Where I am from the dirt is so sad.
The rivers do not move and the wind is silent. It is almost as if your in a place all alone, travelling aimlessly from one point to the next- with no meaningful destination. I have been born of a wandering species, which have no purpose but to stand---stand very still on the sad dirt.
And then.
Then one day—one day I had seen her. With a mouth so refined it was almost as if her lips were sewn together to give it such a shape, as if her eyes were fantasized and as if her hands were sanded soft. She was painted onto a canvas, made so perfect into a masterpiece. She was different; she didn’t stand still on the dirt, she floated, like a soul lingering in a purgatory place. I couldn’t reach her. I wanted to touch her; just simply place my fingers and have them trail down her arm to grab hold of her hand and lace our fingers, intertwine them with each other as if they were meant to be so. She was the pure dust particles that made a whole block of gold in every man’s eyes. She seemed like a dream in the air.
I wanted to speak to her. Admiring her took all day, as the days pass by so fast here. I had lived on a star, so bright, called Teegarden. It’s people were the slowest moving, yet our star was the fastest star, in the universe, in rotation. I went off to the foreign grounds in search of sunflowers, to represent what I thought she appeared to be, the rays of the sun before it met the ocean. I wanted to hand select them, perfection is the only thing I sought out in each one. I didn’t want any flaws from the root to the stem, from the stem to the leaves, from the leaves to each pedal surrounding the bud inside.
The wind seemed to be whistling, which is so rare- even at night. I approached the riverbank and saw ripples rising onto the surface of the water. The dirt felt happy. I felt it under my feet, its change. I came closer to the river and saw an image in the water, that came to be a reflection from the sky and as I looked up stars grouped to form a shape. The face was that of a lions looking down on me from the night sky. I listened, for it was the only thing I could do, for I didn’t fear it. The lion’s mouth opened wide as the sky became its mouth and throat and as it came closer I braced myself and forced down on one knee, was swallowed whole.
I couldn’t see anything, nor feel anything. I could not hear- or was even sure if I was even breathing in anything. I could only remember—my family—that girl, and all my desires abandoned with the outline of my body before it perished into the throat of a lion in the sky.
I was frozen in a time frame where I did not think. I did not know what to think of. Blank memories filled my head, yet I remembered that I still had memories from some time ago. Longing for something to happen, it seemed like forever before I woke up.
I woke up.
Finally.
And when I woke, I was in an all white room, all whitely furnished, and not a speck of flaw tried to creep into the room. The people themselves were dressed in the finest white- heavenly white almost, if there is such a thing. And the faces kept getting closer to what I thought was my face- I was laying on my back. The faces seemed full of “aw” and happiness, rosy salmon like cheeks and glistening almond shaped eyes of all colors. I was picked up.
I was picked up because I was no longer me but a newborn child. I was a child that I did not recognize as being myself to have maybe been a dream. I found myself once again fading- but this time it was my eyes falling from the tiredness of a child, finding myself wandering into an innocent serenity of sleep.
My sixth birthday had come. I had soon acknowledged that I was no longer in a dream, but had accepted that I had resurrected as someone else- someone greater-someone with a purpose, who will soon have to inherit the burden of my fathers’, to carry the troubles of my new world on my own back. I was born of the Egyptian Lion goddess, Sekhmet and the Egyptian Sun god, Ra. Born on the 31st of July I was my parents third child, but first and only son. Born next to my cousin, the star, Denebola, the Nemean Lion I was destined to be great.
From time to time I had remembered the land that I was from, a long time ago. A blurred image, but still there. I was taken at the age of 19, and now am a 25-year-old man in a six-year-old body. The chance of starting over and doing something other than standing still has come to me. I lived in a castle so high off the ground that we literally slept amongst the clouds and stars. I could see my cousins scattered all around me, watching over me as I peacefully dreamed of who I was to become. I was of royal blood.
I had no real name. It was royal tradition to be given a nickname until the next heir to the throne’s 18th birthday. I was called Quintilis, after the month that I was born. My father’s had been Apollo, the Uplifter; his father was named Jupiter, the Creator. I am from a line of chief gods, the supreme deity of the universe and all the worlds in it. So high off the ground my family populated the heavens and earth. My mother, a true lioness in many ways was from a true line of women as well. Her mother, Hera, god of marriage and childbirth; her grandmother Clotho was one of the three Fates, she spun the thread of life and her two sisters measured the thread of life or cut it. Such power in both sides that it was destined for me to strive, seek and to never allow anything or anyone to stop me from what is fate.
