing him again.
I could take her. Rush in and bring her out with
me.
Break open the cage and save her. I own every
intention
to do that very thing. However, the power
required to
break through, not only myself, but to bring her
out… It
was
too much. She has to summon me for it to work.
Without her word, she will perish.
A whisper. Mother would never
know of a whisper.
Even the chances of him hearing
me were slim.
My flowers were dying without my
songs,
and I could not sing while the
man waited.
Because of course he would wait.
But for how long?
How long would I wait? Long
enough for mother to
lock me away again? Long enough
for him to give up?
Had I not dreamed of an
opportunity such as this?
Why was I so hesitant to act?
Mothers paranoia had taken
hold of me. I take a deep
breath, ready to seize my destiny.
I whisper his name into the
wind.
She
said my name.
I gently lifted the last blooming
white rose and cradle it carefully. I knew not whether he was coming, or if my
feeble whisper had even reached him. My head told me that I had waited too
long. My heart told me to wait a little longer.
I listened to my
heart.
“Seph, my goddess,” his voice calls
to me from behind.
Startled, I whirl around, clutching
the rose to my chest. Damen walks towards me, more handsome and otherworldly
than I had even dared to remember. He stops in front of me and reaches towards
my hands, gently taking the rose from me.
“A gift, I presume?” he inquires,
holding the rose up.
I blush and nod. That had been
exactly why I took the rose, on the slim chance he would show up.
“I thought,” I whisper then clear my
throat and speak a little louder. “I am surprised that you heard me at all.
“I would hear your voice from
anywhere,” Damen replies. He gently removes the stem from the rose, and reaches
over to place it in my hair.
“It becomes you goddess,” he says,
gently tilting my chin up. I blush deeply as he peers into the very depths of
my soul. Every aching pain, every selfish desire.
“I… I see the snuffer now,” I
whisper, staring into the endless obsidian orbs that were his eyes.
His eyes soften. “Indeed, I thought
you might.” He gently pulls me over and sits on the garden bench, inviting me
to join him.
I sink onto the bench beside him and
bury my face in my hands.
“Mother is going to take my garden.
She feels I have had more than adequate time to have my fun. She says I belong
inside, where I’m safe. It took me eons to convince her to let me have a
garden, how long will it take me to convince her again?” I sob.
Damen gently pulls my hands away
from my face and I look up at him.
“Come with me Seph. Please. You can
start an even larger garden, one that won’t have to be hidden. You can chase your
own desires, and not have to cater to your mother’s selfish wishes. You can be
free,” He pleads.
I shake my head viciously, trying to
calm my pounding heart. His words excited me, the picture he painted was
tantalizing, but forbidden. “I couldn’t possibly,” I say. “What would Mother
think? It would break her heart! I couldn’t do that to her!”
He
smiles sadly. “It is quite admirable, the way you love your mother so much that
you would surrender your own dreams so that she would be happy. One must wonder
if she would do the same.”
“Of course she…… would,” I finish my
rebuttal in a whisper. Mother would sacrifice none of her own desires. Not for
me, not for anyone.
“All birds must leave the nest my
goddess, even the rarest breeds. They must find their own flight, their own
home. Ride the winds on their own, and taste the freedom of flight. Your mother
knows this. That is why she tries to make you feel guilty about leaving. That
is why she hides you.”
I shake my head vehemently, denying
the blatant truth.
“I would take you to travel the
world. Every beautiful garden, in every city of every continent of the world. You
could chose to stay with me, or you could leave should you wish. Though my
heart would break to see you go, my greatest desire is to see your happiness.
To see a smile light up your face, to see your eyes sparkle in the sun as you
try to take in the beauty of the world’s famous gardens.”
“How could I possibly leave?” I
whisper. “Everything I’ve ever known is here, everything I’ve ever cared for.”
“Yet not loved,” Damen notes.
I sigh. “It is difficult to love the
toys in a gilded cage. However, it is impossible to taste the freedom of
flight, when one has not the spirit to fly.”
“I would carry you until you could
fly,” Damen says, clutching my hands in his own. I would teach you to fly, even
if it meant you would leave. Anything to make you happy my goddess, anything to
see your beautiful smile, untainted by sorrow.”
I give him a small smile. “I am very
grateful for your more than generous offer, however, I couldn’t possibly
accept.”
“You can accept!” Damen cries,
dropping my hands and leaping to his feet. He gestures around wildly at my
garden. “This beauty need not remain hidden! I could take you to every garden
in the world, only to have you come back and recreate your own, combining the
most beautiful places in the entire world in one place. I would take you to the
very Garden of Eden could I defeat the one guarding the entrance! I would give
you the world to roam as you please! She would keep you locked indoors,
stealing your beauty from the world, and its beauty from you!” He drops to his
knees before me and clutches my hands, staring desperately up into my eyes.
“I have felt emotions I did not know
I still possessed, when I see you, my heart leaps with joy, and when I see your
sadness my heart breaks as if it were my own. You need not stay with me Seph,
but please allow me to free you. I’ve opened the cage; I’m holding the snuffer
at bay. You need simply to act. I will help as you wish, but please my goddess,
let me help you.”
My heart pounds frantically in my
chest, and were I not sitting, I would fear fainting. I open my mouth to speak,
but no words come, so I close it. Again, I try to speak, and again no words
come.
Damen stares up at me, desperation
clear in his eyes. There was something more, something he wasn’t saying. Some
reason why he felt I should go with him. I knew not enough of interaction with
others to tell what it was he wanted of me, why he felt it was so important
that I go, but I felt as if he truly wanted to help me. And he seemed more
desperate, it felt like he needed me more than mother had ever wanted or needed
me before.
“Please Seph,” he whispers, dropping
his head gently onto my lap. “Please come with me, my dear goddess.”
Slowly, hesitantly, I lower my hand
onto his hair. I gently twisted one of the soft curls around my finger as my
perception of reality shifted, and everything began to feel like a dream. A
wonderful, heart pounding, adrenaline racing, invigorating dream.
“Okay,” I whisper. “I’ll go with
you.”
He lifts his head, and looks up at
me hopefully. “You will?”
I nod, and smile, a small, hopeful
smile. “Damen, free me. Take me with you and show me the wonders of this world,
and let me taste the freedom of flight.”
Damen laughs once, a joyous,
relieved laugh, as he stands, and pulls me to my feet, embracing me in a hug.
I
hesitantly wrap my arms around him as well, and smile, closing my eyes. I would
finally be free.
