“How did I get here?” thought the woman. “I’m stuck between worlds, unable to move, peering out between this crack to narrow to pass. Was it my pride that got me into this predicament, or am I a victim? No, I’m not a victim, I made my choices, they could have been better choices, or at least different choices… but here I am.”
“I could have married that sorcerer; it wouldn’t have been a love match, more likely a hate match, with his foul breath and grimy paws all over me. I didn’t feel his love or compassion, only his rough carnal desire, his need to own me, to control me. I may have acquiesced to his proposal and live in luxury and comfort, had I not known what wondrous feelings a kind and compassionate man can provoke in me. It was only one night, but it gave me the strength and courage to want more, expect more.”
“We were both young, just into the blossom of adult hood, and he was so handsome. It wasn’t his looks alone that drew me to him, rather he was interested in my ideas and my ideals. We shared, discussed and explored ideas for hours, close and animated… and that led us to explore our feelings. It was an innocent brush on an arm, then on a cheek, and soon we were in each other’s arms, our lips feeling the electricity of shared exploration.”
“He was light and gentle, and his caresses on my breasts and vulva set my mind reeling, and emboldened me to explore his body as well. His solid chest and his stiff penis ignited a desire I had never known before. He was experienced and patient, and we took our time, enjoying each moment. We didn’t have sex, we made love. We shared our bodies together, he was inside me, and I surrounded him. Together we made the earth shake.”
“The night was too short; the day came too soon. His ship left that day, never to return. They said it was lost at sea… I became lost at sea.”
“It took a few years to find myself. My mind finally washed onto shore near here and staggered back to my body. I was whole again, but not complete.”
“The sorcerer was drawn to me when I was in my diminished state, like a hunter to a sick straggler from the heard. He expected me to be awed by his status and power and willingly submit, and I would have had I not made myself whole.”
“When I woke up whole, I knew his status and power for what they were; sticks to beat and control me. I was to be a chattel and not a loved partner. I had experienced better, and would never settle for less.”
“There is power in words, and I used the most powerful words I knew; I laughed and said ‘No. No I would not marry you. No I would not be your possession’. My laughing enraged him, being told No by a ‘mere woman’, his ego and anger could not accommodate this idea, so he said, ‘If I can’t have you, no one can’.”
“And so here I am. Looking out over Nice. I am not lonely here; I see women, competent, respected and loved; living the full live I had in mind for myself. I know I made the right choice because I am far from the hell life with that sorcerer would have been, and what’s more, I can see heaven from here.”
Author’s Note: This fascinating building is found near the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nice, at the corner of Rue de France and Rue Honoré Sauvan in Nice. Note also the trompe l’oeil painted on the building to the left.