Goddess of the Sea
P. C. Cast

Excerpt

The Valley Spirit never dies.
It is named the Mysterious Feminine.
And the doorway of the Mysterious Feminine
Is the base from which Heaven and Earth sprang.
It is there within us all the while.
Draw upon it as you will, it never runs dry...

From the Tao te Ching

PART I

CHAPTER 1

Arms filled with groceries, CC struggled to pull her key from the lock and push the door shut behind her with her foot. Automatically, she glanced up at the clock in the foyer of her spacious apartment. The hands of the clock, meant to look like shadows on the face of a fake sundial, told her it was already seven-thirty. It had taken her an eternity to finish things up at the Communication Center and then stop by the package store and the commissary. After that, fighting the traffic from Tinker Air Force Base had been like driving through axle-deep mud. To add to her frustration, she had tried to take a short cut on the way home, and had ended up taking a wrong turn. Soon she was hopelessly lost. A kind soul at a Quick Trip had given her directions, and she had felt compelled to explain to him that she was lost only because she had been stationed at Tinker for just three months, and she hadnıt had time to learn her way around yet.

The man had patted her shoulder like a she was a puppy and asked, "What is a young little thing like you doing in the Air Force?" CC had treated the question rhetorically, thanked him and driven away, face hot with embarrassment.

Understandably, her already harried nerves jumped at the insistent sound of her ringing phone.

"Hang on! Iım coming!" She yelled and rushed into the kitchen, plopping the bags unceremoniously onto the spotless counter and lunging for the phone.

"Hello," she panted into the dead sound of a dial tone that was broken only by the rhythmic bleat of her call notes telling her that she had a message. "Well, at least they left a message." CC sighed and carried the phone with her back to the kitchen, punching in her message retrieval code. With one hand she held the phone to her ear, and with the other she extracted twin bottles of champagne from one of the bags.

"You have two new messages." The mechanical voice proclaimed. "First new message, sent at five-thirty p.m."

CC listened attentively as she picked at the metallic casing that covered the wire-imprisoned champagne cork.

"Hello, Christine, itıs your parents!" Her momıs recorded voice, sounding a little unnatural and tinny, chirped through the phone.

"Hi there, Christine!" More distant, but similarly cheerful, Dadıs voice echoed from an extension.

CC smiled indulgently. Of course it was her parents - they were the only two people on this earth who still insisted on calling her by her "given" name.

"Just wanted to say we didnıt actually forget your Big Day."

Here her mom paused and she could hear her dad chuckling in the background. Forget her birthday? She hadnıt thought they had - until then.

Her momıs breathy voice continued. "Weıve just been running ourselves ragged getting ready for our next cruise! You know how long it takes your father to pack." This said in a conspiratory whisper. "But donıt worry, honey, even though we didnıt get your box off, we did manage to fix up a little surprise for our favorite twenty-five year old."

"Twenty-five?" Her dad sounded honestly surprised. "Well, good Lord. I thought she was only twenty-two."

"Time sure flies, dear." Mom said sagely.

"Damn straight, honey." Dad agreed. "Thatıs one reason I told you we should spend more time traveling - but only one reason." Dad chuckled suggestively.

"You certainly were right about that reason, dear." Mom kidded back breathlessly, suddenly sounding decades younger.

"Theyıre flirting with each other on my message." CC sputtered. "And they really did forget my birthday!"

"Anyway, weıre getting ready to leave for the airport-"

Dadıs voice, even more distant, broke in. "Elinor! Say goodbye, the airport limo is here."

"Well, have to go, Birthday Girl! Oh, and you have a nice time on your little Air Force trip. Arenıt you leaving in a couple of days?"

Her little Air Force trip?! CC rolled her eyes. Her ninety- day deployment as Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge of Quality Control at the Communications Center at Riyadh Air Base in Saudi Arabia to support the war on terrorism was just a "little Air Force trip?"

"And, honey, donıt you worry about flying wherever it is youıre going. Youıre old enough to be over that silly fear by now. And, my goodness, you did join the Air Force!"

