Gate: Scattered Rose Petals
I stepped through the vision gate and was running through a forest with Badger by my side. “Hello…” I started to say but he shushed me.
“The hunters are too close,” he said. “Do not speak, do not even think of speaking, or they’ll find us.”
Badger found a standing tree with a hollow trunk and pushed me inside, followed close behind me, and blocked the exit with his bulk. At eye level, I discovered a knot in the wood that allowed me to see outside the tree. Badger and I waited in silence, for what I did not know.
Then, I heard male voices calling, “Chick, chick, chick-a-deeeeee…” one said.
“Come out, sweet bird. We won’t hurt you,” said another in a sing-song voice. There was some rough laughter.
“You can’t hide from us,” said yet another. “We know your smell as well as our own.” I held my breath as six creatures with hunting rifles came into view. They had the heads of hounds and the bodies of men. The hunters raised their noses, smelling traces of me, and began to circle our hiding place.
I sent a thought to Badger: “We don’t hide from our enemies. We confront them.” He shook his head infinitesimally in the negative and thought back: “Lickspittle will lead them away.”
A twig cracked a short distance away and all of the hounds’ focus shifted to that. There was a shuffle of leaves moving along the ground, then one of the hunters gave a baying shout and the pack left in a flurry of noise. Badger exited the tree and helped me out.
“Well, well, well,” a voice said and one of the dog men came out from behind a thorny bush. “Two birds in one tree. This is my lucky day,” he said, licking his sharp teeth with a long pink tongue. Badger’s hackles raised.
“Who are you?” I asked as the hunter raised his gun to my face.
“Don’t you recognize me?” he said and the dog’s muzzle melted away to reveal an elderly artist whom I had a falling out with some time previous in a different world. The gun turned into a blossom in his hand. “I have been looking for you,” the artist said. He fell to his knees as he offered me the flower and I turned away in disgust.
“I have nothing to say to you,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “That I haven’t already said. We shared our art with each other and you said yours had more worth than mine. I am so hurt and angry with you that I can’t believe you would dare to show your face here.”
“Your visions,” he said, still holding out the blossom. “Tell me how you have them for I would have them too.”
“I told you my process multiple times,” I said, beginning to walk away. “You clear your mind and they come. Why do you care anyway when you dismissed their value mere days ago? Go and make your own art and leave me in peace.”
“No, Heidi, please,” the artist said and reached for my arm. “Don’t take your love from me. I have crossed through realms of both light and shadow to be here at this moment.”
“Don’t touch her,” warned Badger, pushing himself between me and the kneeling figure.
“The visions don’t reveal themselves to me,” the artist said, cringing back in the face of Badger’s fierce anger. “You left something out in your instruction. Either tell me how to do them or tell me what you’ve seen since we last spoke, I must know.”
“I gave you the entirety of my method and if you cannot make it work, then it is you blocking them, not me,” I said, frustration making my words into pointed darts. “Perhaps your strengths lie in other areas. Why are you here? You do not belong in this place or my heart.”
The artist froze, holding his flower, then he crumbled to dust. Where he had stood, there was now only a tiny chest, the size of my palm. I picked it up and flung open its lid, but the box was empty. As I stared into it, the sound of a heartbeat came from the chest and it filled my head until all I could perceive was the heartbeat, then, in a hypnotic trance, I shrank very small and fell into the box.
When I could see again, I was standing next to a young boy who gazed at the closed blossoms of a rose bush. Before his wondering eyes, one of the buds opened in seconds and he touched it with one finger, reverently.
A voice spoke directly into my mind: Once there was a boy who could see and appreciate beautiful things so he was given the talent to copy still life to perfection. He was not given the talent of visualizing beauty, only observing it, and that was a burden to him, holding him back from releasing the art that was unique to his soul. So, rather than looking inwards, he looked outwards and sought out beauty to call his own…
The vision of the boy and the flower vanished and I found myself standing on a flat, barren plain beneath surging storm clouds. Lightning crossed the sky and thunder quickly followed.
“Badger,” I called and my friend popped into existence at my side. “Why do I care about the struggles of this man? Why did he seek me out in all the worlds?”
Badger looked at me sadly. “Because, Heidi, you are one of life’s beautiful things,” he said. “And possess a talent that he admires.”
“So what,” I replied. “His appreciation doesn’t concern me. I am a woman, not a thing. Also, he admires his own talents far more than my own, something he made clear to me quite recently as I said.”
“But you can’t be copied,” said Badger. “The artist wants to possess you and your abilities- don’t you understand?”
“Well, he can’t own my connection to The Light Congress,” I said. “I am not a thing to be possessed like a piece of art or marble statue.”
“Have you ever heard of a dark art called ‘objectification’?” asked Badger and the ground beneath our feet began to quake. A forbidding fortress rose from the blasted ground into the storm clouds. “If you have not heard of such things, then here is your chance to confront them. Behold, Heidi, here lies the Tower of Misogyny,” my friend whispered.
“Oh Badger,” I said as the fortress loomed over my friend and I. “I can’t go in there. The misunderstanding between this artist and myself has broken my heart. I haven’t the strength to face the shadow it casts here or anywhere else.”
“You can do anything,” he said. “And because this place has appeared, I think there is someone within who needs your help. Think of her and be brave. You don’t have to do this alone, I will be there with you every step of the way.” With those words, Badger changed into his human form so he could hold my hand and together we crossed the drawbridge of the evil-looking fortress.
Around this forbidding place lay a moat filled with foul water within which floated rotting, female bodies. Things lived in the moat and fed upon these corpses and I turned away from the sight to see beautiful, disembodied heads lining the walls of the tower. The women’s lovely, long hair blew in the breeze from the storm, twisting and dancing around each other in death like pennants in the wind, bringing a twisted shadow of life to that dead place.
As Badger and I entered the tower gate, I saw female body parts were built into the stones of the tower, twitching now and then with some remembrance of life. From the halls ahead, I heard a woman screaming. A great fear entered my heart and my trembling steps stuttered to a halt.
“I’m sorry, Badger. Even with your company, I can’t do this,” I said. “I’m so terribly afraid of what lies within Misogyny’s tower. Perhaps I will have the strength to continue some other time.”
“Here, Heidi,” Badger said and drew a shining piece of silk from his pocket that was so sheer that it could be easily seen through. “Love will protect you even in this horrid place if you see with her eyes.”
He bound the silk about my head and the view of the tower within the cloth was very different than what I had observed thus far. The body parts turned to precious gems so the walls were now studded with priceless stones and the scream from up ahead changed into beautiful harp music.
I took a deep breath. “That is so much better, thank you,” I said, gripping his hand once more. “Forward, friend Badger, though I fear we’ve discovered hell itself.”
A filthy dwarf ran from a side hall and stopped in front of us, panting and slavering over a bit of food clutched in his fist. He took a huge bite and chewed the bird’s flesh with his mouth open, cackling and drooling all the while. Then, he ran from us towards the harp music.
Badger and I followed and came to a great hall filled with feasting dwarves. Dishes filled with beautifully roasted birds of all sizes lined the tables and the creatures ripped into the plates with glee. The floor of this place glittered with a mosaic of priceless stones and the walls sparkled as well.
At the front of the hall, a nightmare made of living stone and gems with a long black cloak presided over the scene with a gleaming harp sitting at his side from which issued lovely music. A woman was built into the wood of the harp and she strummed her strings over and over again, the demon on the throne grinning at her in appreciation all the while.
The harp saw Badger and I enter the hall and her music changed from running glissandos to a lilting lullaby. The notes flew from her strings in waves of energy that blanketed the hall in their power. In response, the dwarves began to yawn and fall asleep in their plates of food, then the nightmare creature started to blink very slowly and his eyes closed with a sound like an avalanche formed by the gems embedded in his skin.
“Brave woman whomever you may be,” sang the harp, when the occupants of the tower were all fast asleep. “I beg you, free me before I lose my voice. He has had me singing all the time and I’m weary.” Badger and I tiptoed carefully over the snoring minions and soon stood before the throne itself. “I am Psyche,” she whispered, her strings continuing to pluck themselves to create hypnotic music for the dwarves and their demonic king.
“My name is Heidi and this is Badger. Don’t worry, Psyche, my friend and I will bear you from this place,” I said and went to pick her up but could not lift the harp from the throne room’s floor. “Hang on a second, you’re bound in some way that I cannot see,” I observed and began to remove the protective silk from my eyes.
“If you must remove Love’s blinder, do not look at the feast, or the throne, or anywhere but the harp,” said Badger, staying my hand. “I fear the shadows in this place are more than even your brave heart can bear.”
“I hear and understand you, my friend,” I said. “I promise I will look only at Psyche.”
Off came my silk blindfold and the golden harp changed into a shining woman with glowing skin whose hair was woven into the fabric of a cloak that spilled from the king’s throne that was so close at hand. Sharp hooks pierced every bit of skin I could see and she was helplessly stuck to the nightmare with every movement an agony, producing the screams that I had, up until this point, interpreted as music.
I fell to my knees in despair. “Oh my God, this is far worse than I imagined,” I said. “I cannot undo this bondage even if I wished to. There are so many hooks, Badger. How could it have happened?”
Badger put a bracing hand to my back. “You can save Psyche, Heidi, I promise you can. You made it this far. Think of all of the dangers and shadows we have vanquished together. Remember the shining halls of light and fair creatures that exist on the other side of the darkness. Remember the beautiful things of the world and banish all doubt from your mind. Remember the love I bear for you,” he said. “What should we do? What must we do?”
I sat frozen in a moment of indecision. “When I don’t know what to do, Badger,” I said, finally. “I call Love and she helps me overcome any obstacle. Venus, please hear my call.” At the mention of her name, Venus stepped out of my heart and into the center of Misogyny’s seat of power.
