CHAPTER 1
I was thirteen when I got what Mama called the curse. I had been warned, but the blood frightened me. She hugged me and kissed me and cried.
"You're a woman now," she said. "Everything will be different. You must be so careful, especially with men."
I had to dress differently, like Mama did. My hair had to be covered at all times out of the house, because I was no longer a girl but a woman. Modesty was the key, especially with men. Keeping my gaze downward. Not looking men directly in the eye.
The other people on our little island understood about our culture and religion, though it was not theirs, and respected us. But it was sad that I could not be as free as other girls my age.
I was sixteen when the soldiers came, in what I later learned was called ethnic cleansing. They murdered and raped people of other groups, and also anyone who tried to protect them.
They shot my Papa! A harmless blind man working on our vegetable patch! They killed him! I saw it through the window.
Mama hid me in the cellar and went out to face the soldiers. I didn't dare to think what she was prepared to do to protect me.
I was scared, and even had to piss and poo in the corner. There was no water, and I had no clock. I would hide until Mama or thirst got me out. It was a long, long time later when she came back, very distressed, to say that they had gone away, and I was safe.
We heated some water for a bath and I washed her as Papa used to do. There was blood and bruises and her hands were damaged. She said very little, but we both cried till we could cry no more.
Next day we buried Papa according to our custom and went down into the village. No male was left, not even a boy. One had been shot dead and the others taken away. It was people from the mainland, the same country! Most of the houses and even the little chapel had been set on fire. The boys I had played with -- what would happen to them? And the poor women! It was terrible that girls my age were ashamed, as if I was their fault.
After a few days, some friendly boats came and took everyone in the village away, and we were left alone on the island. We had goats, chickens, olive trees and the vegetables. We never killed an animal, but ate those which died, and took some eggs from the chickens with apologies. We also took crabs and shellfish from the beach. The radio told us of terrible things, so when we ran out of fuel for the generator and the batteries died, it was not such a burden to lose it. The soldiers had taken what they thought valuable from the church, but left a large store of candles which we used carefully. We played music together and talked through the old stories of our people as the years went by. We had our books, including some which had been left in the ruined houses.
We looked after the grave of the man who had been shot, buried by the chapel with a simple wooden cross. Not our religion, but a friend.
With no men around we did not need to dress so modestly. Best of all we did not need to cover our hair, our beautiful hair. We washed each other's in the bath. I loved washing hers, running my fingers through the little snakes as they enjoyed the warm water and stroking. My snakes were a little naughtier, and sometimes nipped her -- not hard, just playful.
"Oh, Medusa!" she said. It was nice to hear her laugh.
CHAPTER 2
It was some years later and I was actually walking naked in the flower meadow when I saw a boat coming in to the ruined jetty. There was a glint which might have been binoculars. Had they seen me?
I ran back in, and we sorted out our clothes and sunglasses. Mama reminded me of our curse.
"A man who looks directly into your eyes will freeze. He will recover, but you should avoid it as it alarms people. But if you stare hard, he will go rigid, his breathing will stop and he will die. You must not get angry."
"Sunglasses mean that you can disguise the fact that you are not looking directly at them."
"But those soldiers?" I asked.
"Yes," she said. "Every one."
She had never told me the details before. A crowd of soldiers had landed, shot one man in the village and rounded up the rest, keeping them prisoner while the women were being raped. The men had been taken away and four soldiers stayed on the island to search for other men. Two had found our house.
Mama had covered her hair and walked out naked. She was able to get close enough to give them the killing stare. She dragged them to the cliffs and pushed them off. Then she had gone down to the village and killed the other two. I guess from her bruises it had not been easy.
Naturally the stare did not affect our own men, the ones with snakes as their hair. I had never known Grandpa, who had died helping Mama to escape, and only just remembered my Great Grandpa who escaped with her and brought with her to the island, but died when I was young. The men did not have the power, only adult women, so Grandpa had simply fought and died as a man. My people had known ethnic cleansing for thousands of years, and so far as we knew, we were the only ones left.
Our people, the Gorgons, had been valued and respected for their wisdom once, and were even consulted as oracles. Then they were feared and persecuted. Finally they were forgotten. The villagers had known what we really were, and had been friends. The women had no fear, and the men were careful. No-one talked about us away from the island to avoid the disturbance to their peaceful life which would surely follow.
Mama could not marry, of course.
Until on the beach she found a burned and nearly drowned man. I do not know the details, but I think there had been an explosion and fire on a ship. It took all of Mama's healing arts to save his life, but she could do nothing about the damage to his eyes. It was good that he would never see himself in a mirror, but sad that he could not see the beautiful woman who had saved him. Yet that made him safe to love and marry her.
There was no-one to marry them according to the custom of our people, so they were married in the little chapel by the old priest. Within a year, I was born, and they named me Medusa.
I had never known anything but friendship from the other people on the island.
Then the soldiers had arrived and the village community was gone.
From the radio we had learned of the horrors going on, but it seemed our unimportant island had been forgotten until now.
We stayed indoors and hoped the boat would just be an odd visitor.
But a couple of hours later there was a knock on the door. We covered ourselves but kept quiet.
Then we heard a woman's voice.
"Keto, Meddy! It's Maria from the village. I'm alone."
Cautiously Mama opened the door a bit and looked in the mirror on the wall which allowed us to see outside without harming anyone, then let Maria in.
There were hugs and tears before we could have any sensible conversation.
She was wearing a headscarf, but took it off, so we did the same.
She clasped her hands together and looked at me in such a fond way.
"Oh Meddy! You were such a pretty girl! Now you're a beautiful woman."
She reached towards my hair.
"May I?" I nodded.
She put her hand in my snakes and they were so pleased!
"I haven't done this since you were a girl!" Maria said, with a big smile. "I'd almost forgotten how nice it is."
My snakes hissed happily and I felt a delicious warm feeling of friendship.
She had come to warn us.
