by Gillian Zane
“You’re saying I’m now part plant and that is how my hand healed itself?” Miley said outraged.
“You’re not part plant, that would be ridiculous. You have characteristics of plant life. You might also have other kind of characteristics that don’t line up with plants, we’ll see soon enough. You too, Dr. Salvesen. Your particles are changing, not one or the other, not mammal, not plant, but the everything. In her quest to destroy me, she has possibly created something that none of us have ever been able to replicate,” he said the last part as if to himself.
“And all this has to do with the fact that you and your wife are having it out, she’s jealous, so let’s kill off the humans, or change them into some weird hybrid?” Miley asked.
“It is more complicated than that, but basically, this has been going on for a long time.” In that moment he looked weary. I wondered exactly what he was. You could use words like god to make a blanket statement, but this creature in front of me was not a god in the sense of an All Knowing Omnipotent being. He was a god in as such a way as the child that owns the ant farm. He being the child, and we being the ants.
“Why are you here? I doubt it’s just to give us the 411 on the current situation,” Miley asked as she crossed her arms and stared down at the god happily munching on her bag of chips.
“Recruitment.” Grabbing a paper towel, he wiped his fingers that held chip grease on the cloth. “I figured it would be self-evident you need another side. You turned down the Mother, she’ll be dead set on killing you off now. It won’t be her, but it will be some of her other minions, or creations. It’s a rule, you see, a first creation cannot be eradicated directly. It stops a lot of us from making a mess of things. We have to allow life to flourish. She can, of course, get others to do it without saying it specifically.”
“And what side are you on?” Miley asked.
“What are you recruiting us for, exactly?” I asked at the same time.
“The other side, of course. The one that stands opposed to the Mother and her plans.”
“You’re going against your own wife?”
“I’m going against her plans for the world, plus I’m considering us split at this point. She crossed a line, there is no returning. If she continues down this path, there will be more to answer to than myself.”
“You’re going to protect the human race?” Miley asked.
“So far as I’m going to stop her plans of population reduction, I can’t protect them all. She’s waging a war. There will be casualties, a lot, but there is more at stake here than human lives. I need you on my side to stop this.”
“More at stake, like what? Isn’t death of vast amounts of humans enough?” Miley’s voice was challenging, and again, I found myself being drawn to that fire, to her ability to stand up to a god. It took courage.
“Death is the culmination of life. Death will happen. Death in vast quantities will happen, it is the full circle of life. It is why it fascinates one like myself, the story, the beginning, the middle, and the eventual end. If there is no end, how can there be a worthwhile middle?”
“So, what more is there?” I asked.
“If we take away the meaning, which is what the Mother is trying to do. She is trying to force the path, which is unacceptable. We can create the paths, but we cannot force another living creature to walk it. It is against the rules.”
“What would being on your side entail? I’m assuming you are creating a path for us and asking us to walk it, right? So, what about those rules? What is on that path?” Miley asked. The god smiled, a genuine smile, and I felt that joy. I felt that appreciation.
“No, I'm offering you a path. I will not force, or manipulate. The path you take, you’ll be the first one on it, so it won’t be an easy path. The Mother already has three on her own path. She’s already changed you to be able to take this journey, and those changes will make you uniquely suited for the tasks. Also, because you are first, I’m guessing your traits will mimic what is needed, and you’ll be the cultivators. You’ll have to track down more with your abilities before the Mother can do the same. I’ll send some your way, others you’ll find yourself. And you’ll find a way to stop the Mother’s plans. Or at least, weaken her enough so others can put an end to the madness.”
“How can we weaken a goddess?” I asked.
“There is a way, there has to be a way. We are not all-powerful. Something she is doing here on Earth is wrong, she’s actually putting part of her life force into it. I can feel her. I’m guessing it’s the pollen. There is no other way for her to create like this that it is powerful in this way. Whatever she’s doing here on Earth, if you destroy it, it will weaken her.”
“How much of a choice do we have?” Miley asked, snatching the bag of chips away from the god and then frowning when she realized it was empty.
“You always have a choice. If you fail to pick a side, neutrality as it is, she will come for you. Most likely sooner rather than later. If you choose a side, mine, I’ll help you protect yourself.” The god looked at the two of us with blinking eyes.
“And you won’t help us protect ourselves unless we fight your battle?” Miley’s gaze was as stoic as the god’s, and I had nothing but respect for her. This five-foot nothing girl was holding her own against a god. Earlier today, she had matched wits with a goddess.
“Give a little, you get a little—well, a lot in this case.”
“You’re putting our lives on the line, sir.” My voice wasn’t as nice or polite as my words.
“There are billions of lives on the line, you two are just grains of sand on a vast beach. If you refuse my side, you walk the path alone.”
13
We gave in. What else was there to do? We had a goddess gunning for us and a strange god willing to put us in charge of an army. Not that I knew anything about being the head of an army, I could barely run my own life.
It was as if he knew when we made up our minds. I looked at Zeke, and the acceptance was written all over his face, the lines of his forehead had smoothed out, his eyes were clear. He nodded, and I nodded back. We had a decision without vocalization.
