Fountain of Redemption in the Mediterranean Sea

Stedasmus was having a pleasant afternoon. He was sitting in his favorite chair, wine at his side, and a book on his lap. His feet were up on the ottoman, and he had been reading for hours already. His eyes were getting tired and he had reached the last page of the book, but now he was forced to stare at the cover. He hated blank books. He would have much preferred to have nothing at all than this silly, cheery blank book. It was mocking him, taunting him with its empty pages and bright yellow cover.

His eyes wandered to a small table near his chair where stood an elegant decanter of wine and two glasses. On the other end of the table was an ornate vase filled with roses and lilies. The flowers were white but had splashes of reds, oranges, yellows and blues throughout them. There were also a few streaks of green in some of the flowers as well. Stedasmus thought it was quite beautiful, but he had never before seen such a diverse array of colors in flowers before.

“Where are you from?” Stedasmus asked aloud to no one in particular.

“From your garden master Stedasmus,” came the response from behind him. “We are from your garden!” A young voice replied happily. Stedasmus turned around slowly in his chair to see who had spoken and was met by a young girl standing behind him with a puppy in her arms. The puppy was eyeing him curiously with one eye open and the other closed as if it were trying to decide if it liked him or not yet. “I am Mariane! What is your name?” She said as she smiled brightly at him, her blonde hair falling over her shoulders softly, her blue eyes sparkling with joy as she gazed up at him.

Her smile was infectious though and Stedasmus couldn’t help but smile back at her as he replied “I am Stedasmus my dear...” As he spoke he took notice that she looked vaguely familiar somehow to him, but he couldn’t place where he might know her from... He continued while still smiling broadly at her “And that is my dog ___________ who I just recently acquired today. I hope we will be good friends!”

Mariane walked over to Stedasmus and held out the puppy for him to pet it so he did so without hesitation as he asked “Have you met my gardener? I think he would be very happy to meet you! What do you say little one? Would you like to meet my gardener?” The puppy barked once quickly in response as Mariane smiled again and giggled merrily at both man and beast alike saying “Yes master! Let us go see your gardener! It will be fun!”

They were both somewhat startled when they heard another voice speak up from behind them as they turned around together to see that another woman had joined them on the balcony through an arched doorway which lead into a hallway within the house itself that neither of them had noticed moments before when they first entered the room together earlier today. The woman gave Mariane an odd look as she walked over to stand beside Stedasmus looking down at her curiously before asking her “Who are you child? And how did you get into my master's home?” Her tone sounded more curious than anything else though as she gave Mariane another odd look than turned back towards Stedasmus saying “Master... Who is this child? Where did she come from? Is she yours or mine? Is she lost?” She looked back down at Mariane who seemed confused by the older woman's questions which only seemed to further confuse her even more as she thought to herself ‘I don't understand... I know these people! They are family... Or at least they should be anyway!' She smiled back up at them both saying cheerfully “Yes ma'am I am lost... My name is Mariane! May I spend time here with you sir? I would like that very much if it is alright with you!!! Can I stay here Master? Please can I stay here?! It looks like such a nice home here! And does this woman work for you too Master?! Are we family then?! Oh it makes me so happy just thinking about it!!! Yes please may I stay???!!!"