She glanced at our predicament, understanding it all in a single moment of time, and said, “Only my son may save this one, for he does not miss his target when he shoots either light or shadows. Furthermore, Eros has a special relationship with Psyche. It has always been thus. Eros, my dear son, attend me.”
Venus stepped back into my being, there was a flash of bright light, and a god with curly black hair, wings made of swan feathers, and smooth, shining skin appeared. He carried a bow in one hand and a quiver of golden arrows on his shoulder. The god beheld the state of Psyche and his dark eyes widened in rage.
“What manner of nightmare dares to hold my Psyche in bondage and pain? The monster will pay for this outrage today and far more for his encroachment tomorrow,” Eros declared and rose into the air on his feathery, angelic wings that sat high on his shoulders. “Love shall abandon his halls and never return until he apologizes for the repeated insults to my beloved one. Hear my words, mother, and make them true.” Then the god pulled his golden bowstring back to his cheek and loaded a wickedly sharp arrow. “This perversion of love will not stand,” he said. “Die, fiend.”
A growl from the sleeping monster caught my attention and drew my eyes away from Eros’ mighty wrath.
“Heidi, do not look…” warned Badger but it was too late. I gazed up at the thing that occupied Misogyny’s throne of corpses and he was all eyes, fangs, and darkness. He awoke and, for a single timeless moment, the creature at the center of misogyny stared into my soul as I saw his true face- a black hooded cloak over a being made of glimmering, living shadow.
I screamed in horror as Eros released his arrow. It shot true through the monster’s heart and the nightmare dissolved into mist. His cloak disintegrated and the hooks in Psyche changed into threads of cloth, which fell away from her skin to the cursed floor of the throne room.
Badger rebound my eyes with the silk blindfold, drying my tears as he did so, and Misogyny’s realm began to crumble to pieces around us. Eros gathered the unconscious Psyche into his arms and we fled the dark fortress, gems crashing from the ceiling to smash the dwarves en masse.
We made it to the door as the foundation of the palace fell apart and the Tower of Misogyny lay in the dust of the barren plain. Eros laid Psyche down upon the ground, his curls brushing her face as he wept at her broken body. “We are too late for she has perished,” he said, stroking the puncture marks marring her lovely features. “I curse the great shadow that took my heart from me. How could the gods have allowed this to happen?”
I took a deep breath to steady myself as Badger changed back into his animal form. “Don’t despair, Great One, she’s only sleeping… I hope,” I replied and suddenly a beautiful red rose grew from the earth beside the unnaturally still Psyche. I plucked the flower, pulled the petals from the stem, then gently placed them one by one over the myriad of wounds on the lady’s mistreated body.
Eros observed my ministrations and mimicked my actions with the next flower that bloomed. Together, we covered the sleeping Psyche with flower petals until not a single inch of skin was visible. “I have done what I can,” I said, when the task was complete. “You must sing her awake, Lord of Desire. If she will not answer your call, then her time among us is through. Please, Eros, sing for her and all of us.”
“There are others who sing more sweetly than I,” the god said. “But none who love this goddess more. I will do this thing for all the worlds and you, Heidi, because you asked it of me.” Then, Eros produced a handheld harp from a bag at his hip, strummed the instrument gently, and sang to his Psyche:
My love came to the garden and brushed her lovely hair,
My love came to the garden and took me unaware,
Such beauty she possessed that she led all the blooms to shame,
My love came to the garden and called me by my name.
Eros… Eros… Eros…
A wind blew across the sleeping goddess and the rose petals flew off her healed skin. The petals circled in the air around us, then flew at me and entered my spirit, moving through my form until I felt them enter my heart. For a moment, all was still both within and without. Then, Psyche blinked sleepily, and sat up in mild surprise. “Dearest heart, I was dreaming,” she said as Eros dropped his harp and fell to his knees beside her. “Of a demon king who wanted me to sing only for him.” She held up her alabaster hands and studied them carefully, looking for old wounds which were now healed. “I was dreaming, wasn’t I?”
Eros took Psyche into his arms and kissed her gently as he smiled. “Of course you were dreaming, my love. Think no more upon the nightmares so lately passed,” he said. “Now, together, we shall dream of other, far more pleasant things. Let us away to the place that is ours and ours alone.”
Love’s son and his beloved flew high into the air and directly towards clouds which shaped themselves into an enormous diamond in the sky. As I watched the couple until they disappeared into the distance, a few errant petals fell out of my heart to the ground where Psyche had lain.
Badger, back in his animal form, snuffled and scratched in the scattered rose petals left behind in the healing of Psyche. “Thank you for always being by my side,” I said, hugging his familiar black and white head. “You gave me the courage to go forward when I had none, Badger. I would be lost in the worlds without you.”
“There are some things too cruel for dreamers like you to see, Heidi,” he said. “You needn’t look directly at them for I will always be there, shielding you and shaping the unpalatable with Love. I promise to do this for you, always.” I smiled and hugged him once more.
And my vision ended.
The Light Congress 