Saffron
_____
At a café in a place and time among the living.
"So I got it all. The mansion ... the armory ... and by Hera do you know
how much gold she has ? Had ? I mean real gold, not dream gold or
spirit gold or whatever. You can throw it through the window. I did a
lot of that ... then thieves came to collect it ... and I watched the
gargoyles eat them to protect me ... it really is all mine now ..."
"Then you don't mind the tab ?"
"Whatever. So what did You get out of it, 'mister no one' ?", with barely hidden sarcasm.
"Throne of the dead. A wild card for the game."
"Hm. Sounds boring. Have you tried tennis ?"
________________
The Motorcycle.
________
Saffron answered an ad in 1971 to, with a roll of
her eyes, help some old rich lady around the house. After the fall of
the hippie revolution and her once large trust fund was squandered
mercilessly on fun, she really didn't know what else to do.
She had heard of Persephone from that movie but it wasn't until 1980
that she realized she may in fact be The Persephone and not just a crazy
rich lady who never left the property. Except of course when she did.
She never actually read the entire story until 1979 ... she had always
just assumed her boss went off skiing or ... "whatever". But after she
found that paperback she began to '... notice things ...' She certainly
didn't match the description in the advertisement ...
"Extraordinary wealth promised for year round live-in
service. Ancient lady seeks grounds keeper for autumn through winter,
servant from spring through summer. Use of the cars is permitted if
maintained, but not the motorcycle."
She used a different car every day for two and a
half weeks until she ran out of ones she liked. "Who the hell rides
motorcycles ?" Not a day over forty she judged her new employer to be.
In 1982 Saffron confronted her about these mythical suspicions over the instant noodles she prepared for their dinner.
"I told you who I was the first day !" Persephone answered shocked.
"But you didn't say you were a Goddess !"
"I said I was Persephone ! I told you I went to the underworld for two seasons out of the year !"
"I though it was some weird spa for rich people or something ... I kind of felt left out that you never invited me ..."
Persephone stared at her.
"Well you should have told me." Saffron answered to glaring the eyes.
"Didn't you notice that we haven't aged ?"
"Well yeah, but ... you know ..." in fading tone.
"We never will." Persephone twirled her noodles and poked a chicken
square. "I did wonder why you never asked all those silly questions like
the rest ..."
"Like What ?" Saffron asked with noodles hanging from her lip.
Persephone giggled. "Oh ... you know ..." She quoted in a funny voice " 'What's it like to be a goddess' and all that ..."
"That's dumb. That's like asking someone what it's like to smoke pot."
Saffron mumbled around her noodles before slurping the cup.
Persephone hesitated a moment. "Well ... actually ... I was kind of wondering exactly that."
Saffron burst out laughing as noodles took flight. "I knew it !" Just
as these years later she knew as well that Persephone was gone forever
when also was gone the motorcycle.
________________
Tennis.
________
1984 on the property court.
"But didn't you notice the gargoyles were eating the intruders ?" Persephone asks before serving the ball.
"No !" Saffron hits back. "Well yes !" And again, "But I was sleeping
!" ... "I heard growling" ... "went back to bed !" She misses. "Damn it
!"
"Well it's a good thing I didn't hire you for security!" Persephone serves again.
"Ha !" A return. "What am I going to do ?" ... "Damn it!"
1989
"But I disappear from my room every time I leave for the harvest !" Persephone serves.
"I though you had" ... "a secret exit !" ... "Like Versailles!"
"Never been there !"
"Me neither !" ... "Damn it !"
1994
"But I talked about my husband ! About going to the underworld to deal with him !" Persephone serves.
"I thought" ... "he owned" ... "the ski lodge !"
"Ski lodge !?"
Saffron's dance - "I got a point !"
1999
"You know what was suspicious even before I read
about you is that you're really good at tennis but you've never actually
gotten any better at it !" Saffron serves. "That's really weird !" ...
"Damn it!"
Twenty seven years later, this eve.
She stares at the empty court through the dusty window, touching it's glass bubbled deeply with age.
"True glass is a liquid, that's why it does that." Persephone once told her. "It just takes a very long time to flow."
Saffron drags down long hallways with her candles to her quiet bed,
once her lady's. But on her pillow is an extraordinary chocolate and a
note.
"My dearest Saffron,
Sometimes what we think we know isn't what is. Looking forward to your arms around me as we ride. Soon. I promise it.
Your beloved Persephone."
________________
The Café.
_________
He returns to the café somewhere in time to read tomorrow's news.
Elsewhere, Saffron runs to the armory and flings the doors wide.
While in another place entirely Persephone lowers the visor and leans in.
Top story. "A new terrorist organization calling
itself 'Persephone' has appeared, causing the destruction of several
monuments all over Greece last night, leaving archaeologists in
mourning."
There are two weapons missing and Saffron smiles ...
"Flip the switch and slow rev up."
"This statement was found painted on the debris
from many of these national treasures along with several obscenities -
''These gods which chained a goddess have fallen before Persephone.'
Saffron's favorite sword ... "She's thinking about me ..."
"Hold the brake and grind the wheel ..."
"Authorities had this to say - 'First, we don't
know that this can be classified as a terrorist organization. All we
know is that several sites were destroyed at approximately the same
time, and that apparently there were no injuries reported.' "
"And the blowgun ... ?"
"Now just. Let. Go."
________________
The road.
________
After an embrace beyond our dreams and tales Saffron asks, "So ... where's the motorcycle ?"
Persephone looks down with a smile. "I thought I might let You drive for a little while ..."
"Oh thank God I was afraid I was going to throw up on you all the time."
Persephone rolls her eyes. "I hate it when you talk about that guy ..."
"Oh thank Hera whatever. Do I get to pick the car ?"
"Of course you do ! Provided it can carry enough gold."
After a week of packing, repacking and fixing the suspension, the trunk
of the '47 Fleetline is finally closed. Doors slam shut, the engine
purrs out the cold wrought gates and in an hour they're stopped at the
crossroads.
"Hey sleepy face ! Which way do you want to go ?" Saffron shouts over the early autumn wind through open windows.
Persephone stirs from a half nap and sits up with a stretch, extending
her arm out the window to feel. "Mmm ... you choose ...", she answers
dreamily.
"South it is !"
She
watches Saffron's profile as she minds the oncoming traffic and works
the gears onto the highway. "You know ..." reaching over to twirl her
finger in a wisp of her hair, fluttering in the wind "I think you might
be a very bad influence on me."
Saffron smiles wide under her big sunglasses. "Yeah !"
And from there on after their story belongs to them and no one else, neither named nor not.
