Chivalrous Souls and Marigolds

Chivalrous Souls and Marigolds

The sun engulfed the circle of her eye.

Her skin was suddenly hot.

Her neighborhood blended like a melting pot.

Her church was a Gothic place that took you to ancient France.

Every Sunday she arrived with her black veil dangling through the thick air. When she touched the statue, the sweet incense blew through her hair. The dozens of marigolds placed near pictures caught her eye. Blue and pink stained glass windows beamed and the cold fountain water sprinkled on her face. Those marigolds were precious floating and spinning angels holding her grandmother.

The smell of cheese and sauce gave away her whereabouts. Oceana, a woman with a watchful eye, squinted around the room for someone sitting alone, and praying. Someone with an eye on the altar.

She pondered about a man whose heart would pound fast as he pursued her. He had to buy her marigold's every week. Marigold's held a special place in her memory because of its positive, vibrant, and good luck energy. He had to feel as if he was walking through a long desert in search of her. Oceana preferred he felt the aches in his calves as he reached the top floor.

Dreamland

She sunk into the covers dozing off. The bed fell onto a beach and beside her a man glowed. His soft fingertips embraced hers. The palm trees danced and the sunset painted the sky. She woke up and took a deep gasp for air.

“Oceana, if you could sum up the special feeling of what it’s like to be with your beloved, then he is out there.”

“Leenan? Can you give me a little bit more of a concrete example of how I can get that lovely man?”

“Oceana, go back online! Send those likes! And wait.”

Dating Day

Oceana raised her eyebrows and her fingers desperately wandered the letters on the keyboard, then froze.

“Hello, I have a load of guests here that you are expecting for today’s dates.”

“Excuse meeee?”

Oceana's head throbbed and she circled the room.

"Hundreds of men up here?”

“Oceana, remember you have waited for this.”

Scrambling for clothes. Tossing short bright skirts on chairs, stained blouses on the floor, crusty shoes on the carpet, and dusty makeup bags on the sink. She nearly tripped over her toes looking for what to wear. Her hair was still soaked with the tangy aroma of shampoo.

She shivered as she made her way to the rusty window. The man appeared across the door with his finger pointed upward.

She yelled out the window.

“Are you auditioning for a movie or something?”

The man turned around immediately.

“No, this is a line to meet the woman of our dreams!”

“The woman of your dreams?”

“Yes, my name is Roland. And we have all waited so long to meet this wonderful woman named Oceana. She wants to meet all of us and decide.”

Oceana fell to her knees then raised them again. She ran storming through the kitchen to get her phone.

“Leenan! The men are waiting and you were right! Those likes paid off and they are here! Except I don’t know how they got here!"

“Oceana, these men have come so far and prayed so hard to meet you. I, too, do not know what is happening, but you must have summed up the faith of the greatest mountain!”

Oceana was warm and charmed. He had traveled far and arrived with the bright marigold's in his hand.

He said, “I prayed and I prayed right.”

By Jessica Santiago