As You Live, Shine!
A story by Dennis M. Falk
Copyright © 2013
Issued under a Creative Commons license (any version), with attributes BY-NC-SA
Song of Seikilos
by Σείκιλος Εὐτέρπου (Seikilos Euterpou), ca. 1sr Century CE
-=-=-=-
It could've been any night, I suppose- Dark, the stars were out, cold-- I went out to check things out in the back yard, to see if any raccoons had showed up, which they had- They left quite a mess with the scraps I had left out earlier. Not at all surprising, as this happens most nights.
Then I saw the light behind the shed, just behind the bush.
I decided to check it out, since it seemed odd. Turned out it was a tunnel carved out in bushes, with a pathway, and at the other end... Daylight.
I shrugged, and started to follow the path, noticing a slight breeze and some warm air.
I came out into daylight- It felt like a late Spring midafternoon, but the landscape was unfamiliar to me- I was on an unpaved road in the countryside.
I followed the path for a while, which went past a cove that faced out in open water, with a few rocks in it. In the distance, I thought I had heard what sounded like a harp playing, but the tune and style were completely unfamiliar to me. I continued onward along the road, until I came across an opening on the right of the road, which led to a large courtyard and what looked like an ancient Greek temple to me.
The wind was beginning to pick up a bit, and I noticed the higher clouds were starting to roll in, and some heavier clouds were coming in from where I think the shore was.
I looked around- The courtyard was arranged in a square, with paved cement walkways along its perimeter, and crisscrossing walkways along the length, breadth, and corner to corner, meeting in its center, with a pedestal with a small, meter-tall column of marble siting on top. The column looked familiar, from photos I had seen, but couldn't place it.
A slightly-larger-than-normal squirrel darted past me, holding what looked like an empty fruit basket in its front paws, and looked up at me, chittered a bit, then dashed off to the bushes. I chuckled a bit, and didn't give much more thought, until a moment later, the squirrel- the same one, I surmised- darted past me with what appeared to be a now-full basket, right into the temple, Odd, I thought, then I noticed the weather getting a bit uglier. So I decided I should take shelter in this temple-- Everything seemed new and clean, except for that old marble column- The only thing that looked old, but still clean. I went inside.
Inside, were a few cement benches, some vases, a couple torches (that were lit), and a floor tapestry. Squirrels were the common theme on everything, I noticed.
On a dais, near the back wall, sat the basket I had seen before, but no sign of the squirrel.
I checked outside for a moment, at the main doorway, and it got much darker, and started to rain. I decided I'd wait out this storm inside the temple.
Inside, the two torches provided some light, but it wasn't going to be enough once it did get dark.
Then I noticed her.
A young girl, about ten, I guess, stood before me. Dressed in a classic ancient Greek dress, moreso of what the upper class might've worn, or rather, how they depicted their goddesses-- Silk and satin, held together at the shoulder by a small brass medallion, with a satin sash cinching her waist. She smiled, but said absolutely nothing.
Then I noticed.
She was covered in fur, of a reddish-brown colour, not dissimilar to the squirrel I saw earlier, with lighter fur surrounding her very dark eyes, and a lighter fur under her chin.
And a bushy tail that curled and swayed behind her.
For all the world, she looked like a cross between a squirrel and a normal human girl.
She blinked, then smiled again, showing only a hint of buck teeth.
She led me to a bench, gesturing to me to sit down. She went to get the basket from the dais, and offering me some of the fruit that was in.
The storm raged outside, and the wind could be heard howling through the open doors and windows. So I took her offer, and picked a small bunch of grapes out of the basket- Not even the largest, as I didn't want to be greedy. She sat the basket down on the floor, at the foot of the bench, and we shared the grapes together.
"Thank you. So, what is your name?"
As before, she didn't say a word, so I assumed she didn't understand me.
"Oh, great- I get a companion, and I can't even have a conversation with her."
She just smiled.
"So, um, do you know where the bathroom is?", I said, and motioned with my hands, waving them from my butt to imply relieving myself.
She went over to an unadorned brass urn tucked to the side, lifted the back of her dress, and squatted in gesture- Not actually relieving herself- to say "use this", without so much a word. I got the hint. I didn't need it yet, but figured I might, soon enough.
