Paradise

Paradise

She looked above where the sky never dimmed, a bright iridescence that never faltered, a ray of shine that is selfish, stealing the days from the dark all the way until their heads fell to the pillow and the covers shielded their skin. There sat just pastures, painted in radiance where the eyes were unable to turn from. Every second was a morrow, every meal supper, the very concept of a frown just a foreign idea in her mind. She loved the silk the retainers gifted and the domicile bigger than any moat she could’ve ever been endowed with.  Sometimes she wished to know, why she was chosen, why they swapped her barley with dancing petals, her backwater cod with meat stuffed pies, her water with wine and her wooly gowns with silk robes.

“Good morning, Lady Tyr.” At the foot of her canopy, a woman servant stood with wraps of silk over her arm.

“What day is it?” Tyr said. The woman was silent, she kept her form as if she was frozen in time. “Did you hear me?”

“Good morning my Lady!” Her smile was stretched from ear to ear, voice high pitched as she reiterated.

“What day is it?” Again, her mouth was sewed shut. “Can you prepare breakfast?”

The woman sired tears, her face stained with dried streams, “It would be my highest honor.” The woman waited at the door for Tyr, she guided her down a hall, people spoke amongst each other. There conversations halted suddenly, all the strangers becoming an audience with eyes all of her. The hall turned into a concentrated stillness, “This way my lady.” The woman said. She sat her at a long table, no one there to company her.

“I need to tend to the cows before dark…” She said as she set a plate of pie in her face. “Again?” The woman didn’t speak. “May I eat something else please?”

“But my lady… we’ve never served you before.’

“What day is it?” Stillness. “Can you show me where to tend to the cattle.” Again, she didn’t answer, “Where do you get the meat to cook, the milk to drink?”

“I shall tend to your bed my lady…”

Tyr went back to her canopy, her head embracing the pillows fabric. Her eyes closed; her consciousness quickly slipped into slumber. She awoke, the sky as bright as she knew it, “Good morning, Lady Tyr.” At the foot of her canopy, a woman servant stood with wraps of silk over her arm.

“What day is it?” Tyr said. The woman was silent, she kept her form as if she was frozen in time. “Did you hear me?” Tyr held her temple, rubbing her eyes until her vision was clear. She didn’t speak another word to the woman, she exited the moat walking into the farthest north she could.

She hadn’t noticed that the woman had followed her until the moat had disappeared in the distance. “Where are you going my lady?” Tyr ignored her as she ambled deep north. “My lady please, have I done something wrong?”

Tyr finally turned to her, “What day is it?”  She knew she’d only spoke on a deaf ear. “Where is the man I spoke to? Where has he gone? The woman of course never answered her question. Tyr continued her stride north, the only sight the endless grassland and stream.

“My lady… stop. Now…” Tyr hadn’t kept track of how long she walked, 1 second? 1 minute? 1 hour? 1 day? 1 month? 1 year? No way she could have known. “I shall tend to your bed my lady…” The smile reappeared back on her face.

She returned back to the moat, back to her slumber, back to her canopy, to her meat pies and silk. Don’t get her wrong she was the upmost grateful, but… they never stop. The time had slipped from her, there were only days… endless, everyone smiling all the time…. The ones who served never missed their arrival at the foot off her canopy, filled with so much joy they sired tears. No future to look forward to, no past to look back on…. She thought she’d been content with it all, these blessings, this… eternity with them.