CC shuddered, wishing her mother hadnıt mentioned her phobia - airplanes - flying half way around the world - over oceans of water. It was the only part of the Air Force she didnıt like.

"We love you! Bye now."

The message ended and CC, still shaking her head, hit the off button and put the phone on the counter.

"I canıt believe you guys forgot my birthday! Youıve always said that itıs impossible to forget my birthday because I was born right before midnight on Halloween night." She berated the phone while she reached into a cabinet for a champagne flute. "You didnıt even remember my box." She continued to glare at the phone as she wrestled with the champagne cork.

For the seven years CC had been on active duty service in the United States Air Force her parents had never forgotten her birthday box. Until now. Her twenty-fifth birthday - she had lived one-fourth a century. It really was a landmark year, and she was going to celebrate it with no birthday box from home.

"Itıs a family tradition!" She sputtered, popping the cork and holding the foaming bottle over the sink.

CC sighed and felt an unexpected twinge of homesickness.

No, she reminded herself sternly, she liked her life in the Air Force, and had never been sorry for her impetuous decision to join the service right out of high school - after all, it had certainly gotten her away from her nice, ordinary, quiet, small town life. No, she hadnıt exactly "seen the world," as the ads had promised. But she had lived in Texas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Colorado, and now Oklahoma, which were five states more than the majority of the complacent people in her hometown of Homer, Illinois, would ever live in, or even visit.

"Apparently that doesnıt include my parents!" CC poured the glass of champagne, sipped it and tapped her foot - still glaring at the phone. It seemed like during the past year her parents had gone on more Silver Adventure Tours than was humanly possible. "They must be trying to set some sort of record." CC remembered the flirty banter in their voices and closed her eyes quickly on that particular visual image.

Her eyes snapped back open and her gaze fastened again on the phone.

"But Mom, none of your homemade chocolate chip cookies?" She sipped the champagne and discovered she needed a refill. Already. "How am I supposed to cover all the food groups without my birthday box?" She reached into the other bag and pulled out the bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, original recipe of course. Pointing from the chicken to the champagne she continued her one-sided discourse. "I have the meat group - KFC - mixed with the all important grease group for proper digestion. Then I have the fruit group, champagne, my personal favorite. How am I supposed to complete the culinary birthday ensemble without the dairy/chocolate/sugar group?" She gestured in disgust at the phone.

Lifting the lid off the KFC she snagged a drumstick and bit into it. Then, using it to punctuate her hand gestures, she continued.

"You know that you guys always send something totally useless that makes me laugh and remember home. No matter where I am. Like the year before last when you sent me the frog rain gauge. And I donıt have a yard! And how about the ŒGod Bless this Houseı stepping stone, which I have to hang on the wall of my apartment, because I have no house!" CC disgruntled look was broken by a smile as she recounted her parentıs silly gifts.

"I suppose youıre trying to tell me to get married, or at the very least, to become a homeowner."

She chewed thoughtfully and sighed again, a little annoyed to realize that she was probably sounding fifteen instead of twenty-five. Then she brightened.

"Hey! I forgot about my other message," she told the phone as she scooped it back up, dialed her messages, and skipped past her parentıs voices.

"Next new message. Sent at 6:32 p.m."

CC grinned around a mouth full of chicken. It was probably Sandy, her oldest friend - actually she was the only high school friend she still kept in touch with. Sandy had known her since first grade, and she rarely forgot anything, let alone a birthday. The two of them loved to laugh long distance about how they had managed to "escape" small town Homer. Sandy had landed an excellent job working for a large hospital in the fun and fabulous city of Chicago. Her official title was Physician Affairs Liaison, which actually meant she was in charge of recruiting new doctors for the hospital, but she and Sandy loved the totally unrealistic risqué-sounding title. It was especially amusing because Sandy had been happily and faithfully married for three years.

"Hi there, CC. Long time no call, girl!"

