Suzanna

Mellenses was the daughter of the divine Goddess Demetria and the Star God Floppius. She had never set sight on her father, but had heard from the other maidens on Mount Clympis that his temper tore the sky into fire and his laughter created waves in the seas the mortals swam in. Melleneses yearned to meet him. She had one unfulfilled wish she wanted to whisper into his ears. And she was so certain that he would grant it. He hadn’t let her mother, the Goddess Demetria, down.

When Demetria was but a teenager, she looked up into the heavens and wished for a daughter as fair as the moon, as intelligent as a shooting star that knew where to land. No sooner had Demetria uttered this than the great god Floppius stood before her. Intelligent seeds from him grew in her fair womb to give rise to the flower called Mellenses. In a flash of warm, sticky light, he vanished. Mellenses was then brought up by the ever-young maidens of Mount Clympis. Her mother was now a Goddess. The Goddess of Rain. And this would now be her home. She was surrounded by everything her fair heart desired. Music played on gilded harps, stories were sung by turquois’d birds, and her feet n’er did touch the ground thanks to velveteen clouds that held her up wherever she went.

But her heart was heavy. And she knew only her father could bring back the lightness. It was in his power to do that. Even the Goddess Demetria had told her, “Only your father can do this for you. You must be quiet for 2 weeks before you call upon him. Meditate, pray, give up your harp and your playmates. And then he will be pleased with you, and grant you your wish.”

Mellenses did as she was told. She was sad those 2 weeks, because she was used to her gay playmates and their songs of joy. She missed those sunlit carefree days, but she knew that she would have to please her father to get what she wanted.

On night of the 15^th day, Floppius appeared to her in a dream. She stood before him, not daring to look into that radiant face. Floppius thundered, “Speak, child.”

For a moment, Mellenses looked overwhelmed, then she pulled herself together, stood high in her dainty copper sandals and said, “Dad, I want a car.”


In the parking lot