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my first fairytale!!!!
Godly Delusions
A woman with child found an ascetic outside her home, the unkempt
man dressed in rags appeared to be meditating next to her door steps.
Understanding his sacred duty she did not dare disturb him, but as the woman
was coming down the steps her foot slipped, and down she landed on top of
the mendicant whose joints screamed at the load. After disentangling their
bodies and ungainly getting up, the shaky ascetic placed his right hand
on the woman's abdomen and with a weak voice told the mother that the child
she carried had a heart too proud to be human. The words of the virtuous
man were interpreted as a good omen.
A month later a baby girl was given the name of Jayasri, to honor the goddess
of victory, quite a task to look forward for a newborn. Soon enough the
little one began to form her first thoughts, and her parents, enamored
with the idea of having a divine reincarnation among them showered Jayasri
with gifts and coddles to an extent that later on the child expected the others
around her to treat her with the same reverence as her parents did. Jayasri
often spied the girls playing and dancing, but she never got close enough to
join them, most of the times she did not even bother to say hi. Clearly she
though there was no need to mingle with the common people. They did not
understand she was the reincarnation of a Goddess, obviously they were
ignorant and envious. The self imposed isolation did not seem to bother
Jayasri, her proud self walked next to the Gods along sacred gardens. Every
time a girl approached her to chitchat, her retort was tainted with sarcasm.
The inevitable adolescence arrived, and to Jayasri it came accompanied of
an evident awkwardness. Immersed in a world of Gods were the laughs and
gossip about the boys did not exist, Jayasri led a secluded life. Once in a while
she would try to enter the common world, and acknowledge the other girls'
trifles, only to fail miserably. For adolescents, the much needed social life
looked ridiculous to Jayasri, she'd rather listen to her grandmother's stories
of the beautiful Goddesses she loved so, and dreaming with those Goddesses
became Jayasri's favorite pastime. But Jayasri's parents became concerned
with their daughters lack of interest for social life, after all, even a divine
reincarnation had to live by the laws of men. With no suitors for their daughter
they feared the fate of a lonely life.
Considering a gesture of goodwill towards her mortal parents, Jayasri began
to socialize with whom she believed was intelligent enough. In her social circle,
few boys gained entrance, one of them, Kavi, tall and with a sculpted body,
intrigued by the distant girl, began to court her. Content with the opportunity
of experiencing the traditional expectations of life, Jayasri accepted Kavi as her
suitor. The new couple's afternoons passed in a constant philosophical discussion
and religious poems. Seven moons had passed, delighted, Jayasri looked
forward to see Kavi; she enjoyed their various conversations, and the fact that
Kavi was the only one that treated her with the same reverence as her parents.
One cloudy afternoon, when it was time for kavi to return home, he got so
close to Jayasri that their lips barely brushed against each other in a feather
like kiss. In a second, a rush of emotion battled inside Jayasri, a rock had been
placed inside her stomach and her chest ached so that she covered it with her
hand.
The embarrassment of the moment made the couple part without their usual
goodbyes. For Kavi this moment was exquisite, Jayasri on the other hand felt
as if her essence had been drained from her. It was not the daring approach
of Kavi what had overwhelmed her, but the disappointment she felt at the
moment. Until this moment she had not realized that the kiss she was
expecting was from a Goddess, not a man. But how to conciliate this thought
with her mortal position. She was expected to mimic female roles and that
included getting married and have children. Although that thought seemed
unconceivable for Jayasri, she did not want to please a husband, cook for him
and bathe his children. She wanted to dance and laugh in the God's garden,
have endless conversations with the Goddesses and fly with them towards the
mountains in the spring. Dismayed at her inevitable future, Jayasri opted for
an immediate solution.
That night she waited until her mother had finished singing to her little
brothers and gone to bed. Clad in a thin dress, she began to run towards a
Temple. The sweet refuge was the appropriate one; inside the cacophony of
the raindrops transformed into a welcome song. With great resolution, Jayasri
started to explore the ancient place. The enormous windows seemed like doors
made for the God's arrival. While inspecting one of those magnificent doors,
Jayasri began dreaming of her desired Goddesses and of flying over rivers and
mountains. Then, the dream transmuted into reality allowing Jayasri to fly
outside the window and to the God's door. The Goddesses smiling at her side
and the rain in her face. Never again was she to worry about pleasing her
mortal parents. They had other children to look for. Kavi will surely find a
more suitable wife, and she will finally feel the Goddess kiss.
*Kavi - wise poet