When Silvanus said I needed to widen my search for the antidote to his curse, I was so excited. He wanted me to find a shipwreck! Supposedly, the witch that had cursed him fled on a ship that when down off the coast in a great storm. The witch himself escaped and was never seen again, but perhaps there would be clues to the curse on the ocean floor. So yes, I was excited!
That is, until I found out that before I set out in my little boat, I had to find the correct coordinates to search in.
Ugh. So many boring nights since then, my eye to my telescope lens, searching out the seven stars - the seven stars that, according to Silvanus, were the key to everything. I wanted to just hop in my boat and go, but noooo. First there were measurements, and angles, and horror of horrors, actual maths to be done. I guess my dad was right when he said you never know when you're going to need geometry.
Sometimes Jaxon stopped by for a rousing game of dominoes, that took me back to a time when we were still just kids, before everything got so complicated.
Sometimes, when we were finished, I'd get to thinking again, about how I would contribute to the continuation of our little village.
"Sooo. Would you like to spend the night, tonight, Jax? It gets so lonely out here."
But always in the background there there was Silvanus, watching..and.. well, pretty much just watching. The lecture would come later, I was sure.
"That sounds great, Freya. I'd love to."
"I'll even cook you something special... I have a.. uh.. secret recipe."
He didn't have to know about the copious amounts of cinnamon I consumed in order to 'get in the mood.'
But of course Silvanus had to ruin the moment, with his ever-present voice in my head.
"Don't do it, Freya. You know you don't love him."
I didn't realize I was shouting out loud until I saw Jaxon's freaked out expression.
"Ahhh! I didn't mean to say that out loud, really! It's that Silvanus, always on my case. He doesn't like you, you know! I'm just trying to figure out how to lift the curse, that all! You have to believe me! Please don't go, please don't.."
But I had screwed things up yet again, and Jaxon took his leave and said he'd best come back when I was 'calmer.'
"Well, he's gone again. Are you happy now? Do you want me to stay a virgin forever?"
The voice in my head was sad, almost wistful, and made me feel sorry for the way I had yelled at him.
"No.. and no. I just know he doesn't make you happy. Does he?"
I didn't have an answer for that.
That night, the full moon shone down while I made the last measurements. Somehow, the full moon always energized me to new heights. My altercation with Jaxon forgotten, I located the last of the stars that Silvanus had required, and now I finally had the exact directions for my search.
The next morning I rose early, the cinnamon I had left on the nightstand in anticipation of Jaxon's visit still in it's spot. It would just have to stay there a while longer. I had work to do.
I had a long day ahead of me, and decided to mix up a batch of my favorite pancakes. I didn't know when I'd be back for another meal.
I was getting pretty good at cooking, if I do say so myself, and had fun flipping the pan and cakes around while I cooked. I hadn't been in such a good mood in ages!
I added an extra large handful of buzzweed at the end. I knew I was in for a long day of hard work, and for sure didn't want to run out of energy.
I ate alone, in silence. It sure would be nice someday to be able to share my table with someone I loved.
Then I stepped into my little yellow boat, and began to row. And row. And row. Keeping the sun behind me, and Uncle Marlin's lighthouse in front, I rowed farther out into the ocean than I'd ever been before.
I knew I had the correct direction, but I wasn't as sure about the distance. After a hour or so, when the whole island was spread out in miniature before me, I figured I'd come far enough.
Slowly I let myself down over the edge of the boat, and tread water for a few minutes, getting up the nerve to dive. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.
"Let's do this." I whispered to myself, and kicked my feet up into the air, pushing my body down into the depths.
The underwater world in which I found myself was so amazing, I almost forget to hold my breath. How was it that no one knew this beautiful vista had been here all along. It was only everyone's innate fear of the water that had kept it hidden so long.
The only hindrance to my enjoyment was the continual trips to the surface I had to make when my breath ran out. I made a mental note to ask Silvanus for ideas on breathing under water.
At first I just enjoyed this new world I had found, but eventually I began to search in earnest for any signs of the shipwreck that Silvanus was looking for. According to Silvanus, the witch that had cursed him fled the island during a great storm, and his ship had sunk. The witch himself had evidently escaped the wreck and was never seen again, but perhaps there would be something in the wreckage that might free him.
But after searching all day, the only thing I managed to discover was one ancient rusty anchor, which may or may not have been from the shipwreck.
My buzzweed had long worn off by the time I pulled my boat up to the little house at the edge of the island. The sun was setting, and I was exhausted and discouraged.
The stars were out as I climbed out onto the dock, and I knew that Silvanus wouldn't show his leafy self again until the morning, but I took the time anyway to tell him what a wild goose chase he had sent me on, and besides, how did he expect me to find anything when I couldn't stay underwater for more a a few minutes at a time?
"Calm down, Freya," came his deep rumbly voice in my head. "Tell me what you did find. You must have found something."
"Nothing but an old anchor. No shipwreck. I'm too tired to talk about it now. I'm going to sit in the hot spring for a while."
I sighed contentedly as I lowered myself into the hot spring in the cellar. I hadn't meant to be so sharp with Silvanus. I was just tired, and the buzzweed had long worn off. I thought about going to the kitchen to get more, but then I remembered the stash of cinnamon that I kept at the hot spring, just in case.
Ahh. That was better. It was hard to hear Silvanus through the cellar walls, and the cinnamon smoothed my mind out just enough so I couldn't hear him at all. I knew he wanted all the details, but that could wait until morning.
I was half asleep, my eyelids heavy, when I heard footsteps on the stairs.
"Who's there?" I called sleepily. "Silvanus?"
"Uh, no. I'ts me. Jaxon. I was worried about you, so I stopped by today, but you weren't here, and your boat was gone. I just wanted to make sure you made it back alright. But.. um.. it looks like you're fine, so...."
Now I'm not sure if it was the cinnamon or what, but I found myself answering, "You can join me if you want. The hot spring's real nice tonight."
I smiled to myself when I heard his tentative footsteps splash into the spring next to me.
For a few minutes we just sat there, not saying anything, although I'm sure we both were thinking the same thing. Suddenly I sat upright and opened my eyes wide.
"It's now or never," I said to myself seriously. "There will never be a better time." Fortunately I remembered to say it only to myself, and not out loud.
I scootched closer, and leaned over to whisper in his ear.
"Do you want to .. you know."
Then I kissed him, and it was .. nice. Nice and smooth and cinnamony. Very cinnamony. And nice.
His hand were tentative and gentle, and .. nice. I kissed him again, and he gazed into my eyes and whispered, "Are you sure?"
I held his gaze and nodded, and gave him one more cinnamon kiss.
"Oh my! I never dreamed..what.. Oh Silvi! Oh!"
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