Cities and Hearts
By Katelyn Olmstead
If the inhabitants of the second Aine follow the meandering river to the outer edges of the city, they come to a great temple. Its vast walls and ceilings are built of granite, floors carpeted with a lush green blanket of peat, soft to the touch of a naked body. Crisp, clear waterfalls run into sparkling pools of pleasure, leaving the traveler breathless at the sight of them. It is a temple that every passerby will commit to memory.
If the inhabitants of the first Aine continue to follow the deteriorating pathways, they are led to a desert. It is a desert where music is unknown, where rain does not fall, where a scream travels for eternity, where lovers feel pain. The young traveler wonders why the beautiful city of Aine contains such an ugly place.
The lovers of the desert thrash and moan in pain, their naked bodies burned by the hot, dry, coarse, bed of sand that they are forced to lie upon. As each grain touches their body, a small token of pain and hurt is branded onto their calloused skin. The lovers of the great temple arch and moan in pleasure as the clear blue waterfalls trickle down around them, sprinkling them with the tears of heaven. Each crisp, clear, drop upon their body leaves a small memento of pleasure.
When the temple lovers shed tears upon a bed of wine-colored poinsettias, a soft whisper is emitted and a new blossom is born. As the desert lovers shed tears upon the hot, dry, coarse sand a loud hiss is released; leaving the desert more unbearable than before.
As the traveler crosses back over the iron bridge, leaving Aine behind, he is left with many uncertainties. As the lovers of the great temple live in bliss, knowing no hurt, the lovers of the desert suffer great pain, and long for water, for life. The stories the young traveler has been told of Aine depict the city as a place without pain, a place without misery. Why is this not so? The young traveler does not know if he will return to Aine, for what he felt, witnessed, and heard, left an eternal mark upon his soul.
This was written for my WR100 class and I was extrememly proud of it so I wanted to share it with everyone. Take a guess at what the two cities of Aine represent. Aine is actually the Celtic goddess of Love...Go from there....Thank you!!
