Narcissus was kneeling by the river, his hands intertwined with grass, leaves, and dirt, moist with dew

Narcissus was kneeling by the river, his hands intertwined with grass, leaves, and dirt, moist with dew. The sun above marked the hour to be early in the morning, but such measurements of time meant nothing to the man who had been leaning over the bank and staring into the river for countless trips of Apollo's flaming chariot. His face, the most beautiful in all the lands had not been changed by the passing of time, even though he had not slept in a great while. However, this was not true for the rest of him. His clothes were damp with rain and bleached from the sun, his hair was long and unkempt, but his face, the same as it was when he first came to drink, still peered down at that other unchanging face in the river.

The beautiful river lady (he supposed she was a water nymph) was staring back at him with the same longing, the same intensity. Narcissus wanted to touch her face to talk with her. He held back only because he was afraid of scaring her away. Before, he had reached out and she had darted back into the depths of the river before he could reach her, and he could not bear the thought of her leaving again. At last he had found someone as beautiful as he, someone he would want to be with all his life, and she was too precious for him to risk loosing her. The face that had taken him and his heart captive at first glance amazed him. For so long, every girl had pined after him and now he was the one who had been pierced by Eros and his bow and arrow.

Nearby, in a tree brushed by breeze, Echo sat, watching Narcissus admire his reflection. Tears had left trails down her weary face and it was obvious she had not rested or eaten in many days. Just how long ago she didn't know, and neither did she care, particularly. At that time, Zeus had come into the forest, not unlike many other visits he had made, looking for some dryad or another. Not more than a few minutes later, Hera had come along looking for Zeus, and Echo had stepped in to distract her. She had always wanted to do the right thing, and at the time it had seemed to be to keep Hera in the dark about this particular rendezvous.

"O Hera, queen of the gods, what brings you to our woods this morn?" Echo had said.

"Get out of my way if you know what's good for you, nymph! Zeus is here with one of his girls and I mean to catch him this time." Hera had said with a glare harsh enough to wither flowers.

"But great queen, I have just seen your husband, Zeus. He was looking for you and said he had something for you. I told him to look for you by the oak grove as I know you have visited there before."

On hearing those words, Hera went off in search of Zeus with quite a different look in her eye, and a pleasant smile on her face, a smile that wasn't there for long. The queen of the gods had found Zeus quickly, consorting with one of his many 'companions' and after dealing with her, she had come back to Echo.

"Stupid, foolish girl, you have angered me greatly. For lying I will take away your speech and you will never tell your tales again." she had said.

Echo had tried to call out to her father, a river god, but just as Hera had said, she found she was unable to make a sound. Later, as she was floating in the river, melancholy, Aphrodite came to see her. As a friend of hers, Echo was afraid of having to explain herself without words, but the goddess had heard of her problem.

"Echo, young one, I cannot reverse Hera's curse, but I can give you some speech. Try and say something."

"Say something…."

"Very good, now at least, your beautiful voice is not completely gone."

"Completely gone…."

"Do try to stay out of trouble, though, Hera will not stop to kill you if you cross her again."

"Her again…."

"Yes dear, I must go, goodbye for now."

"For now…."

With that, Aphrodite, the goddess of love had left Echo to her own thoughts and returned to Olympus. Echo had wandered the forest, looking for something to take her mind off what had happened, but as soon as she saw one of her friends, she hid, not wanting to explain and feel the humiliation. It had been while she was hiding that she had seen Narcissus, the man every woman wanted. It was true, just looking at him had awoken feelings locked deep in her. Echo had never loved because she had a dream within her mind that she could find a man as lovely as her own voice. A man like Narcissus, the one who had changed her. Echo stirred and brought herself back to the present. As before, Narcissus was still staring at his own reflection, unaware that nothing was in the water, that the face he obsessed over was his own.

Echo walked over to him and cupped water in her hands to give to him. He drank as he had before, not noticing her at all, but instead watching the water. She sighed and walked back to the tree, fading back into memory. Narcissus had heard her approach and called out "Who's there?"

"Who's there…."

"Answer me first."

"Me first…."

"Who are you? Show yourself!"

"Yourself…."

