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Authors: Melanie Dugan
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her mom, just like in the old days. When she had some free time we’d hang out, sometimes with the nymphs, sometimes with the dryads and Nereids.
I decided it was Olympus that had been making her cranky and spaced-out, spending all that time up there and having to learn all those new rules and regulations. Now she was getting used to it and settling down. Pretty soon the good old Pers I was used to would be back again.
Persephone
Of course I knew he was there. I heard the low rumble — the girls thought it was thunder, to me it sounded like laughter.
We lolled around, played the usual games. Once I glanced at the cave and I was pretty sure I saw him there, a darker shape within the cave’s deep shadow. But I was pretty certain he wouldn’t manifest with the girls around.
It was a nice afternoon, but all afternoons were nice in those days. One warm, sunny day following another. Who knew it could be any different? The water was just right, of course, freezing cold at first, but you got used to it. We swam, we splashed, we lay on the grass (a nice patch of Kentucky bluegrass I had laid down myself just for us) and let the little breezes dry us.
Cyane yawned a little. “Being outside all day always makes me tired,” she said.
“We should get going, then,” I said.
The girls gathered their stuff, checked their dresses and hair. We started off. I heard another low rumble, this one had an edge to it, a threatening tone.
“I think I forgot something,” I told them.
“We’ll wait,” Cyane said.
“No, no — you go on. I’ll catch up with you.”
“Come on, come on,” the girls giggled, pulling on Cyane’s arm.
She looked at me, unsure. I nodded to her. Go.
As they moved off I walked over to the mouth of the cave and set down the jonquil. Then I turned and walked away.
Demeter
Not that I had much spare time, but in the occasional free moment I had I’d daydream about Persephone getting a department of her own now that she was serving her probationary period before being elevated to Level-1 status. Or maybe instead of Zeus having to create a whole new department, I could diversify and she could take on some of my duties. She has a real talent with flowers. She could handle them and I could handle edibles. There would be some cross-over — apples, pears, almonds — so we’d still be able to work together. I decided I’d talk to Zeus about this idea.
I thought about Persephone and Darryl, what handsome children they would have, the two of them so tall, clean-limbed and fair. I imagined a flock of plump, blond babies that I could cradle in my arms and sing lullabies to, the same lullabies I sang to Persephone when she was a baby. I saw my grandchildren growing into toddlers, motoring around on their sturdy legs, their eyes bright with happy expectation.
It’s what the mothers of daughters dream of; that someday their daughters will experience the joy in their children that we took in them, noting every phase, recording every benchmark, certain no other child has ever been so beautiful, so smart, so wonderful.
Forgetting, of course, that no daughter wants her mother’s life.
Hades
One more message. Clear and unambiguous. A declaration.
Persephone
It was morning in the springtime of the world. The air was fresh, new-washed with dew. It smelled of lilacs, roses, mock orange, freesias. The breeze was a warm caress. It whispered in my ear, “You are young, all is possible. Come away, come away.”
Usually I ignore the wind: all form and no content, full of empty promises. Today, however, was different.
I was tired. Tired of working in the greenhouse, tired of the same old routine. I was tired of listening to Darryl discuss mortared vs. mortar-free walls. I wanted to walk out of my life into a new one.
“Come on,” I called to Cyane.
“Sure.” She was all excitement and play. She’d been kind of cool towards me recently. I knew she liked Darryl. I could
I decided it was Olympus that had been making her cranky and spaced-out, spending all that time up there and having to learn all those new rules and regulations. Now she was getting used to it and settling down. Pretty soon the good old Pers I was used to would be back again.
Persephone
Of course I knew he was there. I heard the low rumble — the girls thought it was thunder, to me it sounded like laughter.
We lolled around, played the usual games. Once I glanced at the cave and I was pretty sure I saw him there, a darker shape within the cave’s deep shadow. But I was pretty certain he wouldn’t manifest with the girls around.
It was a nice afternoon, but all afternoons were nice in those days. One warm, sunny day following another. Who knew it could be any different? The water was just right, of course, freezing cold at first, but you got used to it. We swam, we splashed, we lay on the grass (a nice patch of Kentucky bluegrass I had laid down myself just for us) and let the little breezes dry us.
Cyane yawned a little. “Being outside all day always makes me tired,” she said.
“We should get going, then,” I said.
The girls gathered their stuff, checked their dresses and hair. We started off. I heard another low rumble, this one had an edge to it, a threatening tone.
“I think I forgot something,” I told them.
“We’ll wait,” Cyane said.
“No, no — you go on. I’ll catch up with you.”
“Come on, come on,” the girls giggled, pulling on Cyane’s arm.
She looked at me, unsure. I nodded to her. Go.
As they moved off I walked over to the mouth of the cave and set down the jonquil. Then I turned and walked away.
Demeter
Not that I had much spare time, but in the occasional free moment I had I’d daydream about Persephone getting a department of her own now that she was serving her probationary period before being elevated to Level-1 status. Or maybe instead of Zeus having to create a whole new department, I could diversify and she could take on some of my duties. She has a real talent with flowers. She could handle them and I could handle edibles. There would be some cross-over — apples, pears, almonds — so we’d still be able to work together. I decided I’d talk to Zeus about this idea.
I thought about Persephone and Darryl, what handsome children they would have, the two of them so tall, clean-limbed and fair. I imagined a flock of plump, blond babies that I could cradle in my arms and sing lullabies to, the same lullabies I sang to Persephone when she was a baby. I saw my grandchildren growing into toddlers, motoring around on their sturdy legs, their eyes bright with happy expectation.
It’s what the mothers of daughters dream of; that someday their daughters will experience the joy in their children that we took in them, noting every phase, recording every benchmark, certain no other child has ever been so beautiful, so smart, so wonderful.
Forgetting, of course, that no daughter wants her mother’s life.
Hades
One more message. Clear and unambiguous. A declaration.
Persephone
It was morning in the springtime of the world. The air was fresh, new-washed with dew. It smelled of lilacs, roses, mock orange, freesias. The breeze was a warm caress. It whispered in my ear, “You are young, all is possible. Come away, come away.”
Usually I ignore the wind: all form and no content, full of empty promises. Today, however, was different.
I was tired. Tired of working in the greenhouse, tired of the same old routine. I was tired of listening to Darryl discuss mortared vs. mortar-free walls. I wanted to walk out of my life into a new one.
“Come on,” I called to Cyane.
“Sure.” She was all excitement and play. She’d been kind of cool towards me recently. I knew she liked Darryl. I could
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