“You’ll do fine.” The god stepped around the island, his breath on my cheeks the closer he came. I couldn’t describe one feature about him. He was there, but he was indescribable. He was tall and short, his flesh was dark skinned and light skinned. He was immensely more powerful than the Mother. I could feel it in every pore of my body. He was life. He was creation. But he could not create alone, there was a part missing, and that missing piece was something he mourned for.
“How do we get in touch with you? What do we even call you?” Zeke’s voice was far away as the god was so close.
“I’ve always been partial to Ranginui.” He smiled, and this time, I saw he had straight white teeth framed in a handsome dark-skinned face, long dark hair that fell around his shoulders in waves and he smelled of the wind across the sea. I took a deep breath and could almost taste the salt on my tongue. “I’m just going to speed things up here because you’ll have visitors sooner rather than later.” He placed his palm to my forehead, it left a burning fire that made me wince, but I held my hands down by my sides and watched as he did the same to Zeke. Zeke must have had a low pain tolerance because he fell back into the stool and made a rather unmanly moan.
“Stay together, always together in the beginning, be wary of strangers sniffing around, and you’ll know your own kind by their smell. Take a deep breath.” I did as was told and sighed as the smell of rain and wind washed over me. “You’ll smell Earth the same way, but when you smell the Earth, it is not your friend.” He leaned over and patted me on the head. “See you soon.”
He was gone, and we were left sitting on the stools staring at each other.
“That was something.” Zeke’s words were deep and resonated in my chest, like the gods and goddesses had.
“That was something,” I agreed, and my voice sounded the same way.
14
I don’t know how long we sat there staring at each other, but when we finally snapped out of the stupor, I glanced at the clock and realized we were into tomorrow.
“Before he came, what were you looking at?” I pointed to the computer and Zeke shook his head as if waking up.
“I’ll need a microscope, some more equipment, but we’ve absorbed a lot of pollen. It’s almost like it is part of us now.” He pointed at the spikes on the computer, and it was higher than all other points.
“What does that mean?”
“I’m assuming it’s changing us, and this is the change he spoke of. Now, how it’s changing us I don’t know, again, I’ll need more of my equipment.”
“I have plenty of room here. You can set it up if you want. Can you get the equipment?”
“We can just go to my lab.” His words didn’t have any fight to them, though, quite like he didn’t believe them.
“Won’t others question what you’re doing?”
“They will,” he sighed.
“You can have the garage, or another one of the cottages, plenty of room. He said we need to stick together.” I hoped I didn’t sound desperate.
“You really wouldn’t mind?” he asked.
“I have plenty of room, really. And it will help. I don’t want to go through this alone, whatever this is going to be.”
“You’re right, as long as you don’t mind.”
“Not at all, c’mon, let me show you where you can stay.” I led him outside onto the large back porch that wrapped around the majority of the house. When you stepped off the porch, you were in the pool area which was put in during my grandparent’s time. It was an old-fashioned pool, which had been redone at least twice. A hot tub and sunbathing deck had been added, along with a waterfall feature with flagstone steps that led to one of the first cottages that I usually kept empty so I could use it as a pool house.
The cottage that I thought he would be comfortable in was the next closest to the main house and one of the nicest ones for a single or couple. There was a path that led through the vegetable and fruit garden to the small living area.
The deadbolt had coded entry, and I showed Zeke how to operate it and walked him inside.
“Looks like this is going to be your new home for the time being.” I watched as he looked around the space. It was small, about five hundred square feet, with a small kitchenette and a Queen bed in the corner. I was an efficiency, with the bedroom, kitchenette, and living area all in one room, but it was done well and seemed much bigger than it was. It was a squat cottage, that sat nestled under an oak. Large windows covered most of the walls and the ceiling was pitched high with exposed beams. I had decorated it myself, in bright colors and solid prints that stood out from the white walls and ceilings and ash wood floors.
“You’re sure I’m not putting you out? I have an apartment in Baton Rouge, I could come back often.” He looked unsure of the little cottage. I was proud of the homey vintage country look of it, I hoped he liked it too.
“I can sleep over fifty people on this property, and comfortably. That’s all with beds and accommodations. You are definitely not bugging me. We can go back to your apartment and grab whatever you need tomorrow in my SUV, and you can move into this place. He said to stick together. I would feel safe if you stayed.” I felt like a broken record, but it was obvious Zeke thought he was going to be a drain on me.
“He did,” Zeke agreed. “But I just don’t—”
“Put me out, yeah, I know, you keep saying that.”
“You just met me; I could be some kind of serial killer.”
“You could, but we’re kind of in this together,” I shrugged. “And if you are a serial killer, I guess that makes me feel better. At least, you could defend us when the Mother’s people come for us. As long as you don’t take me out first,” I laughed and tried to make it sound not as nervous as I felt.
“True,” he laughed. “But I’m not a serial killer. He said there will be more of us, though, maybe we can recruit a serial killer. Or at least someone with a little self-defense training. He did say that, right?”
