A short story from: Coastal Maine in Words and Art: Gallery Fukurou’s Reflections by Maine Writers, 2019.

© Lee Heffner, 2019

The days of summer are over long. Moonrise calms the sea, if the goddess is willing. She likes to see her image reflected, the ripples like old glass enhance the outlook, hide the crow’s feet, the frown lines. Others see darkness; she sees hope. A well-lit night caresses. Welcomes. Beckons.

“Come, come, dance on the shore. No one is watching.”

But she lies. She is vigilant and anticipates a worthy prey. The pristine beauty experienced by the un-nuanced viewer is a trick of light and tide. The goddess controls the ebb and flow. She pulls you toward the sea. Wants you to dip your toes, feel the brine, hear the siren song. The unwary, easily caught, are not sport. A challenge is needed. An anxious and battle-worn explorer. So few remain in the advent of jets and URLs.

Where is the modern Odysseus? Can there be an Odysseus in a post-Google world? Or a man in the age of online matchmaking, who expects to know a woman who will suffer his expectations for twenty years of idle anticipation?

Can a patient Penelope exist in the modern world? Why would she want to? Women weave for pleasure, creativity and accomplishment, not to trick faux suitors.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Coastal Maine in Words and Art: Gallery Fukurou’s Reflections by Maine Writers, 2019 was published after a contest for writers to create stories to accompany art photography that depicted Rockland and the coast in its myriad situations, moods and emotions. This story was published in the book along with 27 others.

An overwhelming 88 stories were submitted for the contest. In the end seventeen writers were chosen. Their stories are told with depth, insight, candor, irony, wit and humor. Anyone who has every visited Maine’s coast will be able to relate to them. They’ve put humankind’s instinctive emotional connection with the sea into words.

A gallery exhibit/booksigning was held at Gallery Fukurou in September 2019. The contest was held by Polar Bear and Company, of the Solon Center for Research and Publishing.

The Maine Humanities Council provided a grant for our project that enabled the Solon Center to donate books to libraries across Maine. MHC is a statewide non-profit organization that uses the humanities, “as a tool for positive change in Maine communities.”

Please ask your local bookstore to order it in for you or, if need be, purchase it HERE. All photographic art is available through Gallery Fukurou at info(at)soloncenter.org.