Eléni & M Move to Athens - Part 11

This new series has its history in the form of several short stories, several poems, and a 13-part series that is linked at the bottom via Part 10 of this series. Anthi Psomiadou has graciously agreed—you must believe it by now—to appear as the fictional character, Anthi Kanéna, in this new series, a character perhaps representing ideals which may not always correspond to those of the real Anthi, though only fleetingly, so it seems.

Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality. Nikos Kazantzakis

Anthi’s grandparents wanted us to stay overnight in their house, owing to the high level of hospitality that resided in the Cretan spirit. We thanked them and promised to see them again, Anthi remaining with them for this first night. It began to dawn on me, after we left them, on all of us in all probability, that as our proximity to each other grew in time spent and togetherness, we could not leave each other with an intact mind and heart. Our love for each other was becoming so strong that it almost hurt to be apart. I even asked Athena and Anthi about it and they concurred. We were becoming almost inseparable.

My dear Athena, the love of our lives, now that we are all together at last! I began, as soon as we were back at our rented house.

“Yes, dear M!” Athena replied.

Will I, we, always feel incomplete as soon as one of us was about to leave or stay behind? I asked.

“It is because of me to a large extent, but it is also because of you, each one of you and the love that you already hold for one another. It may feel as if your heart is aching when one is missing or even about to be away, like Anthi staying with her grandparents for the night. But you will learn to accept it since we cannot be with each other all the time. I can with Patrick, you can with Eléni, M, but Anthi is the uneven part of our quintet, and thus we all love her more in some way. I was thinking of bringing her family here, but then she would need to be with them and it would not solve anything except for us also meeting them. I spoke to Anthi’s mind and she agreed that it would not solve much. We have to adjust to the fact that we are her second family and that she has a first one.”

I was afraid that you were going to say that, but I, we, understand that such is our reality. (I could have made things much easier with an unattached Anthi, capable of staying with us permanently, but it seemed too fictitious, even more than Goddess Athena. Go figure!) But can we ease this feeling? It is almost as strong as the feeling I had when Eléni was here and I still in Montreal. I had my writing to occupy me and cannabis for some of the time, but it was painful nonetheless. Here, Anthi is basically next door and I still feel this sense of something missing.

“It is because you love her. She could be in her room in this house and you in yours and you would still miss her. I could ease it, but it would feel unnatural and you will not like it.”

“I feel the same too. I just love her,” Eléni said, and Patrick readily concurred by nodding his head. “M speaks for me all the time. It is as if our minds have become one. I even feel Patrick’s and yours. It is strange but I feel more complete than I ever felt before,” she added with tears in her eyes.

“Oh, my precious Eléni. It may be the price that we have to pay for love. It always hurts when the one you love is out of sight. But the fact that we can speak to each other’s mind will help in time when you have mastered it. You will see. It will get better eventually,” Athena replied.

I had an unusual dream that night. I saw Anthi facing me with her eyes closed, silent, standing in the balcony, the sunset behind her, but the Sun glowing around her head. She had a subtle smile and her hands were down against her sides. She seemed to be doing nothing, but I suddenly felt vibrations and she suddenly opened her eyes, at which point the Sun disappeared. I even thought that I had seen Zeus on a chariot, harmoniously controlling the reins of two horses, one white and one black, but it was not clear. I then awoke, wondering if I imagined it all, even the dream. I later learned from Anthi that she had the same dream. We had become some sort of fellowship. The Fellowship of Athena! Or was it, The Fellowship of Anthi?

We all went to a horse ranch in the early afternoon to ask a couple of horses for a ride on their backs. Patrick, Eléni and yours truly, yes me, never rode a horse and did not care to, preferring to watch Athena and Anthi ride them, as they were the ones who wanted to from the start, especially Athena. Goddess Athena rode a white horse and Anthi rode a black one, and Glaukopis, which had been quiet from our arrival the day before until now, was standing proud on Athena’s right shoulder, looking happy to be with its goddess again, repeating in French, not Greek, Je t’aime à en mourir (I am dying from loving you). We all felt the same. Our dream, Anthi’s and mine, received some meaning when I saw them riding the horses. Athena and Anthi together were almost equivalent to Zeus, which also explained the Sun glowing behind her. This was not a coincidence, especially when I learned from Athena that she had nothing to do with the dream.

Anthi later told me something that I cannot repeat, especially that I do not know what it means given that she said it in Greek with her mouth and not with her mind. Why does she keep doing that? I have to learn Greek as soon as possible or also begin to speak to her in French and see how she feels. She does it on purpose and Athena is of no help. It is as if they have both decided to taunt me with their love. I am sure that Patrick is in on it, but not Eléni. She does not like to trick me in any way. You would think that it is out of respect. But no! Eléni does it out of love. Of course, Anthi and Athena are doing it in fun, though I am sure that there is some deep meaning behind it, or maybe they simply want to push me to learn Greek. I wish Athena could teach me Greek, like in The Matrix, by sending it all into my mind with full access and not just the comprehension that I receive.

We returned to Anthi’s grandparents bearing many gifts, mostly meats, fruits and vegetables that we had bought in a market nearby, with a few bottles of tsipouro and red wine. We decided to have a big family gathering, all seven of us. It seems that even Anthi’s grandparents fell in love with Athena. Who would not? Who would not? And Anthi too, the fictitious one, of course. But I bet that the real one is as good. Who wants to bet that it is true?

...

...

Many thanks to Anthi Psomiadou for her insightful comments, suggestions, and even some text (in this part in italics, the dream) in this long and winding story, so it seems, as Greece is becoming home at least for a few hours each day. I wonder if I could ever stop writing about it. Perhaps I will have to visit it to be able to stop, but, of course, it could make it even worse. Goddess Athena has done a real number on me, and Anthi only makes it worse.

...