“He did, he said he would send them, maybe? I think he said other things, but I don’t know if I’m remembering right. I keep thinking of him and all I get is fuzzy brain. I can picture the Mother, though. Not him.” I sat on the sofa in Zeke’s new cottage.
“It’s the same with me. I remember he said we’ll be getting visitors, and Earth is not our friend.”
“Two sides, his and hers.” I shook my head. Of all the things I had expected to do in my life, being at the center of a war between mythical deities was least on the list. Granted, going through my parents dying, an evil cousin, three pandemics, a hurricane, and mass shootings in the last ten years wasn’t on my list either, but I had powered through them; a little shaky in the end, but still standing.
Focus. Focus. I had trained myself not to let my mind wander to all the crap that had happened to me lately to keep me on the right track. If not, I could easily slip into feeling sorry for myself. Depression. All that fun stuff.
I stood abruptly.
“I’ll leave you to get settled.” Zeke didn’t look up as he poked around in the kitchen.
“You’ve got everything in here, but anything to eat?”
“There should be some microwavable pizzas in the freezer. We’ll stock up tomorrow.” I walked to the door, and when I turned around to say goodbye, he acted like he wanted to say something but then just gave me a little wave.
“Thanks, Miley.”
“No problem.”
15
My sleep was surprisingly deep. I awoke in the plush bed of Miley’s cottage well-rested with a good nine hours under my belt. I had gotten used to a bit of back ache from the sagging mattress I had back at my apartment, and after this sleep, I knew I needed to invest in a better mattress.
The shower was also pretty nice for a tiny little efficiency. The water was harder closer to the river, so it felt like it cleaned the body better. The one thing I didn’t anticipate was my dirty clothes. I should have asked Miley for a washer and dryer. I had random pieces of clothes, my jeans I was wearing on the hike and those odd linen pants the Mother had dressed me in. Both were stained with mud and stunk of ill use.
I stood in the front room with a towel around my waist, contemplating which stained pants to put on, when Miley knocked on the door, and without thinking, I called for her to come in.
“Oh—‘scuse me.” She halted in the door. She had something in her hands that looked like clothing. Her cheeks blushed red, and I realized she hadn’t expected to catch me in just a towel. Not that it showed anything; it was cinched tight at my waist so all that she got a good look at was my chest. I had always been self-conscious of my chest. I had been too skinny for most of my youth and into my early twenties, but after I got out of college, I had taken up CrossFit to build definition. I wasn’t where I wanted to be, but the adjective skinny wasn’t the first thing people used to describe me now.
Judging by her red cheeks and her eyes which were firmly eyeing my belly button, it wasn’t my arms she was occupied with. I glanced down self-consciously hoping I didn’t have accidental wood or something. It happened at the most unexpected times. I had thought things like that would stop when I creeped closer to my thirties, but like acne, it only seemed to get worse in my twenties. Nope, nothing. Dick was firmly—well, softly, hanging out. She must really just be shy. Considering Miley was dressed in a white barely there romper with her righteous body showcased with every dip and ride of the fabric, I couldn’t imagine my towel was any more revealing. Damn, she was fit. And there went the dick.
“No worries. I was just contemplating which to put on, the dirty jeans or the dirty beach pants.” I held up the clothes, not even considering the shirts that both had sweat stains at the pits.
“Neither, I brought you some of my father’s clothes, you’re about his size.” She came in with a few shirts and shorts and l
aid them on the counter. I picked up the shorts, they were a size bigger than my usual waist size, but they would work.
“Bless you,” I said, grabbing a shirt and a pair of shorts without worrying about matching or anything materialistic like that.
“I have a few breakfast things up in the house. When you’re ready, just come up, and then we can head to your apartment,” she called from the front room.
When I was dressed and my clothes were washing in the washer and dryer I found in a hallway closet, I made my way to the big house and marveled at the woman’s property. There was a lot of it, and it was well-utilized. From what I could tell, she grew a good amount of food. There was also an orchard, and I noticed multiple berry bushes along the way disguised in with the regular foliage.
A large pool sat behind her house with a pathway I assumed led to a back entrance. It turned into a large porch that had enough room to host a small wedding. I caught a glimpse of Miley sitting at the bar in the kitchen munching on a bowl of cereal. She looked up and smiled a bright smile when I rounded the corner on the porch.
Sliding glass doors opened the kitchen to the outside, and I stepped through smelling coffee and sugar and almost moaning at the delight of it.
“Coffee?” she asked and pointed to the French press on the counter. “I just made it.”
“Thank you,” I sighed, grabbing a cup and pouring myself a generous portion, only adding a scoop of sugar and a tiny bit of milk.
We made a fair bit of small talk while she passed me the cereal and I began shoveling the sugary flakes into my mouth like I hadn’t eaten in days. She asked about my sleep, I asked her about the house. It was all rather droll, but nice. Both of us tried not to delve too deep into our current situation.
“You are good with the cottage, right? You don’t mind staying back there?”
