THE SIRKLE: Tales and Fables of the Faraway Deities

The Seasonal Cycle

 He woke to birdsong. Fluttering open his eyes from the cool breeze brushing past his skin as he lay on the grassy ground, he sighed pleasantly. The avian creatures flitted around him, chirping and tweeting as if to greet his awakening.

 Spring. He named himself Spring. He held the flowers in his hands and blew the petals into the zephyr to meet his brother in the late. He held the branches and leaves in his hands with elegant grace and softness. He was purely beautiful and the embodiment of the sweet honeyed nectar that flows from an eternal fountain of sugar.

 He was a blonde babe, mixing flowers into the golden locks that travelled down his back and twisted into three pretty braids, one going straight down and two draping over his shoulders. From his back sprang ethereal faerie wings that glistened in the morning sunlight and shone onto the summer grass. The cleanly cut scent of the emerald blades wafted into the air currents, drafting throughout to welcome the arrival of Spring.

 He was a god. One of high respect. However, he suffered from sporadic hot flashes during his intense period. He raised his head to the rising midday Sun as it joyfully sang its song to him. He peered at its light then lowered his gaze to see his brother skipping across the hills to meet him.

 Summer was made of light and glee. He joined up with his brother, Spring, and told him about his sleep. The birds still sang, perching onto Spring's branches and horns. Summer giggled and showed Spring his creations and influences. Spring smiled warmly and said, 'Goodbye brother, I must rest.'

 To whom Summer said goodbye and waved farewell. His little face was filled with happiness and excitement. He was practically a cherub with that beaming smile. It was as if he was a ray of sunlight embodied. He glanced up to his parent Sun and laughed gaily. A warm breeze filled the atmosphere and he breathed deeply, taking in his work with pride and gleaming at it. The grasses trembled under the gust's force.

 Summer was dressed in golden silks and pearls. They billowed in the wind as it spread its grasp expands across the lands of fables. He climbed a hill, clutching fistfuls of dry and dehydrated golden grass. He had a touch like Midas, gilding everything that comes into his vicinity. He could make ichor or the apples of youth guarded by Idunn. He could turn anything into something with his golden view.

 Across the skyline, the glorious god took notice of his sister strolling to greet her brother. Autumn was covered in cracked leaves and witch-like garb, cobwebs dangling from her curved horns and floating aimlessly in the wind. She calmly held Summer's hands and told him of her wonders and excitements. He listened and said, 'Goodbye sister, I must rest.'

 To whom Autumn whispered an adieu and kissed his forehead goodnight. Parent Sun was low in the horizon, signalling the soon arrival of her sister. Parent Moon peeked from behind the reddening glow of the tree that sat upon the hill. She patiently waited and plucked the ripe apples from its branches and bit gently into it. It was a glorious crimson red, the creamy juice running down her chin and onto her wiccan wardrobe. Pumpkins and fungi sprung from under her feet and igniting the darkening sky. Skulls chimed and clattered as they hung from her arms and antlers. She wore a mask of bone and carrion.

 She was divinely creepy. Her plague rot spread from her body to the ground, manifesting in mushrooms and spores. Her fangs glimmered in the hallowed light of the evening. From her covered head arose two sets of growths. Deer's antlers and goat's horns. Multiple accessories dangled from them and waved in the light squall of leaves and faint flakes of snow. She held a faded tome in her arms, incanting from it. She was truly a goddess of magical fright.

 Noxious brew bubbled from the cauldron on her back and dripped from the lip, sizzling the grass it touched. It was acidic and acrid, smelling strongly of lemon and almonds. Autumn kept close her vials and flasks. She carried cases of cider and sold them to her imaginary friends. She played "pretend" with herself and set alight her precious treasures to blaze the gloomy night as she saw her sister approaching in the distance, a blizzard surrounding her.

 Winter was cold and distant. She spoke to Autumn of what she had come up with during her long sleep. A whirlwind of snow covered her, blanketing her already heavy parka. She told tales of her dreams, muffled under the scarf. Autumn paid her attention to her sister, then politely murmured, 'Goodbye sister, I must rest.'

 To whom Winter bore a chiao and hugged Autumn tightly before she went to succumb to a long tale of a land of fantasy. Parent Moon had awoken by now, rising as her counterpart slept. She sat, the snow covering everything in sight. A flurry of snowflakes blinded anyone daring enough to travel through her storm. Her icy glare cut through everything and nothing like a rose knife through diamond, glass, and titanium. Golems of ice arose around her, bearing shields of crystalline water.

 She created an army of figures made from her snow and tore them down with her bodyguards. It was no fun being alone and being the coldest. Unfortunately, her heart was frozen to the core and she couldn't care less about what happened to her environment. The tree shook and shivered under the weight of the snow as it bunched onto its bough. She bore a thick maize tail, an invention of a camouflaged vulpine that roamed the tundra.

 Winter sighed with relief and anger as parent Sun came through her clouds of misery. Her brother would soon awake and it would repeat over and over again. The same dreaded cycle. She commanded her storm to retreat and make haste as she found her brother, asleep in the grass under the tree. To him she murmured, 'Goodbye brother, I must rest' and placed an icy flower on his chest.

 He woke to birdsong. Fluttering his eyes open, he reached for the cold and frozen object on his chest. It was a beautiful crystal flower in bloom. A gift from Winter.