Instead of Sandyıs familiar Midwestern accent, the voice had a long, fluid Southern draw. "Itıs me, Halley. Your favorite Georgia peach! Oh, my - I had such a hard time getting your new phone number. Naughty you forgot to give it to me when you shipped out."

CCıs grin slipped off her face like wax from a candle. Halley was one of the few things she hadnıt missed about her last duty station.

"Just have a quick second to talk. Iım calling to remind you that my thirtieth birthday is just a month and a half away - December fifteenth, to be exact - and I want you to mark your little olı calendar."

CC listened with disbelief. "This is like a train wreck. It just keeps getting worse and worse."

"Iım having the Party to End All Parties, and I expect your attendance. So put in for leave ASAP. Iıll send the formal invite in a week or so. And, yes, presents are acceptable." Halley giggled like a Southern Barbie doll. "See yıall soon. Bye-bye for now!"

"I donıt believe it." CC punched the off button with decidedly more force than was strictly necessary. "First my parents forget my birthday. Then not only does it look like my oldest friend has forgotten, but I get a call from an annoying non-friend inviting me to her party!" She dropped the phone back on the counter. "A month and a half in advance!"

CC shoved the unopened bottle of champagne into the fridge.

"Consider yourself on-deck," she told it grimly. Then she grabbed the open bottle of champagne, her half-empty glass, the bucket of KFC, and marched purposefully to the living room where she spread out her feast on the coffee table before returning to the kitchen for a handful of napkins. Passing the deceptively silent phone she halted and spun around.

"Oh, no. Iım not done with you; youıre coming with me." She tossed the phone next to her on the couch. "Just sit there. Iım keeping an eye on you."

CC picked out another piece of delightfully greasy chicken and clicked on the TV - and groaned. The screen was nothing but static.

"Oh, no! The cable!" Because she would be out of the country for three months, she had decided to have the cable temporarily disconnected, and had been proud of herself for being so money conscious. "Not tonight! I told them effective the first of November, not the thirty-first of October." She glanced at the silent phone. "You probably had something to do with this."

And she started to laugh, semi-hysterically.

"Iım talking to the telephone." She poured herself another glass of champagne, noting the bottle was now half empty. Sipping the bubbly liquid thoughtfully, CC spoke aloud, pointedly ignoring the phone. "This obviously calls for emergency measures. Time to breakout the Favorite Girl Movies."

Clutching the chicken thigh between her teeth, she wiped her hands on the paper towel before opening the video cabinet that stood next to her television set. Through a full mouth she mumbled the titles as she scanned her stash.

"Dirty Dancing, Shadowlands, West Side Story, Gone With the Wind," here she paused and chewed, considering. "Nope, too long - and itıs really not birthday material. Humm..." she kept reading. "Superman I, Pride and Prejudice, Last of the Mohicans, The Accidental Tourist, The Color Purple, The Witches of Eastwick-" which is where she stopped.

"This is exactly what I need. Some Girl Power." She plunked the video in the VCR. "No," she corrected herself. "This is better than Girl Power - itıs Women Power, Witch Power, Goddess Power!" CC raised her glass to the screen, toasting each of the vibrant movie goddess as they appeared. They were unique and fabulous.

Cher was mysterious and exotic, with a full, perfect mouth and a wealth of seductive ringlets that framed her face like the mane of a wild, dark lioness.

CC sighed. She couldnıt really do anything about her own little lips - if she did they would look like some kind of science experiment. Everything else about her was so small. But maybe it was time to rethink her short, boyish haircut.

Michelle Pfeiffer - now there was a gorgeous woman. Even playing the role of Ms. Fertile Mom, she was still undeniably ethereal in her blonde beauty.

No one would ever call her cute.

And Susan Sarandon. She couldnıt look frumpy even when she was dressed like an old schoolmarm music teacher. She oozed sexuality.

No guy would ever think of her as just a friend. At least no heterosexual guy.

"To three amazing women who are everything I wish I could be!" She couldnıt believe her glass was empty.

"Itıs a darn good thing we have another." She patted the phone affectionately before rescuing the other bottle from a life of loneliness in the fridge.

