LJ Idol "Turtles All the Way Down"
A young father watched his daughter sleep, feeling that deep, complete sensation wash over him. Listening to her quiet breathing and the smack of her lips, he watched the way her arm tensed, found her lovie, and relaxed. There was peace in this place. It flickered in the night light.
His gaze fell to the metallic globe he had placed on her bedside table when he found out they were expecting. It was something he had played with as a child. His parents had given it to him, telling him to keep it safe. He always had, due to the strange connection he felt to it. As a child he'd roll it on the ground, watching the way the sun glinted off the other-worldly material. Sometimes he'd find himself lying in the grass and passing it between his hands, pretending he was David Bowie from The Labyrinth. It was the eighties and he couldn't escape his own fantastical dreams.
Sometimes he liked to pretend there was another world inside that ball. What did it look like? Was it like the planets he studied in science class? What if the metallic sheen was from all the clouds and the lightning storms that obviously raged inside it? Then he'd laugh to himself, thinking this was all so silly. Every night, it went onto its stand next to his bed; he fell asleep and dreamt of his own little made up world. Now, as an adult and a father too, he hoped his daughter would find the same joy in it that he had.
***
Five men and four women assembled at the ocean-side temple. The oldest among them took his place at the podium at the front. He opened the ancient tome and began speaking the words of their people. The others surrounded their elder in a half-circle; the man and woman at its center clasped hands, white robes gently brushing together. The elder offered prayers of gratitude to the Gods for ending the time of darkness. Life had been hard, food had been scarce, and war had broken out among the many villages and tribes to the east. The return of the sun had broken their long night, and the people thanked the Gods for sending the dark man to their village as the prophecy had foretold.
All in attendance turned to look at the couple. Their white robes whispered in unison against the floor. The dark-skinned man squeezed the hand of his pale-skinned wife and smiled down at her. Closing the tome, the elder left his place behind it to stand before the happy couple. In his hands he held a marble bowl with a mix of oils and herbs. The pale woman opened her robes, exposing a very pregnant belly.
Chanting in the old language, the elder anointed the pale woman’s head and stomach and turned to anoint the head of her beloved. Once more he gave thanks to the Gods, retelling the prophecy of a dark man who would lie with a woman of their village. From their union would spring forth the light that would break the darkness. Holding the woman's belly in his hands, the elder announced the fruition of the prophecy. Finally, the light bringer was to be born.
The pale woman found her hands drifting to her belly as the elder returned to his podium to end the ceremony. Born into a small, ocean-side village, she remembered hearing the stories of a burning light called a "sun" but never believed in its existence until now. Though she never left the village, many travelers came and went, telling of the wars and famine caused by the darkness. Her small town had thrived due to the bounties of the sea, but not all had been so blessed. The dark man, her beloved, had not been so lucky. War had killed his entire family, his village, all that he knew. He had been able to escape with what he could carry on his back.
She had expected to be like her mother, marrying some village boy and sharing a boring and ordinary future. Yet here she was, belly bared to the sky and the sea, being named Mother of the Light Bringer. It had happened so fast, really. When her beloved had arrived, it made sense her family would take him in. They had no sons, no heirs - just a daughter to eventually be married off. He learned to fish from her father, and at night she taught him the rituals of her people. They thanked the Gods of the oceans who kept their bellies full and the Gods of the forest who gave them lumber to build their homes, and during this they fell in love.
As the ceremony came to a close, she felt the child kick. For the first time in years, she truly felt hope.
***
The little girl looked up from her coloring book as her Dad came in from work. Her Mom was busy making dinner, but paused to greet him with a kiss. The girl waited for her Dad to relax into his recliner where he'd loosen his tie and kick off his shoes. She'd gather them and put them away before climbing in his lap. This was their nightly daddy-daughter time and she absolutely loved it. Holding her favorite toy, the metal ball he'd given her as a baby, she'd press it into her chest while curled up watching the news with her father.
