4/19/10

Europa

Not original pic!

"The mythographers tell that Zeus was enamored of Europa and decided to seduce or ravish her, the two being near-equivalent in Greek myth. He transformed himself into a tame white bull and mixed in with her father's herds. While Europa and her female attendants were gathering flowers, she saw the bull, caressed his flanks, and eventually got onto his back. Zeus took that opportunity and ran to the sea and swam, with her on his back, to the island of Crete. He then revealed his true identity, and Europa became the first queen of Crete."                 -- Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge

Here's my version.

Europa stood drearily on the sands. The water swirled in front of her, like in a storm. The sky above her was clear, though, and no noice seemed to disturb the breeze. There before her stood two women. One was black-haired and pinch-faced, like those tales had been told of over in the East. Then, the other stood, brown-haired, brown-skinned, and naked. The Eastern one shouted, "You don't even have a name! Why should you get the Phoinikian princess?" The naked shouted, "Asia, bite your tongue. Just because she was born in your territory does not mean you own her." The dream faded. Europa woke, and that morning called together her maids. They walked down to the beach with their towels and perfumes and soaps and Europa sat by the beach, picking the wildflowers and watching the sea before her calmly shifting. The lowing of her father's cattle echoed behind her. Something nuzzled her shoulder. She turned her head. There behind her stood a young bull, horns shining, with his fur as white as snow. It stood there staring down at her wide-eyed. She hopped to her feet. Her father had warned her, "If the cattle approach, leave slowly. They don't like being bothered. She walked calmly through the sand to the water. MOO. She turned again. There stood, the bull, watching her. He walked up and looked at her, almost big enough to be face to face to her. She smiled, "You look nice."

(...to be continued...)

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