“I know what you’re thinking,” murmured the woman as he set up the recorder.
“Oh? And what am I thinking?” he asked, humoring her.
The beautiful woman stared out the window motionlessly for a few more minutes, then turned to him with a perpetually kind smile on her face. “You’re thinking ‘why would this woman request an interview with a failed author when she could easily go to a reporter with the story’. The answer is simple, Mr. Trent. I want my story to be heard, but it doesn’t matter to me who tells it. Sit, please, Mr. Trent. Things will be so much easier if you sit.”
He nodded, sitting in the chair that she so graciously offered. “Now, Miss…erm…I don’t believe I know your name.”
“My name?” she repeated, sitting in the chair opposite him. “Oh, that depends on where you are. In some places, they call me Jord, in others Gaea, but no matter. In all, I am the same. In all, I am Mother Earth.”
The boy burst out laughing, literally wiping away tears. “Mother Earth? You mean Mother Nature? Lady, you think you’re Earth?”
“Not Earth, but its protector,” she corrected, sipping at a cup of tea that had somehow appeared before her. “Now, do you want to hear my story or not?”
He sighed, then smiled at her. “Alright, I’ll listen. But I better not be wasting my time.”
Her smile returned to her pink lips. “Then let us begin.”
~~~
I was born as the earth was: by the Creator. Like my fellow embodiments, I was born an infant, so that I may learn and grow as the future humans would. He wanted us to be able to sympathize with humans, to feel suffering, to feel vulnerability. And so, with the other embodiments, I learned how to be a person.
My closest companions were, as expected, the other Elemental Embodiments, as we were a family of four and always grouped together. Pyrrhos, my beloved Fire, was as lively as his embodiment, and temperamental as well. Only his love Tani, Passion, and Anvindr, the Wind, could calm him, and that was when Anvindr wasn’t caught up with his lover, the beautiful Nerina and embodiment of Water.
I, unlike my companions, wasn’t interested in love or sex, finding it too bothersome to worry about. Instead, I spent my days studying the world the Creator had invented, watching the strange creatures that roamed the land. The Creator, our Father, told me that they would be called dinosaurs in the future, and that they would be one of the great mysteries of the world. I didn’t understand until they were killed so strangely, and it was then I realized what a burden it was to be immortal.
~~~
“Wait, hold on,” interrupted the boy. “Are you telling me that you witnessed the extinction of the dinosaurs?”
She frowned at him, raising an eyebrow. “Do you want me to continue the story or explain how the dinosaurs died?”
Sighing, he put the question down in his notebook, being sure to star it so he would remember to ask it. “Alright, continue.”
“Now, where was I…oh yes, the burden of being immortal.”
~~~
It was then I realized the burden of being immortal. Everyone could and would die, and I would be left alone, if I did not die myself.
~~~
“I thought immortals couldn’t die,” he interrupted again.
She sighed. “They can, but only through being murdered by either our Replacements or an equally strong being. Because I’m so old, it’s gotten to the point where I have no Replacement, and there are few stronger than me. I don’t like to fight, though, and I’m fairly well-liked, so it’s not like anything’s going to happen anytime soon. Now hush, boy, and let me continue.”
~~~
I knew that every person must die, save the Creator, and I could easily accept that fact, except I’ve never been one to give up before I even begin. And so as time went on, I never once lost interest in the new creatures that populated the earth, the humans. They were so different from the immortals, so strange, so…curious. They needed to explore everything, know everything, and I was fascinated. I didn’t know how it felt to not see everything, as I had always lived in the sky with our Father and was always able to see all.
Somehow, I was always baffled by these creatures, these humans, and I had to know how it was to be them. I wanted to be one of them so badly. I wanted to feel like I was part of something bigger than me, not just an embodiment. Then one day, I got my chance.
The Creator came to me and smiled. “My child, you are ready,” he said.
“Ready?” I repeated, confused. “Ready for what?”
“To ascend to your position as the Earth’s Mother.”
“Mother? But I’m only seventeen!” I protested.
