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the edge of their minds, flashing bolts of clarity that are still not strong enough to wake the from the stupor their child has put them in. Don and Emile have decided to name him Alrekur, neither of them know why they like the name or where they heard it but they both agree on it. The name is Icelandic for "all powerful" or "ruler of all". Though this meaning is lost on the parents, another flash in the storm. A raindrop, even. Alrekur let out a small gurgle of joy–both Don and Emile laugh as well–a beautiful sound coming from all of them in perfect unison. The couple strolls to their new cottage, looks of blissful ignorance on their faces. Emile is barefoot and still in the thin hospital gown she has been given. The villagers, always one for gossip, take in Don’s dusty clothing that tells them he works for the mayor, just another grunt worker so the mayor can put up his shiny shoes on his shiny, polished desk. Breathe in clean air, let the workers breathe in the dirt from the roads as they try to flatten it out for the stones on order that keep being put back. The torrential rains wash all their work away, they start again when the droughts do. The uneven pebbles do not seem to bother Emile, she hardly winces as she stumbles past all the cottages that look the same.The gravel makes a soft sound as the couple walk towards their strange new life. And the feeling that fills Don and Emile at that moment is bright and shining love for Alrekur.....love and a touch of fear that someone would take their child away. Why this fear they don’t know, but it is there. Of course, they will try their best to keep him safe, but they know deep down as he gets older it will become harder. Like all children. They will not be able to keep him safe like he will keep them safe, already they are depending on the beautiful bundle in their midst. They are wise enough to know without this powerful rapture they feel for him, they would simply disappear. Turn to dust like the road that clings to Don. Loving is only part of it. Emile and Don, in the short time they have had Alrekur, they worshipped him.
Lindsay Walls-Ott