Red Sands

With the first breath came the sun, all fire and heat.  Alone in the cold darkness, he let a drop of his fire fall into the vastness, which became the heart of the Earth.  As time passed, the Earth grew and cooled, with blue waters and green lands forming upon her skin.  The Sun marveled at her beauty and loved it so much that he moved around and around to warm her.  But he could not keep both sides of the Earth warm, so he dropped another bit of fire on her other side, that he could light from afar, so she would always know how his love shone for her.  Thus came the Moon.  

Yet, despite his adoration of the Earth, there came a time when the Sun fell in love with the Moon as well.  The Moon crossed between the Sun and Earth and from that union came the stars.  When the Earth felt the shadow of the love between the Moon and Sun, she wept.  In her anger, she took her fire-heart and crushed it into dust.  This is our home - the Red Desert - where the Earth broke her own heart.

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This is a legend of the people who inhabit the red-sanded place described in the little fiction from a week or so ago, entitled "Laelani."  Just something that popped into my head tonight, enhancing a novel idea that has been with me for a very long time.

Laelani

It was the same dream.

She was running, always running. The Blue One led her by the hand and she could sense the others behind them. They sprinted past rocky outcroppings, the only thing that could grow in the surrounding, vast red desert. Heat shimmered over the cracked earth, their feet breaking though its illusory pools of water.

Her dress was drenched with sweat and it dripped from her face like endless tears, the salt stinging her dry and broken lips. She couldn't speak to the Blue One for want of breath and as her legs gave out from under her, her slick palm slipped from his. The others ran past her, unseeing. She felt her voice break as she tried to cry out, but no sound came.

Then the Green One turned, sensing her absence, and the others stopped at the command.  They seemed to call out to her, waving frantically, but she couldn't hear their voices. She tried to stand and fell again, scraping her arms in the rusty grit.

The Yellow and Blue Ones began to run back to her, suddenly seeming a mile away. She noticed a sharply cold rush of air from behind and, turning, saw what they had been running from. An endless expanse of darkness covered the land and sky inched steadily over their tracks, with snake-like tendrils feeling the way towards her.

At the sight, she struggled to rise, but her body was leaden with fatigue. She felt the others running toward her and watched the darkness creep to engulf her and then a gasp caught in her broken throat.

"I can see."

Then her eyes would snap open to the constant darkness.