Eden

This was where we lived. She and I. I ruined it. It was all my fault.

Eden

by Omegax45

 

 

 

                        There was an island in an ocean that was wide and far as an eye can see.  White sand shined bright upon the beach, giving way to crisp green forest and a creek that ran from down a small mountain to the open mouth of the sea.  On top of the small mountain was a castle made of dark stone, four towers almost tall enough to reach the sky and a flat rooftop.

                        This was where we lived.  She and I.

                        We do not know how long we have lived here.  All of our lives, I suppose.  Our earliest memories were of us as young children wearing shirts many sizes too large for our tiny bodies.  If I had a mother, I do not remember her warmth.  If I had a father, I do not recall his voice.  If I had a name, I have never heard of it.  It is the same for her.  And so we live here in this tiny world, two nameless children without a memory or a family to call our own.  We are the same.

                        No, that not true.  Our bodies are different.  I have seen myself in a mirror so tall and so wide that it is a wall in itself.  We had often ran about without wearing our shirt on days so hot that the shirts had clung out our beings and felt too uncomfortable to keep wearing.  I have dark red hair, she bright gold.  I have green eyes, she brown.  Between my legs I have a narrow column of flesh and a thick sac underneath it.  She does not.  I had wondered why until I found a book that explained everything….and more than what I was looking for.  I couldn’t stop blushing for days afterwards.

                        Our days at the island seemed the same, despite the different activities we did.  I wake up every morning in a large bed that is so soft that sometimes I feel like I’m sinking in it.  The carpet was plush beneath my bare feet upon getting out of bed and placing upon my shirt that kept getting smaller and smaller almost every day.  I walked down the hallways and meet her along the way.  We walked down the stairs and come across four doors.  Within the rooms of the four doors were the pantries and each room contained different types of food and drink within.  No matter how much we had taken, the pantries were always full.  We brought our food to the dining room and sat at the long table in the center.  We ate our food and took the remains of what we did not eat into the kitchen.  We did not know how to cook, so we did not use the stove or the oven.  We then did different things each day while waiting for dinner time:  Swim at the beach, read the numerous books in the vast library of the castle, climbed the tress in the forest, and even played games with each other.  When the sun began to set, we returned to the castle to find that the remains of our breakfast had been used to make our dinner and it was steaming hot at the dining room table.  We do not know who makes our dinner every day, and we had waited in the kitchen several times to find the one that made our dinners.  We end up seeing the food disappear and we ran into the dining room to find dinner was ready for us.  We had stopped trying to find out who it was.

                        After dinner, we washed our plates and walked into our own bathrooms.  My bathroom was done in blue and white with a toilet, bath tub, sink, and cabinet.  Soft towels sat upon a linen basket and I would throw my shirt in the linen basket before I take a bath.  I like hot baths.  All my muscles become relax and the steam made the bathroom comfortably warm.  I would just lie in the water until my fingers and toes were wrinkled, then I washed myself with soap that seemed to never run out and rinsed before getting out of the bath tub.  I drained the bath tub and dried myself with a towel.  Using the towel to cover myself, I walked into my bedroom and head to my bed.  I removed my damp towel and crawled under the covers that called to me.  I blew out the single candle on my night stand that was always lit around that time and fell asleep.  When I awake the next morning, my shirt was in its usual place, bright and clean.  I had wondered how it was so, but that curiosity faded with time, as I could not figure it out.

                        There were no others but she and I.  There were no animals in the forest, no birds in the sky, no fish in the creek or the ocean.  We can walk around the island in a single day.  We can explore the forest so quickly, but left out a part that was covered in a thicket of thorns upon the backside of the castle.  They were too thick for us to pass, and we could not see anything within it from the windows above.  All of our knowledge came from the books in the library and our explorations.  We even chose names for ourselves from characters in our favorite stories.  I chose the name William, for it was the name of a knight that slew a demon to save the princess of his kingdom.  She chose Cleo, the name of a heroine that risked her life to save the one she loved and their kingdom from being destroyed by invaders.  We spent hours calling each other our new names until they became so easy to say and easy to respond to.  We spent out days happily on the island, our little world.  We spent days mad at each other and stayed away from one another until one of us would apologize and we would have fun again together.  The sun shined.  The rain fell.  The moon and stars twinkled.  We were all there was in this tiny world…our Eden.