"You cannot be me, I can hear you are a woman."

"A woman…."

"Yes, not come out."

"Come out…."

"I am out, now come here. I am lost and need help."

"Need help…."

"Oh, you cannot come, I will go to you, say something again." he said, walking to the side of the trees her voice came from.

"Something again…."

"Impudent girl, I am trying to help you. What is wrong?"

"Is wrong…" Echo said, rushing to him, unable to hold back.

"Stop repeating me."

"Repeating me…" Echo was close to tears, unable to say why she was repeating his words. She reached out to touch his face but he recoiled.

"Get away from me. You and your kind are all the same, stop fawning over me."

"Over me…."

Narcissus had gone back to the path, leaving Echo there, trembling from her tears. Aphrodite had heard her crying again and returned. Narcissus saw her in his path and said "O goddess of love, I have a request. Too many times I am confronted with girls I do not want who press themselves on me. Please change their hearts so that I am less pleasing."

"Your request interests me, but I am already busy. Perhaps some other time, if I get bored."

"But I cannot live with it any longer. Just now this nymph saw me and could speak only gibberish."

"What did she say?"

"Nothing much, she only repeated my last two words. I pushed her away when I saw she was crazy."

Aphrodite heard this and had rushed away to fetch her son and his arrows, meaning to make mischief for the one who had hurt Echo. When she returned, Narcissus was leaning over the river to drink. Eros nicked the youth's skin with one of the arrows and laughed as he stared at himself in the water, thinking he saw a beautiful river nymph. Aphrodite went and told Echo about her revenge, which comforted the girl, but only momentarily. Wishing to be left alone, Echo had gone to the river, her river, her home, and her place of solitude when it was necessary. Her life had not been very lonely, she had many friends and everyone had enjoyed hearing her speak, especially to hear her gossip. Now she had nothing, not even that secret dream. She was shattered. When she got to the river, she saw Narcissus there and had watched him from her tree branch constantly, occasionally getting up to give him water.

Narcissus continued to stare in amazement. Something that flickered in his mind was the fact that the nymph never blinked, but this was a very small wonder compared to the beauty he saw. The sun was now much higher in the sky, and he wiped sweat from his brow. He wasn't thirsty though he didn't remember getting any water, but the sun was hot and he was afraid to cool himself down with water from the river incase the nymph ran away. No thoughts ran through his mind expect those revolving around her, and it seemed that his life had always been like this. A shadow fell on him and all he noticed was the relief from the sun's glare. A woman's voice, a voice he recognized said to him "I suppose I have granted your request. No girl will throw herself at you now, since you are sitting here like a fool gazing at yourself. This is your repayment, though the one it is for is not getting any enjoyment out of it."

"Of it…" another familiar voice said, though he wish they would go away and leave him to his small world of him and the nymph.

"There you are, Echo, I was wondering where you went off to. I suppose you'd rather just stay here and watch this boy. Does it not cause you grief to see him love another, especially himself?"

"Himself…." Echo said, letting her head drop. With many days to think, she had decided that being here with him was better than going away and never seeing him again. The pain was hard to bear, but it was better than the pain of not seeing the man she loved. If only she could speak to him, get him to listen and maybe even get him to love her back. To have those dark eyes look at her the way they were looking at the water. However, she knew such wishes were impossible, and she was going to just have to live with reality. He would never love her, and even though she couldn't speak to him, it didn't matter anyways, he wouldn't listen to any voice but one he thought was the river nymph's.

Many years passed. Echo cared for Narcissus as before, never looking forward to any change, and Narcissus stared constantly at that one part of the water. He never wanted for food or water, Echo took care of his needs by catching what fish she could, and giving him water from the stream. In winter, she brought him blankets and kept him warm with her body. In summer, she shaded him with branches. She kept the wild animals away, and ignored her friends when they would call for her telling her it was no use. They had not come near her in the past few years though, going far up or down stream, avoiding the sight of two lovers, one in love with his reflection, and one in love with someone who didn't notice her. Echo was lonely. Aphrodite had stopped coming soon after the dryads and hamadryads mostly because Echo would not let her get rid of Narcissus and the goddess often left yelling at the girl who had in the meantime turned into a woman.