He took my hand, leading me gently from my room in the palace in the sky to the throne room, where each embodiment’s throne was carefully placed in a perfect semi-circle, all facing the Grand Throne of the Creator. He stood me by my throne, a glorious green thing made of vines and flowers, with the sweetest of all scents lifting from it, and again smiled down at me.
“For so long, you have been known to us as Sabia, the sweet one, and for so long, you have been the beloved child that we all adore. Today, the girl is now a woman, ready to take her place among her elder embodiments. Kneel, then rise and introduce yourself and take your throne.”
I followed his command, my eyes wide and my hands shaking. Taking a deep breath, I stood, my chin high, my shoulders back, and a smile on my face.
“I am Mother Nature, the embodiment of Earth, the protector of the world. I am Galatea, the Mother of the Earth.”
With my smile growing, I turned to face my friends and sat on my throne, pride welling up in my chest as they all bowed and greeted me. After a while, I was allowed to join the festivities that broke out before me, no longer simply the little sister, but now the comrade and adult. I never knew how much being an adult would hurt me.
~~~
The boy bit his nail, waiting for her to continue on, but she said nothing, merely staring out the window.
“Your name’s Galatea, right?”
She nodded.
“Why did you have to change your name?”
“It had to suit my office,” she said simply.
He sighed, then folded his hands on the table. “What’s wrong? Do-do you not want to finish?”
“No, Mr. Trent, I want to finish. It’ll just be a little hard with this next part.”
Turning back to face him, she smiled softly, a sadness never before felt by a being in her eyes. As she sat still, the boy was again struck with how beautiful this woman was. Her impossibly long, silky brown hair, her creamy pale skin, her vivid green eyes, they all radiated both power and incredible beauty. Stammering, he checked the recorder then nodded, signaling for her to continue.
“Soon after I was named Earth, I was allowed to live on Earth to protect her. Immediately, I began to live in the many civilizations that had sprung up, particularly Mesopotamia. It was there that I was first faced with what I grew to call my own tragic love story.”
~~~
I had been living in Mesopotamia for many years, shifting forms every once in a while to avoid suspicion. By then, I was more than familiar with the names and purposes of their gods. While I had never met one, I knew all I needed to know by the people’s description. Before I knew much about him, I knew I needed to stay out of the god Enlil’s radar. But then, as fate would have it, I jinxed myself.
One beautiful spring day, I was playing in the forest with a doe and her newborn fawn. Suddenly, right when the doe was laying down to rest, I heard a whoosh come from between the trees. I tried to determine what it was quickly, but I was too slow and the doe was shot. My eyes were immediately filled with tears as I kissed the fawn’s head, watching the doe’s spirit fade away.
Signaling to a dryad, a servant of mine named Steli, to take the fawn to my hidden castle in the mountains, I readied myself to punish the hunter, who was, at that moment, pushing through the branches to grab his latest kill. I stood up straight, my rage filling me like no other.
“Who goes there?” I demanded, glaring at the shadow that was the hunter.
“Well, I don’t see how that could possibly be your business,” he replied, his voice deep and velvety. It sent shivers down my spine, but I dismissed the feeling as anger and brushed it off.
“It is my business, seeing as you are in my domain. Now, reveal yourself!”
“You can’t order me around, princess,” he chuckled. “Do you have any idea who I am?”
“I might if you showed me your face,” I shot back, folding my arms.
Laughing, he moved forward a step. “Feisty. I like that.”
My cheeks turned bright red in embarrassment. How dare he speak to me that way!
“You disrespectful savage! Don’t you know who I am?” As if I was too impatient to answer, the earth answered for me. The trees around me whispered and swayed, the vines gathering around my feet to lift me up. Animals crowded around me, hissing at the shadowed man. “I am Mother Nature, protector of this Earth. You will pay for your lack of respect!”
Suddenly, he moved from the shadows, a smirk on his lips. Immediately, I was entranced. His hair was as black as night, and his eyes were the deepest blue I had ever seen, a color far too unusual to be a simple human’s. I was lowered back to the ground, stepping past the animals to get closer to this unfamiliar, beautiful man.
He as well seemed enchanted by my appearance, never taking his eyes off of me. That smirk disappeared, replaced by an expression of sheer awe, as if he could hardly believe I was real. I blushed under his gaze, unused to such looks, but his stare never faltered. He too drew closer, as slowly as I was.
