This is to continue where I left off. Since I didn’t revise what I wrote previously, I decided to just post the new plots. This way, you won’t feel bogged down by my tedious article. In case you couldn’t recall what I wrote earlier or if you haven’t read it before, this is the link to it. http://elisaenglish.pixnet.net/blog/post/26929750
Beware! Some of the contents in this article contain sensitive and controversial topics which some readers might find objectionable. This is just a fictional story which might portray some reality in life but not in its entirety.
A Fictional Story – A Glimpse of the Past (Continued)
Written by Elisa English, all rights reserved
Drafted on 1/29/2011 in Minneapolis.
Modified on 2/6/2011 in Minneapolis.
Modified on 2/12/2011 in Minneapolis.
Modified on 2/18/2011 in Minneapolis.
Revised on 2/14/2012 in Minneapolis.
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Chapter 2: Jonathan
Across the table, a young man, bewildered by the villagers’ gossip and intrigued by Diana’s mystical life, had been studying her every emotion attentively. Not much had transpired the last time he visited the village with the exception of this lady who seemed to capture the interest of the entire village. No sooner had he arrived at the village, than he was informed of Diana’s reclusiveness with no details escaped from the hospitality of the villagers.
As Diana raised her head, her eyes met his. That look in his eyes puzzled her. Had she seen it somewhere? She felt a sense of familiarity under his intoxicating yet inscrutable gaze. His eyes were like emerald within which confidence and a dangerous sensuality exuded. Another nosy spectator, she thought, as she saw in his countenance a hint of curiosity. However, unforeseeably, in his eyes, she sensed a young lady looking back at her. Amelia! Unbidden, a blurry image sprang before her. Her heartbeat skipped; she almost lost her equanimity. What had just happened? Incapable of comprehension, she was in utter bafflement. Were those the eyes of Amelia? Was that the sense of familiarity she felt in him? Who exactly was Amelia, the name cried in her dream? Was there a connection between Amelia and this young man? A thousand questions popped up in her mind. Hitherto Amelia had only been a name in her dream; now was the dream to unfold itself before her.
She casually tore her glance away, trying to betray not the slightest emotion. That excruciating pain and the unfathomable melancholy again preyed upon her mind and devoured her heart. She seemed to hear echoes of the cries and of the forgotten past.
Jonathan watched with intense interest the many emotions she tried to hide under her nonchalance. He wondered what might have perplexed her mind, so turbulent and inconceivable, that she so desperately tried to hide and so helplessly betrayed her senses. After catching her glance, Jonathan decided to approach her and introduce himself. Diana looked up at him, abstracted. Tried hard as she might to maintain her composure with a pretense of insouciance, Jonathan could still discern a flash of sorrow in her eyes. A sense of nostalgia seemed to permeate the air.
Minutes lengthened into hours; there in the air was an awkward silence and in the library scarcely an eye not fixated upon them. Diana finally broke out of her daze to find the curiosity of the entire room aroused.
Her inescapable fate, she frowned. Regardless of how adroitly she tried to evade public attention, it perpetuated in gazing right back at her. Did her reticence mistaken for caprice and the mystery created by her amnesia inadvertently intensify the attention that placed upon her? How she wished that everyone would just leave her alone and give her the peace for which she so hankered!
She continued her conversation with Jonathan politely, though in a disengaged tone, aloofly and elusively. Suddenly came a crack of thunder, trailed by a cloudburst, so loud and shocking, sending everyone into consternation. She was relieved to see people’s attention diverted. Strangely, she felt the urge to confront her dream with Jonathan. Should she tell the stranger, a dream to no man had she revealed, and the fear of whatever dark secret she might unveil? What a droll idea! How preposterous to even consider!
Jonathan, on the other side, pondered a similar question. Indifferent as Diana was, Jonathan could still sense the warmth in Diana’s heart and the wildness inside her. She somehow reminded him of his sister even though he had no knowledge of her other than the gossip which entailed little truth. The thought of his sister warmed his heart. Jonathan flirted with the idea of telling Diana about his lovely sister. He loved his sister dearly for her free spirit and her defiance against hypocrisy. Her unorthodox behavior, especially around her sexuality and sexual preference, stirred up controversy in their deeply religious Christian community. She was scorned and later ousted, and subsequently became a taboo which no one in the family or the community should ever bring up.
Growing up, he often questioned the meaning of Christian love, the love with conditions, that love must be grounded in perfect morality as it was impossible for God to love outside His moral Nature. The Old Testament taught him not to lie with a man as one lay with a woman as which was detestable (Leviticus 18:22), and if a man lay with a man as one lay with a woman, both of them had done what was detestable. They must be put to death; their blood would be on their own heads (Leviticus 20:13). In New Testament, he learned that God gave them over to shameful lusts. For the men who committed indecent acts with other men, they would receive in themselves the due penalty of their perversion (Romans 1:25-27). Furthermore, the note from Paul to the community at Corinth stated that neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers would inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-10). All those doctrine that condemned homosexuality as evil passions where homosexuality was seen as a sin did not for a moment shake his love for his sister. He loved his sister unconditionally, the sister who shared the same blood and taught him the true value of love.
The drenching rain continued. Is it time to spill the beans? Jonathan could still remember when the whole community went buzzard upon hearing the news of his sister’s wedding and her adopting a daughter. He felt the compulsion to tell Diana all about her, but instead, he decided to tell her of his profession first, a private eye - a profession which he picked up since the disappearance of his sister a year ago. Alarmed, Diana looked at Jonathan, wondering what kind of business he could have in this remote village. Skeptic, she corresponded with equal apathy and terseness about her stay under the doctors’ recommendation.
Diana was not good at socializing with people. In fact, she hated the small talks. Their conversation carried on pointlessly and her mind wandered off to the ponds on the meadow where the shadowy willows seemed to whisper a melancholy tune, speaking into her sorrow. “……. Amelia …….” She looked at him shockingly; incomprehension filled her face. Did he just say “Amelia?"
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Written by Elisa English, all rights reserved
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