Ignoring the fact that her steps seemed a little unsteady, she settled back, grabbed a fourth piece of chicken, and slanted a glance at the ever-silent phone. "Bet it shocks you that someone whoıs so little can eat so much."

It answered with a shrill ring.

CC jumped, almost choking on the half-chewed piece of chicken. "Good Lord, you scared the bejeezes out of me!"

The phone bleated again.

"CC, itıs a phone. Get it together, Sarg." She shook her head at her own foolishness.

The thing rang again before she had her hands wiped and her nerves settled enough to answer it.

"H-hello?" She said tentatively.

"May I speak with Christine Canady, please?" The womanıs voice was unfamiliar, but pleasant sounding.

"This is she." CC clicked the remote and paused The Witches of Eastwick.

"Miss Canady, this is Jess Brown from Woodland Hills Resort in Branson, Missouri. Iım calling to tell you that your parents, Elinor and Herb, have given you a weekend in Branson at our beautiful resort for your twenty-second birthday! Happy Birthday, Miss Canady!" CC could almost see Jess Brown beaming in delight all the way from Branson. Wherever that was.

"Twenty-fifth," was all she could make her mouth say.

"Pardon?"

"Itıs my twenty-fifth birthday, not my twenty-second."

"No." Through the phone came the sound of papers being frantically rustled. "No, it says right here - Christine Canady, twenty-second birthday."

"But Iım not." CC pinched herself on the arm. Hard. Yes, it hurt. No, she couldnıt be trapped in the middle of a nightmare.

"Not Christine Canady?" Jess sounded worried.

"Not twenty-two!" CC eyed the newly opened second bottle of champagne. Maybe she was drunk and hallucinating.

"But you are Christine Canady?"

"Yes."

"And your parents are Elinor and Herb Canady?"

"Yes."

"Well, as long as youıre really you, I suppose the rest doesnıt matter." Jess was obviously relieved.

"I guess not." CC shrugged helplessly. She decided she might as well join the madness.

"Good!" Jessıs perkiness was back in place. "Now, just a few little details you should know. You can plan your weekend anytime in the next year, but you will need to call to reserve your cabin..."

Cabin? CCıs mind whirred. What had they done?

"...at least one month ahead of time or we cannot guarantee availability. And, of course, this gift is just for your personal use, but if you would like to bring a friend, the resort would be willing to allow him or her to join you for a nominal fee - or for totally free if he or she would be willing to attend a short informational meeting about our time share facility."

CC closed her eyes and rubbed her right temple where the echo of a headache was just beginning.

"And along with your wonderful Woodland weekend," Jess Brown alliterated, "your parents have generously reserved a ticket for you to the Andy Williams Moon River Theater, one of the most popular and long-running shows in Branson!"

CC couldnıt stop the bleak groan that escaped her lips.

"Oh, I can well understand your excitement!" Jess gushed. "Weıll be sending you the official information packet in the mail. Just let me double-check your address..."

CC heard herself woodenly confirming her address.

"Okay! I think thatıs all the information we need. You have a lovely evening, Miss Canady, and a very happy twenty- second birthday!" Jess Brown cheerfully clicked off the line.

"But, where is Branson?" CC asked the dial tone.

CHAPTER 2

"Thatıs right!" CC shouted at the TV, sloshing champagne onto the carpet as she raised her glass dramatically. "Click him off, girlfriends! Jack Nicholson wasnıt cute, anyway - and it was the three of you who really had the magic the whole time."

CC hardly noticed her unsteadiness as she got to her feet to dance The Womanıs Magic Victory Dance while the movie credits rolled.

"Mr. Phone," she took a break from her Victory Dance to catch her breath. Fleetingly, she wondered just who had eaten all that KFC.

Mr. Phone seemed to be smiling at her from his place on the couch.

"Do you know that women have all the magic?"

He didnıt answer.

"Of course you donıt - youıre a phone!" CC giggled. "You didnıt even know I was twenty-five instead of twenty-two." She laughed until she snorted. "But you do now. And after watching that most excellent movie, you should know that women have magic, too."

