Tuesday, June 11, 2013

An Odyssey in Question!



I hadn't been to the dock for days... Something kept me away from the land as my time in the fish tank was quite traumatic. Tonight though, something was telling me that a significant encounter was planned...Being far, in the deep waters for the last two weeks, I had to swim for hours to reach the dock. When I got there it was already dark. The crescent moon was shyly shedding its amber powerful energies.... I looked at it as I surfaced, "Time for new beginnings", I thought and I felt a flutter in my stomach.
I heard her crying silently, sitting on the last bench at the far end of the dock.... The city was behind her and when she stood, I felt that she needed to leave everything behind. That's when I decided to make my presence known. That's when I knew that my instinct had driven me to the dock that evening to see her!
She wasn't surprised to see me there. It almost seemed as if she was expecting me. While the tears were still rolling down her cheeks, she smiled at me in silence...
I looked at her there in the dim light of the new moon. She was a tall woman in her early forties.  She was wearing a long white dress and gold bracelets on her right wrist. A sea shell was hanging on her chest... The way she kept touching it, made me realize that it was a special charm, it offered her peace of mind...
Her hair, sun-streaked light brown, loosely tied in a pony tail and her skin, lightly tanned, was giving her a sense of freshness and youth. The way she carried herself showed that her background was of some significance.
She told me that her name was Penelope...
I asked her why she was crying... She sobbed... I waited until she was ready to talk.... Penelope talked about the love of her life. How they met, fell in love, made their home, had their son...and as she was telling her story, I could feel the love emanating from this woman's soul. Her voice deepened and her eyes darkened when she went on telling me about her love disappearing...leaving her... How she waited patiently for years knowing he had to complete his journey... She told me about the Sirens and Calypso and how eventually he escaped from them, and then she told me about Circe, how she had wooed him into her bed and was still holding him captive under her spell. She talked about her endless attempts to win him back but to no avail... then she told me about her suitors.... How they would surround her every day, craving for her, wanting to devour every bit of her womanhood...she talked about them, "the mnesteres" as she called them, giving me a detailed description of their personalities, their fears and their insecurities.
She described those to whom she succumbed, and those that she despised.  She described endless nights of passion and extreme sensations, lacking any trace of love...
To some she was just a trophy. To others she was a way out their everyday boredom. They conquered her body but none of them could conquer her heart... She cried more.
"I don't know who I am anymore", she said wiping her tears.... "What I do know is that I could never go back to what I had, or who I was before all this! All I know is that I don't want him back anymore.... He can stay at Circe's forever for all I care. The question is how do I get out of this mess? How do I find love? Does it exist? Are there any real, unconditionally loving relationships? Or am I in for the disappointment of a lifetime? Will I grow old alone?"
She looked at the time and jumped on her feet!
"Thank you for listening" she told me. I have to go, but I’ll be back tomorrow! "
She left the dock at a fast pace without looking back!
I stayed there thinking about Penelope's story! I wanted to know more about the suitors. But my curiosity would have to wait until the next evening!
I did a back flip and a somersault, giggled out loud and followed the single moonbeam to the dark blue!
Tomorrow I’d be back......

                                                                                                                        Copyright © 2013 Emilia


                                                

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