Story Review | Reunion by Eliza Victoria
Illustrated by Karen Francisco
Among us are two brothers. They have walked the earth for thousands of years, living and reliving. They are known by many names. Separated by a curse and a blessing. Both were ejected from Paradise, never to return to it ever again. They have reencountered many times in the past, each feeling the presence of the other beforehand, leaving it at that and nothing more. After many, many years they are bound once again by a common tragedy.
The grain of truth embedded in Cain and Abel’s story is so alive it is unnerving, but very curious as well. I applaud the author for not flinching from this subject. In context, it shows that God is authoritarian with a great hand for punishing offenders. But it also shows that God is indeed real, and he is powerful. His reasons may be unknown to us, but His actions are and they may be experienced for thousands of lifetimes. That time is irrelevant in His justice.
You put the Mark on yourself as punishment, knowing how easier it would have been to be killed than to walk desolate for years and years. Your brother is dead, you didn’t want things to be easy. You told everyone another story, which, after several lifetimes, you learned to believe.
Reunion also shows one of humanity’s fundamental needs–relations. A profound human contact that shares a common history, a constant and true, and a thread even time cannot sever.
Please, I don’t want to stand alone in the center of a ruined place.
I really enjoyed Eliza Victoria’s succinct prose. Her ability to twist intricate narrative using the simplest of language to convey them is outstanding. With her austere words, uncanny tales come to life, of people inflicted by the unnatural, and how they view survival and the human dilemma.
Rating: 4/5 stars
Collected, A Bottle of Storm Clouds
You can listen to Reunion here.
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