1 Feb 2013

Addicted to Heroines


Let me present Liliha heroine from Still Rock Water. Hold out your ring and let the people see. Beautiful. A star moonstone, isn't it? I've heard about them, but never seen one.

       Tell me. Why do you go on helping people each time you're called to a vision, Liliha? Surely it would be easier to take the ring off. It's lovely, but the way it affects you isn't worthwhile.


Liliha: It would be like abandoning someone in trouble. I've seen how I can influence people to turn away if they're considering doing something wrong. What if I wasn't there to whisper advice? They might go ahead with what they're planning.

Does anyone ever catch you when you're absent for a while?

Liliha: I'm only distracted for a minute or two and so far nobody's noticed. I guess that's one of the positive things about being lonely—if anything could be good about isolation.

Why are you on your own? Get out more. Make friends.

Liliha: I have friends, and of course I work with other people. That's not what I mean. Since I've separated from my husband ... well, since I put half a world between us ... I don't have anyone special to love.

You're good looking. Surely you can find a man.

Liliha: I can, but I've set my heart ... No, I shouldn't say that. He belongs to someone else. In the meantime, at least I can help someone in trouble.

Your eyes have glazed over. Liliha, are you there? Okay, I'll wait. Dum, de, dum. I'll twiddle my thumb. Oh, there you are.

Liliha. Sorry. I ... Let me tell you what happened. This is exactly as I saw things:


Darkness. Foreboding. Two men sprawl unmoving on the ground—maybe unconscious, one more man sits upright in the gutter. They need help.

I flash across the dark area and whisper to a man emerging from the pub opposite. Urge him to look toward the car-park—suggest alarm. When he spots two bumps on the hard ground out of range of the street lights, he runs across, examines the men and takes out his mobile phone.
An evil presence hovers out of sight in the ether.

I'm flickering. Before I leave, two more figures rush to help.


Liliha: As you can see, that time I wasn't away long. Sometimes, it takes more effort.

Why did you come back so fast?

7 comments:

  1. Liliha, why do you think you were given this special gift, and how do you deal with the pain of your separation?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I inherited a star moonstone ring from my grandmother. Turns out it came from Cornwall and perhaps it's linked to King Tut's sister. I looked her up on the internet and discovered the princess arrived in Ireland about the time of his death. Anyway, wherever it came from originally, the visions are associated with the ring. I've considered not wearing the darn thing, but I couldn't let people down.
      As for my loneliness, I just have to cope as best I can. My daughters will visit every six months. Until then, I'll try to find a job--not that I'm trained for anything.

      Delete
  2. Liliha's curse/blessing is just so intriguing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, nice. Now I want to read more about Liliha and her ring!

    ReplyDelete
  4. So great to meet you, Liliha. So sorry you've had to endure so much in your life. Where did you get the ring from?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Whoa. Very cool post. Intriguing protagonist indeed. Nifty writing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great interview, Liliha. I'm glad you won't take off your ring. Keep going!

    ReplyDelete

Please tell me what YOU think.