Ganymeder

Aeolus

The god looked down from the silver city and smiled. He watched her plummet from the bridge, her arms reaching for churning water below. The cord connected to her ankle harness pulled taught and left her, bobbing and laughing, just a few feet above the waves. So beautiful and fearless. He’d known from the moment he saw her that she was the one for him.

“Watching that mortal, again?” asked his mother. She had never approved of his dalliances with the humans, but he cared little for her disapproval. What mattered ultimately was finding a suitable mate; after all, mortality was optional if you were a god.

“She’s magnificent, mother!” he said, turning to face her frowning face. “Oh, I know you disapprove of…”

“Thinning our golden blood?” she finished for him. “Yes…Yes, I do. Not that it matters much to you, after all. Much you care for the family honor.”

“Mother! How can you be such a bigot?” he retorted, losing patience. “Family honor…are you kidding me? What about Uncle?”

“You know it’s traditional to marry within the family, Aeolus. It’s the only way to insure proper bloodlines.”

“Inbreeding’s more like it,” he muttered.

“What was that, dear?” she asked in icy tones.

“Look, mother, I know there are differences, but it’s not like they can’t be overcome.”

“Whatever do you mean?” Her eyes opened wide in feigned surprise.

“Oh, don’t play dumb, mother. You know exactly what I mean! She could become immortal…”

“Immortal? Well, I’ve never…”

“What about cousin Psyche? She married Eros and became immortal. They’re still happily married, despite Aphrodite’s predictions.”

“Well, if you’re going to use just ANY blood as an example… I don’t care what the Olympians say! Goddess blood indeed… All that rising from the foam business, the strumpet!”

“Well, the point is that she IS goddess of love, and even she had the same reservations you do, but everything worked out. She has tons of grandkids, though she’d never admit it. And all it took was one little serving of Ambrosia.”

“Humph!” retorted his mother.

“I know that she’d be a wonderful goddess…”

She snorted.

“And addition to the family.”

She nearly choked. “Are you INSANE? I know we were talking about mortal-god marriages, but I didn’t seriously think you wanted to MARRY this girl!”

“I love her,” he said simply.

“I mean, having an affair, however ill advised is one thing, but you are a god after all…”

“I love her,” he said again.

“Well, that remains to be seen.”

“I do.”

“As much as that other girl you were interested in awhile ago? What was her name? Jenny…Josie…?”

“Jocelyne? No, that was just a fling.” His mother scoffed, but he continued. “No, really! We parted amicably.”

His mother regarded him a moment before remarking, “Well, at least you don’t turn them into trees or flowers or anything. Your cousin Apollo drives me batty with all that. I mean, seriously? A tree? The man falls for a mortal and she’d rather be a shrub then… oh, never mind.” Her shoulders slumped in resignation. “Go do whatever you want!”

From the balcony, he turned to gape at her.

“Are you serious?”

“That question seems to keep coming up, doesn’t it? Of course, I’m serious!”

“Well, you mean…you aren’t going to interfere?”

“No, darling. Of course not. You’re a grown god, and, frankly, I’ve gotten much too old to meddle in your affairs anymore.”

He grinned. “Oh come on, mother. You don’t look a day over two hundred!”

“You’re such a liar, but a sweet one.”

“Well, do you give me your word?”

“My word? Of course!”

“Not like that.”

“Oh…,” she sighed. “Ohhhh, alright. If you don’t trust your own mother.” She walked over to the small waterfall set into the wall. Dipping her hands beneath the running water, she closed her eyes. The air thickened, the lights dimmed, and thunder rolled dramatically as she said, “I swear by the River Styx that I will not prevent my son from marrying this mortal if she wishes to marry him.” Lightning flashed and the room suddenly brightened.

“Alright! Alright!” she said irritably. “No need to be so theatrical about it!” The light level in the room returned to that of a warm summer day. She grabbed a small handtowel from beside the basin and started drying her hands.

Aeolus looked relieved. “Thank you, mother,” he said. Then he did something completely out of character. He ran over and gave her a hug.

She was so surprised she nearly dropped the towel, but she returned the embrace warmly. “Anything for you, dear,” she said.

He grinned from ear to ear. “I’m going to see about getting to know her better,” he said. “I know where she works! I can get a job there and get to know her like any other mortal. Then once she’s fallen for me, we can break out the nuptial ambrosia!” He looked at his silver tunic in dismay. “I’d better go change. My lady awaits!”

His mother watched him go. She raised a hand in farewell. “Bye, dear. Go woo your mortal. You’re a god, after all! What’s not to love?”

He hurried to his room, pausing to to turn to the goddess once more. “By Olympus, I need to get some pants on! Everyone knows mortals these days wear pants!”

“Don’t worry, dear, I’ll keep my promise,” she said. His mother watched him hurry into his room and shut the door. “As long as the young lady wishes to marry you,” she added quietly to herself in the empty room.

Then she went to find her cousin, Discord.

THE END.

*I wrote this story as a prequel to my previous #fridayflash story, “Falling…”

This entry was posted on Friday, October 2nd, 2009 at 6:47 am and is filed under Flash Fiction, Writing Corner. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.