Mr. Phone seemed skeptical.

"Itıs true! Didnıt Cher and Michelle and Susan just prove it?" CC wobbled, but only a little. "Oh, I see what you mean. You think they have magic, but you donıt really believe that an ordinary woman, like me, could have magic."

CC couldnıt be entirely sure, but he appeared to be willing to listen.

"Okay. You may be right, but what if youıre not? What if women really do have something within them, and we just have to find it? Like they did." CC felt the spark of an idea, and her brow wrinkled in an attempt at concentration. "They didnıt believe it at first, either, but that didnıt stop it from working. Maybe it doesnıt matter if youıre ordinary-looking, or if youıre new somewhere and you donıt have any friends yet." Or, CCıs mind added, if your birthday has been forgotten. "Maybe all it takes is a leap of faith."

And a milky light flashed in the corner of her left eye, breaking her concentration.

What the...? A little shiver of trepidation fingered its way down the nape of her neck.

The light was coming from behind the closed drapes that shrouded the patio doors leading to her balcony.

CC checked the VCR clock. The digital numbers read 10:05 p.m.

"Must be the streetlights." She told Mr. Phone, but her eyes remained riveted on the captivating glimpse of brightness. The sliver of light she could see had an odd quality, totally unlike the sterile brightness of streetlights.

"Could be headlights from a parked car." But as she said it she knew it couldnıt be true. Not in her top floor apartment. Car headlights didnıt shine up. They also didnıt have a quality of warmth that made her want to bathe herself in them.

CCıs feet took her to the drapes before she consciously told them to move.

"You asked for some magic," she whispered. Slowly, like she was moving through the sweet twilight between awake and asleep, she reached up and parted the curtains.

"Ohhhh..." The word came out on a breath. "It is magic."

The full moon hung perfect and luminous above her as if the goddess Diana herself had placed it there as a birthday offering. It bathed the riot of potted plants that crowded the balcony in a warm, opal-like glow. She quickly unlatched the glass doors and stepped out into the gentle warmth of a late October Oklahoma night.

CCıs balcony was large, and it looked out on a greenbelt that divided the apartment complex and an upscale neighborhood. The amazing balcony was the reason she had decided to stretch her budget and afford the rent for the pricey apartment. She loved to sit there and let the comforting sounds of the trees melt away the tension that too often clung to her from work, and could even stubbornly stay with her through her kick-boxing class and the warm bubble bath soak with which she so often followed it. She had spent many evenings there, as was evident by the comfortable wicker rocking chair and the matching whatnot table that was just the right size to hold a book and a glass of something cold. Nestled in the middle of the lush plants was her favorite piece of balcony furniture, a mini version of a chimenea.

Tonight the creamy color of the chimenea caught the moonıs caress and reflected its light like moonlight off the sands of an exotic beach.

Suddenly, she tilted her head back and spread her arms, as if she could embrace the night. The full moon filled her vision and she felt her body flush, like she was being saturated in the light of another world.

And her head snapped up.

"It is true," she said to the listening night. "It must be true."

And an idea was born, conceived of champagne and moonlight. CC grinned and whirled back through the open glass doors. Practically skipping, she rushed to her bedroom, already unbuttoning her Air Force uniform. The dark blue skirt and light blue blouse pooled with her pantyhose and bra.

"Step one."

Naked, CC pulled open her pajama drawer and pawed through it until she found the long, silk nightgown that lay at the bottom, ignored for her more practical cotton nightshirts. A uniform is good for work, but not for magic, she told herself and pulled the pale gown over her head, loving the erotic feel of it as it slid down her naked body.

"I will wear this more often," she promised aloud.

"Step two," she moved resolutely to her spare room, which she had recently begun to set up as an office. So far she had only had the time and money to buy a computer desk and chair for her five-year-old computer. Her books were stacked neatly on the floor, waiting for the bookshelves that she had promised them. She flicked on the overhead light and started searching the piles of old textbooks, accumulated over the past seven years while she haphazardly took college classes, never sure which field she wanted to totally commit herself to major in. CC combed through texts that ranged from Anatomy and Physiology lab guides to Basic Business Accounting 101.

