ELUSIVE LOVE

MONA LISA

Known to everyone who has seen her painting; she is Da Vinci’s mysterious

lady with a secret smile. To another, she was his great love…

His name was Renato.

PART 1: LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

Renato Alduino loved nothing more than his studies of the seas and all of her vast creatures. One mild afternoon, he saw the most exquisite thing his eyes had ever beheld. Her pale skin was unblemished and flawless. Her eyes sparkled with all the secrets of life he never knew, and he wanted to discover. The delicate petals of her lips curved into a small smile as her dark hair waved in the brisk wind, and stirred the lower folds of her dress. He watched her walk along il pontile until she came to a stop not far from where he stood, and looked out at the world. He approached her, and when she finally looked upon his face, he knew. He had found his true love.

PART 2: DEATH TAKES A LIFE

With each passing year Renato and Mona’s love grew, but as the course of true love is never smooth, trouble fell upon the two lovers. Mona’s family promised her in marriage to another man, and because of his studies, Renato fell ill. Ignoring the wishes of her family Mona continued to see Renato and never left his side, despite the dangers surrounding the talk of the bubonic plague.

Unable to face a life without him, Mona began to divide her time between caring for Renato, as his illness worsened and experimenting with alchemy. Knowing his love for the waters and all those who called the waters their home, Mona devised a plan to forge a new body from gathered elements of sea life for her beloved, that he would have a body for land and sea.

Renato pleaded with Mona to simply let him enjoy the soft lines of her fingers when they were intertwined in his own, to feel her body’s warmth when she hugged him, to touch those ever blooming soft petals once more with his own harsh, cracked lips. Time had become Mona’s enemy for the body she was piecing together was not yet complete and the light that was Renato life had begun to dim.

He awoke under a bright full moon. The sweating was so intense that the light from the moon offered no joy and the candle light caused agony. Renato had been sick for a while, or so it seemed; maybe it had been weeks or perhaps months. For some time all he could feel was the sweating but at the same time was chilled to the bone. Food could not nourish, noise was intolerable, the slightest sound magnified the pounding in his head for which there was no relief. There was only one joy that could help settle his frail body and mind. By his side whenever he woke was Mona. Her beauty calmed his burning eyes, her voice made the butterflies in his stomach show signs of life and her touch soothed his aching bones.

He heard noise and smelled the sea, it seemed so close, too close. There was the sound of brewing and boiling. Perhaps Mona had gone to make a pot of soup. Renato tried to call for his beloved but no words escaped his lips. He desired to see her face one last time, touch her skin and feel the warmth of her kiss upon his cheek. He was fading fast.

PART 3: LOVE LIVES ON

Within a few days, Mona experienced the loss of her beloved. In fear and grief Mona dragged Renato’s limp body to the concoction she tried creating to save him and quickly placed him within. Should the unthinkable happen and he could not be saved Mona leaned over Renato’s body and pressed her lips once more to his. As she pulled away seven tears fell: one to his eye, one on his check, one to his lips, and four to his heart, that Mona had cut open and placed a charmed pearl in.

Reaching her hands out Mona began to chant, as her chant grew louder, the body of her beloved began to merge with his sea form. Several moments passed yet, nothing else seemed to happen. The body was whole, however, it remained motionless.

Desperate and full of agony Mona Lisa screamed her pain in a final chant and as the last syllable left her mouth, dark heavy clouds blocked the moon and stars, howling wind echoed through her ears as it swirled around her soft face, biting and nipping, pushing her to the shore as lighting raced across the sky and struck the form that was Renato.

Moments passed. Mona regained her sight after the blinding flash of light, her gaze entranced as the head of Renato’s new form rose above her and opened his eyes.

The moon was high above his head. No candle light, no roof, and no bed in his surroundings. Renato was laying at il pontile. His flesh began to burn: it felt like he was on fire! He screamed out in agony, but the noise that came out was not his own. Renato looked at his body, but it was not the one he had been looking at. His skin was gray and rubber; where once he had arms, he now had fins and flippers. The neck that had once held up his head had tripled in size. His skin continued to burn. Renato could no longer stand the pain and jumped into the water. The pain immediately stopped.

