Accidental Surrogate

Ella

“Before the world existed, before there were planets or stars or even dust, there was only darkness, The darkness was ruled by a god of creation, an all-powerful celestial being the universe dreamed up to rule the heavens. He existed in quiet solitude for millennia, exploring the farthest reaches of his domain, never tiring, never asking for more.” The strange woman began.

“But didn’t he want thìngs, like friends? Or a puppy?”I ask excitedly, feeling uncommonly bold.

I’m leaning back against my visitors c.hest, running my small hands through her shiny hair and wondering at the way it makes my fingers glow and zing with electricity.

“Well that’s a good question. If you didn’t know that friends or puppies existed, would you long for them?” She asks, not the least bit bothered by my interruption.

I scrunch my face up in confusion, trying to work out this puzzle. “I guess not. You can’t want something if you don’t knows that it exists. But I think I’d feel lonely”

“And so did he. she confirms, “though he didn’t realize it at the time. But the universe knew, it had willed this God into being so that he might create but he wasn’t creating anything at all He needed a partner inspiration. So the universe dreamed up another magic, one that would be the perfect balance to his own powers, and one that would need someone to watch over it too”

“What was it?” I ask eagerly

“Can you guess?” The woman asks, “What is the opposite of darkness”

“Light!” I exclaim, with barely a thought. I’ve moved past her hair to toy with the fabric of her dress, but my hands seem to move right through it like fog.

“Very good.” She praises, filling me with warmth.

So one daylight appeared, and it shattered the God’s endless darkness. He didn’t know what was happening, only that everything was suddenly different… more magical. He went searching, and he came upon a goddess of light. When he saw her, he realized what he’d been missing for so long, and he instantly fell in love.” Emotion is heavy in her voice, though I don’t understand why. “She loved him too, and together they created entire worlds: galaxies full to bursting with life, every one different and special in its own way.”

“Galaxies likę in space?” I inquire, wanting to make sure I’ve got the information right.

takes practice. Each had its own magic, but some were more special than others. And on this one they learned to create animals and people and even a few beings in between. Now, these gods never asked to be worshiped, but their Creations could feel their magic coursing

I offer, running my fingers over her glimmering

gods of creations by many different names, but wolves, they had sharper senses. They could feel the source of magic in the world, and so they named the Goddess of light

curiously, pausing in my explorations

trouble… they couldn’t feel his power as strongly. They thought the darkness was a curse broken by the light, when really they were two halves of the same whole. So the wolves didn’t give him a name, they forgot to worship him. Instead they feared and reviled him. Over time he became jealous of the one they called the Moon Goddess. He began to punish

liking the

devil. It wasn’t fair. He’d given everything to their creations, and they despised him. So his heart grew shriveled and cold, until the only thing he had left was his other half, but he sensed her slipping away too. You see, after so long being alone, he’d finally felt the joy of love, of sharing his immortal life with another. But she didn’t like what he was doing, and the more their creations called on her, the lonelier he felt. He began to fear that eventually she might forget him in

busy.” I defend, “I

wouldn’t.” The woman responds

would be better to destroy their greatest creation. I do not know if he meant it as a punishment or a test, or a desperate plea, but he put the

upset by the thought of losing

with their creations – so that they’d be free. At most they could

before long the wolves went into hiding,

“I don’ think I

and she knew she had to act. She knew that she needed help, a

that?” I question

had to be someone very strong, someone who could survive a lot of very hard things in order to become the person they needed to

to continue his royal line, but she just wanted a child to love. She had a heart

be… a

down and offered her tributes and blessings, and only then did she make

broke down into joyous tears. But as hard as it was, the Goddess had to tell her the truth, that the child