"Here you are!" She pulled out the medium-sized text that had been hidden under an enormous Humanities tomb. It was titled, The Matriarchal Era - Myth and Legend. CC fondly remembered the semester of Womenıs Studies and the witty Professor Teresa Miller who had made that class one of her all time favorites. She could still hear Ms. Millerıs expressive voice reading aloud words that had been authored in an ancient time when women had been revered and even worshipped.

"Where is it?" She mumbled to herself as she scanned the index, her finger lightly going down each row of names, finally stopping near the beginning of the Gıs.

"Gaea!"

She sat back on her heels, turned to page eighty-six, and read aloud "Gaea, or Gaia, was an Earth Goddess, the Great Mother, known as The Oldest of the Divinities. She ruled magic, prophecy, and motherhood. Although Zeus and other male gods took over Her shrines during the emergence of the patriarchal insurgence, the gods swore all their oaths in Her name, thus ultimately remaining subjected to Her Law."

CC nodded her head. This was exactly what she had been looking for. Gaea was the Mother of Magic. Flipping back to the index she turned pages till she found the Rıs.

"Rituals! Earth Ritual page one-fifty-two." She shuffled through the slick, white pages and made a victorious exclamation when she found it. "Ha! I knew it!" Silently she read the ancient invocation, tugging on her bottom lip in concentration. When she had finished reading she took the book to her desk and sat quietly for a moment, then with a satisfied smile she wrote a single sentence in blue ink on a piece of plain white Xerox paper and folded it once. Bending the page to mark her place in the text, she headed back to the living room, book and paper in hand.

This time when she stepped onto the balcony she brought with her a book, a piece of white paper on which was written a single sentence, a clean champagne flute filled with cold water, a box of long-handled matches, and a determination that showed clearly in the square set of her shoulders.

The chimenea was just big enough to hold one block of fragrant pinyon wood. Deftly, she fed its small mouth and lit the dry pinyon. Then she moved to a long, thin planter that was hooked to the wrought iron balcony railing. She caressed the velvety leafs, and bent to inhale the tangy fragrance of mint.

"Itıs a lucky thing that I have such a green thumb," she smiled.

Choosing carefully, she snapped off the tops of several of the larger plants.

The spicy scent of burning pinyon rose from the chimenea like mist. The smoke hovered around the balcony. Clearly visible in the moonlight, it twisted and lifted in the warm breeze like ocean waves. CCıs breath caught in excitement as she hurried to position herself in front of the chimenea. She placed the cut mint on the little table next to the glass of water and the piece of paper, then she opened the book to the turned-down page. With a growing sense of excitement she cleared her throat and began to read.

"Great Mother, Gaea, ripe Creatress of all that exists, I call upon You to be here with me now."

As she fell into the rhythm of the ancient ritual, the tentative quality left her voice and she felt an unexpected rush of feeling pass over the hair on her bare arms, almost like a spark of static electricity.

"I need your guidance as I strive for spiritual knowledge and growth. Help me also with..." CC paused. Here in the text there were the parenthesized words (priestess states her purpose). She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, concentrating with all of her heart and soul, then she repeated, "Help me also with creating magic in my life."

Reopening her eyes she continued to read. "I wish with all my heart to accomplish my desires in a positive way. Reveal to me the direction to take. I await Your guidance and aid."

A breath of air touched the pages of the open book and for a moment it quivered and felt alive in her hands.

CC shivered in response. The night was hushed, like a lover waiting for her belovedıs next words.

"I give my desires and dreams into Your keeping."

With one hand she held open the book. She used her other hand to fan her fingers slowly through the drifting pinyon smoke.

"By Air I create the seed." The smoke swirled in lazy, dancing circles.

With the same hand she reached for the piece of folded paper, on which was written a single sentence in CCıs compact cursive hand, I want magic in my life. The wish filled her mind...oh, please, she prayed.

