Love in 20th century is entirely different from when Marie De France lived. In
her time, she wrote a sweet story of two women who love the same man, Eliduc. He
leaves his wife, Guildeluec to go fight in another country even though she is
devastated by his decision. During his excursion he ends up with a younger woman
named Guilliadun. The two fall madly in love. Ultimately, Guildeluec detects the
affair and behaves with not a shread of jealousy or desire for revenge. The way
she tells the story is surprisingly peaceful considering Eliduc lies to both
women. However, my version of Eliduc, is written in 2000 mode. The society has
metamorphosed into a chaotic blend of moral dysfunction. Many are unwilling to
mend broken relationships. Instead, they choose to lie, cheat and deceive those
who have been faithful and true to them. The repercussions of these betrayals
are far more nauseating than Guildeluec’s reaction to Eliduc’s affair.
Beware, if you loved Marie’s version this might be too intense for some
readers. First, the names of the characters are a bit more modern than the
monograms Marie used. Now, Eliduc is called Eli, Guildeluec is Gail and
Guilliadun is Jill. Here is how the story goes in 2000. Eli and Gail were
together all through high school. They eventually got married because their love
had grown into a bond of true friendship and love. The two-shared happiness but
Eli would focus the majority of his time on his career. Gail accepted Eli’s
ambition and never really gave him trouble about it. She had enough to do
between work and home. Besides, Eli was a good policeman. He always took pride
in his work and the chief always favored him. He treated him special. One day
Eli came home from work exasperated because some of the other guys on the force
were jealous of Eli. He told Gail "they told the chief I sell and use
drugs!" "I can’t believe this, now the chief wants me gone."
Gail said, "oh sweetheart, we can work this out. Things will be fine. We
have enough money with my salary at the hospital to last us until the chief
comes around. I could even ask some of the other nurses if I can pick up another
shift" Eli answered, "I am going away for a while. I got a job offer
in the South. Gail shrieks, "what do you mean? You know I can’t leave
this hospital because of my contract. You’re just going to take off on
me?" He says, "I love my work and if that bastard does not appreciate
my services; I’m going elsewhere. I’m sorry because I know this will be hard
on us but I promise I will be true to you, Gail. I love you." "I guess
there is nothing I can say to change your mind", she says. "I’ll be
here when you’re ready to come home. I love you too." Gail sobbed as she
walked away, not because Eli was abandoning her but the feeling in her stomach
felt inexplicable. For some reason she sensed a disastrous situation coming.
Gail yearned for the ache to go away, but it lingered for weeks. Eli arrived in
the South and the new chief had not recalled talking to him about the job.
Aggravated, Eli told him "I will go to another city and fight their drug
war if you don’t want me." The chief welcomed Eli because the city had an
immense drug problem. Suddenly, the alarm sounded in the station! There was an
emergency; a riot had broken out in a dangerous section of the city. There was a
shortage of officers on duty. Eli jumped in a cruiser and sped off to find the
violators. At the scene, blood was everywhere. People were screaming and crying.
The protestors were spewing vulgarities at the policemen. Eli witnessed two
officers go down, and many of the other cops hesitated to break up the chaos.
Eli took action and planned a route to raid the rioters. It worked. Eli attacked
the leader; scrambled, fought, and clubbed the drug dealer until he was under
Eli’s control. Since Eli apprehended one of the biggest drug dealers in the
city, everyone on the force praised him. Actually, the chief was so happy he
wanted to celebrate that night by having a party. There were numerous people at
the party. Eli met what felt like a million people, but only one face stuck out
in his mind. Her name was Jill and she was the chief’s daughter. The chief was
powerfully strict with Jill. That was his only baby girl, so naturally he was
protective. Despite the chief’s "keep safe attitude", Eli couldn’t
stop thinking about her. Subsequently, Eli called Gail because he felt guilty
about his straying thoughts. When he heard Gail’s voice on the answering
machine he did not feel anything, no longing, sorrow…nothing. He was kind of
relieved because he did not want to hear how downhearted she was. Worried, he
started to think of the promise made to Gail. Soon afterward, he crawled into
bed thinking about how good Jill looked. The next day, the chief came up to Eli
and told him Jill would like to go on a date with him. Ecstatic inside, but not
showing it, he accepted. Later that night when Jill called him he felt the
butterflies flying around his stomach. He thought of the last time he felt that
way for Gail; he tried to recall the feeling but he couldn’t. Jill asked Eli
to wear something nice because they were going out on the town. When Eli picked
Jill up she looked stunning. He felt like his whole body went numb and his heart
had melted inside his chest because of her loveliness. On the other hand, Jill
took one glance at Eli and she was swept off her feet. Later that evening, after
dinner, Jill wanted to go to a bar to have some drinks. Eli decided the bar was
a good idea. The whole time the two of them were fixated on each other. Gail
never once entered to Eli’s mind. He decided that Jill was his true love.
