The Story - Part I

I have no people to hold my memories. I have no one to recall a time beyond my mind’s own reach. And from my earliest memories, I lived in a land of light and air. The sky was wide and clear, an ever-changing palette of bright and shadow. It was always the same but never the same.

Sometimes it was ferocious, swallowing all the colors of the rainbow and stretching its shoulders that the colors might flame against its breast like war paint. Sometimes it was dazzling with heat which reached from valley to peak, making the air sizzle and hum. Sometimes it was cool and deep like a stone from a mountain cave, covering the land with the cool weight of mist. And even when it was dark it had different moods. There was silver darkness when the trees and rocks would glow. There was amethyst darkness which swallowed the ocean and consumed boundaries. There was coal darkness studded with diamond star and pearl moon.

The earth ruled this splendor, providing the sky with endless landscapes to both play and rest. Paint from the sky spilled all over the place too, as the loving courtship was messy and enthusiastic in turn. Speckles of blue, green, purple and yellow littered the earth’s shoulders and hair, thighs and belly. Its cheeks blushed with reds and rosy pinks. Its arms were brown and strong.

It would hold the colors of fire and let all of them gather to dance in the palms of its hands. The fire would crackle and hiss but never quite take over the earth. After some unspoken agreement, the fire would still itself mostly, until it stood in one spot like a young mustang, mastered but untamed.

This could exhaust the earth however, so when it tired, when it stooped its shoulders to drink from cool streams, the water would caress the earth with tender hands, and soak up the colors too. It would soak them up and reflect them back to the sky, which would ripple the water’s surface in a loving gesture, as a parent reassuringly stroking a child. But the water was secretive too, and would hide the colors deep within its breast, carrying the hues down to the warm southern riverbanks and into the sea. With great swells of generosity it would fling them in the air, letting the colors splash in its cool strength and ride upon its shoulders.

I don’t remember when I decided to leave this home. Nothing put fear in my heart. I lacked for nothing.

At some point though, I realized my time there was finished, and I made preparations to leave. The earth was all about the basics. It wanted me to have food and clothing for my body and feet. Like a mother dressing its child, it made sure I would not go cold, or hungry.

The water and the sky were unconcerned. They would travel with me, they giggled. They would gossip about me to all their playmates who would recognize me when they saw me and see that I was refreshed and out of harm’s way.

Fire kept to himself, but soon found ways to whisper some of his secrets in my ears. He gave me his wisdom that I might conjure him anywhere, and have him warming me with his stories whenever I may wish to hear him. He assured me he would not be far away.

My leaving then was happy and exciting, loud with dancing waves and birds riding in the folds of the sky’s swirling skirts. I was alive and strong and my story was about to begin...

-- Laura