No longer consumed with pain, Renato sighed and took a breath. The wind had gentled for a time and a breeze brought the smell of her. He peered around at his surroundings. She stood on the banks studying and assessing him. Concern, worry and horror were etched on her face. Renato began to get out of water, but as soon as his fin touched land his skin burned like he’d been stuck in the fires of hell. He screamed in agony and jumped back in the water.

Tears streamed down Mona’s face. He was alive! Yet, as quickly as the wonder of him alive again wore off, horror took its place. What had she done? What had he become and how was he to survive now? Backing away slowly Mona began putting distance between her and her former lover, “Goodbye my love, I’m sorry!” she cried as she turned on her heel and ran away.

Once again the moon disappeared and the stars were hidden by grey, dark clouds. Soon the storm matched the turmoil within Renato. Confused and scared he watched as his only explanation to what he’d become ran from him. With each step she took, it felt as if a piece of his heart went with her. Over powered with pain of the body and heart he quickly sunk deep beneath the waters.

For several days he felt nothing but water. He dwelled at the deepest depths of il pontile. The mud and slime covered him. When he could no longer stand the pains of starvation he ate the fish that swam in the waters, or the seaweed at the bottom. Renato was disgusted by what he had become. After five days Renato swam to the surface of the water. He barely poked his head out of the water. From across the water she stood on the banks with a tear stained face and swollen eyes. Once she had spotted him she quickly ran away.

The love of his life, his soulmate, his one and only love couldn’t stand to be near him. His heart felt like it had been ripped to shreds. He vowed to surface the water every day until they made contact. Renato poke his head above water every day at the same time for a week. On the seventh day he saw her again.

Mona was on her balcony when she saw the creature again. She rushed down the stairs and out of her home to the shore. The distance between the two was smaller than their earlier encounter. She stared, and he stared back for what seemed like hours. She whispered his name, and it danced on the wind. He moved forward, startled she stepped back, but quickly regained her composure and stepped forward, reaching out her hand once more. He slunk down yet forward and within a moment his head was under her hand. She let out a soft sigh, and tears streamed from her eyes. She apologized through her tears, saying,

“Every second of every minute for eternity, my heart is yours,” she promised as she held his head to her chest and wept. Her touch ignited the fires within his soul. Time seemed to pass swiftly. Every day for two years, they would sit, he in the water and his beloved on land. She would pet his rubbery skin, and he would smell her strawberry perfume. Renato could no longer speak her language, yet she continued to talk to him about her life and the love that was in her heart for him. At the end of each visit as he swam away Mona promised her heart was forever his. His silent reply, “ My heart beats for you alone, my beloved.”

She stopped visiting. He surfaced the water everyday searching for her. At first he thought something terrible had happened because he could not find her and peering in through the balcony saw the room was empty. He worried for a few days until it happened. He surfaced and a subtle breeze touched his face. It smelled of her strawberry perfume. He was excited and searched for her but she never came. He would poke his head out every day and smell her perfume but never gaze upon her face.

He decided to leave il pontile and swim to different parts of the water in search of her. He searched and searched for five years. Enduring the cold and winters and surviving only on raw sea creatures. People ran away in horror screaming. He had no contact with anyone. He poked his head up as he has done every day for the past five years. His heart drops into his stomach.

It would not be until the anniversary of his transformation that Renato would see is Mona again and by the full moon that she will once again be in the arms of her beloved.

Mona went back to il pontile where they had met seemingly so long ago. It had been seven years to the day that Mona had transformed Renato to save his life. She was another man’s wife now, and her appearance had changed since then. Leaning over the water Mona looked down at her reflection, and wondered Will I ever

see Renato again? Had he changed as much since she saw him last? Then, upon hearing a sudden splash she looked up and beheld a small head upon a long, lean gray-blue neck. She was terrified and almost ran. Then she saw the creature’s eyes. While they were dark orbs of black, she recognized the sense of longing in them and reached out her quivering hand.