Echo often took walks along the game trail nearby, where she had first seen Narcissus, and because she was so utterly alone, she had changed drastically. Her long brown hair was wild and free, often holding leaves and twigs, her clothes were worn out and holes from trees snatching at them had made them rags. She had a pale look and her face was very beautiful, but filled with a haunting, empty look. Echo hardly ever cried anymore, but if she had it would have made her look so much more real. As she was, one might mistake her for some spirit wandering through the trees, soundless. Indeed, Echo had not spoken for a long time, no one was around for her to repeat, and Narcissus in his catatonic state said nothing even when she touched him. Narcissus had not changed much, Echo had seen that he not weather in any way. She kept him dry in the rain, and put balm on his lips and hands when the wind was fierce. It was the only thing she knew how to do.

One day, as she walked along the trail, she heard a man's voice singing, loud and deep. She hid behind a tree, though it was dusk and the shadows would have hidden her just as well. Not accustomed to anyone but Narcissus, pretty, fair, fragile Narcissus, the robust man who came along towards her looked strange. He carried a bow on his back, and was leading a donkey. It seemed to Echo that he had been walking for a long time, and still had a ways to go, though she did not know why she thought that. He was handsome in his own way, muscular and stocky, the opposite of Narcissus in so many ways. Where Narcissus was graceful like a large cat, this new man moved more like an ox, and his face was that of a stubborn man as well.

Echo felt drawn to this man, hearing the first voice in years coming from him was wonderful, someone like him would never fall in love with his reflection and become lost in a world that did not exist. Echo shook her head, she was being disloyal to Narcissus. She had decided to stay by his side, and that was that. 'But don't you remember happiness?' a voice said inside her. 'Nothing Narcissus has done ever made you happy. You have no life anymore, you just sit day in and day out caring for him, but not getting any thanks in reply.' A new resolution in her mind, Echo stepped out into the path of the man.

Zenas stopped dead in his tracks. Before him not more than three feet away stood the pale figure of a woman dressed in not much more than rags with wild dark brown hair that flowed out from her head, twigs sticking out from it. She was striking, almost luminescent in the dim of twilight, and she had an ethereal appearance, as if she was not all there. Her face was beautiful and just as pale as the rest of her thin, haunting being. There was a silence between the two, as Echo waited for Zenas to speak and he waited for her. They examined each other, insubstantial nymph, and earthy mortal, neither moving. Minutes dragged on and finally Zenas said "I do not know what you are, but please, tell me your name."

"Your name…."

"I? I am Zenas, who are you?"

"Are you…."

"Yes, of course I am, why would I lie?"

"I lie…."

"I have only just met you, it does not matter if you lie."

"You lie…."

"No I don't, why would I?"

"Would I…."

"Would you what?" Zenas was becoming very confused, the woman seemed to be trying to tell him something, but she wouldn't come out and say it. "What do you want? It is getting dark, I should be on my way."

"My way…" Echo was frustrated and reached out, grabbing his arm. She tried to pull him, though she found she was quite weak. He moved anyways, and followed her as she went towards the river.

When Zenas saw Narcissus, he called out to him, "Do you know what this lady wants?"

"Lady wants…."

Narcissus did not stir as Echo expected, but she saw the traveler, Zenas puzzle him over. Zenas walked over to him and shook his shoulder. "I said, do you know what she wants? She can't speak but gibberish, and she seems to need help."

"Need help…." Echo said, causing Zenas to look up.

"Yes, that's what I said. You need help."

"Need help…."

"Can you say anything else? Can you only repeat me?"

"Repeat me…."

"I suppose that's my answer."

"My answer…."

"Are you hungry?"

"You hungry…" Echo said, pointing to Narcissus.

Zenas turned back to the unresponsive man kneeling over the bank. Why was he staring at his reflection, was there something in the water? Zenas looked down himself, and saw nothing, so he waved his hand in front of the man's face. As that got no response, he splashed water on the man and got a frightened shout out of the man. "Don't scare her away, she is shy, I can't let her get away."

