Tropic of Ecstasy

In her lifetime, she had come across infinite choice words to lift her spirits. These words she treasured and wrote down so she could forever look over them again. But what happened when these precious lines disappeared? They became lost and as a result, so did she. The helm of her mighty ship became detached. Dark clouds accompanied by roaring waves with the intent to drown her, enveloped the ship while she wasted time trying to reattach the helm to its rudder. Eventually she gave up, threw the wheel overboard and took matters into her own hands. Stinging eyes almost blinded her as she depended only on her strength to get out of the storm. A compass that her late shipmate gave to her only lead her in the wrong direction, thus it followed the wheel, but she would not.

Losses fell upon her during that time and sacrifices had to be made, but she did it and now her limp, bruised and blistered body soaked up the sun. White light was all she saw until the salt ceased to sting. When her eyes opened, the blood rushed up to her cheeks. Highlights ran like golden streams once again upon her chestnut hair and with enough strength she lifted herself up. That's when she saw it. Marks appeared on her cheeks as the earth's yellow friend kissed her good morning. However, she didn't become totally alive yet. The only reason for this wasn't her malnourished body and broken soul, but the dimness still lingering in her eyes. Only one amber flake awoke in each coffee colored iris as she headed towards her new home.

Her wooden horse dropped her off on the white sand as soft as powder and fell into a permanent sleep. Survival clawed its way to her instincts and she moved on to make her home on this island of paradise. That's when her feet halted at the edge: where the lips of the jungle and the sand kissed softly. There was a different atmosphere, as if an affair was going on, as if she was in the middle of a love triangle between three different elements. She was standing where the sand was cheating on the ocean. The still, almost lifeless sand was seeking a new relationship with a different life while its blue lover bashed upon it. Powerful crashes of salt water pummeled on the shore when Poseidon was mad, and then gentle curls beat rhythmically trying to strip away the ugliness of the incident and absorb it into its riptide. But how could one blame the sin of the sand when its mistress stood beyond captivating. All the stories this forest of green must have swallowed up over the centuries and the new adventures it has yet to uncover fascinated her. She succumbed to its pull and the sea was left alone to grieve.

The worn white cotton draped over her figure and tickled the undergrowth as she moved. The hidden creatures awoke from their sticky slumber to greet this golden skinned alien. Two more amber flakes appeared in her eyes as the tropical palace welcomed her so easily, but it was not fooled. It takes one with secrets to recognize another with secrets of her own. So this is how the two bonded, confiding in each other and telling each other everything is fine. The girl from the sea fell in love with the green. Who could blame her? Who could blame the sand?

Land of sweetness, land of beauty, land of danger became their oath. Every minute that she nourished her lush boscage, more amber flakes appeared like brand new baby bird hatchlings in the spring. He brought them out in her. They lived within each other happily. Their relationship was harmonious music singing in the feathery air every dawn, heart jumping adventures together before every noon, fruit as sweet as candy for every meal, the butterflies playing in his stomach every time she smiled at him, and the glorious fireworks erupting into obsidian every night.

All the time in the world they had together, yet time tore them apart. Soon the two legged beauty became weak, not finding the proper food, clean water, and relaxation gone. His time as an island began to set on the western horizon as Mother Nature wanted her child back. Her leafy lover could no longer provide and so he turned to ash covering her in the grey flaky remains of the once wonderland. It seemed that the golden girl died with him, died with their love. She was fooled, betrayed and left alone by her green guardian. Their romance seemed to end too soon, resembling the tragedy of Juliet and her Romeo. The promises they shared meant nothing. Everything became nothing and she lay there tucked into the somber blanket crying until she could cry no more. Her tears drained her dry and carried her broken heart out of her body and into the coast.

Sunlight had ceased to shine over this graveyard for months at a time. But when a star fell from the sky, it landed on the wasteland and immediately an aurous rose sprouted in the place where her body lay. A rose like no other, with thorns more giant than masts of a ship, petals as wide as clouds that depart the sky with the sun at dusk, and in its stigma was born again a girl. Rising from her flower crib this lady of gold became alive and as she stepped across the mourning sand, all that embodied her was the place where she belonged. A place of infinite sapphire that could gift the girl everything she would need to grow. So one step at a time she left the island and let her soulmate's waves embrace her into the heaven she always dreamt about. Her true tropic of ecstasy.