The night before my 18th birthday my mother appeared in my dreams, like she had done so many nights. She would soothe me with her harmonious voice every time my dreams seemed to try and take a toll for the worst. I never knew what was so bad in me ever once having a nightmare, what it would do to me. That night, my mother had told me that my destiny was spun out for me centuries ago, and now born, I was to carry it out. My name was to mean “Lord of the Castle”.
I woke up that morning with the light from the clouds whiteness upon my face and sheets. I rose feeling like I had the power of a man in my hands and the walk of a king in my legs, as I stood six feet and two inches tall. As I walked toward my closet door the air had smelled like pine, yet it wasn’t winter, and I heard my favorite melody being played outside my window. Walking towards it, fairies appeared on the windowsill, playing with each other, not aware of me watching, enjoying their presence. I looked out the window as they moved from my sill onto my shoulders, dancing and laughing in my ear. Peering out, looking down, I saw her. The same girl who was supposed to be twelve light years away.
“Leave her be, Quintilis”, the whisper of my mother’s voice in my ear had told me. I turned to see if my mother was behind me, but like I figured, she was not- it was just her watching over me as she had done all my life. Annoyed I turned back to see her, but she was not there where I had last seen her. The way she left, her footprints had faded with the growth of new grass.
I went on getting dressed for the ceremony that would change my life. My undergarments were of the finest silks and my robe made out of the richest purple velvet. I was to walk down the Golden Stairs, which consisted of 699 stairs, one step representing the kings before my father. I will be that 700th stair. After the staircase I was to travel to the Golden Gates and cross the Lion’s Bridge to the Lions Den, also called the Lion’s temple, where the ceremony will take place.
The whole kingdom will be in attendance. Kings and queens, princes and princesses, gods and goddesses from far away kingdoms will also be there. Everyone will be there to see me.
I started making my way to my door and as I opened it, as I expected, my mother appeared, in the purest gold gown. She was so beautiful, like a woman that can only be possibly created in a perfect dream. During the ceremony she was to pass on what had been in her family for thousands of years, her gold lion’s mane that my father wore.
“Are you ready, my son?”
“ I was born ready to change the world. Wasn’t it you who said I was born with that destiny?”
My mother turned to walk away from me, “ask your ancestors for guidance, they will lead you down the best path.”
“And if I want to choose the path less traveled?”’
My mother turned back to face me with a worry in her eyes that I did not understand. “Then that is a choice, you as a man, the child of a lion and the sun, shall make on your own, my son.”
From there I spoke to my mother through my thoughts, “who was she, mother?”
“She is the trouble that follows you, the nightmare that would creep into your dreams if I were not there to guard them.”
“Mother, she is from my past. I don’t know how to explain it.”
“You don’t have to. I know you were born elsewhere. Reborn, you were made into what you were destined to be. You will be King and you will have the strongest Queen by your side.”
“Queen…”
“Aglaia, one of the Three Graces. She is the Splendor, full of magnificence…Now enough, my dear. You are being waited on. You will be late.”
With a deep breath taken, I place my hand in my pocket where I find my lion pendent that was given to me by my great grandmother, Clotho, on my 10th birthday. It was gold with a red mane. I never knew why the mane was red. She told me it would burn my hand and shine bright when it was close to my true love. My mother thought of it nonsense and always told me not to pay my, supposedly insane, great grandmother, any mind—rest in peace, her old sold that has now travelled to the other world.
I started going down the Golden Stairs, seeing people rushing, moving so fast at the bottom. I came down at a slow pace. I wanted to enjoy and take in my last minutes of being a teenager for they would disappear the moment I walked through the Lion’s Den. I started thinking about that girl again as I felt as if I were floating down the stairs now at a faster pace. I wanted to see her again, wanted to know her name-what was so bad about her.
I found myself at the opposite end of the Golden Bridge, then I saw her again. She looked at me this time. Her face seemed blank, but not her eyes. She smiled and acknowledged my prescence with her eyes. She went inside when a man appeared next to her and rushed her inside. I quickly moved across the bridge when my mother then appeared.