“Mother Nature, huh?” he said softly. “I’ve never heard of you.”
“Well, yeah, I mean, the Mesopotamian culture doesn’t have a Mother Nature. Most of the other ones do, though,” I replied, stopping about two feet away.
“Is that so?” he muttered, taking a step closer so the two feet was now only one.
“But you do have a goddess of the earth, and I’m pretty much her. Except, you know, I’m a bit nicer and the whole world is my domain.”
The man chuckled, somehow moving even closer. “What’s your name, Mother Nature?”
“Galatea,” I answered without thought. The only thing on my mind was how close he was now…less than six inches. “A-and you?”
“Enlil,” he said softly, his lips now mere centimeters from mine.
“Please, don’t,” I begged as he lifted my chin with a finger.
“Don’t what?” he whispered, his blue eyes boring into my green ones.
“Don’t…don’t not kiss me.”
A surge of confidence ran through my body as I leaned up and pressed my lips to his. He wasted no time in kissing back, his arms wrapping around my waist and pulling me closer. My own arms were trapped between us, folded with my palms on his broad, muscular chest, but I hardly cared. I had kissed him, and he was actually kissing back! It just figured that I had finally taken a chance, and it had to be one of the biggest, baddest no-no I could possibly think of. Oh well, I thought, at least I’m enjoying myself. It didn’t take long for the kiss to develop into something else, something deeper, and something new and undiscovered for me.
In the time that I’d been alive, I’d only ever observed two things about copulation: one, usually the woman wanted no part in it and it was a bloody, agonizing affair, and two, it was only ever satisfactory for one side and that was rarely the woman. With Enlil, all those thoughts vanished. Easily sensing my lack of experience, Enlil took the reins, carefully removing my dress and his own clothes. He was loving with me, laying me onto the large hammock that my dryads had set up for just this occasion with astounding gentleness. His hands, large and calloused from years of hard work, caressed my naked skin as I lay before him, blushing with virgin modesty. Bowing his head, he slid his hands under my back, lifting me and causing me to arch my back as he kissed his way down from just below my chin to my chest, and then to my stomach. He edged around my center, kissing my waist, then my hips, then my legs. I was trembling with desire for him, quivering with anticipation. When finally, our bodies joined as one, I cried out in pain, as virgins tend to do. He moved slowly, kissing my shoulder and holding me close as I stayed completely still on his lap, my arms around him and my eyes squeezed shut in pain. Before I knew it, as his whispers promised, the pain disappeared, and the pleasure returned. My lips uttered his name over and over again, even his name filling me with desire. Finally, he coaxed that final note out of me, and we sang to the heavens in unison.
As we lay naked on that hammock, our bodies entwined with the others and our words silent, I couldn’t help but smile. For once, everything was perfect, and I no longer felt alone in this world where my beloved companions had so often left me to my own devices. I was in the arms of the most beautiful man in the world, and although I had just committed the greatest sin any embodiment ever could, I couldn’t care less. After all, rules were made to be broken.
~~~
Galatea calmly gazed out the window, her expression hard to read. “Sex had always been about gain, as I had observed among the humans and the immortals. No two truly joined simply for love. It was always about feeling good, nothing more. For so long, I had seen it as an ugly thing, and to this day, I believe it is. So what was I doing with Enlil? Was it ugly too? No, it was beautiful. It was the most beautiful thing ever to be seen or felt. It was beautiful because Enlil and I didn’t have sex. No, Mr. Trent, we made love.”
The blushing author sighed shakily, watching her movements as she sipped at her tea slowly and took a deep breath.
“Mr. Trent, there are only two things in this world that can create as well as they can destroy. One is hate, and the other is love. Can you tell me which is more powerful?”
“U-uh….I-I don’t know…hate?” he stammered, his blush deepening.
She chuckled, setting her tea down and looking him in the eye. “Typical. You would think hate’s more powerful, wouldn’t you? Well, you’re wrong. Love is more powerful…and more deadly. Shall I continue?”
He nodded quickly, causing her to chuckle once more.
“Alright. There we were, lying in each other’s arms, just breathing and living, when I heard a noise in the distance.”