"By Fire I warm it."

The paper went into the fire and caught instantly ablaze with a fierce, green flame.

Through her mind brushed the thought that it shouldnıt have done that - it was just a simple piece of copy paper. Nothing about it could have made a wild, green flame. CCıs heartbeat increased erratically, but she forced her hand to be steady as she took the crystal glass filled with cold, clear water and with delicate flicks of her fingers she scattered it in a small circle around the chimenea.

"By Water, I nourish it."

CC stepped within the newly made circle. It glistened in the moonlight like lacework made of mercury. She bent back to the table and gathered the sprigs of mint in her hand.

"By Earth, I cause it to grow."

She tossed the delicate plants into the fire where they sizzled and glowed. She watched as they began to dissolve. For an instant CC thought they looked like some kind of exotic seaweed, and she could actually smell the salty tang of the ocean.

"From Spirit, I draw the power to make all things possible as I join in the power of the Goddess." With a burst of emotion CC dropped the text to the table and completed the words of the ritual as if they were written upon her heart. "Thank you, Gaea, Great Mother Goddess!"

As if in response to her invocation, the breeze shifted and cooled. The pinyon smoke spiraled up, diaphanous and glowing with the light of aquamarines. Transfixed, CC watched it disappear into the moon drenched sky.

The breeze continued to increase and CC impulsively raised her hands over her head, fingers outstretched as if she could capture the moon within them. Slowly she began to sway, letting the wind move her in time to the symphony of the night. Her bare feet found their own dance as they followed the circumference of the damp circle. The wind licked around her body, drawing the silk of her nightgown against the warmth of her skin.

CC looked down at her body and felt her eyes widen in surprise. Usually she thought of herself as too petite to be considered sexy, but tonight the moonlight mingled with silk and cast a spell on her body. Through the thin fabric her breasts were clearly visible and her small, perfect nipples felt sensitive and tight as they puckered against its softness. She swung her leg forward in a graceful dance step that had lain dormant within her since grade school ballet lessons. The nightgown molded itself to her thighs, making her feel like she had just stepped from the canvas of a voluptuous Maxfield Parish painting. The moonlight caught the ripples and folds of silk, giving life to the pale color and turning it into frothing sea foam. She laughed aloud at her unexpected beauty and twirled on feet that had wings.

"I have magic!" She proclaimed to the night

Shadows flitted across the balcony and she looked up to see wisps of clouds, like half-formed thoughts, beginning to obscure the face of the attendant moon. The wind increased and CCıs dance kept time with it, mirroring the tempo of the swaying trees.

The deafening crack of thunder should have frightened her, but instead CC felt like the coming storm had originated within her body. When the blue-white shard of lightening pierced the sky it only fueled her appetite for the night, and she whooped, adding her own voice to the tempest.

Like a ripened fruit the sky burst apart, sending a rush of whimsical rain to join in her celebration. CC spun and twirled and laughed aloud. She reveled in every instant. She noticed how her plants seemed to move their leaves with her, and how the falling rain glistened amidst them like faceted jewels. Her eyes were drawn to the mundane stretch of blacktop parking lot below her, and she was amazed at how the rain had transformed it into the glass-like surface of a mysterious, shadow covered ocean.

CC lifted her arms and pirouetted as the rain swathed her in damp majesty. She laughed aloud, and believed she clearly heard the sound of another womanıs musical laughter - and for a magically suspended moment their voices merged, filling the balcony with joy and love.

Then the sky exploded with another flash of light, and the rain roped down in a torrent. CC realized that her drapes were billowing wildly within her apartment and rain was drenching her living room carpet. Still laughing, she scrambled wetly through the open patio doors and pulled them securely closed behind her.

Shivering a little in a puddle of sopped carpet she should have felt melted, instead she felt invigorated. CC held her arms away from her body and watched as diamonized drops of water slid down the soaked cloth of her nightgown.

"I have never been this alive." She was compelled to speak the words aloud. She shook her head, letting the water float around her, and ran her fingers through her short curls.