The beginning of August carried with it a soft breeze that hardly cushioned the effect of the blazing sun on Ody’s skin. Looking around him, Ody took in the scenery: the summer sun was setting over the cerulean tops of the standard stark white Greek houses. His best friends stood by his side with bittersweet countenance as they knew their time abroad was drawing to a close.
It all started with a spontaneous airline ticket purchase into Venice, Italy. Three weeks of adventure unfolded before them as they backpacked the coast of Croatia, hiked the Alps, and caught a fairy over the deep waters of the Adriatic Sea to land them in Greece the last few days of their journey. The very next day they were to catch a plane back to Houston, away from their dreams and into the ‘real’ world. It was at this time that Ody got the call.
“Ode, it’s your father. I know you are abroad, but I had to call. It’s…”
“Dad? What’s going on?” said Ody, detecting the tone in his father’s voice.
“Your mother, Ody. Your mother is gone. We found her late last night. She was missing you so she went to your favorite spot, on the mountain behind the pasture, just to feel closer to you. She must have misstepped… and… she fell quite a ways down. She didn’t make it.”
This dialogue went on for a few more minutes when it seemed that there was nothing left to say. Ody booked a flight from Houston to his home in Oregon, resolving to meet his dad at the airport the next evening to figure everything out. Until then, Ody had to get through the his last night in Greece.
His friends did their best to comfort him, but really just served best when trying to distract his mind. That night, Ody’s sleep proved to be even more unrestful than being awake.
He was back at home, walking through the pasture with a blanket and journal in tow, heading for his fort. It was his favorite place to go while growing up. He was climbing the final stretch of the rocky trail, the fort’s tree in sight. Inside, he sat with his journal open, wanting to write but not knowing where to begin.
He heard a noise and saw his mother climbing the ladder to get inside; she must have followed him. He leant her a hand and pulled her up to the seat next to him.
“What’s troubling you?” his mother asked.
“Mom, I… don’t know. Why did you leave? How could you leave? What am I going to do?
“I didn’t know that when I had left for Europe I would never see you again. It’s my fault. I should have warned you not to come up to the fort alone, it can be dangerous.” Ody sobbed.
“I know, son, I know. I didn’t want to leave, I really just missed you, that’s all. Promise me that when you return, you’ll hug our family extra tight for me.”
At that instant, Ody woke up in the night. Plagued by his dreams, but a small part of him thrilled he was able to get another glimpse at his mother’s face, no matter how counterfeit.
And so it began, his journey of grief. He didn’t realize that as he was leaving the journey of his dreams, he would be arriving to an entirely new journey, one he never hoped to begin. The journey of grief and loss.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Author's Note: This is a very loose version of the story in Homer's Odyssey, translated by Tony Kline in 2000, called The Spirit of Anticleia. In the original story, Odysseus and his men have traveled all over the earth, conquering many beasts and all kinds of evil. He finds himself traveling to the underworld to seek the advice of a friend that had passed, and there he sees the spirit of his mother, Anticleia. When he had left his home in Ithaca, his mother had been alive. He first discovered her death through visiting the underworld.
While greek mythology may seem hard to translate into real-world terms, I wanted to do something about the impact of losing a mother. While a majority of people can't relate to cyclops’ deaths, and being enchanted by princesses, most can relate to the sting of death in one way or another. That is what I hope to have conveyed through writing the story. No matter where you are in your journey of grief, you can feel for Ody, who has just begun his own.
On a completely random sidenote, I decided the setting for this story based on the exact trip a friend and I are taking to Europe this summer. We will be flying into Italy and out of Athens after three weeks of adventuring over there. This fact made it a little more interesting to write, although I am praying against it being any sort of foreshadowing for my life!
While greek mythology may seem hard to translate into real-world terms, I wanted to do something about the impact of losing a mother. While a majority of people can't relate to cyclops’ deaths, and being enchanted by princesses, most can relate to the sting of death in one way or another. That is what I hope to have conveyed through writing the story. No matter where you are in your journey of grief, you can feel for Ody, who has just begun his own.
On a completely random sidenote, I decided the setting for this story based on the exact trip a friend and I are taking to Europe this summer. We will be flying into Italy and out of Athens after three weeks of adventuring over there. This fact made it a little more interesting to write, although I am praying against it being any sort of foreshadowing for my life!
Santorini, Greece.
Image Credit: BlogLovin'
Yes, I can definitely relate to your story about death. I lost my mother one year ago to Alzheimer's disease. I did not live in the same area, so I was not able to be with her during her passing. I understand the grief that Ody felt when he learned of her passing and not being able to be there to see her one more time before she was gone. Your story was incredibly vivid to me and I really liked it. Death is a hard topic to write about and I think you did it beautifully. The best part for me was when he got to see his mother's face one more time in his dreams. That was a special moment for me. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteO this story took me back to the way I felt when my grandma died. You did a great job of capturing the beginning stages of grief one feels when a loved one is lost.
ReplyDelete“Counterfeit,” in the next to the last paragraph is used SO well!
FYI: The letters are highlighted in white (Which I know can be hard to fix sometimes, but I find if you “paste as text,” or something like that, it doesn't do that.) Also in your second paragraph you said “fairy” when I think you meant “ferry.”
Really cool story you chose to write about. I like the format of your story, it was super easy to follow and read. Breaking up everything into paragraphs made it easy to distinguish the third person, Ode, and his dad. The italics of Ode’s mother talking in his dream was another good touch. I never had to go back and reread or stress to figure out who was talking or what was happening. Colors and font were both great, nothing crazy at all. They didn’t distract from the content one bit.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I personally would have changed was the link to the story itself. I spend some time looking for thing link, and the only reason why I found it was because my mouse scrolled over the title. I would have liked the title to be underlined in the first place; it would have been more obvious to know where to look.
You did a really great job with this story, Avery. You writing instantly pulled me in and made me want to keep reading. The way you described everything made it seem so real! I also liked that you added in that Oregon was Ody's home state because Oregon is my favorite state. Your story made me want to read the unit that you took the story from.
ReplyDelete