Week 2 Story: Galatea's Perspective
I felt warmth travel through my body as the soft lips met mine a second time. I opened my eyes for the first time to find him staring at me with a shocked face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Yo-You’re alive?! And real?!” he exclaimed.
“I am, indeed. Venus was fond of you and wanted to grant your wish. So here I am, your girl of ivory with a beating heart.”
“What am I supposed to call you? My ivory girl?”
“Galatea, if my memories serve me well.”
“Memories?”
“Venus didn’t want to give you an empty person. I have memories of childhood, growing up and life before you. I can’t really make out faces or details when I think of them, but they’re happy memories and I feel warm and joyful when I think of them. She made me human, which means she gave me personality, thoughts, opinions and feelings. I am as woman as any other woman in Cyprus. The only difference is that I was made for our souls to fit perfectly. I don’t know everything about you but I do know that I’ll love you.”
He continued to stare at me in disbelief, then he just began slowly backing against the wall where he slid down and held his head between his hands. I could tell he was doubting his sanity. Before he could continue spiraling down, I decided to interrupt his train of thoughts.
“How about we get to know each other more, maybe over a walk and we can even pick some figs to enjoy afterwards?” I asked, and as I finished I saw him nod his head with a tentative smile on his face.
We walked and talked for hours, we eventually stopped and enjoyed the figs we picked as the sun began to disappear among the horizon.
When I looked back at him, I found him staring at me in disbelief again but this time it was different.
“I still can’t believe you’re not a dream. You’re breathtakingly beautiful but also wonderful to talk to and be around. Your thoughts align with mine in a way that sheds new light. To me, you’re absolutely perfect.” He said with a handsome and heartwarming smile placed upon his face.
As I kissed him all I could think of was that his love brought me to life, and now I will get to show him love for the remainder of his.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Yo-You’re alive?! And real?!” he exclaimed.
“I am, indeed. Venus was fond of you and wanted to grant your wish. So here I am, your girl of ivory with a beating heart.”
“What am I supposed to call you? My ivory girl?”
“Galatea, if my memories serve me well.”
“Memories?”
“Venus didn’t want to give you an empty person. I have memories of childhood, growing up and life before you. I can’t really make out faces or details when I think of them, but they’re happy memories and I feel warm and joyful when I think of them. She made me human, which means she gave me personality, thoughts, opinions and feelings. I am as woman as any other woman in Cyprus. The only difference is that I was made for our souls to fit perfectly. I don’t know everything about you but I do know that I’ll love you.”
He continued to stare at me in disbelief, then he just began slowly backing against the wall where he slid down and held his head between his hands. I could tell he was doubting his sanity. Before he could continue spiraling down, I decided to interrupt his train of thoughts.
“How about we get to know each other more, maybe over a walk and we can even pick some figs to enjoy afterwards?” I asked, and as I finished I saw him nod his head with a tentative smile on his face.
We walked and talked for hours, we eventually stopped and enjoyed the figs we picked as the sun began to disappear among the horizon.
When I looked back at him, I found him staring at me in disbelief again but this time it was different.
“I still can’t believe you’re not a dream. You’re breathtakingly beautiful but also wonderful to talk to and be around. Your thoughts align with mine in a way that sheds new light. To me, you’re absolutely perfect.” He said with a handsome and heartwarming smile placed upon his face.
As I kissed him all I could think of was that his love brought me to life, and now I will get to show him love for the remainder of his.
(Stanislav Trifonov, Source: Flickr)
Author's Note: This story was based off of the tale of Pygmalion in The Metamorphoses, where Pygmalion after becoming tired with woman like the Propoetides (who were prostituting themselves) he creates a statue of a girl, who he ends up falling in love with. After praying to Venus during her festival, he goes home and kisses the statue and she comes to life and soon they marry and have a child. In my story I decided to add doubt to Pygmalion's reaction at finding out she was alive. I also wanted to give the statue character, feeling and thoughts in a way that made her human without losing sight of her originally being a statue. So I decided with writing, what I hope to be, a somewhat romantic narrative from Galatea's point of view.
Bibliography: "Ovid's Metamorphosis", translated by Tony Kline (2000), from Myth-Folklore Anthology. Web Source
Hi Dora!
ReplyDeleteI thought your story was pretty good! I think the way you had them communicate with each other was a key part of your story and allowed the reader to get a better grasp on their relationship. I think adding the personality and other aspects was a good idea to making it more relatable. Maybe next time however you can add somewhat of a twist or a shocking matter. Then again I've read Pygmalion before so I knew what was coming and was just hoping for something new. Anyways great work it was written extremely well!
Hi Dora!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love your version of Pygmalion. I also retold my story based on Pygmalion but I did not think of retelling the story in this way. I like that you continued the story and made it such a cute and romantic love story. Your vocabulary is amazing and the dialogue really gives emotion to the characters. I also like how the perspective was from Galatea’s point of view.
Wow! Your writing skills are amazing! I really enjoyed reading your piece of Pygmalion in your own version! The love story with it was such a nice touch and it made it just different enough to be an original version, but to still be the same classic story. I love the way you used the dialogue in your piece instead of just making it a retelling of events. Well done!
ReplyDeleteI really liked the concept of telling the story from Galatea's point of view! I like that you gave depth to a character who was once an inanimate object made of stone. I also really like that you made the story your own by continuing the narrative and making it a cute love story that I would absolutely read again - good work!
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