Florence Conway:
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I woke that morning to the sound of my maid, Anna. The
year, 1845. I wanted to start my day of wonder, after all this was the most
amazing era to be alive. I walked to my closet. I insisted on dressing myself
except for my corset. For that I needed Anna. I called for Anna, she quickly
arrived and her blonde hair and round face were very kind. She helped get my
waist to eighteen inches. I quickly got into my lemon yellow get up and walked
out the door. I stopped at a vendor who was selling the most wonderful smelling
bread. I pulled out my purse and bought a loaf. I ate part of it and put the
rest in my bag. I walked a bit more and arrived at a friend’s house, Elizabeth
Barrett. I knocked on the door, Wilson, the maid, opened it. She let me into
the house and left. I proceeded to walk up the stairs to Ba’s room. I knocked
and entered. She was sitting on her couch reading.
She
looked up from her book and said, “Come in Florence.” I closed the door behind
me. I walked to the chair in front of her couch. I immediately
sat down. By this point I should
tell you about myself. I am twenty, red haired, named Florence Conway, and I
live in London, England. I didn’t wait for Ba to stand before I sat because she
is an invalid. Her brother Edward died about four and three fourths of a year
ago.
“So,
Ba, What are you reading?”
“Some
poetry by Robert Browning, did you know that he has been visiting me?”
“Really!
He’s the most handsome poet in all of England.”
“Yes,
what smells so wonderful?”
“Some
bread I bought, would you like some?” Ba nodded and I opened my bag. I pulled
out the bread and broke off a chunk. I gave the piece to Ba and she began to
nibble on it. Ba looked out the window and finished her bread.
“I’m
sorry to be so rude but could you go Robert’s coming.” I nodded picked up my
bag and leaned forward to hug her.
“Is
your father here tomorrow?”
“No.”
“I’ll
see you tomorrow then. Bye.”
I
walked down half the stairs when
Mr. Browning passed me I nodded to him and vise versa. He proceeded upward and
I went back onto Wimpole Street.
Mithest
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The
smell of blood orange blossoms filled the air along with the tinkling of
crystal ivy leaves hitting each other. Mithest, the goddess of youth and spring
was in the central garden of the palace. It was a large circular room made of
white and grey fleck with silver marble, with intricate carvings on the trim of
the top and bottom. The floor was a black marble with crushed pearls in it.
Towards the center, six marble columns made a sort of hexagon. Growing on these
columns was crystal ivy cascading down them in intricate webs of purest green.
On the edges of this room grew fruit trees of the most exotic types. At this
moment all were in bloom but the most fragrant of all were the blood orange
blossoms smelling of the purest orange conceived. Mithest walked to the center
of the room where a fountain depicting the Greek god Apollo riding his chariot,
the water coming out of the horses mouths.
Mithest
looked into the waters, she studied her reflection, her long golden hair
cascading over her shoulders and almost touching the water. She had the fairest
complexion of any of the gods or goddesses at the palace, this included the
youngest, Thyme, who was only two years younger than Mithest, who was already
one-and-twenty years and looked like she had never seen sunlight. She was the
goddess of spring for Persephone’s sake! Persephone is a sister goddess who rules
over Greece and is also a bringer of spring and youth. Mithest looked back into
the water. She also saw large emerald green eyes staring back. She splashed her
reflection and made it dissipate into indistinguishable ripples.
She
heard a noise and looked up to see one of the crystal ivy leaves falling then
smashing into the ground. She looked up again and saw one of the keepers of the
garden fly down in a hurry to clean up the mess. But, it was too late, the
mother goddess, Basileke, had shown up. Basileke had the utmost respect for
life, she was the mother of the harvest, the great mother goddess, and while
she would never end life she wasn’t afraid to threaten it. She proceeded to
tell off the keepers that this was the fifth leaf this week and she would throw
them into the darkest depths of the underworld for a few days if they weren’t
more careful. She turned to Mithest, Mithest bowed to the mother goddess; this
woman was the female ruler of all Carnel. Basileke left, leaving Mithest to
wander. Wander Mithest did. Her orange gauze dress flowed behind her as she
walked. The dress had two thick shoulder straps and was a somewhat low cut on
her large breasts. The hem of the dress went down to her heels.
