Harmonia Book I

Chapter 3: A Song for the Gods

Once stood a time, before ours would even be near,

When the world was nothing but dust and empty air,

An eternal quiet reposed on this earth bare.

Someone lived in this lonely place, among the sand;

Praying for something more, for another hand

To hold maybe, a friend with who to share this land.

They took the mud out of the earth, and shaped it in

A silhouette. Another one, and then akin,

Two more statues where none had been.

The lonely Being gave them much detail and care,

Effort and caution they poured without any spare

Into the figures that took shape of love so rare.

They took out their heart from their chest and carefully

In four little pieces they shared this soul, so shiny,

And gifted one for each silhouette to carry.

The Being felt the time came to go onward;

In a last look to their creation, walked afar

To the desert, and disappeared among the stars.

First natured Uzume to the East, out of mud

She grew like spring. Upon the emptiness so dud,

She filled the world's every corner, with gracious

flowers and flowing rivers, oceans audacious

and mountains bold. Yet nothing bloomed in all the dust,

and Uzume grew what here only whither must.

Thus rose Aten in the South, in a burst of light.

He to the earth gave warmth, and with passion so bright

Stopped the storm. The dust settled and the sky had cleared,

But Aten's excitement was all too strong. Feared

His light was, for nothing could ever in such heat

Make grow the seeds of golden hay, flowers and wheat.

On the North had fallen Nyx, in calm and quiet,

And at long last obscurity with the light met.

She embraced the world in her shadows, harmony

and protection were here: Nyx and Aten would be,

Both the light in the dark and the shade in the blaze;

And finally Life would bloom wherever it lays.

The West now had come in the figure of Eris,

Born along with life and all its sorrows and bliss.

She knew the magic it held, and how exceptional !

Life was a miracle, however big or small.

So along with her kin, they dug into the earth,

Created us humans with a piece of their heart.

The Gods looked over us, a mother to a child;

They taught us nature and magic from the wild,

And we grew in hearts and mind, now also capable to

Cherish and hate, create and destroy, smile and mourn,

From us humans, Freya and Teslius were born.

Freya was love and its passion, the war, its rage;

Teslius was mind and inventions of a new age.

But soon enough, in this peace there had come to be

A stable spark, in Nyx' chest, of jealousy;

For she never could know the way of our hearts;

For its magic that she longed for, in great shadow

Buried the world.

Our magic was now stolen, and we all grew cold,

But Aten the Great, in a sacrifice so bold,

Became the sun in our sky, gave back the magic

She stole. Always roaming now so lonely, tragic,

Aten shines down on us, with his rays everbright,

While Nyx by the Gods, was exiled to be the night.

This is a Song for the Gods, up in the heavens;

Uzume of the East, with her flowers and Beasts,

Eris of the West, of wild magic the mistress,

Freya of the Heart, love and war never apart,

Teslius of Mind, his inventions for mankind.

This is a song for the Gods, up among the stars;

Aten of the South, for his kindness and light,

That he may be at peace in the sun and its might.

Nyx of the North, and her sullen sacred oath,

To drench the world in the darkness she once had brought forth.

Ava's eyes were wide in awe as she whispered: "Woah. That is the best story ever ! I don't need any other story now. Can you tell this one every night ?"

Barbara chuckled softly: "Don't be too hasty, Ava. Believe me, there are plenty of stories out there that are so incredible you would never be able to even imagine them." She blew out the candle next to the bed and covered her with a comforter.

"Ma," questioned Ava, "What happened after Nyx was banished ? Where did she go ?"

"No one knows... but when I was small, my parents would tell me she would come and eat me if I didn't finish my soup." Ava laughed, her small eyes now closing slowly. "Goodnight Ava. Dream well." Barbara closed the door on her way out.

Once the room got quiet, one of Ava's eyes cracked open. She got out of bed and hopped in front of the big circular hole on the wall of the room. She layed her head quietly on her crossed forearms and gazed at the incredible view the night sky offered to her. There were almost as many stars in the sky as there were in the young dreamer's eyes. A shooting star came down from the heavens for her to wish upon and blazed a trail of light all the way to the ends of the earth. Before disappearing, it gave out a final blaze, painting the night sky in cosmic hues. It was like the whole universe whispered her wish back to her as she gazed with awe into the night.

Ava drifted off gently, taking in the sounds of the breeze in the branches, the crickets in the tall grass, and she gave herself to the great quiet belonging that only comes in the depth of summer nights.