There is an island surrounded by precipitous cliffs, their sharp rocky roots beguilingly dangerous in high tide, and deadly in the low tide. There are no landing beaches, and the surf is by far too rough to even contemplate building a dock. Just beyond the horizon lies a sweet land of green fields; when the sun is just right you can see mirages of it reflecting on the waves in the distance, and when the wind is just right you can almost smell its greenness. There is but one single, narrow bridge, known as “The Crossing” that spans the gap allowing islanders to journey to the mainland. The island is called Ephemeral; the land beyond, Amaranth.
The inhabitants of Ephemeral are rather an odd mixture of two distinct people groups: On the one hand you have those who have never been across the bridge; on the other, those who have been across, have become citizens of Amaranth, and have returned to work on the island. With no visible distinction of rank or citizenship, it’s sometimes difficult to tell who belongs to which group. Now the first group falls into several sub-categories: There are those who are not even aware of the bridge but would go across if they knew; there are others who know of its existence but do not trust it or fear it, spending enormous amounts of time and energy futilely attempting to build their own way across; then there are those who simply don’t care either way, and they go about their lives knowing the bridge exists, but acting as if it didn’t and hoping that in the end it won’t make any difference.
The island of Ephemeral itself has an unusual geology: the substance of which it is made reacts to the elements of wind, water, sun and soil, which in turn cause it to shrink over time. Some experts say that this strata is not actually indigenous to its present location but was brought there by Amaranthians; in its home environment it actually expands. But the problem it poses for those inhabitants of Ephemeral is that they must eventually make the choice to accept The Crossing, or the choice will be made for them by the very fact that the island is being swallowed by the sea which surrounds it, called the Sea of Immortality.
Let us now look closer at the lives of a few select citizens of Ephemeral, and those of Amaranth who have chosen to live among them:
Narcia is a promising catch by all standards. She is young and beautiful, and knows it. She devotes her time and energy to promoting not only her own beauty but also the myths that have been carefully, strategically woven by the powerful moguls of Ephemeral which subtly dictate how people are to dress, think and behave. She is a willing advocate for, and unwitting pawn of, the campaign to saturate the market with images of ideal beauty (as unrealistic and photo-shopped as they may be), of ideal behaviour, and ideal mentalities toward everything, from spouses and marriage to which laundry detergent will give you perfect, spotless, sunny satisfaction in your home. She is quite easy to find in a crowd: she is the most seductively dressed no matter what the weather, the one posing for every moment as if a photographer were around every bush. Like her mother and grandmother before her she will grow old far too quickly, bitter at life and those who, though less beautiful and therefore by far less deserving in her opinion, have had more than their fair share of happiness and contentment in life. Her greatest fear is Age; her second greatest fear is The Crossing, because she has heard that on the other side of that bridge completely different rules apply and everything she values is completely worthless; the wealth of Ephemeral is only fit to line the gutters of Amaranth.
Which brings us to Pelf, another upstanding member of the community. He is a frail old man by now, but the most powerful on the island. His house is on the outskirts of the village atop a high hill; the house has seen far better days to the untrained eye, but to the initiated it holds the prestige of a bygone era. Inside, the house is grotesquely mismatched with golden ornaments, designer furniture and exclusive marks of distinction granted by those who obviously understand such fine taste. Though it is easy for most of the inhabitants to scoff at him behind his back, they are powerless to ignore him as he controls their sources of income (unless of course they are employed by companies based in Amaranth, which he loathes with every fibre of his being).
Pseudo is a close associate of both Narcia and Pelf. Pseudo owns one of two art studios in the town; he is usually outlandishly dressed, his fashion being a statement of his utterly aimless definitiveness. He is extremely knowledgeable about a wide variety of subjects that are, quite frankly, of no great value outside of his studio, though he is comforted by the faithful disciples of vanity who hang on his every word. His life is a lonely one as he tolerates no other opinion but his own while at the same time claiming to be open-minded, but unlike Narcia he maintains his youthful facade by adapting his jargon to the current issues, all the while peddling his empty philosophies and declaring just how satisfied he feels his empty life really is. His artwork is a reflection of his inner chaos, aimless and desperately shouting out a variety of conflicting messages while at the same time unified by the fact that it is a true representation of Ephemeral reality. He has also recently ventured into song writing and has been a huge success on the island, though when one stops to analyse his texts one realizes either that no two sentences actually make sense together, or that they carry no weight of destiny within them, though as a whole the arrangements are beguilingly rhythmic; the best way to enjoy his music is to switch off your intellect and just go with the flow.
