A Gift for the Mortals

Everything my mother made and touched was a thing to behold. There isn’t a single thing, person or animal, including myself that was not an enigma in itself. As I stand awkwardly around the long dinner table with the many of my mother’s children, I realize that my charisma has hit rock bottom.

Mother sits at the podium, elegant and with a demure smile that couldn’t hide her arrogance if she tried. A line formed before her of my siblings so that she can bestow gifts upon them. I sip cool golden champagne from a tall flute, taking in her light brown skin that poured luminescence that grated my very existence.

How long has it been since I’ve seen her? It’s been centuries since she ‘gifted’ me eternity from home and the companionship of mortals. It's been even longer since I’ve seen my brothers and sisters who were given powers, lands, temples and kingdoms to rule over. A century later and they still grovel at her feet.

“Rue, is that you?,” I hear a voice call my name. My sister, Hilde, comes over to me, a superficial smile on her lips. We come in for a hug that lasts for two seconds once I remember that Hilde was one of my forty siblings that actually liked me but did nothing to object to my exile.

“Hello, Hilde, how are you?” I look down at her left hand, noticing the ring from her king husband is gone. She was one of the first in line to receive one of mothers gifts, a mirror with magical powers that only Hilde can choose to reveal. Even though she is a queen, Hilde was an airhead and didn’t pay attention to no one but herself. I can only imagine the outcome of such a present.

“I’m splendid, of course.” she tilts her head, her pale skin even more so than I remember. Her eyes drifted side to side and embarrassment slid into my chest.

“You don’t have to speak to me. It will make this night less unbearable than it needs to.”

She sneers, making her look a bit ugly. Then it's gone and comes a bit closer. I don’t look around to know that the others are staring. “I just wanted to know if you’re okay. You know, living with the mortals. I wanted to ask if you’ve gotten better with your...issues.”

I scoff, my embarrassment churning to anger. “My issues are not with the mortals.”

Hilde sighs as if my answer is exactly what she thought I’d say. “That isn’t what I meant, Rue. We miss you up here. Mother only sent you there because she thought it would help.”

“Help?” I inch closer to her and she tenses. I shake my head at her. “You live with mortals too but you can come home whenever you please. I’ve lived my life in hundreds of cities and because I don’t age everyone I meet dies. Any man I meet fears me, I can’t tell him who I am because I’m forbidden to. Unlike you,” I push a finger into her shoulder. “I wouldn’t lie to my husband. So no, it didn’t fucking help.”

Frowning, Hilde looks back at the group of brothers and sisters who I knew were watching, listening. Wiping away my touch she sneered at me again. “You were always ungrateful. And it seems that nothing has changed.”

Hilde walks away to report our conversation to my siblings. Soon all will know and there was nothing I’d want to do to change that. They all thought of me as a horrible deity, an immortal being with a tainted heart. I got angry at their careless tricks on mortals, I grew sad over massacres and wars, I spoke against injustice and they all thought I was unmatched because of it. Immortals don’t care for mortals, they said, I was sick, an abomination.

Maybe I should just leave. Since childhood I was an outcast. The way I saw life and the things I believed in were the exact opposites of the laws of immortals. It was one thing for my siblings to hate me but I understood their ways, the way pride satisfies them. But it was another for no one, not even my mother or my closest sister to not even try to understand me. I don’t know why I keep looking for more proof that I do not belong here.

My plan would be to sneak out when my mother was bestowing her entitled children. I watched as one of my younger brothers, Azulan, reached her. Last I saw him he was an adolescent and a true prodigy of archery. But that was the only thing that made him different. He saw no issue at looking down on humans, believing he was more superior than them.

“My youngest son, such promise and poise. For my birthday I give you the promised spirit of a hero. May your arrow and bow increase your blessing.” She places her jeweled fingers on top of his head and his form glows a bright pale orange. She held the light of a sunset in her palms and Azulan looked at her with such awe and love.

Something moves in my chest, a feeling that I lost while learning the ways of mortals. I found peace in working for wealthy merchants and caring for children. Planting, planning festivals, and even cooking. All the things I never learned with my family. Mother made Azulan look so at peace. This was a want I thought I released years ago.

Later on that night, when I returned home on Earth I reminisced over all the ways and words I could have used with Hilde. I wonder if mother would appreciate me telling her that no one gifts others on their birthday. I even ponder what kind of gift she would have given to me.

