Eyes of Purple

Chapter Twenty- Two

Jeremy?

'Yeah?'

... Have you ever heard of the story of Orpheus?

'What does this have to do with anything?'

It just popped up in my head.

'Well, then why don't you tell me?'

Very well. Orpheus was a man with a gift. He could make music almost out of thin air- no one could contest him. Rocks split to his bidding. The earth whispered along with the sorrowful notes of his lute.

'Alright.'

Not a maiden alive could resist the power of his song. All of them stumbled over each other to gain his notice, but only one could catch his eyes- the lovely Eurydice. No one had her guile, her grace. He fell head over heels.

'Then what happened?'

... She died... And he went mad.

'Oh.'

Oh, indeed. Demented, wrought with grief, he tried to find a way to bring her back. He nearly did- venturing to the Underworld. He sang all the way down, sweetly. His voice put all of the tormented souls in a brief rest, and they wept along with him. Begging Hades and Persephone for mercy, the immortal lovers agreed.

But there was a caveat.

'Of course.'

Orpheus could not look back at her as she followed him. If he did, she would disappear back into the ether. But he could not resist... The moment that he had reached the end of the cavern, he turned to her, to tell her all the things he'd ever wished he'd said. But she was not yet into the daylight...

Eurydice gave him the most grief-stricken of looks as she was forced to leave him once again, bidding him a loving "farewell for now". And then she was gone. For the rest of Orpheus' days, he was buried in his self-anger, blaming himself for his wife's death. He missed her...

And until his death, he devoted his life to making the earth know his pain.