“Oh? And what am I thinking?” he asked, humoring her.
The beautiful woman stared out the window motionlessly for a few more minutes, then turned to him with a perpetually kind smile on her face. “You’re thinking ‘why would this woman request an interview with a failed author when she could easily go to a reporter with the story’. The answer is simple, Mr. Trent. I want my story to be heard, but it doesn’t matter to me who tells it. Sit, please, Mr. Trent. Things will be so much easier if you sit.”
He nodded, sitting in the chair that she so graciously offered. “Now, Miss…erm…I don’t believe I know your name.”
“My name?” she repeated, sitting in the chair opposite him. “Oh, that depends on where you are. In some places, they call me Jord, in others Gaea, but no matter. In all, I am the same. In all, I am Mother Earth.”
The boy burst out laughing, literally wiping away tears. “Mother Earth? You mean Mother Nature? Lady, you think you’re Earth?”
“Not Earth, but its protector,” she corrected, sipping at a cup of tea that had somehow appeared before her. “Now, do you want to hear my story or not?”
He sighed, then smiled at her. “Alright, I’ll listen. But I better not be wasting my time.”
Her smile returned to her pink lips. “Then let us begin.”
~~~
I was born as the earth was: by the Creator. Like my fellow embodiments, I was born an infant, so that I may learn and grow as the future humans would. He wanted us to be able to sympathize with humans, to feel suffering, to feel vulnerability. And so, with the other embodiments, I learned how to be a person.
My closest companions were, as expected, the other Elemental Embodiments, as we were a family of four and always grouped together. Pyrrhos, my beloved Fire, was as lively as his embodiment, and temperamental as well. Only his love Tani, Passion, and Anvindr, the Wind, could calm him, and that was when Anvindr wasn’t caught up with his lover, the beautiful Nerina and embodiment of Water.
I, unlike my companions, wasn’t interested in love or sex, finding it too bothersome to worry about. Instead, I spent my days studying the world the Creator had invented, watching the strange creatures that roamed the land. The Creator, our Father, told me that they would be called dinosaurs in the future, and that they would be one of the great mysteries of the world. I didn’t understand until they were killed so strangely, and it was then I realized what a burden it was to be immortal.
~~~
“Wait, hold on,” interrupted the boy. “Are you telling me that you witnessed the extinction of the dinosaurs?”
She frowned at him, raising an eyebrow. “Do you want me to continue the story or explain how the dinosaurs died?”
Sighing, he put the question down in his notebook, being sure to star it so he would remember to ask it. “Alright, continue.”
“Now, where was I…oh yes, the burden of being immortal.”
~~~
It was then I realized the burden of being immortal. Everyone could and would die, and I would be left alone, if I did not die myself.
~~~
“I thought immortals couldn’t die,” he interrupted again.
She sighed. “They can, but only through being murdered by either our Replacements or an equally strong being. Because I’m so old, it’s gotten to the point where I have no Replacement, and there are few stronger than me. I don’t like to fight, though, and I’m fairly well-liked, so it’s not like anything’s going to happen anytime soon. Now hush, boy, and let me continue.”
~~~
I knew that every person must die, save the Creator, and I could easily accept that fact, except I’ve never been one to give up before I even begin. And so as time went on, I never once lost interest in the new creatures that populated the earth, the humans. They were so different from the immortals, so strange, so…curious. They needed to explore everything, know everything, and I was fascinated. I didn’t know how it felt to not see everything, as I had always lived in the sky with our Father and was always able to see all.
Somehow, I was always baffled by these creatures, these humans, and I had to know how it was to be them. I wanted to be one of them so badly. I wanted to feel like I was part of something bigger than me, not just an embodiment. Then one day, I got my chance.
The Creator came to me and smiled. “My child, you are ready,” he said.
“Ready?” I repeated, confused. “Ready for what?”
“To ascend to your position as the Earth’s Mother.”
“Mother? But I’m only seventeen!” I protested.
He took my hand, leading me gently from my room in the palace in the sky to the throne room, where each embodiment’s throne was carefully placed in a perfect semi-circle, all facing the Grand Throne of the Creator. He stood me by my throne, a glorious green thing made of vines and flowers, with the sweetest of all scents lifting from it, and again smiled down at me.
