From Ariel
Posted by Jon Michael Hill on 5/26/2009
Arima,
My soul, I write to you on the 4,380th flower petal that I will send over the waters. My longing for you is such that my kiss, bound to the soft skin of the flower, will carry the petal through wind and rain to rest in your hair.
Prospero is drunk with revenge. He enlists me to manage an epic charade in which people believe their loved ones to be dead, killed in a violent tempest. By some miracle I preserved all that suffered, but my soul! I ache with guilt knowing the pain I have caused. He uttered the witches name twice today when I reminded him of his freedom promise. Only the thought of you, my soul, restrained my lion rage from striking out against the wizard. His power has become too great to imagine, and despite years of promises, I am beginning to believe him. When this folly has ended that now we entertain, I will be in your arms with the light of the sun in my eyes.
The wizard’s daughter met her first peer today. The youth mistook her for a goddess, and she mistook him for a spirit. As I watch them, my mind drifts to the memory of when we met.
Ages ago, the land was in one piece. And the ocean seemed endless. I left my pack on land, sleeping in the wet morning. The cliffs were burning white in the light of the sunrise. I dove into the water with no intention of returning, or idea where I was going. Them in the murky deep, I saw you. Your dim glow lit the dark blue. A perfect being, with hair like fire. These beasts of the sea, not knowing what you were, bore their teeth and circled you. Without thinking or trying I moved in to you, drawn, it seems, by something inside of me. I lived a thousand lifetimes in that first moment peering into your eyes, deep, and mysterious as the sea. Then like a star that blazes across the darkness of space, you lifted up out of the water and into the clouds. With no other choice, I followed.
I had never moved so fast, and I could barely keep you in my sight. You stopped and turned to me. Smiling like a child, you spread your arms and fell away. With no other choice, I followed.
You landed in a field of yellow and red flowers that were as large as sunflowers. I laid down with the crown of my head touching yours. I could smell your breath, sweet as the flower’s perfume. And again, you fell through the earth and away from me. With no other choice, I followed.
I fell through dirt and rock to the center of the Earth. I waded in boiling magma, with no sign of you. And yet, I stayed. With no fear of losing you, I waded, prepared to wait forever. Then, without warning, your hand crept into mine, and I knew my life had begun.
These memories fuel my work. And by my life I will earn my freedom and taste your love again. Soon, my soul, I will be home.
To Arima of the hills, whose light guides and protects.
Ariel