The moment her hand touched his face, Renato’s body became hot. Breathless, Mona was transfixed as Renato began to transform from his sea form back into his human form. Renato did not understand what was happening. After so many years his love was standing before him bathed in the light of a setting sun, hand reaching out towards him, love shining in her moist eyes. Was it a just another dream? Or was the hand upon his check real? Overcome with emotion, he wished that for one night he could hold her, touch her, and tell her once more his heart was hers and hers alone. Heaven must have been smiling on them, for as they stood together seven tears fell and intermingled on Renato’s long neck. Immediately his body began to heat from the inside out. Whatever was happening, it felt as if his body was turning in on itself. Light blinded him, pain was the only thing he felt. He didn’t know how long it lasted but once the pain had resided he was no longer looking at his beloved from a great height, she was leaning over him, and framed by the first stars of night. Wonder shone within her gentle face, she was so close. Close enough to touch. Reaching up to touch her face Renato froze as he saw for the first time in seven years a hand instead of a fin. And not just any hand, but his own. A whimper from his beloved brought his attention immediately back to her, he sat up slowly. Once he felt steady Renato reached out and wrapped his arms around her soft body and pulled her to his chest and took a deep breath…strawberries.“If this is only a dream, never wake me up.” his voice was barely a whisper and cracked, but she had heard him. Mona wept as she tightened her arms around Renato’s neck and pressed her lips tenderly to his.

On that night Mona and Renato renewed their vows of everlasting love. Throughout the night they held each other close, relearning the other’s body, but spoke mostly of their time apart. Renato had discovered many cities within the oceans depth, he had swam through multiple ship graveyards, swam with mermaids, and also searched for her along the banks of every shore he came across.

Mona spoke of her marriage, how her husband was much older than she, but was very good to her and indulgent of her whims for travel and the continuing study of alchemy; and though he did not ask, Mona assured him that aside from her husband, she had no lovers but him and only he possessed her heart and soul. Love was not the only thing that kept the lovers up all night: fear was the driving force that kept sleep at bay as the two did not know how long their miracle would last. Before the night would end, the two lovers made a plan to meet every seven years on the night of his transformation.

The first sign of morning peeked across the waves, drawing the lover’s gazes each from the other as slowly began to climb into the sky. Renato did not want to leave his beloved now that he had her in his arms once more, but the further the sun rose the stronger the seas pull was on him and he knew he had to return. Hugging Mona tightly to his chest, Renato took one final breath of her sweet scent; kissed her fiercely, and did the hardest thing in both their lives…turned and walked away.

Once his feet touched the sea, Renato’s transformation took over. This time it had been quicker than last night, but no less painful. However, the pain was nothing in comparison to the joy that followed him into the water’s embrace, at the memories he made with his beloved. “I will see you again in seven years, my love! Should anything happen and I cannot make it, know this; That no matter what life in which I live, I will always love you! Every second of every minute for eternity, my heart is yours. ”

PART 4: WHAT BECOMES OF NESSIE

Through the centuries his name has been lost. He is not remembered as an early student of the sea, nor as the greatest love to one of the world’s most famous

women “Mona Lisa”. History has forgotten the man once named Renato Alduino. Yet, though his story is

only that of myth and legend, he still lives, and continues his search for his beloved. In this day and age we know him only as “Nessie” the Loch Ness monster.

HIDDEN WITHIN A PAINTINGBeneath the waves I reside,Hidden from prying eyes,

Bidding my time, til love calls me forth

My Mona Lisa on distant shores.

Italian Terms

il pontile: means “pier”

Renato: means “reborn”

Alduino: means “strong friend”

Wanda Zimmerman: ENG: 295-w01 3/3/16

From The Collective Imaginations Of:

Emily Simpson

Kristin Miller

Laynah Rogers&

Mary Howard

CreditsSongs:

“Brenna's Song”, “Back in the Glen”, &“Stay Awhile” : by Carlyle Fraser

“Lanigan's Ball” : by Celtic Journey“Passing Sorrow” & “Terra” : by Final Fantasy

IX

Paintings & Pictures by:Leonardo da VinciPin Titian Venus With A Mirror on

PinterestAll Loch Ness Pictures: google/loch ness

monster/images.Yellow Sunrise on Beach :by

services.flikie.comCouple in the Rain/ couple painting

purple night : by art.ekstrax.com