After a few too many drinks, Eli and Jill went back to her place. Jill invited
Eli in and he went without a single hesitation. That night they made passionate
love and decided they had to be soul mates. Eli had never felt so good in his
life. Things couldn’t have been better. Subsequently, the two lovebirds spent
every free minute they had together. Their love was indestructible. During the
next few months they felt like they hand known one another forever and their
intimate connection became stronger. Eli and Jill both believed in their undying
love, yet he had left out one small detail...his wife back home! Gail has been
tossed to the back burner and has felt the heat because Eli was cold and
distant. He never called her; and when she called, the conversation would be
abrupt. Gail knew something was going on. She was not simple by any means;
actually she was quite cunning. Later that week Jill came over to Eli’s and
the phone rang. Startled, Eli answered, hoping it was a telemarketer or anybody
besides Gail. The call was not Gail, rather his old chief, begging him to come
back home. Fighting the urge to say "no way, *censored*," he said he
would return. He could not be disloyal; it was his duty. After the call, Jill
asked what was troubling him. He explained his situation and they held each
other, weeping and sobbing. Jill decided she would go with him and they could
get married. Eli wanted that so much but he had to devise a plan. He promised
Jill he would send for her shortly. Scared to go home and face Gail, Eli walked
in and gave her a hug and said, "What’s going on?" Gail freaked out
calling him every name in the book. She can not believe the nerve Eli had after
all the pain he put her through. She said she wanted him out and never wanted to
see him again. Eli was excited, he figured everything would go much smoother now
that Gail was gone. So, he decided to go sneak Jill away from her father’s
possession. Gail packed and got ready with much anticipation. When Jill saw Eli
her heart skipped a beat. She experienced a wave of passion, then saw her entire
life ahead with her wonderful Eli. The drive home was a long haul. They stopped
often to eat, sightsee and just gaze at each other. The chief allowed Eli some
time off considering he came back. At one site Eli went into deep thought; he
felt bad for taking Jill away from her father. She was all he had, but he
wouldn’t have understood how much Jill meant to him. Then he pondered on Gail
and wondered if she had a nervous breakdown by now. Eli shook his head expecting
his conscience would quit and it did...for a while. The moment Eli and Jill
reached their new apartment, Jill fell in love with it. She could not wait to
decorate and furnish the place. Eli was happy that Jill was happy. She mattered
more than anything, even his career did. A few weeks later, the happy couple was
settled. Jill was busy running errands and getting acquainted with the town. As
Jill had driven by a big building she spotted the police station. She was so
excited because Eli loved surprises. Walking into the precinct, she stopped at
the desk and asked if Eli was there. The dispatcher asked if Jill was a friend
of his wife. Jill stopped short and said, "his what?" Dispatcher says,
"yeah he’s been married for quite a while, high school sweethearts, I
think." Jill continued to act as if nothing was wrong but the tears started
to role down her cheek and she ran out. Now Jill didn’t know what to do. She
still loved Eli, but he had deceived her. She couldn’t believe he had a wife.
She started wondering; maybe all those hang up phone calls had been from Gail.
