Little God

It was early, and the small, windowless room felt cold to Zuelli’s skin. Her younger brother was curled contentedly within the circle of her arms, locked in warmth and slumber beneath the covers upon the bed that they share in the little one-room house. The sun had yet to rise, but she longed to sneak outside and go bathing in the river, her brother’s presence stopping her; Shiar was a light sleeper, and furthermore afraid of the dark. She sighed quietly to herself.

On a normal day, Zuelli would have had no issue in leaving the boy resting with their mother of father on the other cot in the room; however, their parents were far from home this night, traveling to the city in order to buy supplies for their meager livings. If Shiar were to wake while she was gone, he would surely cry himself sick with worry before she ever returned.

Still…

Outside, she could hear the river singing. Truly, it was not so far, merely down the slope of the hill. If Shiar were to wake, she would most certainly hear him, right?

She unwrapped her arms from around her brother and softly tugged them free, stilling herself to nothing whenever the boy stirred. Eventually, with small movements, her hands were finally her own once again, and she made sure to cover the sleeping form with blankets to spare from their parents’ bed, keeping him warm. Then, slowly, she crept outside and closed the rickety wooden door behind her.

The land was quiet, the birds not yet waking to announce the dawn as Zuelli slipped silently down the slope of the hill towards the rushing water. If she hurried, there might still be time before the sun rose; time to see him…

She approached the wide shore hestiantly, eyes searching the surface, before her breath caught in her throat, an unbidden smile creeping upon her lips.

There…

He was just climbing from the water as she arrived; her Little God. He was neither little nor hers, but the title suited him when one compared him with the real gods: he was handsome, ruggedly so, and in the deep blue of the before-dawn he appeared ethereal surrounded by the waters of the river; a lesser River God, perhaps, for none of the Eternals would ever bathe in the waters of humans. No matter what he was, though, every morning, just before the dawn, she would find him at the river’s edge. She had yet to find out why exactly he came, for he did not seem to wash himself, and he always disappeared just as she seemed to blink: there and then gone. The mystery both frustrated and intrigued her.

Keeping low to the ground, Zuelli reached the bank of the river and crouched between the willows, determined to watch him go on this day. Soon, Shiar would wake, so she could not stay away for too long– Just until dawn, he always left before dawn…

Distracted by her thoughts and foolish determination, Zuelli’s heart jumped into her throat when she suddenly found herself staring into the intense blue of pupilless eyes, nearly nose-to-nose. Her own eyes grew wide, and she did the first thing her body dictated:

She screamed. She screamed, then scrambled back from the shore as fast and as far as she could before she came to her senses and looked back to the place where she had come so close to those blue, blue eyes.

By then, the god was gone and Shiar was wailing.

~ by eeratka on March 29, 2007.