“For so long, you have been known to us as Sabia, the sweet one, and for so long, you have been the beloved child that we all adore. Today, the girl is now a woman, ready to take her place among her elder embodiments. Kneel, then rise and introduce yourself and take your throne.”
I followed his command, my eyes wide and my hands shaking. Taking a deep breath, I stood, my chin high, my shoulders back, and a smile on my face.
“I am Mother Nature, the embodiment of Earth, the protector of the world. I am Galatea, the Mother of the Earth.”
With my smile growing, I turned to face my friends and sat on my throne, pride welling up in my chest as they all bowed and greeted me. After a while, I was allowed to join the festivities that broke out before me, no longer simply the little sister, but now the comrade and adult. I never knew how much being an adult would hurt me.
~~~
The boy bit his nail, waiting for her to continue on, but she said nothing, merely staring out the window.
“Your name’s Galatea, right?”
She nodded.
“Why did you have to change your name?”
“It had to suit my office,” she said simply.
He sighed, then folded his hands on the table. “What’s wrong? Do-do you not want to finish?”
“No, Mr. Trent, I want to finish. It’ll just be a little hard with this next part.”
Turning back to face him, she smiled softly, a sadness never before felt by a being in her eyes. As she sat still, the boy was again struck with how beautiful this woman was. Her impossibly long, silky brown hair, her creamy pale skin, her vivid green eyes, they all radiated both power and incredible beauty. Stammering, he checked the recorder then nodded, signaling for her to continue.
“Soon after I was named Earth, I was allowed to live on Earth to protect her. Immediately, I began to live in the many civilizations that had sprung up, particularly Mesopotamia. It was there that I was first faced with what I grew to call my own tragic love story.”
~~~
I had been living in Mesopotamia for many years, shifting forms every once in a while to avoid suspicion. By then, I was more than familiar with the names and purposes of their gods. While I had never met one, I knew all I needed to know by the people’s description. Before I knew much about him, I knew I needed to stay out of the god Enlil’s radar. But then, as fate would have it, I jinxed myself.
One beautiful spring day, I was playing in the forest with a doe and her newborn fawn. Suddenly, right when the doe was laying down to rest, I heard a whoosh come from between the trees. I tried to determine what it was quickly, but I was too slow and the doe was shot. My eyes were immediately filled with tears as I kissed the fawn’s head, watching the doe’s spirit fade away.
Signaling to a dryad, a servant of mine named Steli, to take the fawn to my hidden castle in the mountains, I readied myself to punish the hunter, who was, at that moment, pushing through the branches to grab his latest kill. I stood up straight, my rage filling me like no other.
“Who goes there?” I demanded, glaring at the shadow that was the hunter.
“Well, I don’t see how that could possibly be your business,” he replied, his voice deep and velvety. It sent shivers down my spine, but I dismissed the feeling as anger and brushed it off.
“It is my business, seeing as you are in my domain. Now, reveal yourself!”
“You can’t order me around, princess,” he chuckled. “Do you have any idea who I am?”
“I might if you showed me your face,” I shot back, folding my arms.
Laughing, he moved forward a step. “Feisty. I like that.”
My cheeks turned bright red in embarrassment. How dare he speak to me that way!
“You disrespectful savage! Don’t you know who I am?” As if I was too impatient to answer, the earth answered for me. The trees around me whispered and swayed, the vines gathering around my feet to lift me up. Animals crowded around me, hissing at the shadowed man. “I am Mother Nature, protector of this Earth. You will pay for your lack of respect!”
Suddenly, he moved from the shadows, a smirk on his lips. Immediately, I was entranced. His hair was as black as night, and his eyes were the deepest blue I had ever seen, a color far too unusual to be a simple human’s. I was lowered back to the ground, stepping past the animals to get closer to this unfamiliar, beautiful man.
He as well seemed enchanted by my appearance, never taking his eyes off of me. That smirk disappeared, replaced by an expression of sheer awe, as if he could hardly believe I was real. I blushed under his gaze, unused to such looks, but his stare never faltered. He too drew closer, as slowly as I was.