She decided to keep the whole issue to herself until she figured a way out of
this mess. That minute, the phone rang, Jill answered and heard a woman’s
voice on the line. She told Jill her name was Gail and she would like to talk to
her about Eli. Jill asked Gail if that she was Eli’s wife and she said
"yes." They decided to meet at a local coffee shop. They arrived at
the same time and Gail felt a sharp pain when she saw how beautiful Jill was.
Jill was shocked this was even happening. At first, she thought Gail was going
to punch her in the face, more wisely she sat down and said she needed some
answers because her heart has been broken. Feeling sorry for Gail, she answered
all of her questions. Gail asked many questions about intimacy, passion, length
of the relationship, how and when they met etc. Jill was very uncomfortable but
she figured that was the least she could do, considering she did steal her
husband. Gail was quite clever and she had manipulated Jill to tell her
everything she needs for her revenge. That night Jill went home and told Eli
that she had met Gail. His mouth dropped to the floor. He was lost for words. He
just prayed that Jill wouldn’t leave him. Fortunately, Jill truly loved Eli.
They talked for hours and hours, getting everything out in the open. They both
felt closer than ever. A few weeks later, Eli went to work as usual and Jill was
reading her Bride Magazine, suddenly there was a loud bang at the door. Jill
jumped up and answered the door; it was Gail. She said, "REMEMBER ME?"
Frightened, Jill tried to shut the door but she was too late. Gail pulled out a
needle... Jill was crying begging her to stop, Gail just had this insane look on
her face and without blinking an eye she stabbed the needle into Jill. She even
gave it a good twist just for her own personal pleasure. Finally, Gail was at
ease. Jill was dead from the overdose of morphine and her plan was almost
complete. Leaving the needle out on the table she plopped Jill on the couch. In
front of her, she placed two more needles, a small mirror with cocaine on it,
and a pound of marijuana distributed in baggies. Gail looked around, took a deep
breath and laughed to herself: "what a dumb bitch and now Eli has nothing.
They’ll get him or possession of illegal substances and the intent to
distribute. I bet he’ll be sorry now. Ha!." Looking at the clock she
realized she’d better jet. About ten minutes later, the police answered a call
about some screaming. Eli was responding to the call and it was his own address!
Eli drove at a ludicrous speed, almost killing himself, which probably would
have been better than what was in store for him. Eli flew up the stairs with two
other cops. Horrified he screamed and cried, holding Jill’s delicate, pale
body. All he could do was rock back and forth, not paying attention to anything
but Jill. Next thing Eli knew, he was being dragged away from Jill and
handcuffed. Then he looked around and saw all the drugs. Eli tried to tell the
cops he was framed, the younger cop said "yeah... yeah...tell it to the
judge. We always knew you were a druggie. You left your sweet wife for this
junkie? Boy, what is this world coming to?" The older cop said "we
have to accept it...it’s just not the like the good old days. Too bad
huh?" "Yup." See, in 2000, people experience harsh emotions and
they act on them. Society has changed into a "me first" society and
humans do what they feel, acting on instinct rather than rational. Gail reached
the end of her rope because Eli mangled her heart. His lies caused Gail to
disregard the lives of either of these people. Jill suffered a wrongful death
and Eli is behind bars their souls were taken because she wanted revenge. When
Marie De France wrote her story, women were demure and submissive to men.
Nowadays, women have the power and authority to take a stand. However, Jill is
an example of the horror going on in 2000. There are murders, rapes, abductions,
drugs, corruption, and so on. Facing daily ordeals is becoming a common place.
Sadly, the lives of others are constantly being traumatized. What is worse, the
compassion of our world is dropping rapidly because too much dismay is swarming
in our lives. People are getting accustomed and to not feeling as remorse. In
addition, the moralistic values are sinking deeper and deeper as the years pass.
Even the president of the United States lowers his standards by lying and
committing adultery; and he’s the head of our nation! Unfortunately our
society has little control for such a chaotic environment. Shamefully, people
perpetrate these misdeeds. In reality, the tale of Eliduc 2000, is a conceivable
scenario we could end up reading over breakfast some morning.