Sensual roses.

Redolent gardenias.

The scent of spring carried by the winds,

And the sun on its zenith,

Made the milieu seem preternatural.

No day could ever be compared

To such a flawless day.

A ruby-haired sylph

Ran freely through the open country,

Feeling the aromatic winds hit her face,

And run through her hair, whirling the strands,

And weaving small flowers into it.

The young girl slowed her pace,

As she entered the enchanted forest.

Her appearance metamorphosed,

A luminous glow surrounded her body,

As she approached the waters of the pond.

Her arms and feet moved to a silent beat.

The rich textures of her skirt

Flowed with the breeze,

As her body floated on top of the pool of liquid,

As if it was her crystal stage.

In the midst of her dance,

A vortex formed beneath her feet,

Intensifying with every spiral she made,

Dragging her body under the sapphire waters.

The figure vanished.

Unsure of where she had crossed to,

And the vicissitude that she had just experienced,

She found herself with the caprice

To explore the unknown.

An evanescent shadow passed her by.

The sylph became filled with fear.

She held her breath.

The shade revealed itself to the child,

And whispered a laconic anathema to her ear.

She metamorphosed again,

Shedding her innocence and

Ripping her apart.

The young woman felt the necessity

To run away and break the glass

That contained her life.

She understood that the phantom she met

Had been the nemesis that catapulted

Her transformation.

An unexpected wind,

Started a vortex that led to

The world above her,

The world she had left behind so much time ago.

Time stopped for a slight second,

As her body levitated from the ground

Into the vortex.

She underwent a renaissance,

Expelling all she had acquired

During her stay

Beneath the now tarnished waters.

The milieu of her early years never vanished,

Looking as beautiful as it did before…

Maybe even more.

The sylph wandered around the forest.

The exhilarating fragrances activated her senses

To experience things forgotten and things new.

She ran and danced shamelessly,

Now living the freedom

She had been longing for so long.

She had broken forever the anathema the

Shadow once whispered.

***Adrianna Fernandez***

29/Nov/05