Author : Julian Miles, Staff Writer

This precious space used to be an overgrown park, rarely visited by day and a haven for crime by night. Now it sits as a spot of verdant life amidst ruined towers and shadowed thoroughfares. Those who dwell here call it ‘Greenheart’. It is the start of something new.

“Who’s the lady in the blindfold, papa?”

Lilly points at the weed-twined fallen statue next to their stoop, held from being prone by a tripod consisting of its plinth, an outstretched arm, and the broken sword gripped in the opposite hand.

“Another goddess from heathen times. Her name was ‘Chus Tiss’, but those she afflicted nicknamed her ‘Blind Meg’. She clouded men’s minds so they could only follow rules.”

“Right and rules aren’t always the same, are they?”

“Truth spoken. Evil hides in blind obedience and evil men took advantage of her ways to rise to prominence. In so doing, she served Fear.”

“Did she bring about the Ending?”

“No, child. She certainly set the stage for the insanities to cavort upon, but the curtain was brought down by Fear, as always.”

“Fear is the true enemy, isn’t it?”

“It is. Right could crumble before Fear, but rules hold it back. However, if Right becomes too obsessed with Fear, it can make rules that let Fear spread instead of reining it in.”

“So, Blind Meg got sent down when the nukey seeds fell and hellflowers bloomed?”

“She did. Along with every other pretender. Now we have Sun, Moon, Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Storm from which to weave rules to keep Fear in check.”

“I like the Moon.”

“That you do, child. I think there is a priestess or even a witch in your calling.”

“Sun will light my way, but that’s for a tomorrow after tomorrow. Today, I want to be a Pegasus.”

“And so you shall be, missy. Give me those handcloths and we’ll have made you wings before mama gets back.”

A shadow falls across them and a laughing voice makes them smile: “I’m wise to your wing-making ways, papa bear. Unhand my dining implements and fetch my daughter some decent linen to make her wings. And bring some wire to frame them with. Everyone knows that a Pegasus’s wings stand tall.”

“Mama! You escaped!”

“Only for a while. None of the elders would gainsay me time with my family, just like I wouldn’t do that to them. We’ll have a Pegasus picnic right here on the stoop, then I’ll go back to putting the reins on fear and the right into rules.”

There is a place called Greenheart. Its beat will eventually invigorate this blasted world and let wonders return.