Aine O'Flynn
Courtesan
Numena
And down the long and silent street,
The dawn, on silver-sandalled feet,
Crept like a frightened girl.
~Oscar Wilde The Harlot's House
Aine O'Flynn
Courtesan
Numena
And down the long and silent street,
The dawn, on silver-sandalled feet,
Crept like a frightened girl.
~Oscar Wilde The Harlot's House
Aine O'Flynn...numena. Brought over from a place she rememberd only as "the before" by a painting, she dwells in the world as a girl, a human-seeming girl, fair of hair, dark of eye, slight of build, shy of manner.
"What was it like in the before?"
"There were stories. And one of them was mine."
~Charles de Lint, Memory and Dream
Aine O'Flynn...courtesan, harlot. Her source painting fell into the hands of Billy Shine, a man who ran a rather shady business...one could say he rented out professional courtesans. Of course, with the painting came Aine. And a useful one she was, too, as a numena does not bleed, sleep, drink, eat, or feel the cold or heat. And a pretty girl, appearing to be 15 or 16 years of age, is always handy is such a business...
I am tired of tears and laughter,
And men that laugh and weep
Of what may come hereafter
For men that sow to reap:
I am weary of days and hours,
Blown buds of barren flowers,
Desires and dreams and powers,
And everything but sleep.
~Algernon Swinburne, Hymn to Proserpine
With no way out, besides relinquishing her existence, Aine fulfills the duties of her occupation, but with little pleasure. Always, she seeks a means of taking her painting and escaping...as yet, no success. So she serves, and waits.
"We're not real. We don't have a red crow inside us like you."
"A red crow?"
"Blood and dreams...."
~Charles de Lint, Memory and Dream