Lelaya's Search for the Sphinx

    "Lelaya was a very pretty young girl, with hair that was the colour of corn and so long she could easily sit on it (though it was rare to see it down, she said it got in the way).  Her eyes were the bluest of blue, and when she smiled the world appeared to smile too.  Having lost her mother during childbirth, she was raised by her father. She could easily have been a precocious, selfish, uncaring young lady - after all she was the adored only daughter of one of the village elders, Remy.  Yet she was none of those things, for she was kind hearted and generous to all those around her, easily able to laugh at herself and frequently did.  Well loved by all the villagers because of her happy nature, Lelaya was a happy carefree girl - though she did have a mischievous nature, as her father found to his cost on many occasions.  
   Lelaya and her father lived on Kirstania, an island in the warm seas of Teriah.  First of all, it must be said that the Teriah Sea with its many islands are from another world to ours.  Kirstania was one of the largest and most beautiful of these islands.  It had a lush green land that defied anything planted not to grow, vegetables and fruits that grew much larger than we have seen in our world.  There were many different types of trees in a whole variety of heights; Lelaya was seen on many an occasion hanging from the top-most branches, gently swaying in the breeze.  There was a pretty spectacular tree over ten feet high, and it produced scarlet hanging flowers so heavy they formed a glorious scarlet cascade that touched the ground.   Virtually all year round each and every day there was glorious sunshine with the bluest of blue skies.  Kirstania had only occasional rainfall, and when the rain fell it was warm.  The fresh water that was in such abundance came from an underground river that stretched from one side of the island to the other.  Fresh water came from an unusual source on the island. It was known that the water entering the mouth of the river came directly from the sea (we all know that is salt water), yet it changed to fresh water whilst underground.  Many whispered of strange reasons for the phenomenon but none knew the real reason for it.

   Village life was simple on Kirstania.  Men and women were equal, with no task specific to man or woman.  Even the children had chores to carry out each day from the age of five.  These chores would last most of the morning. The day started earlier than ours and it was not uncommon for every villager to be up and working by six o’clock in the morning.  The village itself was not recognisable as a village to us.  Houses, for instance, are quite different to those we are used to seeing in our world for they are small, have very black walls with yellowy brown roofs.  If I had to describe one of the houses, I would say it resembled a mud hut without door or window.  Walls were constructed from a mixture of stones and mud with a thatched roof made from large banana leaves, with a canopy of leaves forming a sort of patio.  Each family had its own little house, but it was only really to sleep in for all the villagers ate together.  Lelaya and her father shared a house together.  Inside their little house were two beds made of straw, with a covering of brightly coloured soft woollen fabric, made by Essa one of the village women.  There were two wooden chairs and straw matting on the floor.  In a corner stood a wooden structure that contained a jug and bowl, with a cloth hanging from the side.  Two hooks were on the wall, each having a pair of trousers hanging precariously from it – the buttercup yellow ones belonged to Lelaya and the cornflower blue pair belonged to Remy.  There was a superbly carved hair brush; it was supposed to reside on the little table with the jug and bowl, but it was in its more usual resting place – the floor at the side of Lelaya’s bed.  The only other item in the house was a wooden carving, made by her father.  It was of a very beautiful woman, Lelaya’s mother."