....a god/goddess?

This was done for a thread over at Laura's fallenlights.net/shiftingdreams, for a weekly project that she runs. The topic this week was "If you were one god/goddess, what would you be...?" Basically you do a writing/artwork/photograph/etc on whatever comes to your mind for that topic.

This is what came to my mind.

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"If you were a god, or even a goddess (I have had some people decide to make that radical change. I mean, after all, when you are almost all-powerful, does sex really matter?) But, to get back on track, if you were a god, or goddess, what would you want complete and total reign over?"

His question was still echoing through my mind. It's something that we all dream about, wish for, and would probably curse should it happen to us.

To be all-powerful, or at least all-powerful over one certain aspect and it's subjective branches in life. Death, Life, Chaos, Order, Magic, Nature, Spring, Autumn, Evil, Good. All of those crossed through my mind as a potential interest that would be, well, nifty for lack of a better word, to reign ultimately supreme over.

I could be Death, ending suffering throughout the world. Not only by coming for those who were on the brink of life and death with some terminal illness, but meting out judgement and ending the lives of those who did harm. But, that made me think: I would have power over Death, but not judgement. That would fall under the jurisdiction of Order, and Life would certainly have problems if I went willy-nilly slaying everyone whom ever did wrong. Yeah, that could definitely mess up the world balance.

Which Order would then again have to take care of, to make sure Chaos didn’t become all powerful.

Well, I could be Evil, whispering naughty things into the ears of the mortals, making them do what they secretly want, what being Good tells them they cannot do. Nah, that sounds a little boring and overdone to me.

It made me think even more, and more. All of these were incorporated with each other, and whichever path I chose in this hypothetical question, I would have to make certain of something. With whom would I be working? Would I be able to get along with them for aeons and aeons, when the next shift-change came around, if it ever did?

So, the playing field was still open to me for this question. I had always been accused of over-analyzing everything, and I guess this would fall into that category. But, I liked this question and I wanted to explore it as far as I could. It was thought provoking to say the least.

I mean, certainly, it wasn’t the sort of question you expected from a random stranger whom you struck up a random conversation with while lounging around at the local coffee house. It wasn’t your normal prattle of ‘Hey, did you hear? No, but did you hear? Guess what I got,’ and all that sort of crap.

So I had come here tonight just for a little bit of studying, to get my mind off of things as finals dredged their way ever closer, and as month end was sneaking up as well at work. Life had been building up piece by piece, and I figured it was only a matter of time until I either went crazy, or, well, went crazy. Tonight I just decided to stop studying, to stop worrying about work, about everything in life, and to sit down and have a cup of coffee.

It’s funny, how I curse life for throwing all of this at me. With this question now posed, does that mean I am cursing the deity who oversees Life, and everything attached to it? The act of birth, the act of living, and so on? Is Life the one who makes our lives as they are? Or would that be the hand of Fate? Who knows, who knows. It was only a question to begin with, wasn’t it?

“Well, do you even have a thought? Talk to me, let me know where your mind is wandering.”

Those words broke through my stern concentration on the previous question, and I realized the stranger was still there, still waiting for an answer. I blinked a few times and gave a chuckle that belied my nervousness. I shrugged my shoulders a little and took a sip of my coffee, glad for the styrofoam container that had kept the blessed warmth in.

“Well, at first I thought that was a simple question, what you asked me. I’d just have to pick something that sounded cool, and go with it. But my mind started to wander, and I realized there’s so much more to it.” And I went on explaining all of the thoughts that had gone through my head, ranging from jurisdictions of the deities to coworkers of the immortals and such.

The stranger only laughed and nodded, conceding those points. “You are giving this a lot of thought, I like to see that. Most people just go with their first instinct. I mean, sometimes that does prove fruitful, but other times? It is the opposite, and tends to be a mistake. You are using your mind, I like that in a person.”

“I mean, let’s say I decided to choose the God/goddess of Love. I could point at those people over there,” and at that I chose two people that were sitting next to each other, but via body language, obviously had nothing to do with each other.

“I could go, y’know, zap! And we’d have a new couple blossoming before our eyes. But then, what would Fate, I suppose there would be three aspects of that one, what would they have to say? Because undoubtedly I would be messing up their destinies, or at least putting the proverbial speed bump in the path of life.”

At this I gave a slight smile as I spoke, imagining it all as if my question might actually have some sort of consequence, as if I would be chosen for some mantle of godliness. Right. The stranger obviously found my pondering amusing as well, because he had let out a small chuckle and took a sip of his own drink before falling silent again to let me resume thinking.

“So, while I am running this through my head and all, obviously you’ve given this some deep thought on your own time, to go around asking people this question,” I spoke up after a few more minutes, looking up to the stranger. “What would you pick?”

“Oh, I gave my answer a long time ago, when I was asked. It seems like forever ago, and yet, at the same time, just yesterday. I chose Fate,” he answered, and what could be called a mischievous look in his eyes was starting to appear.

“Y’know, that doesn’t seem like that bad of an idea. Fate, I mean, would be weaving the pattern of people’s lives. It would be directing Life, Death, Good, Evil, War, Chaos, Order, Peace, Nature, and all of them. It’d almost be, if you pardon, the top dog of the operation. Yeah, that’s what I am going to go with, Fate.” With this, I grinned a bit and tipped back the rest of my coffee, letting the sludge of not-quite dissolved sugar seep down the edge of the cup. The bitterness of the coffee-drenched sugar caused me to shudder a little, but that was always my favorite part of the drink.

When I lowered the cup, I found that the stranger had left, and had left a couple dollars on the table for tip to the waitress. I looked about, and saw nothing. Well, nothing other than the stranger’s pack that had been left on the floor, forgotten. So I picked it up and left my own tip on the table and made haste out of the building.

Instantly my head swiveled this way and that, looking for the stranger. No luck. With a sigh, I moved to a bench on the street corner. My curiosity got the better of me, and I figured I would be able to at least find something that might point me to the homestead of the stranger so I could return the bag.

I undid the clasps, and reached inside, pulling out a ball of yarn with necessary implements sticking from it and set it aside. I kept fishing through the bag and found a piece of paper. Figuring this would be what I need, I pulled it out and held it to the circle of light cast down by the street lamp.

I guess it did not take you as long as I thought it might to dig through the bag in hopes of returning it. Do not worry, though, I know that’s what your intentions were. Which surprises me, but I should have known, really. Well, I am not sure if this will be a surprise to you or not, because while I may be Fate, I cannot read your mind. Or at least, I chose not to.