Lillian

She was driven from the depths to see the world above.

I had never broken the surface before. The others would goad me, always asking why I refused to take a peek, but I would simply dismiss them with a shrug, not wanting to hear of what I was missing for the umpteenth time. It never fazed me, nor did I ever feel the lustful desire to breathe air or to bask in the sunlight before it hit the water.

                I felt as if I were content; I felt no need to go above the cool hues of my world and into a strange obsession into the land of another.

                I may have lasted forever like this, had it not been for the lily petal.

                It fell, one day, as if a fish falling to its grave. It caught my eye and I was drawn to it, entranced by its muted colors. My hand met it and then, without warning, I was drawn upwards to the surface, pulled by a primordial instinct that seemed to come from the passions of Lord Neptune himself. The lily petal seemed to dissolve in my hand; it seemed to become a part of me as I was taken from my waters and thrust into the air of men. I knew, at least, that I would be safe.

                I broke the surface, and for the very first time in my many years, I was taken aback. The air was cool around me, only cracked in places by slivers of sunlight.

                I immediately closed my eyes, not wanting to give into the desire that I knew would soon come. I focused instead on my breaths, abandoning the life in the water for the life in the air.

 The first breaths were painful, though, as I was not used to the air that men breathed. But I grew used to it and began to smell the water, or rather, the air around the water in which I had lived. It was light and moist, slightly fragranced with the sweet, watery scent of the lilies.

I inhaled deeply, beginning to wish that I had not waited so long to break the surface. Thoughts ran around in my head. Should I open my eyes? Would I be giving in to a meaningless pleasure? Would it truly matter?

Clutching my head, I decided one little pleasure in my eternal life would not matter. If I were to be damned because of it, then so be it -- but by the power of that lily petal, I had to see what existed on the surface.           

I opened my eyes, immediately noticing the depth and vibrance of the colors on the surface. Like in my home, I saw many blues and greens, but here I saw the lavender-blue of the water; the teal blue of the shadows upon the water; the earthen green-blue of the reflection of the bowing willows; and the pure green of the lily pads.

Oh, the sight of the lily pads! There were as many as I could weave into my hair and they were scattered far beyond that. I saw so many lilies resting peacefully on their pads. There were white lilies, pure and noble; pink lilies, sweetly feminine; yellow lilies, as if they had blossomed on the sun itself; and many lilies, so heartily beautiful, whose colors I had never before seen.

I reached my hands under a pad, so that I might hold the most wondrous things in creation in my own hands, but I did not pick it, because I wanted the lily to live, perhaps forever. I buried my nose in the lily, hoping to immortalize its smell, its touch, its sight, and the overwhelming feel that I was part of something greater.

I set the lily pad down and lay on my back, floating on the water. The branches of the willows danced above me, swishing and swirling. The coolness of the water soaked into my soul, washing away any reservation that might have been left.

I basked in the peace of the pond, closing my eyes as the water gently splashed against my skin. Though the sun was not out, though the sky was mostly gray, I felt a kind of warmth that I had not felt for years.

Among the swirls of green dancing in the water I rested; upon the realm of the lilies I lay. With lilies around me, I finally felt what I had been searching. My heart was calm, yet my soul was finally awake, fluttering gently among the lilies. I now knew of the gentle power of nature.

The lilies, the water, the willows, and the clouds were there only for me. The warmth of nature that I was now feeling had waited for eons for me to break the surface. And there I knew that if I had been content before, then now I knew I was truly at peace.

Author's Note

Also written for a contest, though I honestly think this is sort of a "dead" bit of work...
Anyway, we had to engage our reader based on a painting. I chose a Monet.

Reviews

[Emunah June.]

That last line made me feel all warm and fuzzy :3