Her Mom called them to dinner and she kept it next to her plate when she ate. She'd put it safely next to her bed while she brushed her teeth and got ready for bed, and in the morning it'd go into her back pack to take to school with her. It was the only one she'd ever seen like it and the kids always pestered her, wanting to know where they could get their own. She just shrugged and said she had no idea, but if the other kids were lucky sometimes she'd let them hold it.
She loved the way it reflected the light of the sun. It was almost as if the light also came from the inside, but she knew it was just a metal ball. Science class taught her that light didn't work that way, so she knew it was impossible. Still, she'd watch movies with her Dad and he'd read her fairy stories and in her heart she liked to believe that in her hand she held another world. Something in her knew that was a childish notion, but being a child, she wasn't ashamed of that. She felt it was her right to carry with her those imaginary worlds. That's what the children in her story books would do.
***
The labor had been long and intense, but both Mother and son made it through. The midwife made a concoction of herbs to help relieve the physical pain, but birth had taken its toll. The dark man looked at his exhausted wife and his perfect, deeply tanned child. For the first time in years, the dark man felt safe. He had made himself a new family, and while he prayed to his own Gods that his parents were safe in the afterlife, his duty was to love and protect his wife and child now. The new father promised never again to lose those he held dear. The midwife brought him a wet rag and he pressed it to his wife's face, brushing back her hair while she brought their son to her breast. They slept that night wrapped around each other, filled with nothing but joy.
***
When the girl went to college, she left her orb at her parents’ home in the room they kept for her. She wanted it to be safe, but also felt bringing the adult version of her lovie might be a bit silly. All through high school, she had kept it on her bedside table, still dreaming of the other worlds that lived inside of it. Now she kept those childish dreams to herself. As an adult she still dreamed the dreams, but knew they had nothing to do with her budding future as an English major. Her room kept the orb safe and it lived near the window where the sun could glint off it daily. She promised herself when she graduated and had a home of her own, it would come with her.
***
For many years it seemed as if the prophecy had been true. The son of the dark man and pale woman grew to be a beautiful child. An even-tempered baby, he grew into a curious child. Ignoring the idea that he was somehow “special”, he ran and played with the other children in the village. He enjoyed learning the ways of his ancestors, especially studying the ways of the Gods at the elder’s side. The boy excelled at swimming and fishing, and felt the ocean was his home. His parents adored him and eventually blessed him with more siblings.
One day when the boy was around ten, his father called him to his side. He told the boy that he wanted to give him something that had been passed down to him from his father and his father's father. From a leather sack where he kept his belongings from his old village, he pulled a small pouch. The child watched his father, captivated by wonder at what his father could be giving him. From the pouch, his father pulled out a silvery orb.
The orb seemed to glow from the inside, reminding the child of the way the sun would reflect off the waves. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
His father handed the object to him, telling him it was the only one of its kind. He said no one knew where it came from, but his people believes it was a gift from the Gods, carrying with it luck and blessings. Putting the orb back in its pouch, the father handed it to his son. He explained that his people were different and that their beliefs were not the same as his Mother's. The father said that he would never expect his son to choose between Gods, as all Gods should be revered. Then he told his son that this was his gift to him, and he must keep it safe.
Thanking his father profusely, the son took the orb to his room where he could stare into its silvery radiance. He watched the way light seemed to gleam from within it and wondered if there was a world inside, much like the ones that existed beneath their oceans.
***
The girl graduated from college and took a job at the local newspaper. She did well at her career and ended up buying a small house. Her job offered her time to write fictional stories about the world inside her orb. She even published some of them in a sci-fi anthology. The newspaper hired a photographer, a man who viewed the world from behind a camera lens. They began a relationship. Soon they were married and she found herself pregnant. She stood in the door of her bedroom, gazing at the orb as it glowed in the sun. Picking it up, she put it in the nursery where she'd give it to her newborn son.
n3m3sis42 has been busting her ass doing this LJ Idol thing for months now. She asked me to "champion" her. If you want to read her epic companion piece bounce over to her LJ. <3
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.