Story Projects

Wondrous

Jupiter, my lord, I, your servant, call upon thee to free me of this burden.

Bless me, for I am a barren wasteland, unable to envision life.

O, Jupiter, take this curse away. I beg of you, my lord.

My mother spoke those words upon a barren hill in the wilderness at night. She tried countless times, mating with different men all over Rome. No seed could crack her curse. Word spread of her condition among the women she worked with. They saw her as a useless woman only meant to work. Men believed it, too. And some sought to employ her for their personal pleasures. It seemed like everyone was against her. She had given up all hope. Then her prayer was answered.

My mother woke up to a commotion outside the home she shared with other servants. She hastily rushed outside with nothing but the night garment she wore to sleep in. The masters of the villa and a few servants crowded around a beautiful, tall woman. My mother thought that woman was a sculpture come to life. The woman had her back turned to her. Her dress looked as if she had captured the night sky within it. Her black hair was wavy and came down to the middle of her back. It looked lush. Her body wasn't what a woman typically had. She had a well-toned physique for a busty woman.

The woman sought my mother out the second she saw her. She came to her, skipping joyously, then held my mother's hands gently from below. Her pink, radiant eyes stared into my mother's soul. My mother said there was an overwhelming need to show the utmost respect she could muster. She prostrated herself, kissed the woman's foot, and asked for her name. She called herself Asteria, but emphasized she was the goddess of falling stars.

"You are Greek?" my mother said.

"I am," Asteria said, sitting with her. "What is your name?"

"Veria Synnoda."

"Veria, your prayer has been heard!"

Asteria knew of my mother's infertility and wanted to give her the ability to be a mother. At that time, my mother was thirty-five. She worried that birth would kill her. Asteria assured her that she would have nothing to fear or worry about. All my mother needed was to choose a man.

Before Asteria granted my mother's wish, she had to be fed to reach a certain weight. The old masters only fed their servants enough to get through their workday. All of the women looked frail, but they were never feeble. Asteria took my mother to a private island near Greece called Delos. Most of the Greek and Roman civilizations thought she had turned into this island. Fortunately, my mother never heard of that lie.

Delos was an island retreat for many people, especially women. Asteria took my mother to a private sanctuary compound where no one could enter. She put my mother on a diet to gain weight. For a few months, my mother lived lavishly. She was free to roam the island. One day, Asteria brought my mother into a room that had strange furniture. Some of it glowed different colors, and others made odd noises like someone strumming a kithara on the highest string. There was a lifted chair in the middle of the room. It had a floating tray with a small vial on top of it containing what my mother described as pepon (watermelon). The pink color matched Asteria's eyes.

"What is this?" my mother said.

"Endless possibilities. But for you, a hopeful turnaround," Asteria said.

Asteria injected the substance into my mother's forearm. The whole event took about five minutes. She kept asking my mother all sorts of questions about what she felt throughout it. The aches my mother had suffered in her life vanished. Asteria noted that my mother suddenly began to age backward. All that was left was to find my mother a suitable man to create me.