Psyche and Eros

Insects

The sun is warm on my face...a beautiful thing to awake to. Yet...the sun is on my face...oh gosh, the sun is on my face!

Whatever nightmare I was just dreaming no longer matters.

All because I needed water. I find myself racing back, tripping and ripping my skirts all the way.

Thankfully I have beat Aphrodite to the heap...heaps. I mean heaps! My goodness, there are separate heaps!

Scattered across the ground are a trail of ants, carrying the last of the lentils to their rightful place.

I peer down at them, believing myself to be hallucinating.

"What...?" I find myself speaking to them. "What reason could there be for this? Am I truly so low that I provoke pity from insects?"

I lay down, as it all washes over me.

I'll live to see another day.

When I've come to terms with it, I sit myself down in a kneeling position, attempting to be at work when my mother-in-law arrives.

A short time later, I see her approach and the resulting frown on her face. Her and I may both be hallucinating this morning.

I am even more of a mess than before, but that does not please her.

"Come with me to get some water." She invites, grabbing my hand and pulling me to my feet.

At the river she further tells me to bathe. A very much needed activity, but I am shaking all the while, watching her as she refuses to ease my nervousness.

Tell me! Tell me, am I free? Have I proven anything?

Once I am finally clean, she alleviates me with disappointment. "While you have exceeded my expectations, more tasks are to come."

I freeze, waiting for her to continue.

"Tomorrow. For now, go home, get some well-needed rest. Then, return here to this river to meet with me for your next task."

I look down. All the relief gone. All the hope vanished. Besides, she thinks there is any rest involved with that travel? "Whatever it takes," I whisper.

In her absence I dig in to the lentils and seeds from the piles. A rather disgusting meal, but it is better than my other options.

My rest takes place in the middle of a meadow. Surprisingly comfortable, though short-lived. There is little solace to be found in the confines of my anxious, dreaming mind. 

My tormentor will return in the morrow, after all. There is little escaping it. How many more trials I will have to endure or...frankly, survive through, I can only imagine. 

The time passes excruciatingly while I am awake. Even the sounds of birds chirping does not cheer me, or the feel of the soft wind on my face. I find myself wishing that it would carry me away.

I expect Hermes to show at some point. To check in, to show he cares...but no. He does not. I shouldn't be surprised or disappointed. 

I am. I imagined that we had become close enough that he would like to see for himself how things turned out. Perhaps, he is just being an idiot and watching from afar, not bothering to see my scowling face up close. Now that he knows that I have to face another one of her trials - surely more difficult - he might not think me worth his time anymore. I am a lost cause now. 

Daydreaming, numbly, in a meadow. 

The next morning, I make my way back to the river where she left me last. I arrive rather early and in an effort to pass the time I find myself singing softly to myself. Some nonsense, some childhood hymns. 

The Goddess returns, her adorable infant at her side. A daughter dressed in gold and white.

"Aphrodite," I greet her without facing her. 

She stills before coming through the small lining of bushes that she believed concealed her.

I approach her. "My Goddess, how can I prove myself to you today?"

The question barely registers for her. She asks instead: "Has Eros come to see you yet?" 

My heart thumps at the thought. Was he supposed to? What has she said to him? I tell her that he hasn't.

"Interesting," she said.

I can't find any further words. Waiting in submission can't hurt anyway.

"You are peculiar, I must admit. Not as air-headed as I expected." She peers down at me.

Finally, I feel some sense of confidence under her gaze. "I am more than what I appear to be. Though very little people acknowledge it, aside from your son."

"Sounds like I've raised him right if that's true."

My eyes avert to the baby. "I see Eros has a sister," I said.

This fills her chest with pride, bouncing her on her hip. "She is my youngest addition, yes." 

I try to smile at her, but it only results in her happiness dropping like a pile of stone.

"I have another task for you. A dangerous one," she continues. "If you're up to the challenge, of course. It would be a notable feat if you pull it off."

"Was my task yesterday not completed to your satisfaction?" I gulp.

The corner of Aphrodite's mouth twitches. "No...I had no use for your accomplishment, unfortunately. This one, I will benefit from. It is a gift for your mother-in-law."

I'm speechless.

"You do want to gift me something, don't you?" She probes.

"Of course! Tell me what it is."

She did so, with her head held high. On the other side of the river was a flock of sheep. Rather large - the strangest creatures I have ever seen, despite how ordinary they should be.

As we crouched and watched them, I noticed what was particularly peculiar about them. The sun hit their fleece just right and a golden shine appeared in its reflection.

Aphrodite drones on about how she adores it and oh so wishes for it despite never being able to get it herself.

It was then that I knew it was dangerous. Even too dangerous for her to creep her way over there.

How does she expect me to? 

I ramble out some words, pleasing her well enough for her to leave, casting me in her shadow. I watch across the river until the sun shifts overhead glare directly into my eyes. It is only then that I creep to the edge of the water, in hopes to assess the reaction of the sheep once they catch sight of me. 

They barely acknowledge my approach at all. For anyone as idiot as my mother-in-law assumes me to be, they would be perfectly innocent looking. 

I can still sniff out the danger. It screams at me.   

Instead of the sheep reacting, I spot something else. A ripple in the water comes towards me, the quick flap of of a tail hits the surface - almost a greeting. 

I shrink back an inch, but when the water nymph pokes her head out of the depths, I know that there is nothing to fear.