Shorts

My Made-Up Myth

Another English Assignment -- We had to create a myth... And well, this is mine. So enjoy.

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There once was a young child. He was the son of the King and Queen of Karapolis. The King and Queen loved their son with all their heart. With that love, the young kid, Mark was his name, grew into a strapping young man. He was loved and nurtured and taught not to take what he had for granted. He was thankful for everything he was given and worked hard for what he had to achieve on his own. One day the goddess, Azra, was looking upon the Earth, and saw Mark. She saw his kind deeds and the way his parents loved him so dearly. Azra, the goddess of charity, soon became jealous of the attention Mark was getting for she never got attention for all the good work she did. As Azra watched the man, her jealousy for his family grew. She never knew her parents, only that they gave her up to become humans. Azra hated her parents, just as she despised anyone who had parents. Her jealousy grew so great, that she decided something must be done. She went to the god of the Earth, Pange, and asked that he help her in her quest to destroy Mark. Pange wanted nothing to do with the destruction of Mark, and told Azra he wouldn't be involved in a murder. This infuriated Azra. She decided she must do it herself, and stole some of Pange's powers. She escaped the grasp of Pange as it was about to swallow her up so that she might not get away with his powers. Azra smiled and went back to her fortress in the sky to plot how she might kill the young man she despised with such a vengeance. Mark was walking along the desert one day carrying water to the lost travelers. He had just been told he was to be married to a woman he had never known in a month. Mark was upset that he would have to travel to the kingdom of his unknown fiance, and took out his anger by immersing himself even further into his good deeds. He was not like most humans, no, he was a man who had a passion for making things right in the world. He hated the cruelty of humans' acts, and took it upon himself to change the world into a more loving place. As he was halfway to the lost travelers, the ground suddenly caved in from underneath him. He dropped for a thousand feet, until he fell to the ground of the underworld. The sky closed up with a thin layer of Earth. He looked around and saw that he was in the underworld, but not dead. Suddenly, the spirit of Azra appeared before him.

            “'Now you see what happens when you try to take a god's place, don't you? You wanted to dethrone me, make me look like a fool. You were plotting to upstage me in the very work I do best, but no! I beat you. You've come to the underworld and forever here you will stay, for no one comes out of the underworld,”  Azra said, full of spite, “ for your parents, well, I have to say they might be joining you here very soon.” With that, Azra's spirit flew away, leaving Mark dazed and confused. When Mark realized  what might be happening to his parents, he stood up, and started searching for a way out. He had only heard of the underworld in fairy tales, and knew of only one way to get out, and that was through Sacra. Sacra was the keeper of all things dead. Sacra was death itself. Mark started wandering to where he thought Sacra might reside. He was wandering for hours, when he heard a voice.

            “Marcus, I am the god of the Earth,” the voice told him, “you have done so much for me, I can only thank you by helping you out of the underworld. To get to Sacra, you must do one kind deed for the souls of the dead.” As Mark, looked around now he saw thousands of floating spirits rushing past him.

            “How can I do anything for the spirits? They do not feel or see. They do not even acknowledge that I am with them,” Mark observed, but the voice was gone.

            As Mark watched the spirits float by, he saw that they needed only one thing: life. He started thinking about what Pange told him, and realized he didn't have enough life for all of them. Perhaps, though, all they needed was little more life, so that instead of floating by, they could take in the world they had around them. The young man decided this was the right choice, and prepared to give up his life for the souls. He took out his sword from its sheath, and pressed the tip against his chest. As he was about to thrust it in, Sacra appeared before him.