Sounds echoed from the bottom of the well. The water was swirling, going round and round, causing a vortex. More than once there was a concentrated flash of light, like an electrical discharge.

The water became even more violent. The flashes of electricity were frequent now, making the well very bright.

A tiny mass was beginning to take form down below.

Initially it looked like a really large potato. Its features gradually turned more distinct. A head formed, attached to a torso. Little arms appeared.

The water level rose. A part of my mind cautioned me to get away from the well.

The water shot up all the way to the top. However, it stopped right at the mouth and didn’t spill out, as I had feared it would. An infant siren girl with a fish tail was floating on the surface.

“Get her,” the Lady of the Well said to me.

I reached out with my arms and grabbed hold of the infant girl. The water level slowly receded.

I looked at the tender pinkish face of the newborn. Already I was enthralled by her cuteness.

One of the sirens approached me.

“Let me have her. I will take her to the nursery.”

With some reluctance I gave away the baby. In a few years she would grow up to become a man-eating siren.

“Now the tears,” the Lady of the Well said. “Be careful with them. They should be thrown to the very center of the wall. Don’t let them hit the sides. And you must throw them together, not one by one. So take additional care.”

The diamonds were dazzling. If only I had diamonds of such sizes in the real world, I would not have to work again a single day of my life. I could buy all the things that could be bought. I would relax in the lap of luxury forever…

The Lady of the Well exhaled.

“Are you going to wait till they become liquid again?”

Liquid again? At the end of the day the sparkly objects that I thought of as diamonds were merely tears. Tears of a dragon, yes, but salty tears all the same.

I extended both my arms over the well, seeking to drop the tears away from the sides. I leaned a little forward.

A sudden imbalance, and before I knew it I was plummeting down the well, a scream in my throat. I hit the water at the bottom, head first.

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I kicked my arms and legs and was somehow able to get into an upright position, swallowing mouthfuls of water in the process. It was very cold water and I was in shock from the unexpected fall, fighting to make sense of what was happening.

The sirens rushed to the mouth of the well above. Just then I noticed that the diamonds were beginning to liquefy and dissolve, and as that happened the water began to glow.

This was a different form of light than the watery fulminations that I had witnessed during the resurrection of the siren. This light was composed of a myriad of bright colours. It enveloped everything around me.

The water disappeared, so did the sirens looking down from above. The cylindrical wall too was gone.

Only the light remained and I remained. And after some time I knew that I was the light, and it was no separate entity from me…

***

Mimti made sculptures. Mimti made the best sculptures in the land. Mimti was me.

I stretched my body, and gazed outside the cave with eyes that ached from a day of intense focus.

Far below the hill, pinpricks of light in the village could be seen. Night was setting in. But I was in the flow. I regarded the half-finished sculpture that I had been detailing all day. Three days I had been in the cave, working on it. Like all of my statutes this one was also of a woman. And like the others this one too had a faint semblance to my wife. My wife who was my muse. My wife with whom I had been madly in love with for years.

While there were differences in the rest of the body, I had taken great care to ensure that the face and the eyes of the sculpture reflected the beauty of my wife.

I hated being away from her. I hated leaving her alone in the village and my heart yearned for her.

Unfortunately, I produced my best work when in a remote spot, away from distractions, and that was why I had made the cave my studio. I made my living as a sculptor. Giving life to stones was pretty much the only skill I had. My sculptures put food on my table. As a result, I had to be constantly away from home to give my wife the best life that I could afford.

I lit a small fire and resumed working. With years of experience in the tip of my fingers, I effortlessly chiseled away unnecessary bits of the block of stone.

On occasions insects would land on my work in progress. I chased them away gently.

The world faded and it was only the sculpture that existed— and the fire of course, since I needed to keep tending to it every now and then.

The hours passed and before long, the morning dawned. The fresh light of the morning sun filled the place. I had been standing all night and my muscles were sore from it. On the bright side, the upper part of the sculpture was done. I was quite satisfied.

For some time I kept admiring my own creation. While the lower section of the sculpture was still little more than a block of stone the upper part was perfect. My monkey mind still wanted to make little adjustments to it, but the master sculptor in me knew that any more changes to the upper part would only diminish its charm.

I looked at the bottom chunk that still required the love of a chisel. But it would have to wait.

I let out a great yawn, stretching my arms wide.

I collected my tools in a bag. I took one last glance at my night’s work and left the cave. Safety concerns didn’t nag me. Thieves couldn’t profit much from a half-done sculpture.

Normally I only returned home at noon, but I had been in the cave too many days, and I looked forward to surprising my missus by showing up in the early morning itself.

I would quietly sneak into the house through a window and lay down on the bed beside her. And then I would watch her overjoyed expression as she woke from sleep.

With thoughts like these cooking inside my head, I made my way down from the peak of the hill where my cave was situated. The slope wasn’t very steep and the descent was easy enough. The rays of the sun revitalized me after a sleepless night of passionate work. A thrush accompanied me part of the way, delighting me with its song. It indeed was a lovely morning.