Free Write: Of Shadows and Light

So...not entirely sure what to do for this week's post, so I'm going to do a bit of creative free write. Whether it goes anywhere or not will remain to be seen.  It's sort of based off the greek myth of Pandora... please note that any myth names used may or may not necessary correspond with their actual stories...

     Once upon a time, as such tales often go, there was a girl. Once upon a time there was a perfect world. Once upon a time...everything went wrong.

    Pandora's footsteps were sharp staccatos on the cool marble floor, echoing the frantic beating of her heart. Behind her, the things she'd unleashed screamed in the dark, pursuing the scent of life. They were the things meant never to see the light of day, the blights upon human kind.

     Her breath came in harsh pants, and her lungs burned with the effort of keeping her moving. Run, run run run, her mind chanted like a mantra, a feeble ward against the nightmares chasing her. It wasn't enough. The shadows were too fast, too eager, too hungry. They caught up to her, nipped at her heels, before enveloping her entirely, and dragging her backwards into their depths.

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Booooorrrrrrriiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnngg...Cassandra sighed, fidgeting in her window seat. Honestly, how many hours a day could you wander around, doing maidenly things, and not get tired of it? Not very many, if she was any judge. Then again...there were those like Lorelei that seemed to have it down to an art form. Picturesque and perfect, if a sculptor asked her too, Lorelei could freeze in one position for days. Cassandra thought she was nuts.

 She sighed again, and stood up. Even in the cool tiled room of the bath-house, it was too hot. She couldn't imagine what the temples must be like at this time of day. Picking up the long-necked pitcher that had been by her foot, she padded out of the bath-house to the main rooms.

  The house was silent. Her father would be with that orator...Argus something or other, her mother tending to Minerva's temple. Being an only child, that left Cassandra by herself in their house, save the odd maid servant or two. Which meant nothing to do and no one to talk to, besides the gods. Shrugging, she left the pitcher on the table by the door and went outside into the sweltering heat.

The path to the beach was fairly deserted, but she didn't worry, moving along it with the sureness of routine. It was a safe place, like everywhere in the city. It reflected the beauty of the ocean and beaches that surrounded it, and she thanked the gods for the world as she moved onto the sand. The waves crashed against the shore in perfect unity, harmonizing with the gentle zephyrs that played with the hem of her white gown and the ends of her dark hair. Cassandra stared out thoughtfully at the border of her beloved island, squinting at the horizon. Sometimes, when she was feeling imaginative, she liked to think she saw other islands, on that line that was the edge of the world. She liked to imagine there was someone like her, staring back at her at the same time.

Suddenly the world stilled around her, as if a giant beast were sucking in it's breath. Bewildered, Cassandra looked around, and saw dark clouds rolling over the sky. The waves began to thrash and roar, as if pained by the abrupt change, and everything darkened. The wind howled, and tore at her clothes with icy claws. Terrified, she began to run back home as the ground shook beneath her feet, and the sky opened up, as if torn by a great blade, and water poured down in torents, blinding her. The earth began to carry her backwards, towards the ravenous sea, and she was helpless to stop it.

The sea, which had never harmed her, would swallow her whole. Were the gods angry? Had they done something, to cause...this...this...

"Chaos?" said a warm voice in her ear. She screamed as arms wrapped themselves around her waist, and bore her up, away from the turbid water, the howling wind, and the darkness spreading over the light. She had no word for what she saw, for in truth she had never seen such events before. The world had always been calm, happy,...perfect.

"Do try to relax. I'm saving you." the voice continued. Cassandra wiped her drenched hair out of her face, and twisted, trying to see the face attached to the voice. It was a man, and he glowed with his own sort of light, though it was dimmed by the water pouring from the sky.

"Are you a god?" she whispered, her words almost lost in the noise of the world tearing itself apart. He chuckled, though sadness laced the sound.

"I am a Titan, little one. And you may call me, Prometheus."

(To be continued, in all probability.)