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Emotions 365: The Marsh Submission, the Sunken Palace Domination

Frogs, snakes, and minnows wiggle in the marsh Submission. A grey sky hovers over cattails where the marsh eases into lake. Scaled denizens slip into the water up to their necks. They swim through the lake. In the depths, lie monstrous trout and ancient carp. Denizens nibble at algae and lily pad root. 

Visitors walk the marsh labyrinths. They count the cattails and whippoorwill calls. In the winter, the lake nearly freezes except for its still center. The Submissions shelter from the cold at the bottom of the lake in the capitol Domination. High walls surround the kingdom. 

The scaled kings of Domination wear crowns of lily root. They sit upon thrones beside vases of lotus flowers at the end of great halls and pucker their lips and blow bubbles of surprise. Artwork made of mud streaks and fish scales decorate the walls. They eat lotus root stews. 

"The palace Domination reeks of lotus,” says the Guide. 

The Domination Kings live a long time because they eat nourishing green algae, have little stress, and nothing to fear. Within their domain, nothing competes with their happiness. 

“I would never leave Domination,” says King I’fi’ee. 

When the weather warms, Submissions rise up to the top of the lake, swim to the shore, walk out of the lake, and through the marsh regaining their feet. They travel on legs once more, while the kings of Domination never leave the bottom of the lake where they rule.


What is this? The Emotions 365 Project.

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