Love's Eternity

Love by the River

Euphrates and Tigris basin, Mesopotamia 2,700 BC

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It was midday. The radiant sun blazed down on the dessert civilization. Mud and adobe houses lined the limestone streets, and people scurried out of their homes to go to work on the wall surrounding their city, or cultivate the fields that were just north of the Euphrates river. The city lay between the two rivers: Euphrates and Tigris. In the very center of the civilization, there was a marvelous, limestone temple, the tallest structure in the city. This was where King Gilgamesh lived, the ruler of the land of Mesopotamia.
Lulinda sat upon a stone seat in the furnace room in her house. She watched the farmers and workers, the lower class, walk the streets to the fields and the wall that needed to be finished building. Luckily for her, Lulinda's family was of the upper class because her father was a preacher. Lulinda did not need to work in the fields. She spent her days in the furnace room of her home, cooking the meals for her parents and tending to the clothes that needed to be washed in the Euphrates river.
She heard the footsteps of her father's wooden clogs echo in the hall, and he steps into the furnace room, smiling brightly at Lulinda.
"Lulinda, it is time."
Her stomach tied itself in knots. She knew exactly where her father was bringing her to.
He continued. "Rayan is in the temple, waiting for you. It is time for you and him to live out your lives with each other." He looked at his daughter, his only daughter, with immense pride.
Lulinda gulped. Her parents had arranged for Lulinda to get married in the temple to Rayan. Rayan was a nice, young man who was the son of the king, who lived in the temple. He went to school, he invented and tinkered, and the girls in the city quietly admired him from afar. All the girls would do anything to be loved by Prince Rayan!
Of course, any girl would die to be Lulinda! But something tugged at the back of her mind, something that told her that Rayan was not what she needed. There was a man out there better for her, that would be the missing puzzle piece to Lulinda's young heart. She did not know what this feeling meant, but she knew this feeling was right.
She sighs, glancing out the window at the beloved temple. "Father." She turns to him: "I do not think Rayan is fit for me. Maybe there is another man who I will spend the rest of my days with."
"Lulinda, this is the best man for you! He is the son of Kind Gilgamesh! How could you say such a thing?" His face turned somber, a look of disappointment.
The last thing Lulinda wanted was to upset her father. She had grown up on respectful values towards her parents, and she knew to not start a disagreement with him. "Maybe I am wrong, father. Rayan is a wonderful young man, and I am very grateful that you have arranged my marriage with him." She quickly lied.
Her father beamed with pride at his daughter. "Ah, Lulinda, I am very proud of you for growing into adulthood. You have been raised very well, and you are about to be off on your own."
She forces a smile, and her father returns it. "Thank you, Father."
"Tonight at dusk you will meet Rayan at the temple, and the two of you will marry at the mouth of the river. I will come to you when it is time to go to the temple." And with that, her father leaves the home again.
Luce wanted to cry. She had no desire to marry Rayan, but she did not know why. Rayan was perfect to all the girls in the city, why wasn't he perfect to her?
She wanted to get away from her home, away from all of this. She gets out of her stone seat, and runs out of the adobe house, tears welling in her eyes as she runs away from her street, the street where she grew up on.
She ran and ran and ran, until she reached the edge of the city, to the deep, sky blue river. She crouches down by the water, and all of her tears came pouring out, streaming down her flushed cheeks.
She needed someone to be there for her. Yes, her parents always loved Lulinda, but she felt that wasn't enough. She was missing something. All she wanted was to get away from the city, to feel safe in someone's arm-
She felt a presence behind her. Her skin warmed almost instantly. She turns around from the river, trying to wipe away the tear stains on her face.
It was a boy, the most beautiful, handsome boy she had ever laid eyes on. His white tunic fit him perfectly, defining every bulge of muscle on his body. His blonde hair fell over his eyes. And his eyes- were they violet? They seemed to shine, bringing Lulinda in closer to the man.
The man put his hand over his mouth. For some odd reason, he seemed to recognize her. "Lucinda?" He gasps.
She turns her head, confused. "My name is Lulinda." Lucinda seemed like a familiar name to her. "What do you go by?"
His face showed a tiny piece of disappointment, as if he expected her to recognize the name Lucinda. Why had he called her that?
"My name is Dahni." He says.
"Are you from this city?" Lulinda knew every person in the city, but she did not recognize this man. Well- she did recognize him, but not from here. Maybe another land.
"I am a merchant from a distant land." He says calmly, his violet eyes burning into her, as if he were searching her soul. A strange feeling came over her, a feeling to get closer to Dahni, to feel his embrace. Why did she feel this way? She has never even seen this man before.
          His eyes searched hers. "Why do you seem so sad Lulinda?" he says, inching forward.
          In fact, she could ask the same thing of him. His eyes shone an emotion of deep, sadness. But she decided to tell him of her arranged marriage with Rayan, and how it did not feel right. Lulinda did not know why she told this story to Dahni; she had only just met him! But Lulinda felt that it was right to tell him this.
          Dahni listened to her whole story. He had a look of misery, of heartbreak etched in his expression. "Lulinda, I know of a man that is right for you."
          Lulinda paused, thinking. What did he mean by this? Then a spark of recognition came across her mind; a vision of a man, a beautiful man with- with something like bird wings behind his back. Was this the man Dahni spoke of? What was happening to her?
          Dahni steps closer. She feels her skin flush suddenly. His hand lifts her chin up to look at him. Why did this feel so familiar?
          It hit her. Dahni was the man in her memory.
          And the next thing she knew, the two were kissing, held in a tight embrace, not wanting to let the other go. His fingers sent shivers down her spine, and she could feel her skin getting hotter by the second. She pulls him closer, feeling his warm, wet kisses trail down her neck.
          "Oh, Lucinda," he sighs against her skin. His kisses felt like- they felt like heaven to her.
          And then Lulinda remembered. She'd been in Heaven before. She'd had wings like the man she saw in her memory. She had been in love with-
          With Dahni. With Daniel. With an angel.
          She was once an angel.
          Lulinda's skin was on fire, she could barely stand the pain. But all of the pain was worth it. She loved Daniel, she had chose him as he had chose her.
          She threw her head back and screamed, the pain becoming unbearable. Black shadows slowly swirled around them, whispering words that Lulinda could barely make out.
          Daniel knew what was to become of her. The last thing Lulinda heard was his voice, barely audible:
          "My Lucinda, I will always find you. We will always find each other. I will always love you."
          And with that, Lulinda had combusted into a pile of ash.

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AN:
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