There they were. The celestial daughters of Atlas. Joyfully, tenderly, tending a fruit-bearing tree.

He sent them a serpent to protect them and keep them from harm.
A village girl would watch them day after day as they laughed and played.
Jealousy in secrecy for the girls she loved in a sisterly way.
Through stories she knew, not a day they grew, and never would they meet with death.

They were of legend. The Sunset Goddesses. No bound and brimmed with desire.
But on a whim, she approached.

A gift from the palm of their hand they offered to one another.
The sisters were hers. They were always hers, they embraced her. They loved her.
The golden life from a branch on the tree to her lips, she must eat.
The choice was hers. It was always hers, and it was just?it was just so easy.

With a single bite, she awoke and immortalized.

For many years she would laugh. For many years she sang.
Although the years were kind to her sisters, she knew she was not the same.

They offered to one another.
They embraced her. They loved her.
To her lips, she must eat.
The choice was hers. It was always hers, and it was just?it was just so easy.

This blessed curse. Through the passage of days she'd sit in the shade
And stare at her world now abandoned by age.
Her mind would drift away from the warmth and sun-drenched breeze.
So long ago she remembered the cold and how her skin would sting from the evening snow.
An immutable need?to be held by winter's sleep. But this could never be.
She's pulled back to the sun and her sisters. For the serpent, she laughs and sings.
But the choice was hers. It was always hers?and now it's not so easy.