She
went to see her brother Zekehale, the god of weather. As the name implied he
didn’t have the strongest physique. She knocked on the door and entered, there
he was sitting at a table engrossed in a history book; while omnipotent he
loved rereading history. He looked up; his slightly greasy hair was limp. His
circular reading glasses were perched on his hooked nose. He didn’t actually
need the glasses, but he liked to wear them while reading. The weather changed
according to his mood. Today he was in a pleasant mood and it was sunny, she
hoped. There was no doors or windows in this palace. Only the highest of the
gods and goddesses were allowed to leave. Her brother stared at her patiently
realizing that she was in deep thought. She was his only other intellectual
equal. They were the most intelligent of any other of the immortals, as they
called themselves. Mithest looked at Zekehale, she thought of how particularly handsome
he was when he was cleaned up.
“So
what do you think about tonight’s meeting of the gods and goddesses?” said
Mithest.
Zekehale took off the glasses and set them on the desk
in front of him. He rubbed his eyes and looked up, “Tonight will be another
tedious affair of petty jealousy, envy, and corrupt power. As always happens at
these meetings, nothing accomplished and nothing gained.” He began to nervously
run his hands through his hair; it was one of his habits.
Mithest
took this as a sign that he was worried, “the real problem is they never listen
to the younger among us, including us.” She lowered her voice, “especially
Basileke who seems to see us all as puppets. Except her husband, Rianold.”
Zekehale looked at her in disparity. Mithest rose to
leave, she walked over to Zekehale kissed his hair, told him goodbye, and left
him to his reading. She wandered the halls saying hello to the odd passerby as
she headed to her room. There she found some nymphs there to fit her into a new
dress commissioned by Basileke. Mithest hated all of it. When the ordeal was
over they left her to her thoughts. In five hours the meeting would begin and a
clash of personalities would meet.
Maybe this time they could get the meeting to work. She heard a knock on
the door, she heaved her chest and rose to answer it. It was Zekehale, or Zeke
as she called him. “Come in Zeke.” Said Mithest. He crossed the threshold into
her brightly decorated room.
Above their heads animated ceramic birds of vibrant
and vivid colors flew overhead they always made Zeke feel uneasy. The floor was
a dark oak with cream-colored walls. The furniture was an apple green with
copper undertones. The walls were inlaid with opals, rubies, and diamonds,
however they were set into the walls to make images of trees, birds, and
insects. On one of the walls though, she had two crossed swords with jeweled
handles. Zeke sat down on a small sofa and waited for Mithest to sit. She sat
next to him on the small sofa. There was a look of worry in his eyes. Then she
became worried. She could never really read his thoughts. It was just difficult
for her. Usually she could figure out what others were thinking, even Basileke!
She smoothed her dress, one of her nervous
habits. She could tell he was nervous because he was combing his hair with his
fingers. He opened his mouth to talk then closed it again. She tentatively
waited for what he was going to say. He opened his mouth hesitantly again but
just as soon closed it.
“What!?” yelled Mithest.
Zeke took a deep breath and sighed. He shook his head
and stood to leave. Before he could take one step Mithest had grabbed his
sleeve and yanked him back onto the sofa. He looked back at her with the verge
of depression on the back of his eyes. Somewhere below there was a thunderstorm
ready to hit.
“Mithest, I have some hard news to tell you, soon
after you left the Mother Goddess came to my room. She had some news to tell
me.” He took another deep breath, “I’m now betrothed to Thyme, the goddess of
children and women.”
Mithest immediately began crying. Thyme was a spoiled
goddess favored by Basileke and very not deserving of Zeke. Everyone but
Basileke hated Thyme; she was also the most air headed of them all. Mithest
took Zeke’s hands into hers. “If I could I would marry you, even though you’re
my brother.”
Zeke looked up; a childish gleam in his eyes. He had
an idea. “Mithest you could marry me, we’ve never been told we couldn’t!”
Mithest was flustered; this man was her brother, her
friend. She could never think of him as her lover! “Out Zeke, I need to think.”
