Okay, so I think I'm going to switch the chapters; this one to be first and the other to be second. I've decided to turn this into a booklet. Not following any specific time order or plot line. All just random ideas I come up with for the reader and Nederland. Each chapter will be completely different; the reader's "(Name)" isn't exposed in this one, but it is in the next which follows a completely different writing style.
That might sound horrible to some, but just read along and you'll understand what I mean.
Please review, and don't hesitate to inform me of any mistakes.
April of Spring, in 1720 Holland.
The idea of paradise, one of normal mentality, would think of a sensual, calm place. Usually surrounded by nature. Here the grass was always green on the cliff through every season. Tulips have bloomed of all colours across the vast flat top of the cliff. Reds, yellows and purples were scattered across the green, and hidden between the darker shades and hues of the light forest that surrounded the small, open plain on the cliff. There was a small cabin fit for two that was on the top of the cliff. It was a cozy cottage, the wood made for shelter still keeping its dark colour that was conditioned after all the years of weather.
On the edge of the cliff sat a girl, still the age of an adolescent. Long brown hair flowed down to her waist from her doll-like face and long eyelashes. She sat plucking the strings of a Stradivarius. Too expensive for the majority of Europe to even lay eyes on at the time. It was her father's when he passed, and she kept it with her, even when she escaped the city to live with Nature. And her beloved Hendrik.
Hendrik was a tall, muscular man with natural blonde hair that refused to fade, older than the morally correct age to be so in love with an adolescent of what we accept into today's society. He too, had ran away from the world with his love to their idea of a quiet paradise. Hendrik quietly set the logs he gathered in the light forest next to the cabin for some fire wood and slowly walked towards the girl at the edge of the cliff. He stood there for just a moment, to take in the sea-breeze of what lies at the bottom.
The wind lightly stirred into the land, rustling the shingles on the cottage.
The girl continued to pluck the strings of the Stradivarius at a simple tune with a hum, her eyes closed and meditating the perfect world around her, even as she sat on the edge of the world. Hendrik watched her with wonder at how beautiful she was compared to the sun set over the sea. Slowly he sat next to her on the edge without muttering a word.
They sat in a bliss silence for a while, the only sound was from the wilderness around them and the girl's precious Stradivarius. She opened her eyes, and began to speak, voice still of a child's, "Hendrik, I'm happy. We should live together like this forever."
Hendrik was quiet, but nodded. He thought of their rough past and how she was still too young to understand, but her beauty left him just as ignorant to think that they could live like this forever.
The girl turned to hug him and as Hendrik wrapped his muscular arm around her slim waist in an embrace, they didn't settle for a second. The ground below them fell under without warning and the girl let out a cry of surprise as she began to fall. Hendrik's grip was tight over her waist as he pulled her back up in response to him sliding back down. They both had a glance of horror at each other, then he was gone.
She dared not look down past the cliff, but down to her lap. His body below was probably mangled and unrecognizable from the fall. The girl began to weep, then cry and scream. She lost him too, he was gone.
Her Stradivarius lay broken and alone on the cliff.
The girl stayed there through all the seasons and her hair stayed brown like the grass stayed green. Come winter she headed inside the cottage, still weeping from her loss. In her free time over the winter she would meditate more of the land, and on nice days she would bundle up in multiple furs from the house and explore the forest.
She did not live her life in complete dismay. Instead found that Hendrik was still there with her, completely. In the trees, watching over her at the cottage, she could hear his alluring voice below from the ocean, calling her down. Yet she refused.
Years passed, she got older and matured. The girl, now a woman no longer needed her voice - completely lost. Nobody to share it with. She spoke to the land, the wind, the animals and Hendrik's spirit with her mind only.
It was April again, years after the incident. Tulips have bloomed all over again with more of an abundance. The woman no longer needed to keep track of time or days, she knew it was an end. Smiling, she felt her life was lived long enough.
Slowly, she stood and let herself bravely fall. Never opening her eyes to see the bottom. They say if you fall long enough at a high enough altitude, you will die before you even hit the ground. The girl never hit the ground. She never opened her eyes, or muttered a word. For her sixth sense spoke and saw for her. She let herself fall into a pair of familiar, open arms. Completing the broken embrace from years ago.