Come With Me II

“Come with me and I will tell you of my life, my world. But where shall I start? Would you like to hear of my birth? My rebiirth? The loves in my life? My training? My work? My joys and sorrows? Culture and customs? There is so much you need to know, things that will fill in the gaps in your current life, and I cannot think where best to begin. Let me start by describing the land where I lived itself. You will find much that is comfortable and soothing about it and I would have you untroubled by discomfort as my story unfolds.

The land is called Mare and the name is pronounced Mah-rey. It is a sensual land full of beauty in sight, sound, taste, smell and touch. It is a small land, but contains all the diversity of the world at large in a tiny space, not much bigger than the size of one of your medium sized states. I lived in a large communal dwelling in the middle of a succulent tropical forest, but I was born by the sea. When I needed to retire for a period of solitude, I would go to the desert. All of these places are less than a day’s ride from each other.

Perhaps because I was born there, the seaside is my first love. In those early days of my life as a priestess, before I went to live in the forest, I would rise early and go down to the beach to watch the sun rise. After offering my respects to the Goddess, I would sit down on the fine white sand and dig my toes into it, making what looked like little mounds of powdered sugar as I waited on the first colors of the morning to make their appearance. As the first hints of pink began to tentatively streak the sky, I would lie back, close my eyes, and deeply inhale the smell of the salt, the sea grass, and the water. As the pink tendrils gave way to bolder streaks of orange-red I would close my eyes to hear the sounds of the morning. The surf would gently lap up on the shore as the shore birds and sea birds alike began to greet the Goddess and the day with their calls and songs. There was always a gentle pop, pop, popping between each wave as the foam washed up on shore kissed the sand and then melted away. By this time, breakers of gold would have broken across the sky and I would open my eyes to take in the full glory of the morning sky as the morning color storm, having banished the dark of night, gave way to the pastels that would rule the day. The sun would begin to gently warm my skin like a lover’s touch as I sat up to see the clear blue skies and the clearer green waters. Before going to begin my lessons for the day I would always try to steal a little extra time for wading along the deserted shore. The smaller sea creatures would come to greet me and nibble softly at my toes whenever I would stand still. I would have stayed there at the cusp of the water world and the land world all day, but always my tutor would come to find me, and that day’s lessons in preparation for my service would begin.”

Shay looked up from her reading. She had been so absorbed that she had not noticed time slipping by her. The cat had moved to the opposite end of the bed and was engrossed in a cleaning ritual. She stopped for a moment when Shay moved, just long enough to send a reproachful look in Shay’s direction, followed by a more meaningful glare in the direction of the kitchen. It was long past dinner time. When Shay did not immediately jump up, the cat rose slowly, very deliberately placed her back to Shay, and resumed her cleaning routine. Shay grinned ruefully at the cat and gave some consideration to fixing them both some dinner. But the pages in front of her were beckoning. The words so far had fit like an old shoe and Shay was loath to give them up. She mentally apologized to the cat, and turned back to her reading.