The floor to ceiling glass windows in my city apartment looks over blinking lights and buildings. Being banished to live with humans was an euphoric but inconsistent experience. On one hand I love it and the other I despise having to be here. I’ve watched cities fall and rise with laws and social protocols. Not all of them were meant for good but not all were prone for evil. Humans were unpredictable and even I had to admit, to my family, I was a similar factor.

I should have stayed and rejected my family to their face, told them all that I didn’t want or need an eternity of feeling like a burden when in truth I was more deserving than they knew. I swallow my tears before someone knocks on my door. I learned that friends are essential if I want to stay sane and over the centuries I’ve met plenty. I swing open my front door hoping to find some company that doesn’t make me believe I’m inadequate. But a friend is not who I see.

“Mom!” Shock freezes my feet to the floor. Mother has never come to Earth to see me, ever. “What are you doing here?

My mother stands in robes of purple and blue, long braided hair to her waist but her crown from earlier was gone. A human might fall to their knees from witnessing her. Thinking of her to be an angel, a goddess in human form but all I see is a careless, unfair parent. Taking off her shades, her glowing gold eyes roam over me.

“You left early. I find that rude.” I say nothing.

She twists a corner of mouth. “May I come in? I brought you your gift.”

It took a few heartbeats but I moved to let her in. She glides inside and I notice she has something tucked beneath her arm. It looked like a box wrapped in brown paper. After locking the door she begins to speak.

“I know that you are angry with me, Rue. Because you think that I sent you to be with the mortals as a punishment.”

I ask, “Wasn’t it?”

Lifting her chin she smirks, “How long has it been since this place felt like a punishment for you?”

I look down at my crossed arms in annoyance. She knew I loved it here. Why did that piss me off?

“I know my children. I know that treating you like the rest would have been more peanilizing than this life you have here. You are a deity, you will never die or be sick. But your heart can do what your siblings cannot. You are more powerful than you think.”

“You never spoke like this before. Never told them to leave me alone or treated me like I was something more.”

Mother laughed and it was like hearing a favorite song after too long. “Something tells me you would have hated that even more. You are the only one that can prove that to your siblings and more importantly to yourself.”

I bite the inside of my cheek, not really knowing what to say. All I ever wanted was to be acknowledged because I thought she didn’t see me for who I am or really, for what I was not.

She places the box in both hands and I tentatively walk to her. “What is it?”

“A treasure of the world that is even older than I am. I’ll apologize in advance, it was used once before. The last owner disobeyed the box's whispers and the outcome was bad for,well, everyone.”

I backed away from her, and even though it was covered and I couldn’t see it, I knew what that box was.

“Do not be afraid, Rueina. Whatever was in it was set free to roam but not forever.” She reaches her hand out and I take it. When she places my palm on the soft paper I hear the whispers.

“I don’t understand what it is saying.” The whispers were low and loud, of different languages that must be old and forgotten, foriegn but new. I couldn’t tell if the voices belonged to a woman, man or even a child. It was frightening but the power coming from the box felt like it was in a deep ocean and it was tethered to me. It felt like I already had whatever it wanted.

“That is okay. It doesn’t mean you aren’t ready, it only means its contents aren’t ready to return to you.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“I see you captured human terminologies. Keep your eyes closed.”

I tense when I feel her arms cover my shoulders and back. “My beautiful, bravest daughter, Rueina. You have a soul of gold, a heart of a mortal. I want you to never take it for granted and protect it. For my birthday I give you something that was alone for centuries but was never lost. I will give you the box of Pandora. When the time is right, open the box and all the people that suffered from it will suffer no longer.”

While my mother hugged me I let her power cover me, let her blessing sink into my being and forever settle into my heart. I hadn’t realized that I was crying until I breathed a shattered breath. I felt free. Like a ton of shackles were unlocked from my ankles.

When I pull back I look down at the box. It was large enough to be a jewelry box but I knew much more belonged in here.

“Why this gift?”

“Because you deserve it. Because when the time is right you will be a gift to the world.”

I wipe my tears away and smile at her. “I’m glad you sent me here, mother. Thank you for your gift. All of them.”

“You are always welcome home, my dear.” She places a kiss on my cheek. But before she leaves she asks me, “Where will you keep it?”

I tell her I will hide it in plain sight.