                        There were no calendars here like in the stories, but time did pass.  Cleo and I continued to change.  I grew taller, my arms and legs thicker, and I could lift heavy objects with ease.  Cleo grew taller, her chest blossomed, and her waist thinner.  After some time, my shirt became so small that I could no longer wear it, and it could no longer cover me.  With a pair of scissors, I cut the shirt and changed it so I can cover my lower half.  My companion used the scissors and thread from her room to cut the sleeves off her shirt and lengthened the bottom of her shirt to keep her covered.  Our favorite foods changed.  Stories that we once enjoyed are no longer interesting.  The games we once played became boring and childish.  We began to notice one another…in a different way that left me confused and scared.

                        Instead of greeting one another with much enthusiasm, Cleo and I became very shy and can rarely see one another without blushing or stuttering our words.  I did not know why I feel this way.  I’d known Cleo all my life.  Even with all the changes, she was still my friend.  My dearest companion.  What was I feeling?  Did Cleo felt the same way?

                        I went through the books in the library to find the answer.          So far, all of them clearly stated that I had a sexual attraction to Cleo.  Was it love?  The books didn’t say, so I continued my search.  I was surprised one day to find Cleo in the library, going through the same books that I did.  The atmosphere around us became awkward, them confusing.  Before I knew it, confessions flew from our lips and we crossed a line before we even realized what we were doing.  It was as if my mind had shut down and my body had taken over.  It seemed that it was the same for Cleo, for the moment we became free of whatever spell that was upon us, it was morning and we were entwined in one another’s arms.  She was just as confused as I was, for our minds were blank.  Moments later, our memories from the day before returned to us.  Our first time… and I didn’t even made it as wonderful and romantic as the characters did in the romance books.  I felt ashamed, yet a part of me was happy to Cleo’s first…to had made her mine.  I felt disgusted with myself for having such thoughts.  I should leave and never return, perhaps leave the island to shores unknown, despite my heart’s desire to stay.  Cleo refused to let go of me whenever I tried to put distance between us.  I tried to explain to her my shame, but she would not have it.  She loved me, and she would not let me leave.  So I stayed, and we became lovers.  I was happy.  She was happy.

                        How foolish I was.  I thought our days of happiness would last forever.  I ruined it.  It was all my fault.

                        It happened one day when I was exploring the island.  Something washed up on the beach.  I picked up the item in curiosity and saw that it was a pair of glasses.  How could this be?  There wasn’t suppose to be anyone on the island but Cleo and I.  Then I realized something.  In all my life, I never ventured in that one part of the forest, the part that faced the backside of the castle that was surrounded by the thicket of thorns.  Whenever I had looked out the windows of the back of the castle, all I could see was tree tops and the thorn’s thick branches.  You could see the thicket at the edge of the forest, but that day, it was gone.  What had happened to it?  Where did it go, and who could’ve taken it?  How did this affect Cleo and I?  Were we in danger?

                        Against my better judgment of going to fetch Cleo to help me out, I decided to explore there that day.  I found strange marks in the ground, as if someone dragged something heavy upon it.  I followed the strange marks, and found a strange ship.  The ship itself was old, appearing to have been heavily damaged long ago.  I looked inside to see skeletons of what were once humans in different positions, one draped over an old blanket with a strange object under its bony hand.  I took the object, but was unable top open it.  The clasp was rusted.  Amazed by my discovery, I ran out of the ship, tripping over something before stopping myself from falling.  I did not look back to see what it was that my foot just hit, for I was too excited by my discovery.  I ran all the way back to the castle and found Cleo in the library.  I told her about the missing thicket, the ship that was in it, and showed her the object.  She became upset.  I didn’t understand why.  Angrily, she told me I was to never have found the ship, but now that I did, everything was ruined.  I didn’t understand what she was talking about.  She told me that she wanted for us to be together forever, but now that it would never be.  I demanded answers, and the castle suddenly erupted in flames.  I reached for Cleo, but a burning beam fell between us.  Cleo began to cry, telling me they had come.  Now, I had to leave and never come back.  I screamed for Cleo, but she vanished before my eyes.  I kept screaming, searching the castle even as my skin burned from the heat and my breath is lost.  I fell, crawling on my hands and knees as our Eden burned away, the object that caused all of this still clutched in my hand.  Where did she go?  What had I done?

                        I heard voices, but I ignored them.  People grabbed me, strangers I had never seen before.  I fought against them, trying to find Cleo.  My vision blurred, my body screamed for air.  I kept fighting until all I knew was nothing but darkness.

                        Cleo…

                        Forgive me….

 

* * * *

 

                        “Doctor, who is that patient?”

                        “Oh, you mean Ciel Baston?  He was a survivor of the Tsina Hurricane Incident about fourteen years ago.  He was found on an island near Oceania, which was once owned by the Rosa Family.”

