�Innisfree, 1987
[*Do not use without
permission from author]
THE BURNING BETROTHAL
[An Allegory]
In a Kingdom by the lake, in this awesome emptiness
of serenity, peace and safety aplenty, there once
lived a Princess. She was of skyblue, and her beauty
shone like the everlasting sun.
Helen was her name, the name given her by
an uncle who would have been King of the land,
but for the security misers who forsook him and
downed the crown into oblivion, never to grant
him his rightful throne. Stephen Blantonship was
only the heir to no-man's land. But Stephen in
his kingly wisdom looked at his earthly brother
Eugene's daughter on the day of dawning birth,
and in her skyblue face he saw the Helen of
ancient Greek lore: She was sunbright beautiful.
Thus the Princess (although no real Princess)
was deemed Helen Blantonship.
She lived in her protective arbor, a haven of
peacefulness blanketed by love, warmth and
parental devotion. Years came and years went;
mother Evelyn was angelic in her presence and
gave the needed sustenance to baby/child Princess
Helen. Mother Evelyn looked in rapture upon the
loveliness of her budding flower; the eyes of azure,
the creamy skin that rivaled the creaminess of
magnolia blossom, and the golden hair that rivaled
the shade of sunset. Her Helen was a sparkling
jewel that glittered like sunlight on the lake of
their Kingdom.
The land by the lake, the Kingdom of Helen, was
empty; she frolicked by the glimmering lake
surface; she hunted the wildness of a sunrise
in tender flower faces; she wandered about the
countryside. "But no," her mother Evelyn warned,
"you must not go beyond the lake."
And as Helen grew into a full-bodied replica of
womanhood, her beauty likewise matured. She
saw the forest that dwelled in no-man's land beyond
the lake, and she was drawn like a bee to honey.
Surely in that wilderness she would find the
sweetness, the brilliance of fire that was sadly
absent from her island of safety?
Sixteen came upon Helen; she was the undisputed
Princess in her arbor, in her motherly/fatherly home.
But what of the wilderness? Helen dreamed upon a
silken moon, and her heart craved the silvery light
that poured down into the night forest past the lake.
Was there no more to this empty world of seclusion
than to sit idly and dream of the darkened mystery
in yon forest?
"Mother dear," Helen implored, "can't I forsake
thee to feel the secrets yon forests hold for me?"
"No child," mother Evelyn admonished, "for in
that land of no-man is the dragon of fire-breathing
futures."
Helen listened, but not with her heart. Inside the
deep harbor of her hope lay anticipation. Never
would she live the life of peace, tranquillity and
nothingness such as she saw in her motherly/fatherly
home.
Late that night, past dark of midnight, Helen packed
small silk bag and slipped away. She trod the path
by the glistening moonlit lake; she wanted to feel
the dewy grass and took off her delicate glass slippers
to walk barefoot in the wetness. Her long hair was
spun gold in the moonglow and she lifted her long
ruffled silk frock to run beside the lake, down the
narrow path bordered by blooming violets and into
the arms of the darkened, dangerous forest.
It was cool, damp and misty in the forest, and
her bare feet felt the stiff straw-littered ground.
She stopped and studied the shadowy shapes looming
over her; cedars, thickened by centuries of growth,
were towering giants and she shivered uncontrollably.
Helen grew fearful of the foreign forest before her;
she turned to run but heard a virile voice that echoed
out of the darkness:
"Helen, child of light, you are mine, you are a brave
soul who dares dance dangerously. Come, do not be
afraid. I will take thee to the land of desire."
Helen trembled but was in the grip of a powerfully
hypnotic allure; it was as if she had always known,
deep inside her, that this was to be her cosmic calling.
She looked back into the forest, seeing shapes of
tree images, smoky mist rising off the distant
lake, and the luminous moon lowering beyond a
high mountainpeak. But there was no human form
to meet her inquiring search.
"Come, come into this mysterious land. Let your
sunlit, skyblue beauty embrace danger, my dearest.
I have waited, waited eons for thee."
The voice shattered the eerie quiet, and it scared
her, yet lured her onward. She was unable to move
though, and stood as though in a trance. Her azure
eyes made out a hollow cave ahead, and it beckoned
strangely to her, the virile voice again urging, "Come."
Slowly, she began to tread toward the opening, her
steps careful and measured. Yet still she trembled.
Her ruffled silk frock caught on an ugly briar, snagged;
she heard it tear but did not feel the lower half fall
from her body, revealing her long, slender legs.
Once at the doorway, she stopped dead still. The
husky voice whispered seductively, "Come, child
of skyblue and dance a slow waltz of temptation.
Erupt into a fiery flame when you dare touch air,
the air of life."
"Who are you?" Helen's voice was a tiny, weak
sound falling into the dark immensity of the cave.
"I am your Prince. I've been your destiny since
the security misers stole the crown from your
uncle. We are to wed. I am of air; you are of light --
between us there will be the alchemy of fire. Our
marriage was foretold in Ancient Ageless Wisdom
by TIME: We are to save the Kingdom, but only
if you dare dance dangerously with me."
A brazen wind whipped through the towering trees,
bending pines recklessly and wailing a tempestuous
tune as it swept over Helen. It was as though she had
ignited secret sorcery, fulfilling a timeless premonition,
and it was now sweeping her along into a dream come true.
She walked bravely into the mouth of the cave, which
lit into the sparkling, wildly explosive colors of a rainbow
as she melted into the irresistible arms of her lover --
the Prince of Air capturing her as his own bride.
Thereafter in the Kingdom by the lake, a new
existence was born: Light and Air danced together
to the music of Brightness. Feeling was born into a
world where only emptiness had dwelled before.
The King and Queen lived happily ever after
in their newfound Kingdom -- where risk was
everywhere and fueled the fiery friction of
LIFE.