“Quintilis!”
“I’m here, mother.”
“Are you really? I said leave her. She is taken and she is not the one for you. Do not start off being a stubborn king.”
I made my way inside where the temple was filled with magnificence. Everyone was of great importance.
I saw my father at the alter looking at me with great expectations in mind. I couldn’t stare away from his gaze. My mother appeared next to him. As everyone seated themselves, the birds began to sing and the harps, the violins and the piano had started to play. I walked down the aisle still holding my parents’ gaze. As I was about to go up the alter I felt a stare. Not everyone else’s stare, but one distinct stare, and I knew it was hers. I almost paused, but didn’t want my mother to notice so I kept walking towards them, up the alter.
“Hello, Quintilis,” she spoke to me in my thoughts.
“You speak to me in my mind,” for I thought only my mother was able to do that.
“Yes. Will you meet me at the back of the temple when the ceremony has finished?”
“I will meet you there…what is your name?”
“Minerva.”
As I reached the top of the alter everyone stood up. We all had faced the crowd.
“My son, Quintilis, today you shall become a man. I shall step down as you rightfully take my place as king. You are to become the lord of the castle. You shall be the golden light to lead us. “ My father places his crown upon my head and kisses my forehead, “You are the true heir to the throne, a blessing of pure gold.”
As my mother took off my fathers lion pelt from his back and placed it on mine, she announced my name. “From this day, you will no longer be Quintilis, but Karlon, lord of the castle, son of Ra and Sekhmet.”
Everyone applauded and flower pedals fell from the ceiling and fairies sprinkled their pixie dust all around. As everyone stared at me, all I could do was stare at the girl who called herself, Minerva. She was beautiful and her eyes told me that she thought the same of me. My hand slid into the pockets of my robe and it was then that I felt the burning of the lion’s mane on my pendant and I quickly pulled my hand away from it. My great grandmother was telling me what I already knew from the day I first laid eyes on her, the very first time, in Teegarden.
As everyone was mingling and talking to my parents I made my way through everyone and snuck out the back. As I came out, the sun shone bright on my face, and then I saw her. She was sitting on a bench made of pine wood. She looked more radient than the Sun.
“Who are you?” I said in the softest, most quietest voice.
“I am Minerva, I am a guardian goddess. Yours. I am the daughter of Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom and Vulcan, the smith magician.”
“Mine? I do not understand.”
“I am the one your mother protects you from…in your dreams. When you were taken from Teegarden, I followed you and she knew this. Your mother never knew I was to guard you always; she thought I was there to harm you, but it is a simple misunderstanding.”
“How can I trust you?”
“Listen to the racing of your heart and look into my eyes...and tell me what you see.”
As I sat next to her I found my heart begin to race. It felt so heavy that my heart felt as if it were stretching itself in my chest. As I looked into her eyes, her pupils began to sink deeper and deeper with me lost in them. Her eyes were of a maple tree color. The sincerity in her eyes startled me, but what I saw was love. Seeing that I felt her hand reach into my pocket where my pendent was. The mane was on fire, yet it did not burn her hand.
“Give me your hand, Karlon.” As I gave her my hand we both held the pendant and to my surprise it did not burn me like it usually did. “ I am to protect you from harm. While doing so, I had fallen in love with you. I have loved you in your dreams, when you take long walks in the garden and during your most cherished lonely moments. I have always been there, waiting for you to, once again, find me and love me, as I, love you.”
I was almost speechless. I didn’t want to loose her again and wanted the right words to come out.
“I did not see you, but I don’t believe that I ever stopped loving you when there was not a day that I did not think of you.”
“I hope not to be blind for too long- I want to see you, so you can love me without me being blindfolded.”
I had then noticed that she could not see.
“But…”
“I know. Remember, my love, I am a goddess. My senses are greater than any. I am destined to guard you, so in doing so I must know who you are. The man who loves me like no other shall be the one to make me se again, with just one kiss.”
“Is that man me?”
“Only you can answer that.”
With that said, I held her hands in mine and as I looked at her I saw that she had her eyes closed. She looked as if she were waiting for me all her life, and there I realized, as I kissed her—I was waiting for her all of mine.