“Mother Nature, huh?” he said softly. “I’ve never heard of you.”
“Well, yeah, I mean, the Mesopotamian culture doesn’t have a Mother Nature. Most of the other ones do, though,” I replied, stopping about two feet away.
“Is that so?” he muttered, taking a step closer so the two feet was now only one.
“But you do have a goddess of the earth, and I’m pretty much her. Except, you know, I’m a bit nicer and the whole world is my domain.”
The man chuckled, somehow moving even closer. “What’s your name, Mother Nature?”
“Galatea,” I answered without thought. The only thing on my mind was how close he was now…less than six inches. “A-and you?”
“Enlil,” he said softly, his lips now mere centimeters from mine.
“Please, don’t,” I begged as he lifted my chin with a finger.
“Don’t what?” he whispered, his blue eyes boring into my green ones.
“Don’t…don’t not kiss me.”
A surge of confidence ran through my body as I leaned up and pressed my lips to his. He wasted no time in kissing back, his arms wrapping around my waist and pulling me closer. My own arms were trapped between us, folded with my palms on his broad, muscular chest, but I hardly cared. I had kissed him, and he was actually kissing back! It just figured that I had finally taken a chance, and it had to be one of the biggest, baddest no-no I could possibly think of. Oh well, I thought, at least I’m enjoying myself. It didn’t take long for the kiss to develop into something else, something deeper, and something new and undiscovered for me.
In the time that I’d been alive, I’d only ever observed two things about copulation: one, usually the woman wanted no part in it and it was a bloody, agonizing affair, and two, it was only ever satisfactory for one side and that was rarely the woman. With Enlil, all those thoughts vanished. Easily sensing my lack of experience, Enlil took the reins, carefully removing my dress and his own clothes. He was loving with me, laying me onto the large hammock that my dryads had set up for just this occasion with astounding gentleness. His hands, large and calloused from years of hard work, caressed my naked skin as I lay before him, blushing with virgin modesty. Bowing his head, he slid his hands under my back, lifting me and causing me to arch my back as he kissed his way down from just below my chin to my chest, and then to my stomach. He edged around my center, kissing my waist, then my hips, then my legs. I was trembling with desire for him, quivering with anticipation. When finally, our bodies joined as one, I cried out in pain, as virgins tend to do. He moved slowly, kissing my shoulder and holding me close as I stayed completely still on his lap, my arms around him and my eyes squeezed shut in pain. Before I knew it, as his whispers promised, the pain disappeared, and the pleasure returned. My lips uttered his name over and over again, even his name filling me with desire. Finally, he coaxed that final note out of me, and we sang to the heavens in unison.
As we lay naked on that hammock, our bodies entwined with the others and our words silent, I couldn’t help but smile. For once, everything was perfect, and I no longer felt alone in this world where my beloved companions had so often left me to my own devices. I was in the arms of the most beautiful man in the world, and although I had just committed the greatest sin any embodiment ever could, I couldn’t care less. After all, rules were made to be broken.
~~~
Galatea calmly gazed out the window, her expression hard to read. “Sex had always been about gain, as I had observed among the humans and the immortals. No two truly joined simply for love. It was always about feeling good, nothing more. For so long, I had seen it as an ugly thing, and to this day, I believe it is. So what was I doing with Enlil? Was it ugly too? No, it was beautiful. It was the most beautiful thing ever to be seen or felt. It was beautiful because Enlil and I didn’t have sex. No, Mr. Trent, we made love.”
The blushing author sighed shakily, watching her movements as she sipped at her tea slowly and took a deep breath.
“Mr. Trent, there are only two things in this world that can create as well as they can destroy. One is hate, and the other is love. Can you tell me which is more powerful?”
“U-uh….I-I don’t know…hate?” he stammered, his blush deepening.
She chuckled, setting her tea down and looking him in the eye. “Typical. You would think hate’s more powerful, wouldn’t you? Well, you’re wrong. Love is more powerful…and more deadly. Shall I continue?”
He nodded quickly, causing her to chuckle once more.
“Alright. There we were, lying in each other’s arms, just breathing and living, when I heard a noise in the distance.”
