September 24, 2007

A Charmed Life By Renee Manley

On a Sunday, Garrick was turned into a rabbit, which, after a few hours of searching, found his abandoned lover’s garden and happily invaded the little patch of land. Harlan caught the animal and was intent on destroying it for a pest. But he recognized Garrick’s eyes (as a lover was wont to do), and the two were reunited.

On a Monday, Harlan was transformed into another rabbit, but it proved not to be the wisest of moves, given what these creatures do best. So off they hopped together, lost in bliss at the prospects that now lay before them, and a certain vindictive god shook with mortification and thunderous rage.

On a Tuesday, Garrick was turned into an elm and Harlan into a dog. But the animal’s sense of smell was remarkably keen, and he found his lost lover in a scattered collection of trees. At the roots he laid himself, loyal as a dog can be loyal, while the elm shielded him from the elements.

On a Wednesday, Harlan was turned into a puddle of mud and Garrick into a lace trimming, which a young lady sewed onto her handkerchief. This she gave to her suitor, and this he used, rather sheepishly, with which to wipe the mud off her skirts. She could only laugh and promise to stop wandering off so soon after a deluge, but neither the soiled lace nor the dried mud minded one bit now that they were, yet again, happily reunited.

On a Thursday, Garrick was turned into a long-spined sea urchin and Harlan into a swallow. The god of justice, bent on righting what he believed to be wrong, was content and withdrew into his home with a long yawn and a languorous stretching of his limbs. Amid satin and silk and immortal splendor, he sank into satisfying and dream-filled sleep. It took him long enough to teach these outrageous mortals a lesson.

On a Friday he awoke and ventured out to find that the tides had receded, and many creatures that were once underwater were now exposed to the sun. The sea urchin was among them, dead like the others, and against one of its long spines a swallow was pierced through the heart, its lifeless body stiff in the salty breeze. Virtue, at last, had prevailed, and the god rejoiced.

On a Saturday the god of justice ventured off to find yet another cause to uphold, unaware of the black looks leveled at his retreating figure by his outraged sister. “How blind,” she muttered. “Foolish, ignorant, and blind.” The goddess stood on the cliff’s edge, waiting, till the morning mists swallowed her brother completely.

She flew down to the shore and touched the sea with her finger, smiling, for she was, after all, a terrible romantic whom lovers worshipped. She was notorious for causing all sorts of mischief as well (though she never saw herself in that capacity). The waters rose, the dead vanished under the waves, and life was restored. A certain pair of lovers found themselves once again human and back in a small cottage, a bit dizzy and bewildered, but certainly none the worse for wear and assured protection from a very partial goddess against her equally biased brother.

*****
 Contributor’s bio:

Renee Manley writes gay historical, literary, and gothic fiction. She’s now turning her attention to historical gay YA fiction, in which she hopes to specialize someday. For more information on her published stories, visit her blog/website: http://evremonde.wordpress.com/