She disappeared into a side room for a few minutes, as the torches flickered- The wind outside was very strong, and the rain was very heavy. It looked like I may have to stay the night, here. Just as well- I was tired, anyway. Even back home, this was still past my bedtime, and I was feeling it.
I decided I needed to pee, so I did in the urn, taking the opportunity I thought I had for privacy.
As I pulled my pants back up, I then noticed her, with that smile, looking up at me, and holding several blankets and a couple pillows. She then arranged the blankets and pillows on the tapestry into a makeshift bed, noticing I was tired. I thanked her, and, with my clothes still on, rested my head on a pillow, and covered myself with one of the heavier blankets. I didn't notice so much that she removed her dress as I was dozing off, and didn't complain as a warm body- and tail- joined me under the blanket for the night.
I slept well.
Come morning, I woke up to the sight of morning sun and clear skies. She wasn't with me, or even in this main hall, so I took the opportunity to relieve myself once more in the same urn, which I didn't notice was emptied before I got up.
After getting myself halfway decent (given the circumstances), I turned around, and there she was again, this time with a brass goblet and a pitcher of water. I was thirsty, so I accepted.
I thanked her, and started to make my way out the door, , when I commented to her that that column outside seemed familiar, then realised she probably couldn't undserstand what I was saying.....
....Instead, she picked up a stringed instrument- a lyre, if I'm not mistaken- And started to sing. For the first time since I came here, I heard her voice, as young and pretty as she is.
Ὅσον ζῇς φαίνου/Hoson zēs phainou
μηδὲν ὅλως σὺ λυποῦ/mēden holōs su lupou
πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐστὶ τὸ ζῆν/pros oligon esti to zēn
τὸ τέλος ὁ xρόνος ἀπαιτεῖ./to telos ho chronos apaitei.
"I do not understand what those words me, but they sound so beautiful," I said.
And she responded, even more shockingly, in clear, plain English, without missing a beat of her lyre-playing:
As you live, SHINE!
Have no grief at all
Life exists only for a short while
And time demands its toll.
Stunned, she just smiled, and with a thick accent, said, "Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yes- Yes it is."
"As you go home, live by it. SHINE!"
She then dashed back in to the temple, and I made my way out.
As I headed out, I passed the column-- I think I understand, now. It's not an epitaph, but an affirmation of life. A gift once written by a very creative Greek for his own tombstone, as his gift to the world. Not to mourn him, but to live life, and cherish every moment, for one might not know just how many moments life gives them.
I made my way to the exit, and back to the road, hopefully in the direction I came.
Then she came running, calling out to me.
"Excuse me! Wait, please! I have something for you", the young squirrel-girl said. I stopped.
"Take these with you, and remember me."
She handed a small bag, which contained a ceramic pot with squirrels on it in an ancient Greek style- I opened it up. More grapes.
"Eat those along the way- You haven't had breakfast yet!"
Then I noticed three more items, all small brass items, the largest was 3 inches long. The smallest was an acorn. The next, a squirrel, with a name engraved on it. The third, and largest, a replica of the column, including what was engraved on it.
"Remember me by these things- My name is there."
And so it was, in Greek letters:
ΕΛΙΑ
"My name is Helia," she emphasised the "i", "and this is my home. You were my guest for the night."
"Thank you, Helia", I responded in kind. "But wasn't that a temple?"
"It is. To me."
She smiled as only a young girl who knows much more, can.
"I am the daughter of a goddess, one who built this world long before you and I were ever born."
"And you're a..."
"Squirrel, yes."
She smiled once again.
"Go home. You might not ever meet me again, but remember the kindness I offered you, and shelter from the storm."
"I will, thank you."
"Farewell!"
I left the young squirrel-girl, who called herself Helia, and followed the road back to where I thought was the hole in the bushes. It took me a half hour, but I made it, finding the pathway that led right into the hole...
...And back into the cold night, just as clear, just as cold, and just as messy as the raccoons had left it. The light behind the shed disappeared.
I made my way back into the house, and saw the clocks say it was only 15 minutes after when I last saw them. So I checked my phone- It gave the same date as when I last saw! Maybe that whole day that had gone by didn't happen......
Then I remembered- I was still holding the small bag!
I emptied the contents onto the counter- The small ceramic pot with a few grapes still in it, the brass acorn, the brass squirrel, and the brass column.
It was not a dream.
And so, the next morning, I did as the squirrel said: As I lived that day and every day forward, I shined!
Fin.
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