Excerpt - Love is Blind

Once upon a time, Iesa believed she had found true love in a man know as Oran. She loved him more than she thought possible. When he was away, she sat on the steps of their small abode and counted her breaths till his form appeared over the hill. Her sight was keen. She ran to him, up the slope, crushing mint leaves beneath bare feet and leaving a trail of scent behind her.

“Ah my pretty lady, how has the world fared in my absence?”

She lowered he head but left her eyes on his, “Of this I would not know,” she answered. “I have watched the sun rise and full moon wax and wane, but only from the steps of home.”

He looked to her face and thought, “I am blessed with such devotion, and yet I fear her world is too small.”

“You would do well to wander the dell. To speak with the townsfolk and take in the sights,” he quietly confirmed.

She answered quickly, “I would not dare to miss your return my love. I am content to watch and wait.”

Oran ran his fingers through her sable locks. “Perhaps she is right. Were I to return, and not see her racing to the knoll, I would doubt her devotion.”

Their time was spent in a quiet manner. She tended his needs and he held her at night. Iesa would rise before the sun, grind fresh wheat to bake his bread, stoke the fire to life on the hearth, warming the room in which he woke. She followed the stream to the point where the water was clear and cold, filled with the sharp tang of earthen minerals. The walk was long and the buckets left her hands calloused, but to please him, surpassed all discomfort.

Oran could not but be content in his time at home. Iesa was radiant, green eyes and fair skin, slight of form yet rounded to please the eye. Did he love her? Even he knew not. If love was to feel comfort and no need to search further, then indeed, Iesa fulfilled this ideal.

The sun fell with a whisper over the hill. On the morrow Oran would again depart. His work took him to far away villages. At times spanning months. Iesa lay beside him single flame illuminating his handsome features. She believed her heart would break with every farewell. Her eyes wandered the shadows of his form. She breathed with him, inhaling and exhaling in unison. The candle wax slid silently to its base. Night music of cicadas and owls floated on the evening breeze. She slept very little since meeting Oran. Iesa would watch him dream. Lost in his face she let her eyelids drop and made a single wish.

She whispered to the creatures of the night, “Oh that I could never close my eyes to sleep would be a joy. To live with my eyes always open and taking in the beauty of my love would be all that I could hope for.”

She watched him sleep. She watched him turn in his dreams. She watched the morning light slowly bring his color to life. She watched him wake.


Together they climbed the hill. Oran held her close and leaned to place a single kiss upon her head. He let go the final embrace. With a smile and a ruffle of her hair, Oran turned and stepped into the wood. She watched him go. Iesa remained on the knoll till the chill of the air woke her from daydreams. A golden glow guided her to the warmth of home.

Unable to eat, she wrapped herself in a finely woven shawl of her own making and curled upon the bed she shared with Oran. No company she had this night. Her feet slid to the place where he would normally be. All she felt was the cool silken sheets. Isea pulled the pillows to her, embracing them. Already she missed her love. Weary with loneliness she closed her eyes to sleep.

“What is this?” she questioned. “I sleep but still see the shadows of the room.” She rose and leaned out the open window. Isea took a deep drink of the evening air and let her eyelids fall, however, they did not.

Days and nights passed. Iesa’s eyes never closed. She had taken to wrapping a black veil around her always-open eyes to dim the light and calm the sleepless nights. On the steps she lived. Waiting. Wondering. Time passed. The season changed from warmth of day to sudden darkened skies and hard rains. The mint she ran through lay dormant. Leaves turned to burnished gold’s beyond the knoll. So long he had been gone.

“What keeps him from me,” she wondered.

Iesa kept up with the house. She stocked the pantry with Oran’s favorite foods. She fell the trees in the southern woods and prepared for winter. With her tasks completed, she watched the knoll from the well-worn steps. As the sun surrendered to the pull of night, a figure, a shadow appeared on the hill. He heart forgot to beat, if only for an instant. She raced to the top of the knoll, the veil still wrapped and ends trailing behind her. The figure blurred with Iesa’s tears. Slowly she untied the veil. Before her was not her love but a humble caretaker from a neighboring farm. She looked at him questioningly.

“Are you Iesa? The mistress of a man know as Oran? He asked.

She nodded. It was uncommon for visitors to this vale.

He placed a hand on her shoulder and stated, “I bring ill tidings. Oran will not return to you. The dam on my lord’s estate broke as he was crossing the glade. He lives no more.”

Iesa stood on the knoll and watched the caretaker disappear into the depths of the shadowed wood. How long she stood there is unknown. The golden glow from the house dimmed and faded. The last light of dusk fell from the sky. She was without direction. There was no home without her love. No reason to turn towards that door. She placed one foot before the other and slowly made her way into the world.






Grass turns to sandy loam beneath her feet. Winter’s icy bite gives way to warm showers and scents of spring. She walks. The air becomes dry. Iesa finds the lack of moisture soothing. Her skin browns the veil remains to lessen the desert sun. She wanders. A simple pack holds all she needs for survival. Survive she does but what is life without hope. Isea makes camp for the night. Using bits of rosin wood the fire grows quickly. She prepares a small bowl of wild tubers and imagines Oran’s face in the shifting dunes. Awaken from her daydream, flocks of carrion scream past. The wind moans to the east. Swirls of sand rise in columns. Tiny grains stinging Iesa’s arms. She is new to this barren land. The secrets of the desert still unknown to her.

“Such a wind” she exclaims to herself. “It is as if the rain of home, with all its thundering power, has turned to stone.”

Her fire drowns in the rain of sand. Iesa’s exposed skin is red and raw from the pelting of millions of tiny rocks. She looks for cover but can find none. Clutching her cloak she attempts to hide from the storm. The cruel wind grasps her veil and peels it from her eyes. Unable to close them, she screams as the sand rips at her vision. Red tears slid silently down her cheeks.Iesa falls. She falls to the sand. She falls from her mind. Iesa sleeps.

The spicy scent of tobacco waves past Iesa. She moves hand. Soft furs cover her. A warm air she breathes. Birdsong unlike any she has heard before fills her mind. She struggles to rise but a firm hand presses her to the bedding.

“Ahh..in a hurry we are eh? A deep soothing voice says joyfully.

She begins to speak but no sounds emerge. Her throat dry and dusty, she coughs. Her hand is lifted and a cool stone mug placed within. Iesa’s trembles and is helped by strong yet soft hands. Guiding the mug to her lips. Sweetness coats her mouth. Soothing honey with hints of clover calm her thirst and sooth her swollen tongue.

“Many thanks,” she manages to whisper. Iesa lifts her head to see her savior but no light or face is there. Darkness is all she sees.

With hesitation, fearing her companion may think her mad, she asks, “Are my eyes open Sir? I see nothing to light this moment.”

He lowers his head and in a quiet tone replies, “Your eyes are indeed open. They have, in truth, never closed. You eyes remain open, even in sleep.”

Isea sipped again and asked, “How long have I been here kind soul?” She hesitated and added, “Time enough for sight to heal?”

She heard him sigh. The answer voiced without words.

“The moon has come full cycle since I found you. I fear the time for heals has passed.”