Caritas is the local social worker. He is a brawny man capable of lifting the poor from their beds, the drunks from the gutters, the drowning from the waves. He received his training in Amaranth and was sent back to aid the struggling in Ephemeral, and to train other locals who choose to leave the employ of Ephemeral and become citizens of Amaranth. [One cannot work for Amaranth without being a citizen there; there are no such things as temporary work visas, or even black-market workers, though some might claim that status. Amaranthian citizens eventually relinquish their original homeland’s citizenship, meanwhile becoming dual citizens in the sense that they are in Ephemeral (though not of Ephemeral) until they make the final crossing to dwell permanently in Amaranth at retirement.]
As citizens of Amaranth living abroad, each is called upon to be an ambassador. As ambassadors they do not have their own opinions about such things as political or moral issues, but rather uphold their nation’s laws while seeking peaceful reconciliation; their task is not to compromise, but to reconcile, and they must learn to recognise that fundamental difference.
Caritas works closely with Paladin, the local defence advocate who has the unpopular task of being a spokesman for Amaranth. I say “unpopular” because he must be as straight as a compass, and that is oftentimes very uncomfortable for those who have no wish to be shown True North, the direction in which The Crossing is located from the village. As the local legal system is rife with favouritism, prejudice against citizens of Amaranth, and wide-spread corruption, Paladin must stand in the gap for those unable to recognize the injustice around them. He is especially a thorn in the side for Pelf, and has been a frequent character in satirical works by Pseudo, though because of his noble character secretly attracts Narcia, though she would never admit it as that would undermine her public opinion of The Crossing.
Ransom is the local life guard. Before making the Crossing himself he was one of the most violent men on the island, and with a wicked tongue. Miraculously, when he crossed the Bridge his vile tongue withered, much to even his own relief. It left him speechless in terms of words, but his silent witness became all the more powerful as islanders had known his cruel voice and now marvelled at his quiet bearing. The Amaranthian government interferes in the lives of the Ephemeral citizens in as much as they send people like Ransom back to live among them.
He was given this task by the Amaranthian government precisely because he cannot speak; it is the responsibility of each individual to come to recognize just what they were saved from; otherwise the next cliff they come to will produce the same results. Telling those numbed to the circumstances in which they find themselves will do no good, and the last Amaranthian to have his job grew weary of well-doing because he rebuked them and cajoled them until he was blue in the face, to no avail.
His is a thankless job for the most part: The people of Ephemeral believe that if a person wants to walk where they walk, they have chosen that way and therefore fate will be on their side; they don’t believe in cliffs. However, they just happen to live on an island surrounded by a pitfall of precipitous cliffs growing ever more dangerous as the island falls into the Sea of Immortality. Many of the inhabitants, after being pulled back just before walking off the edge, become irate with Ransom for interrupting their nice walk, their i-pod listening pleasure, their bottle of wine, or their reveries of popular philosophy. Occasionally, however, he is reminded of why he’s there by the reaction of those who wake from the slumber of Ephemeral, and thank him for saving their lives. It is at that point that he leads them to the foot of the Crossing.
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Cast:
Amaranth – From Greek amarantos, “unfading”
Ephemeral – From Greek ephemeros, literally “lasting only one day”
Narcia – From Greek narcissism, denoting vanity, conceit, egotism or simple selfishness. Applied to a social group, it is sometimes used to denote elitism or an indifference to the plight of others.
Pelf – From Old French pelfre, “spoil, booty”; informal term for money or wealth.
Pseudo – Greek, used to mark something as false, fraudulent, or pretending to be something it is not.
Caritas – Latin, meaning “charity” – one of the three theological virtues.
Paladin – From Latin palatinus, “palace official”, or “warrior”
Ransom – From Latin redemptionem, “a redeeming”
© Stephanie Hüsler 2010
Photo: Taken by Stefan on a hike here in Switzerland