"Get away…"

It was the first time Echo had heard his voice in so long, and it seemed unreal and lifeless compared to the traveler's. All of Narcissus seemed small and unimportant compared to the traveler. Even his face, lifted up from the water, was not as perfect as she had thought. There had been no change, yes, but he was like a statue of beauty, rather than an actual person. Zenas was bright, and animated compared to the man she had kept alive all these years who seemed to be dead.

"How long has he been like this?"

"Like this…."

"Oh, right, you cannot speak, How foolish of me to forget. I suppose it has been a long time, just the two of you?"

"Of you…"

"But what do you want me to do? I do not think I can help him. Do you want me to stay with you?"

"With you…." Echo repeated, actually meaning the words for the first time since she had been cursed. Her eyes said what her voice could not, and she ran to him. He held her to him as she cried from joy, rather than sorrow. Narcissus searched the land around him, trying to see where the river nymph he had longed for had gone to, but he was unsuccessful. He moaned, distracting the embracing couple, and as he saw them, he took a rusted knife from his old, cracked belt and thrust it into his own heart. Echo cried out in a strange guttural noise as if it was her dying, and she fell to the ground, torn between the two men. One she had kept alive for so long without any encouragement and was dying, though it seemed parts of him had passed on a long time ago. The other she had just met had welcomed her though she could not explain herself and he did not know who she was.

Zenas knelt by this strange compelling woman as she sat lifeless on the ground for what seemed like hours. Their silence back on the path was nothing compare to the wait he had now. Echo looked even more hollow than she had before, though he had not thought that possible. A bright, silver, shining shape emerged from the trees near the game trail, and as it drew closer, Zenas saw it was a woman, but not a mortal one.

Echo saw the shining woman and immediately recognized her as Hera, queen of the gods, wife of Zeus, and the one who had taken her voice away. Echo cowered, burying her face in Zenas's tunic.

"I see that you have learned from your experiences, Echo. Once a foolish, unreliable gossip, you are tamed and how you have changed. My anger over that incident years ago has cooled somewhat, and I have changed my mind, though some of your former friends are against my decision. Narcissus has taken his own life rather than stay with you, so I offer you a choice. You can get back your voice or fade away."

"Fade away…." Echo could not stop herself from repeating those words, as she felt compelled to by Hera's curse.

"Oh really, you're sure you don't want to stay and keep this new find of yours company? Well then, so be it. Now you can just fade away."

"Fade away…." Echo was sobbing by now, Zenas holding her, smoothing out her glorious hair, fear in his eyes.

"I am sorry for my disrespect, goddess, but how can you do that to this lady. I have known her for but a few short hours, and already I see her life has been that of great sorrow."

"I am teaching her a lesson, mortal. She is learning to stay out of my way."

"I am sure whatever lesson you wished to teach has sunk in, Hera." another woman's voice, filled with power such as all goddesses have, said.

Aphrodite stepped into the scene from the same trees Hera had, but without the glow.

"Hera…."

"I have stayed away for many years, but when I was here I saw the destruction of the youth of Echo and the beginnings of this depressed state she lives in now. Cruelty is not something that wins over worshippers, Hera. You would do well to forgive."

"To forgive…."

Hera glared at her fellow goddess and stalked out of the clearing, never looking back at the ruined nymph, the mortal man, or the goddess of love. Aphrodite left soon after that, saying farewell to the pair, and they fell asleep together, Echo clutching his tunic, and Zenas holding her close.

Many years have gone by since then, many more than those over which our story took place, but still we remember the story of Narcissus from whose blood we get the flowers that share his name, and Echo, the personification of hopes and dreams of many who hide behind idle chatter and can only find themselves by finding true love. Some questions cannot be answered, some do not need answering, but this is true, Echo found happiness eventually, in Zenas who loved her dearly and took great care of her. Narcissus died from the grief of not seeing the one e loved because he could not look any further than himself. Hera never solved the root of the problem, but she eventually worked her self image issues out, and Aphrodite, went on making people fall in and out of love. Their story changes through every telling, and characters come and go, but the real message of the story is always present: beauty is in the eye of the beholder, stranger things have always happened, and things will get better somehow, even if its only in how you look at life.