Dreamweaver – age 50
Crowds of well heeled men and women in the artisan tea room set like a manicured garden; each occupied in mild banter with their own perspectives. None of them were truly engaged or engaging. She was scanning this beautiful room for the people who seem to know her. They give her a polite nod and smile as their eyes met for a flitting second and then the interest vanished as quickly as they blinked on to the next public relations smile.
No one in the room seemed friendly or familiar. She forced an obligatory curve on her lips as someone brushed pass her with a quick hello. She had practiced her media face for the last few years and it was getting tiresome. Her facial muscles used to be so sore from smiling for cameras and people that she stopped smiling and learnt to position her face in a look of nonchalance – barely interested but possibly friendly.
It was emptier being here with so many bodies and not feeling a single affection or care for any of them. In the middle of the room, a golden cage with a nonchalant white lion seated gracefully within. It did not seem disturbed by the waves of people. She would rather be stranded within its cage. The white lion looked up as if it heard her intention. Stunning azure eyes with such wisdom and compassion locked momentarily with hers, “We know.” The lion gave her much more strength from its primal courage. She was safe to feast with these shells of people with artificial concern.
Her fears of being famous and recognized brought new wisdom to her life; she would be happier being incognito so that she could be irresponsible and steal moments of freedom for her life. Her very short life which too shall pass, she thought with downcast eyes and smiled at the space between her folded hands.
The white lion seemed tired from a long day of meeting too many people who did not interest him. So many empty vessels who were deafening this room. It is bearable. He was used to the noise and the constant flux of bodies and conversations. He saw her standing in the corner, smiling at nothing and no one in particular. Her moment of joyful reverie gave him a refreshing moment of respite from the shifting eyes around him. He saw her eyes look up and hold his in a brief moment of sincerity left over from her reverie. He knew more about this enchanted girl as he broadened his mind’s eye. His other eyes whispered an answer to a question and the strangers in them vanished in a blush.
“This cage is not for you. Look up, dear one.” She saw that the cage was a façade, it had no roof and did not seal the white lion in. Above the cage were pinpricks of light from the Milky Way. It was intense enough to illuminate the silken purity of his regal fur and redirect power through the eyes of this glorious beast. The lion kept its steady gaze on her. “They need you to fill them for now.”
\\ She has so much more to do, so many to attend to. She will take it one day at a time.
