The slaying of Jealousy

a story of enlightenment

After a long journey I stand before this cavern of darkness.

I am here to free my love.
 

"Dragon!" I yell at the top of my lungs " Show yourself! "

My voice echoes into its depths, followed by silence . the low rumble of approaching steps emanates deep from the cave. a looming voice reverberates ," Who dares to awaken me ? "

"I have come for my Love " I shout into the darkness.

"Your Love has come with me willingly and wants nothing of you," grumbled the Dragon.

I stumble towards a shaft of light that illuminates  a large room.

" Release my Love" I plead "Or I will..."

"Or what?! " The Dragon roared as he leapt into the light. " One swipe of my unforgiving claws would tear open your chest"  He growled.

 "I can shred your Heart rendering it incapable of beating, let alone love again" The Dragon warned "  GO AWAY! "

I muster my courage and cry out "For Love I draw my Sword"  and thrust my blade towards his recoiling neck.

" Is this how you plead your case " the Dragon smirked " for Love?"

"Yes" I answer " I champion the freedom of Love , Please I beg of you , let Love see the light of the day "

 The Dragon stared envious " My eyes can not perceive freedom, why should I surrender love to something I cannot see"

"Then find it within your heart to set her free" I plead to him.

"There is no freedom within my heart" The Dragon blared "Nor will yours once I sink my teeth into you."  as he bared his fangs.

I stand fast, "Your passion burns hot, Dragon, its fuel is insecurity. I hear it. There is weakness in your voice."

"WEAK!" The flames roared from the Dragon's quivering jaws " I am not the weak one! "

The Dragon slowly circled around me , then whispered "Love is the weak force."

"And I must keep yours ... "  as he raised his monsterous head.

"You have little respect for Love foul one, nor understand Love. Truly you are disillusioned."  I tell him

"Ah, Illusion," said the Dragon as he moved into the shadows "What more for me to convince you Boy!"

"Love is the Illusion!" the Dragon bellowed

"NO! It is not!" I yell " Love is real. I feel love "  

"Illusion"  The Dragon dismissed

" Respect my Love "  I shout

"Hahahaha! I will soon see fire from your breath young one" , smiled the Dragon .

"Love is now mine" The Dragon glared , "and I will keep your Love" proclaimed the beast, his tail snapping back and forth

my Anger grows, I step forward and scream "Thoust fouls the name of Love, You must be destroyed before your teeth sink deeper into those I truly love. " 

 

The Dragon turns , quickly I swing and this time my blade makes its mark.

The Dragon pauses - surprise in his eyes - then a small smile and he vanishes, His glittering scales joining the thousands that lay on the floor.

 

Toward the edge of the shadows , I fall to my knees trying to make sense of it all. I am exhausted . I am relieved.

Soon, within the depths of the cavern a light glows,  from the backdrop . a starlit figure appears.

"You have done well" She says softly, "the Dragon is gone"

I rejoice to her, "Come with me! You are now free! You may now enjoy the freedom of the Sun"

The figure then moved toward me and took my hand.

"The Dragon never held me, it was you that was in his clutches".

I brought you here to slay him.

For you.

For you to be free.

To love.

I will never be free until all of the Dragons have been slayed.

Others will come.

More Dragons will fall, and some will grow stronger. 

Now you must go on,

continue your journey.

You will remember me -

You will remember Love

 

 

Copyright © 2007 Robin Amaral

 

 

Author's Note

This was borne from a dream , a Dragon we must all slay before we can love .
An Editor I am not , comstructive criticsm welcome .

Reviews

[Emily Quinn]

You have some wonderful descriptions and movements in this. Oh how human emotions can blindly destroy our own humility. The dragon metaphor was perfect, a symbol of insicurities, jealousy, envy. And the mention of many more 'dragons' to come was very realistic in this world of love. It seems forever there will be obsticals trying to disintigrate any form of love. You ended this story in a prose like manner which or course is your forte and finished off the complete work marvellously.

I would love to see more descriptions however; me being one who loves to live every detail in the charaters shoes. I want to know what it smells like in the dragons den, what he feels, sees etc. I do understandit is a short story though.

Anyway, I really liked this, you should definitely write more stories! Especially ones with messages such as this. Great, great job Robin, it's nice to see that your amazing talent isn't confined to fabulous poetry :)

[Gray Witch]

I could only wish to have such expressive, mystical dreams..........and to be capable of weaving the words to create such a story ...Lovely.

[roarke]

the dragon as self. Love, Aphrodite turns Athena enlightenment. Classic, Romantic, Nouveau.
All the traditional elements here, and like a dream the casting is elemental.
we will remember.....

[Chris]

quite the real story... and the touch of epic...

well said Robin.

Chris

[patricia]

It was good that Robin, I don't know what it means to others but for me it was fighting our demons within, every now and then I have a go but mostly I laze in the comfort zone. Thanks

[Kerry O'Connor]

You have tapped into one of our oldest tales of metaphoric beasts - and heroes, for that matter. Everyone should be his own hero, and systematically destroy all dragons that prey on insecurities. I enjoyed this allegory.

[emmajoy]

Literally a twist in the tale .. how cleverly and imaginatively written! The way your words toss back and forth between hero and Dragon is so smoothly done, the story flows along with hints of moral thrown into the water.

Yes, your lady love is right, jealousy is a killer when it fights with love.

[Nancy S.]

I love this! The metaphor for jealousy is beautifully constructed. Great work, Robin.

[Liza]

since i have been watching the sci-fi series of Merlin my mind imagined Merlin and the wise and fierce dragon
this was a very creative write and i learned so much of a storytelling style, i like yours
it was vivid
to the point
i agree, jealousy and envy are dead weights and road bumps to real love
it has always been a tragic time when jealousy shines its dark light...
it is feeling love as a shortage...somethng outside of us and at the mercy of knowing there's always something better out there but there will never be another you...with your potential love
thank u for directing me to this wonderful write.

[Ed Hart]

yes, Robin, you have created a telling encounter that we must face in our long journey toward freedom and love...i'm so glad you came this way