Lisa Tenzin-Dolma
Characters: Eva, Finn, Phaedra
1. The Beginning. Eva
It is time. Eva hesitates, sensing the light swirling around her, nudging her forward. The choice has been made and there is no going back. The light shifts, forms shapes and colours, spirals into a vortex, and she briefly resists. Finn is not here beside her; he is embarking on his own journey. Light and sound, a maelstrom, engulfs her and she is pulled into it, spiralling onwards towards the steady beat of the heart that will be her new source, feeling the first flicker of her own heartbeat.
2. Into the World. Eva
She felt safe here, nurtured through these months, her world a rosy cocoon and muffled sounds. And she remembers why she is here, knows what is to come, and welcomes it. But the pain is unexpected; the crushing and pushing, the fear. She holds on, but her memories are fading, and she no longer knows who she is and why she is here, enduring this expulsion into a blinding new world where the first intake of breath is expelled as a cry of shock and anguish. She is born anew. The memories vanish.
3. Shooting Star. Eva
She lies on the cool grass, feeling connected with something larger than herself, watching the starry sky shift above her as the night revolves towards another day. A light appears and leaves a streak across the heavens as it falls towards the earth, and she feels a stirring deep inside; a knowing. The memories, nebulous, but close enough to grasp, illuminate her mind. She is free but not alone. She knows she will never be alone.
4. Memories. Eva and Finn
Her feet tap out a rhythm, echoing the drumming of the rain as it forms puddles that she splashes through. She remembers him, and she knows that he remembers her and that they will find each other; their destiny, and their reason for this journey. She sees him in her dreams, and can feel that he sees her, too. They just need to find each other. She reaches out her mind to him, wherever he is, and he sends an answering echo.
5. Ice on Silver. Eva and Finn
She sits by the waterfall, dipping her toes, watching the water rush by and listening to its song awaken every cell in her body, wondering whether it will beckon him, too. The water is clear, and she gazes at the stones beneath the surface and sends out a silent call. A reflection appears beside hers and she looks up, already knowing who it will be.
6. There’s Something About You. Eva and Finn
They gaze at each other, these two who are only strangers in this moment, and recognition sparks between them. Their forms emit colours that only they can see, that weave and merge in a delicious and familiar harmony. They have come home.
7. Time Stands Still. Eva and Finn
They only have eyes for each other. Love is already there from long before, and the relationship they build is intense and all-consuming. Coming together leaves them awestruck as the earth and the heavens shift around them and find a place within them. They are each other’s temple, and all of their memories return, kaleidoscoping through them.
8. The Singing Fields. Eva and Finn
They cannot bear to be apart, and when they must sleep the one who is still awake watches over the other, guarding their dreams. They have a home by a lake, and, like the swans who live there, they know that they will always be together: soulmates, and partners for this life and beyond.
9. He Will Be Mine. Phaedra
Phaedra comes from the same source as them, with her own mission: to test their love. If they fail, they will never meet again in this world or the next. Her task is easier than she expected because she is drawn to Finn, and she revels in the prospect of seducing him and making him her own. Eva, so pure and innocent, so sure of Finn’s love, will be no match for her.
10. Predatory Woman. Eva
They are at a party, enjoying the music and the company, holding each other close, when Phaedra slinks in and is immediately surrounded by admirers. Finn hardly glances her way, but Phaedra gazes at him from across the room and wills him to look at her. As soon as he meets her eyes she shimmies over, takes his hand, and draws him away from Eva into another room. Eva is shocked and furious, thinking that Finn has abandoned her, and leaves, slamming the door behind her.
11. Enter My Space. Phaedra
Phaedra uses all her wiles to persuade Finn to fall in love with her. She weaves a gossamer web of seduction around him, telling him that she, not Eva, is his soulmate. She describes how life is a dream and that she is the one who can awaken him.
12. Tides. Phaedra and Finn
Phaedra uses her powers to show Finn the cycles of life, and how they are attuned and part of everything in the universe. Finn is reluctantly drawn in, though is trying with all his might to resist her. Phaedra is confident that she can win Finn over, she senses that he is weakening because she has come armed with everything she needs to win him over.
13. Tantra. Phaedra
Finn is struggling to get away to look for Eva, so Phaedra draws on her seductive nature and promises him that once he has made love with her he will never want to leave her. She coils around him, telling him to surrender and immerse himself in her.
14. To Let You Go. Eva
Eva runs away, overcome by a sense of betrayal. She lives alone, isolated from the world, feeling that what she and Finn had couldn’t have been real, despite her powerful memories, and mourning her loss. She questions her purpose in coming to earth to find him, and decides that all she can do is let him go.
15. Free. Eva
Eva’s grief turns to anger, and she rails against Finn and against love. She tries to focus on being free of all attachments, but that freedom tastes bitter. She feeds it, hoping that she will emerge stronger and wiser.
16. Echoes. Finn
Finn realises that Eva has vanished and is distraught. He understands that she has doubted him, with good reason as he let Phaedra lead him away, and he is afraid that the love he and Eva shared has been destroyed and he has lost his soulmate.
17. Trust in Me. Finn
A year passes, and Finn cannot bear to give up searching for Eva to explain that he didn’t succumb to Phaedra’s wiles, despite her efforts. Eva is nowhere to be found, but Finn is determined to track her down.
18. I Believe in You. Eva and Finn
Eva dreams that Finn is drifting in a misty ocean, calling to her, and all she can do is go to him. She dives in, fighting the waves, and reaches out to clasp Finn’s hand and hold him close. She wakes to find herself alone and bereft, knowing that her love for him will never die, and then hears his voice outside. They run to each other and embrace, reunited as the soulmates they were destined to be.