Eléni & M Move to Athens - Part 24

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 23 of this series. Anthi Psomiadou has graciously agreed to play the role of a fictional character also called, Anthi, as she already did in the first series, but in this series with the full name, Anthi Kanéna, chosen by her.

The only sounds when ‘gan the West to burn, and the red sun upon the seas to ride, I stood upon the soil of Greece at last! Oscar Wild

We were going to leave Crete later today to return to Athens, but something unexpected occurred. No one wanted to leave yet, not even Anthi who had a family back in Athens, including a daughter whom she called while near me the day before. I did not understand what was being said in Greek, but I saw that naturally Anthi missed her in her voice and her eyes. I wanted to hug her, but felt unwelcome somehow into her other daytime life. I even felt hurt, and yet no one hurt me, and certainly not Anthi. It was like watching a boat sail without me, yet Anthi was the sea. She must have felt my pain because she came to join me—I had left her alone—as soon as her call had ended to tell me in my mind that she loved me no matter what. It was heartfelt to hear, but my mind had other shores to contemplate. I hugged her to no end, crying in her hair, which, of course, smelled of flowers. Anthi all the way!

Grandpa and Grandma had spoken to Anthi this morning, asking her to stay for a few more days, and that while she visits the island with us during the day, they will take care of Delphine. Anthi did not think twice and agreed, calling her family in Athens to prepare Delphine for a few days in Crete. A similar private plane would bring her to Anthi and all of us. We were going to become a bigger family of eight, especially that we decided to visit the island together with Delphine, and Grandpa and Grandma if they were up to it. But Athena could use some of her power to make their limbs swifter for our continuing Cretan excursion. I was going to meet Anthi’s daughter and it somehow relieved all my previous angst. I was going to meet a smaller version of Anthi, having seen a few pictures of her, knowing that I was going to love her almost as much as her mother. Uncle M sounded promising, as did Aunt Eléni and Uncle Patrick. But Aunt Athena sounded too strange, yet our goddess took to it right away, also eager to meet a smaller Anthi. Delphine was almost twelve.

We spent the rest of the morning discussing our plans for the day. First, pick up Delphine at the airport in the late afternoon. There was nothing else. Grandpa and Grandma were not very far from the house. We decided to prepare another feast fit for a queen and a princess. No flowing tsipouro and red wine, but a decent amount to show that Crete and Greece are one. And Athena would luckily keep us sober in case we ended up drinking too much. We all went to do some additional shopping for various foods, you know, meats, vegetables, nuts, and some fruits (i.e., avocados, olives, lemons, limes, coconuts, and berries). Athena had read the ketogenic diet book by Dr. David Perlmutter (Brain Grain) and agreed with everything that he had said. After returning to the house, I left with Anthi to pick up Grandpa and Grandma.

At first, we all wanted to go to the airport, but only Athena and Anthi were going to go, so as not to overwhelm the girl with seven people all at once. But it was really because of the car that we had rented, which could only fit five. When they were getting ready to drive to the airport, Anthi asked me to come along with them, that I would keep Athena company while she drove. I think that my heart leapt higher that Mount Olympus. I knew that she loved me, but every little gesture elevates. Anthi wanted me to meet her daughter first. Athena is with Patrick. Anthi could have asked Patrick to accompany them, but she asked M, I mean me. People forget the little gestures, thinking that only the big ones count.

I love you, I screamed in Anthi’s mind.

“I know, my love. I love you too,” Anthi replied.

I knew that Athena had something to do with it. She apparently wanted me to spend more time with Anthi. I would have driven, but Anthi knew the way, and she wanted me to spend time with Athena. I wondered why, but I knew the reason. Our future depended on Athena in many ways. I knew that she was going to kiss me on the mouth, and she did as she always does, as soon as I sat next to her in the car. What a goddess! I could never make her up even if I wanted to and I am a writer. Everyone could believe in Goddess Athena. She is as real as my Anthi and our grandparents. Perhaps Patrick and M, I mean me, are fictitious. There is a course called, Reader Literary Education (RLE), but most readers have not studied literature at the university level where they teach it. If science is the richest field, literature is surely the second richest, and part of science involves literature as well, albeit in the real mode, though some tentative parts may seem like fiction sometimes, such as quantum mechanics when it is misunderstood.

“What do you want to know, my M?” Athena asked about a minute after we settled in the car and that Anthi had driven for about a kilometre (less than a mile). “You already told Anthi what the M stands for, yet you still want to be called M,” Athena added.

I want to keep it a secret for a while longer, and who knows who might hear it. I have kept it a secret for decades now, so we might as well continue until a special day comes our way.

“No problem, my M! Your question, then,” Athena said.

Our dreams are out of this world, but I want reality to kick in a bit, my goddess, and then a whole lot, if it is at all possible.

“Everything is possible, my M, but not everything can be done as you well know. We will discuss it in Athens, so now just live for the day. You love each other at night and pine for each other during the day. It is a decent compromise for the time being. Do you agree, my Anthi?”

“Yes, my goddess! How could we not? I am just overwhelmed as well by all the love that I feel for him and that he feels for me. I love him dearly but I have a family that cannot be abandoned.”

“Of course, not, my child. It may be impossible, but I will try. If I cannot, you will have your dreams. It is all that I can promise, and even dreams within dreams.”

So, it was you, my Athena. I suspected as much. What dreams we had last night! They are still so vivid. You really love your M, I mean me.

“Of course that I love you, M!”

“Yes, my goddess! Thank you for leaving me in his heart! I never saw such a forest, with so many colours and hues,” Anthi said.

“I thought that it will give you more of yourselves. Even you can create it with your minds. I will teach you how to design a world of your own. I love you both and I want you to be happy. We do not choose whom we love; love chooses and it chose you to love each other.”

We love you, our Athena, I said emotionally, caressing Anthi’s hair as she made the last turn into the airport. The plane landed about twenty minutes later with the smaller Anthi on-board. Delphine was quickly mesmerized by Aunt Athena, mentioning that she had never seen a more beautiful woman in all her life. I shook her hand and she called me, Uncle M, but not before asking what the M stood for. Maurice, I replied.

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I thank Anthi Psomiadou for her kind support via her comments, suggestions, and insightful additions, which only help this story to grow like an olive tree, so it seems. I have tried but I cannot lessen the Anthi theme in this story. It appears that given that the narrator is M and that he is in love with Anthi, she is the main story. He loves Eléni and Athena, but both his mind and his heart have already drowned in Anthi, a Cretan sea at the moment, but she is all over, in every Greek sea, as well as the Mediterranean. I also bet that she will eventually reach all the oceans. Anthi will also be the Atlantic. It sounds right.

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