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The sun shone, bright and glorious in Leila’s mind and in her eyes. It was a beautiful day.
Rising, she stretched and breathed vigorously, her mind turning at once from joyous dreams to daily delights. Today, she would gather samples of all that had been grown in their new colony and the processing would then begin.
Leisurely dressing, she tended to her hair and face before joining the others at their breakfast table. Elias spoke, as was his custom, so that all might know the progress which had been made-and where more was needed-as each fulfilled their hungers from their plates. Food was plentiful now.
In their old, and other home, on Omicron Ceti they had been sustained, but not satisfied, each not knowing how they had been at war with an invisible enemy. The Rays had claimed many before the Orions came- and by trade what remaining good they had produced,-were content to settle them here. Now they scarcely thought of those times, for all such hardships were far behind them.
Their meals concluded and their minds freshed filled, they parted to begin their days engagements. At the stables, Leila hitched up the team, so pleased to begin her journey and with the company Elias would provide. This world had so invigorated him that he barely bore comparison to the grim soul he had been before. They laughed, talked and sang as they rode.
So much was thriving, fresh and new, with perfect amounts of rain and sun, warmth and cool and working hands and loving hearts to make it grow. Like Elias, each of them had been enlivened. They had purpose, they had work. They had faith and love.
It seemed too much of hubris to speak of it as perfection, and of course, it was not. There was death and still there was sickness, but no one was ever lost or alone.
The day passed blithely as they rode and gathered, the wagon overflowing with flora, but soon the sun was low in the sky. Their journey home passed even more quickly and pleasantly as the others set aside their works to walk alongside the wagon. Their laughters and songs were shared and multiplied.
In the hills, beyond the settlement, the brilliant white monument shown in the fading light, and those who worked near had already began the celebrations. They moved about in the grove, their rough, work clothes discarded for loose garments of shimmering pastels. There was joy, joy beyond imagining as In the olives and laurels, they gathered the leaves and the fruits and soon all would join them.
The horses fed and tended and her samples safely stored, Leila met Elias again in the grove, the amber light dancing in his orange toga as his basket was filled to overflowing. Soon, hers would join it. At the base of the temple steps, they laid their offerings and they feasted, and there he came among them. He joined their songs and shared their laughter and he glowed with the giving of their love. That glow, that glorious light, shown in them all now, in heart and mind and soul. They were loved, worlds without end and forever it would be so.
End