Semi-Random Reflections

Read time: 1 min.

The opening from my work-in-progress novel The Song and the Tempest

After the storm clouds have passed, Nasrin and Julrane will walk under the waves in a sunken island community. Coral will have overrun most of the island’s cities. Only some scraps of walls, a few statues, and minuscule traces of road will remain unfosilized.

Julrane will tangle her hand in some wild seaweed. It will slide through her fingers like slimy silk, and just feeling anything again after so long will give her a sense of her imagined heart beating faster. “I know exactly how this place feels,” she’ll say, smiling. “Returning to nature in the truest sense. Peaceful. Right.” She’ll look at Nasrin. “I suppose you felt it, too, in a way.”

Nasrin will stop to pet a stone lion’s nose, analyzing the contrast between her young-looking fingers and the years recorded by the layers of grime on the stone. “It reminds me of home. The home that’s gone when I could have stopped the decay.” She won’t look at Julrane. “You may not find immortality so wonderful now that you’ve got it.”

Julrane will step to Nasrin’s side. “Don’t worry.”  She’ll pet the same lion statue behind the ears. “We’ve passed the time to dwell on the past. Concentrate on what we can do now.”

Nasrin’s mouth will twitch. She’ll flick her fingers towards the lion. All the mud and fungus will fall off the statue, releasing the familiar grey stone underneath. Centuries of mossy darkness won’t have weakened the strength in the lion’s eyes.