"What are you doing here, Meva?" I asked, trying to mask my excitement.
She seemed puzzled by something. As if I'd just woken her from a dream.
"I was supposed to meet my fiancé, Jockson Reckson, but he had a work emergency in the blank mine and then..." Her voice trailed off.
"Jockson Reckson." I mumbled.
"Yes. Do you know him?"
"I work... I worked in the blank mine. I knew him."
"Do you know what's happening there?"
I nodded, "Yes. I found something in the mine, something they desperately want. I will tell you everything, but we need to leave here before the green people come back."
Meva grabbed my arm, "Did you see a little green girl too?"
"Yes."
She continued, "I was waiting for Jockson Reckson next to the forest when this little green girl appeared. I followed her here."
"Me too! She made me get down on my knees and be quiet or it looked like her fellow green people were going to kill me!"
Meva was putting something together in her mind. "They disappeared, did they not?"
I nodded.
"It's as if they wanted us to find each other." She said.
These words were like fuel on the fire of my heart. Here she was, standing before me and she was perfect. Her face was perfect. It looked like a planet. No, planets are too busy. Her face was more like a moon. Standing out in the darkness, pale and beautiful.
She waved her hand in front of my face. I realized she'd been talking while I was lost in adoration.
"Hello? Tzurk, What do you want to do?"
"Love you." The words flew out of my mouth before I could pull them back in.
I was embarrassed and terrified. My face turned red, and I could not look at her. For a moment, I waited for her to strike me for my impudence. But she didn't. I pulled the slate from my pocket with her face scribed on it, and held it up. This was going to sound crazy no matter how it came out. But I had to say it. She had to know.
"Meva, I saw your image on Jockson Reckson's desk. When I returned to work, this and image self scribed on the cave walls! I know they came from me. My entire crew was in danger because I could not stop it. One the members of my crew died from my passion for you. He gave his life to cover up for my mistakes, and helped me escape. My love for you has sustained me in the darkness."
She hadn't slapped me yet, so I continued.
"I will never be the same. Just seeing your face has wrecked me for life. But my response to being ruined is not sadness, because it is my great joy to be heartbroken by you. Even now, if you want me to die, just give the word and it will be so. Ask me to die, ask me to move a mountain into the sea, ask me anything, just don’t send me away."
I tore the hem of my garment, "Damn! I’m such a fool! I can’t believe I’m saying this to you, but I don’t care! I don’t care what you think or what anyone else thinks. I don’t even care what I think! My soul was lost in the mountain, and my body had no life in it. I could not wake, until I heard your name. Meva. Meva. MEVA! How your name is my favorite song. Let me sing to you, Meva."
I held my arms out wide and sang as loud as I could, not caring who could hear me:
"There is a name that slays me in the name of love.
There is a name that is the weapon of weapons.
It sustained the soul of this man in the underworld
And will sustain me forever in the overworld!"
I did not care if she responded. I was too terrified by the possibilities. But seeing my silence, she reached into the pocket of her skirt, and pulled out a rock.
My heart nearly burst, for there, scribed on her rock’s surface, was my face.