Echo

My name is Echo, and this is my story of how I was wronged by Hera and scorned by the beautiful man, Narcissus. I did not deserve what Hera did to me. I had been sitting with my sister nymphs talking about random things. I had my eyes closed so I did not notice the other nymphs melting into the tree's. I heard a woman chuckle and I had opened my eyes to see who it was. The laugh was filled with anger and malice.

I jumped up and asked "Who are you?" She smiled at me and said "I am Hera, wife of Zeus, and I am here to put a stop to my husbands little tryst's with you." She then pointed her finger at me and said "From this point on you shall never use your tongue again except to repeat what is said to you. You will always have the last word, but no power to speak first." I tried to tell her that I had not been with Zeus but I could not speak.

She saw me struggling and smirked. "This curse you shall live with for twenty years. If you fall in love with anyone they will never love you back, that curse you will never be able to break." With those final words Hera left, walking calmly back into the forest, never once looking back. When she was out of view I crumpled to the ground, unable to hold in my tears any longer.

After what felt like hours but was probably only minutes I stopped crying. I got up and started to walk toward the lake to bathe. When I was done I got out, wishing I could sing, but knowing that I was unable, my sisters came out of the forest. They tried to ask what happend but I just shook my head and pointed at my mouth.

One of them said "Hera must have done something to her voice. What did you do to make her so angry?" I said "Hera ,something to voice." They frowned and murmured they're apolagies. I nodded and started to cry again. They hugged me and brought me to a clearing to lay down, stroking my hair to help me sleep. After a couple of minutes I fell asleep listening to my sisters sing.

After a couple of weeks I got used to not talking very often. I know when the twenty years is over I probably wont know how to talk properly. I was walking in the forest one day when I saw the most beautiful man I had ever seen. At that moment I forgot all about the part of the curse that said I would never have someone love me back like that. He had golden hair that went down to his shoulders and a lean but muscular body. She knew who this man was, his name is Narcissus, he who scorned women and love.

I did not know how I was going to get his attention. I got my chance to speak to him when he shouted "Is there anyone here?" I was so excited that I called back "Here!" He could not see who had spoken so he asked "Who speaks, come out and show yourself." I was so excited that he had spoken to me that I walked out of the trees. He was facing the other way so I said "Here" again. He whipped around and saw that I was a woman. His face contorted in disqust and anger. The transformation of his face was so scary that I flinched back in fear.

I did not understand why he looked so angry. I had heard from the other nymphs that he may look kind from afar but he held only disqust for women. It was then that I remembered the other part of the curse that Hera put on me. He said "I will not let myself fall in love with anyone who would have power over me." With those final words he spun around and stalked off into the forest in angry strides.

It was in that same spot that my sisters found me, sitting on the grass and sobbing. They knew what had happend but when they tried to comfort me I ran into the forest and away from them. I dont know how long I ran for but when I stopped I was in front of an abandoned cave. I stayed there for most of my years not being able to talk to anyone, it was the lonliest years of my life.

One day I was out walking in the forest when I saw Narcissus, nealing in front of a pond with tears streaming down his face. I kept myself hidden but continued to watch him. He cried out "Now I know what I have done to all of those women. I now know how it feels to be heart broken." I stayed there watching him watch his reflection, never eating, or drinking for days on end. When he was minutes from death he whispered "I am sorry for the grief I caused, I hope hades has mercy on my soul, farewell."

All I could do was whisper farewell back. When I knew his soul had left his body I ran into the forest to get my sisters to help bury his body. When we returned, his body was gone but a patch of new flowers was once where his body used to lay. They named them after him. Every day after that I went to that same pond and waited for my curse to end. Finally the day came where I was finally free.

I cried out "Thank you, finally I can be free again." With tears streaming down my face I went to look for my sisters to tell them the good news. From that day on I could speak but I never fell in love.