The Flower
By: Marie Allen
Prologue

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"Oh, yes!"

"Oh, yes!"

The sun kissed the earth and danced on the nearby glistening stream. Flowers adorned the sides and smiled and gleamed down at their reflections as if unaware of the nearby commotion or the possibility of being plucked or, at this time, smashed.

A soft, girlish giggle danced in the tall leaves. Hands intertwined. Whispers were uttered. The two small figures crouched in a circular patch with the tall bushes surrounding them. Their heads were close together as their soft voices gossiped about the handsome stranger that they had just seen.

"He was terribly handsome, wasn't he?" The young girl put her hand over her mouth and giggled again. She had never seen a man before. Being around her own nymph kind almost guaranteed it.

"Shush! He's coming back!" Indeed he was. The man was tall and muscular and to the two virgin pair of eyes, something they wouldn't even dream about even in their soon-to-be ripe age of puberty. His thick black hair shined underneath the sun. The material of his clothing clung to him, making him appear large. Or maybe it was just their innocence that made them think so. They had no idea who the man was or why he was even in their land. This was a pure and untouched land; no man was ever to set foot here. And yet this stranger walked about as if he knew the area.

He walked by them, about ten yards away. Believing they were completely covered by the bushes, they stayed silent regardless and watched him in silence. They had no idea if they would ever see another.

i If all men looked thusly/i the eldest girl thought, i then I have no idea what Mother worries about. /i Her mother had been putting thoughts into her that men only had one thing they wanted from women and it was never good. This man suddenly challenged that though.

As if on cue, the man stopped and turned to the two girls. Staring straight at them, they both held their breaths as they stared back like deer caught in a hunter's view. The man smirked at them, raised an elite eyebrow and then continued on his way. A moment later, he was gone. The two friends looked at each other before breaking into fits of giggles.

"He looked right at me!"

"Who do you think he was?"

The eldest giggled again. "I haven't the faintest, but I know it won't be the last time I see him."

The younger nymph laughed and pushed her friend. "How do you know that? You're no oracle!"

"No. But just call it women's intuition."

The girl laughed. "Yes, if you were a woman!"

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Years had passed since that most memorable event of seeing the strange man. Although she had promised her friend that she would see him again, Persephone had not. And she had looked. She had met many men since that day, for it was the day that she decided she would indeed become a woman and no longer the child her mother wanted her to be.

She adored her mother, Demeter, but she also loved her freedom. She loved wandering around the springs and forest alone. She loved watching people and what they did during their daily lives. Humans fascinated her. They were so different from the gods. There was something about them that she couldn't fathom. Something that her family of gods couldn't relate to. She just didn't know what that was.

She had been around humans longer than she had the gods. Being with the nymphs and her mother her whole childhood left her thinking that what separated the immortals from the mortals was their appetite for sex. And so, fascinated with these creatures, she had followed suit and fell into their hunger. And it was absolutely marvelous. She felt disillusioned when she discovered the gods and their own need for the pleasures of the flesh but instead of holding back, she reveled in it even more. She hungered for something that she had not yet found. Sure, she had known many men, but none had actually completely saited her. Probably why she treated all of the earth men the same as the other gods. She didn't particularly like using them, but they were using her as well. After all, she was the supposed virgin daughter of the great Earth goddess. Who wouldn't want to bed her?

Now, if her mother knew of her supposed chaste daughter's ways, Persephone knew that she wouldn't hear the end of it. Her mother would never cease her wailing. She did love her mother, though, and she respected her. She played her game when her mother was nearby, but once she had the wind at her back, she was her own woman.

A growingly frustrated woman at that.

Because no man had completely ceased her need, she was beginning to wonder what all of this brew-ha-ha was about. Years she had been playing with men, learning new techniques and teaching others, and yet she had still never been completely satisfied. There was something missing, something untouchable, something she had not yet experienced. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that it wasn't sex. The gods knew that she most certainly loved the act, but that intangible entity was feeding her frustration. Would she ever find that unknowing goal she herself didn't even know?

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To be continued...