By Patricia Winton
The last time I faced the theme Bodies of
Water, it was the topic proposed by my Guppy chapter of Sisters in Crime for
the group’s first short story anthology. To be precise, the theme was “a body
of water, preferably one with fish in it.”
At Novel Adventurers, we share the
task of selecting topics, and I chose this week’s theme, Bodies of Water. At
the time—several months ago—I planned to write about the Mediterranean, that
placid sea where I’ve sailed and swum and floated, off and on, for four
decades. But when I put my fingers on the keyboard, they went in another
direction.
The last time I faced the theme Bodies of
Water, it was the topic proposed by my Guppy chapter of Sisters in Crime for
the group’s first short story anthology. To be precise, the theme was “a body
of water, preferably one with fish in it.”
I was not pleased. I had two goals:
one, to write a story strong enough to meet the competition and have it
selected, and two, to introduce the character who stars in my two works in
progress. This star writes about food, and the idea of eating fish from the
dirty Tiber, the river running through Rome, made me nauseous. I fumed for a
couple of weeks until I had one of those light bulb moments.
The Trevi Fountain, arguably one of the most
potent symbols of Rome, is a monument to the sea, but it also pays tribute to
the crops that depend on water—fruit, grain, etc. As I walked past the fountain,
that light bulb clicked on. What could be a better setting for my story, I
thought, with both a body of water and food? It suited my purposes perfectly.
The fountain marks the end of the Virgo
(Virgin) Aqueduct. Its central statue stands high on the fountain in a
shell-shaped carriage. The figure depicts Oceanus who, ancient mythology tells
us, represents the river of the world from which all streams and other bodies
of water derive. The statue is often mistakenly identified as Neptune, and I
blush to admit that I made this mistake in my story.
Oceanus’s carriage is drawn by two seahorses,
each led by a Triton. The seahorse on the right rises placid and regal; its
Triton is an old man blowing into a conch and paying little attention to his
seahorse . On the left, the seahorse rages against its young Triton, who can
barely hold on. These images represent both the dangers and the benefits of the
sea.
From the area below Oceanus’s carriage, water
flows, crashing over rocks and into a series of pools at the base. The
thunderous sound can be heard before you enter the piazza, and it always lures
me to linger a moment watching the splash, much as I’m mesmerized by winter
waves at the beach.
 |
| Abundance |
In niches above the fountain four statues
stand: Abundance, holding a cornucopia of fruit; Fertility of Crops, clutching
sheaves of wheat; Gifts of Autumn, displaying a cup and grapes; and Joy of
Prairies and Gardens, adorned with flowers. Thirty species of plants peek from
various parts of the fountain, from mullein, a medicinal herb favored by my
father, to artichoke and marsh marigold.
The fountain rises against the backdrop of
the Poli Palace, which today houses the National Geographic Arts Gallery. The
gallery windows provide a spectacular view of the fountain and the water
crashing into its pools. From this vantage point, I have my heroine see fish in
the fountain, which shouldn’t be there. Afterward, she goes home to cook, what
else, fish soup.
In the story, young schoolgirls toss coins in
the fountain, which tradition says, ensures your return to Rome. After the
murderer is unmasked, the heroine tosses a coin, too. The tradition of tossing
a coin has its roots in a practice of ancient Roman soldiers, who threw coins
in fountains, streams, and rivers to cause the water gods to smile on them and
help them return home safely. But there’s a suggestion that when the fountain
was being refurbished by the popes, the custom was re-invented to help pay for
the project.
I’m happy to report that my story, “Feeding
Frenzy,” was selected and appears in Fish Tales (Wildside Press, 2011).
If you want to read it, you can find it here.
