Image: Cyclops by Thomas Zuber

Pick a Mythological Creature
Cyclops

Pick an Activity
Singing

Pick a Fruit
Apricot

Pick a Time of Life
Childhood

Pick a Concern
Finding Love

Colin Cyclops loved singing, eating apricots and reliving his childhood in an attempt to discover how he might go about finding love.

Colin had been blessed with a rich baritone voice and loved nothing more than standing outside his home and singing Amazing Grace. His voice would echo across the valley before him, and people would look up from the daily tasks to remark about his beautiful voice.

Colin had taken singing lessons during his teenage years and had impressed his teacher with his astounding vocal range. He attributed much of his success to his diet of apricots. It wasn’t just the flesh of the fruit he ate but Colin being a Cyclops had incredibly strong jaws, and he would happily crush the kernel and chew on it.

From childhood, he recalled the days given over to singing and singing some more. He longed for those carefree days, but one thing stood in his way.

Being a Cyclops, he was the ugliest boy in the country. No matter how you dressed him up he was afflicted with the single eye on the front of his head, and most people saw him as hideous.

So in matters of love Colin struggled. There was no attraction between him and other beings, and as there were no other Cyclops’ around, he was on his own.

His mother he remembered as nurturing and loving. But as with so many things she had died and Colin found himself alone in the world.

Any overture towards a local girl resulted in visits from the fathers who with pitchforks in hand warned Colin to stay away from their daughters as he frightened them.

Traditionally the Cyclops was a fearsome creature, but Colin was not like that. He wanted to be loved like everyone else.

He tried to dress like the other men in the community, even visited the village optometrist to see if a glass would help tone down his fearsome appearance. What he did discover though was he was colour blind, which explained a lot when he thought about comments he’d heard about the colour of apricots.

One day when he was feeling particularly rejected he was wandering through the bush when he heard a call of distress.

Upon investigation he found a maiden, someone he didn’t know, caught on a rocky cliff and unable to save herself. Colin being a tad taller and stronger than the average man reached down and pulled her to safety. The young lady in question, terrified her rescue might also be her end, shied away from him but Colin sensing her fear put her mind at ease and offered to escort her home.

They chatted on the way home and the young lady discovered Colin to be a very personable fellow and not the horrid monster she initially imagined.

That was the start of beautiful friendship. They saw each other on a regular basis and over the years Colin came to realise that by being himself and others finding cause to listen to him and he to them, life could be so much different.

Love he decided was all he imagined and more.

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2019/05/12/sunday-writing-prompt-5-by-5-3/