by Ashley Bell

I walked this land when it was just barely young, the winds taking their first whispering breaths above a churning ocean of stone and dirt. Oh how I wish you were there to see it, Sister. How you would’ve wept, as I did, when the rains fell from on high and drenched the land in soothing water. Entire mountains washed away and arid plains turned to vast endless sapphire seas. Oh how your breath would’ve been taken away, as mine was, when the skies twisted and bubbled and roared as the first storms broke, with lightning as furious as our Father, and thunder just as loud. Oh how you would’ve trembled and fell to your knees, akin to I, as the land heaved and toiled and rose above its ocean confines like a prisoner shattering their chains. Whole continents rose tall and proud above their watery cells, looming over their new domain.

How I wish you could’ve seen it, Brother, the settled lands now calm, springing to life like our Garden in bloom. How your heart would burst with love, as mine did, seeing the first flowers and trees tenderly plying the new air and sky before them in a burst of colour only befitting your paintings. How your skin would blaze and dance in the ecstasy of creation, next to mine, as we’d tread across a new Eden. The grass beneath our feet and the song of birds in our ears, so much like your instruments.

How I wish you all could’ve seen it, siblings. How proud you would feel, as I did, upon seeing the first people walk like us, and built in our image, with graceful body and slender limb. Within temples of stone and painted glass and towers to touch the stars of our home they rejoiced in our name. How sorrowful you would feel, as I did, when they turned on one another, and ground their great cities and creations to nothing but dust and rubble.

How beautiful it is, you would agree, the world before me.

How I wish it could all be different, but only one of us was fit for this place.

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Ashley Bell is a Scottish transwoman, and can be found spending most of her time playing games and running/playing in various tabletop roleplaying groups. She can always be reached at ashleysnerevarinewriting@gmail.com, @Lady_Nerevar or on Discord at Lady Nerevar#6604.