Dante's Heart
Fourteen Pieces
"Mark what you have said, kin-brother and kin-slayer, for I will not forget."
Isis took her leave of Typhon, and cursed his name with darkness. Her
mantle trailed on the ground and irises as deep as the night sprang to life
behind her. Typhon had killed her Osiris, the light of the heavens and the
soul of the earth. Where he had walked, men dreamed, and where he had
slept, children played. When he went to war, his weapons were of laughter
and song, and when he loved, the earth grew fertile and swelled with his gifts.
But Typhon was jealousy and spiteful, and now Osiris was scattered to
the four winds. Isis knew not where to begin to look, and she wept with
anguish.
"Gentle one, I will walk with you and we will search together." Anubis took
Isis by the hand and together, they went forward.
She found the first piece at dawn. An oyster lay on a rock far in the
ocean. Isis swam out to the rock and her wake turned to sea creatures that
shone like the stars.
The shell was fastened tight to the rock, but Isis tore at it until her fingers
bled. Her blood trickled into the water and became tiny fish that flashed in
the morning's sun.
"Gentle one, use my dagger." Anubis handed his stepmother his knife.
She thanked him and pried the oyster open. Inside was Osiris's left hand.
Isis wept at the sight and her tears turned to barnacles, covering the rock
and cutting her feet.
She found the second piece at noon. Isis wandered the desert and as the
sand of the wastelands shifted, they exposed the top of a mud hut. She
ran to it as the scourge of the sun blistered her fair skin. Anubis pressed a
waterskin to her lips and the drops that fell to the earth grew into mighty
palm trees.
The mud hut was partially covered by a mighty sand dune, so Isis dug at the
desert with her torn hands, weeping while she worked. Her tears became a
great oasis.
When her hands touched the hut, she could not pry the roof open without
the mountain of sand caving in around her. "I will help," Anubis said. He
took a mighty breath and blew the sand away.
Isis withdrew Osiris's heart from the hut.
Back Page 3
"Mark what you have said, kin-brother and kin-slayer, for I will not forget."
Isis took her leave of Typhon, and cursed his name with darkness. Her
mantle trailed on the ground and irises as deep as the night sprang to life
behind her. Typhon had killed her Osiris, the light of the heavens and the
soul of the earth. Where he had walked, men dreamed, and where he had
slept, children played. When he went to war, his weapons were of laughter
and song, and when he loved, the earth grew fertile and swelled with his gifts.
But Typhon was jealousy and spiteful, and now Osiris was scattered to
the four winds. Isis knew not where to begin to look, and she wept with
anguish.
"Gentle one, I will walk with you and we will search together." Anubis took
Isis by the hand and together, they went forward.
She found the first piece at dawn. An oyster lay on a rock far in the
ocean. Isis swam out to the rock and her wake turned to sea creatures that
shone like the stars.
The shell was fastened tight to the rock, but Isis tore at it until her fingers
bled. Her blood trickled into the water and became tiny fish that flashed in
the morning's sun.
"Gentle one, use my dagger." Anubis handed his stepmother his knife.
She thanked him and pried the oyster open. Inside was Osiris's left hand.
Isis wept at the sight and her tears turned to barnacles, covering the rock
and cutting her feet.
She found the second piece at noon. Isis wandered the desert and as the
sand of the wastelands shifted, they exposed the top of a mud hut. She
ran to it as the scourge of the sun blistered her fair skin. Anubis pressed a
waterskin to her lips and the drops that fell to the earth grew into mighty
palm trees.
The mud hut was partially covered by a mighty sand dune, so Isis dug at the
desert with her torn hands, weeping while she worked. Her tears became a
great oasis.
When her hands touched the hut, she could not pry the roof open without
the mountain of sand caving in around her. "I will help," Anubis said. He
took a mighty breath and blew the sand away.
Isis withdrew Osiris's heart from the hut.
Back Page 3
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |