...The Cosmic Goddess...(after the Dawn/Roar of Dawn continued)
...Infected...
...The Sun beat upon my face hotter than it should have. I put one arm over my eyes and the other hand down on the stone beside me. A deep sting caused me to sit straight up and my eyes flashed open. I watched as a Scorpion clicked away on a path that led back around the lighthouse. This was not what I was hoping for as an answer. Blood trickled down my wrist and rested in the crook of my elbow. What then, was my answer supposed to be? My question had been simple. Why was I here? A question we all ask. A question we all feel the same about.
...The small creature had infected me with its poison and I felt dizzy in the heat. The sun glinted too brightly off the ocean crests and I began to believe I was hallucinating a huge ship on the horizon. The sound of the waves lapping against the stone beat so loudly in my ears that I covered them with my hands. Blood trickled along my cheek and dripped from my jawbone.
...A bird circled above me, I was so disoriented that I didn’t recognize the Eagle had returned. A large shadow spilled over the small island and not far off I saw a woman who appeared to be floating above the sea. I was freezing now as she blocked out the sun. I sat in the shadow of the ship but was not aware of it yet. All I could see was the figurehead who hovered above me like a wing-less angel, her mouth carved in a steadfast line. Her ivory cheeks are round and full as her vacant irises are set on the horizon.
...I hear a whisper above the lapping waves. I feel the effects of the poison and I believe that the figurehead must be speaking to me from her carved mouth. Its the last thing I remember before I collapse into the sea.
...The Cosmic Goddess...
...Darkness...coldness...I cannot breathe yet I am content. The pressure of the ocean around me comforts me as I am dying...again.
...Drifting...sinking...the light is mercifully gone. I am relieved. I am being taken away, down to the unknown, submersed in the glorious womb of sea. There is red all around me...the red tide...it will all be over soon...
"Wait."
The whispering again. Who is here with me? Who could be speaking to me here, in my watery tomb?
"Come back." A clean, clear request.
"No. I am at peace. No pain, no suffering here. Leave me." I wanted nothing to do with being coerced from my final resting place.
"It's not over for you yet. You don't want to start over again, do you? Finish this here, for Us. For All of Us."
I saw swans above the water, crystal clear now. The ocean was illuminated and I saw all of its creatures near and far. Horrified, I was revived underneath a strong current. The poison was squeezed out of me as my lungs pressed against my ribs, then emptied.
"Come UP! There is still a chance. I am here. Listen..."
My head now bobbed above the surface. I could still see the life all around me. The vast ocean was calmer now as I heard wind and leaves cartwheeling along the pavement of the sea wall. A child's feet running then, and his voice speaking. I saw him point to something across the sea. Blinking I turned to see the ship, waiting. The ivory woman stared into the distance from her place on the bow. I turned back to look at the child. His face sent chills through me. My son. Alone. Where was I? How was I so far away from him? How did I get here? Was I really dead? Just a ghost in the ocean. He was pointing at the ship, wasn't he?
"You will be with him again soon." Her voice again, above me. "Come with me to the Ship. She is ready to sail."
I couldn't look back at him again. I knew I could only be saved by Her hand now. The ocean pulsed with incredible power, with life and death. I could not go back no matter how much I wanted to. I was translucent now, a shadow of my former self. I needed whatever She wanted to add to me because I was so light now, so voided. I tried to remember my life before the lighthouse.
The Scorpion had poisoned and blinded me. I saw my body wash up on the shore. The little boy was gone. Everyone was gone. It was just She and I now, and the Eagle soared above us ever watchful. His bronze feathers were gilded by the sun. I was in the palm of Her enormous hand. She lifted me from the ocean and placed me on the deck of the Cosmic Goddess. Slowly the ship began to sail toward Twilight...
Thanks for reading...stay tuned for the next installment...