                        “Rosa?  Weren’t they relatives of the Chinese Royal Family?”

                        “Back in the Din Dynasty, yes.  The Rosa Family, after a relative of theirs was married to the Emperor, was given that island as a vacation resort.  It also doubled as a safe house for the family during war times.  The last owner of the island, Cleo Rosa, passed away over a thousand years ago due to a fire breaking out by one of the servants being careless.”

                        “That doesn’t sound like a Chinese name.”

                        “It’s not.  Cleo Rosa’s mother, Emily, was of British origin.  Many frowned upon international marriage at that time, so it’s not so surprising that Ms. Rosa did not marry.  Anyway, the island is considered a historical site and is off-limits to visitors.

                        “That boy’s family was fishing near the island’s shores when they were swept into the hurricane.  He miraculously survived, and somehow lived in the abandoned remains of the Rosa castle for years, eating old rations and wearing a shirt that has been determined to be his father’s.  Nearby fishermen saw the fire after receiving an S.O.S. signal from the Baston ship’s emergency transmitter and found him inside searching for someone named Cleo.  He was very determined about it.  The only way the fishermen knew of his identity is the filing book he had with him, which had his parents’ identification papers inside as well as his own.”

                        “I see.  So why is he here in the psych ward and why does he want us to call him William?”

                        “Mr. Baston has been diagnosed with head trauma, most likely from the accident, and suffers from delusions.  He also has complete amnesia, which explains why he does not know of his parents or his origins.  His legal guardians, the grandparents, insist for his treatment.  We hope in time that his memory will return and he will stop believing that there was another person with him on that island.  Perhaps the ghost of Cleo Rosa came to him in his time of need, but that would be foolish to say.  The Cleo Ciel described was a young woman.  Cleo Rosa died at the age of ninety-seven.”

                        “Poor boy,” the nurse muses as she looks into the room that Ciel Baston was in.  The young man was strapped to his bed fast asleep, but she knows that it is because of the sedatives being administers via IV.  He is most likely dreaming of his time on the island, the world he had only known and the only world he wishes to live in.  Come tomorrow at his appointment, he would try to escape again to get back to the island…to try and find his Cleo.

 

The End

 

 

 

Author's Note

The first part is past tense. The second is present tense. I tried to make it a happy story, but I ended up making a sad story. Enjoy.

Reviews

[Amaya Sullivan]

At first I thought it was a twist of Adam and Eve The Garden of Eden. Not because of the title just because of the point of view and description. I like the small seed of mystery when Cleo tells him he shouldn't have discover the ship. From there on, you describe everything very vividly.

It really kept me guess until the end! Great writing!

[Till The End~]

I like your style, it draws me in and its a good read. You do well with dialogue between characters, which is always pretty tricky. Saw a few grammar issues, but otherwise it's really decent.

[Blue Chantilly]

This is AMAZING!!!! How do you make your characters come so alive?????

[DreyaArt]

hmm interesting, very unexpected, and well written.
There are a couple of spots where it is evident that you were trying to switch the past tense to present, which, in a story as short as this can be a difficult and sometimes near impossible task. You did very well.
There were also a couple of points where it was like you were speaking in your head (as I do when I write such a story) and forgot to write some of the words. Like your train of thought didn't fully meet up with your fingertips on the keyboard. Just a couple of words some "is"s and "buts" etc. Just little things, I think I only noticed it twice, which again is something that I do as well and I believe many writers have a hard time with it.
Your concept was pure and well done, I would have liked to know what he tripped over, it seems like you were going to go so much further with the ship but then decided to stop writing.
What I mean is, at the beginning you are very detail oriented, everything is clearly laid out from what they wear to the books they read, and even their different anatomy. But then near to where he finds the ship you seem to just give up on those details that made the beginning so beautiful and so thought provoking. In the beginning I felt like I was watching a movie, but then the segway into the shady part of the island I feel could have been done a bit smoother. Maybe have a couple of hints about it in the beginning, "we explored everywhere, her and I, everywhere but that dark place behind the castle. Her fear of that place made me afraid and we never went there...The glasses had to come from somewhere, Cleo isn't around...His curiousity overcame his fear and this is what he found." could have worked. Or something along those lines that is my opinion.
I thought it was an interesting twist having him found to have been living on the island alone, and him being put into a phsyco ward. I think it would have been good to have been introduced to him, maybe see his dreams very briefly before ending the story with your last line, "to try and find his Cleo." But again that is my opinion.
The idea was great and I very much appreciate the opportunity to read this beautiful piece. Thank you.
Dreya