Zeke left with a slight smirk on his face. She looked at a clock no time to
think she had to get ready for the meeting. She slipped out of her dress and
informal corset. She had to put on her formal corset with made her already
small waist even smaller and her breasts looked bigger. She then put on her
dark grey formal gown and headed down the hall to the court of the gods and
goddesses. She found her seat next to her brother. He was smiling! She found it
unnerving. At that moment she knew her answer to his question. Once she sat
down she said no to him. This made him exceptionally mad. He stormed out.
However, since she had some favor with the Great Mother Goddess, she could
probably use a favor to have him betrothed to a nicer, smarter girl like Kileet.
Once the meeting started the fights began, she used
this as a moment to see Basileke. Once there she explained her predicament to
Basileke and the Mother Goddess took it all into consideration. She told
Mithest that the answer would be announced at eh end of the meeting. So, after
and hour and a half of arguing, envy, and screaming, Basileke silenced the
group. She then told Mithest to fetch Zeke. Which was easier said than done.
She marched down the hall to his room where he found a very mad Zeke. She knocked
and entered. Once in the doorway he threw a book at her head, which she dodged
with slight uncertainty. After that first book, a flood of items; mostly book
were lobbed at her. Once he had calmed down she got him to follow her. Once he
was mad he had the mentality of a ten year old. They entered the meeting room
and sat themselves on their side of the long, dark, ebony table. Zeke crossed
his arms and sat.
Basileke spoke, “everyone, I have a very important
announcement to make. As you all know Zeke and Thyme are betrothed but I have
made a slight adjustment on the asking of Mithest. Zeke is now going to marry
Kileet.”
Thyme proceeded to cry out of sadness, Zeke threw his
arms around Mithest and hugged her, cheers went around the table, and Kileet
cried out of happiness for she had always loved Zeke. Kileet was a shy and meek woman. Her
copper hair was the envy of many a goddess. Her only problem was that she was frail,
weak, and his first cousin. She was not a strong willed person either. Mithest
left to go to her room. She was elated. All had worked out. Now her only
problem was leaving this palace. While she had favor with the Mother Goddess
she hated her guts. The tedium of the palace was killing her. Life was so dull
so monotonous. Goddesses here sew, knit and are at the men’s call. Mithest
hated it. Feeling restless she switched into a pair of cotton pants and a
cotton shirt, which was a rare sight at the palace, women didn’t usually wear
pants.
She walked down the hall to the rec. room. For men,
she didn’t like the one for women it was full of frilly stuff for girls. She
opened the large doors to the room there she saw weights, swords, and mats for
wrestling. She walked to the wall full of weapons and picked up a long sword.
She started drilling herself. Her brother had taught her how to fight with a
sword. She knew most of what was needed to fight. The sword was heavy in her
hands. After half an hour of this she left, if she was caught in there she
could get in serious trouble. Just as she opened the door she met the Mother
Goddess who looked furious. Mithest knew she was in really big trouble.
“Why were you in there, it’s for men only! I’ve been
looking for you for a whole half hour!”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“Mithest, If men can’t go into the ladies rec. room
then women can’t go into the men’s’. There must be standards to maintain.
Punishments must go with the standards if they are broken. Mithest, as
punishment you are to be turned mortal for a few days. It will not be permanent
but it will teach you a lesson. Say good bye to your brother but tell him
nothing in ten minutes meet me in my office.” As Basileke walked away she
smirked to herself, she’ll not last a day.
Mithest was trembling as she walked to Zeke’s room. She
entered his room; he was quite happy, he rose to meet her. She sat down and
sighed.
“Zeke, I’ll be gone for a few days please don’t worry.
I’ll be fine.”
Now Zeke looked worried, exactly what she wanted to
avoid. Before he could speck she left. She didn’t even change into a dress she
showed up at Basileke’s office. She knocked and heard an “enter” from within.
“Take my hand Mithest.” Mithest did as she was told
she closed her eyes. All of the sudden she felt a slight chill and a strange smell
she had never smelled before. She opened her eyes. Basileke had left her naked
in the middle of a forest. Luckily it’s
summer, thought sarcastically. She hoped no one was around this area. This
was going to be strange, being a mortal. She got up and began to walk around to
fin a place to sleep. She found a nice cave that she settled in after she got
wood for a fire. Zeke had nicely taught her how to make fire. Once she was warm
she wondered how long she was going to be like this. She then heard a growl behind
her. It was an unusually large brown bear.
-Pop! Poppy
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