Tormented Choices

• Rebecca Hyatt, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2016

In a time long forgotten, when humans were taken care of by the gods- who constantly visited them to guide the groups to new and safer lands- there was a goddess. She was a beautiful and powerful woman, but was eventually forced to marry.
Her husband was a kind god, and they soon fell in love, and after some time together after their marriage, they had three stunning daughters. The first girl was a quiet and gentle soul, but with knowledge that far surpassed others older than her. The middle daughter was unpredictable and had a fiery temper, with an astounding power that made the people around her wary. Then there was the youngest, who seemed to be a mix of the two before her, keeping a good balance of excitement and solemnity.
The third daughter was a pride to her family; her parents wanted nothing but the best for her, and though they loved her so much, they were constricting and controlled her every move. So, as she reached adulthood and was feeling far too uncomfortable under her parents’ keen eyes, she decided to strike out on her own and visit the human realms for the first time.
When the girl got there, she was overwhelmed by the beauty of it all. The scents, the sights and feelings were amplified, and her senses were overcome from the intensity of everything surrounding her. She realized she stood on a long stretch of worn dirt, as if that path had been tread on countless times, and she stumbled back when she saw the humans approach.
A long line of carts, animals and people walked down the path, chatting and laughing so happily that it took a moment for the girl to realize that this was what real emotions were, unlike the dulled feelings that she’d experienced in the Other realm.
“Hello.”
The daughter turned around to see the speaker; a handsome young man with a soft, kind face that spoke of a life of joy. As she talked with him, she learnt that he was travelling with the line of people, and that they were searching for a land where they could be blessed with fortune and crops. The young man invited her to stay with them, and, curious as she was, she thanked him and went to meet his family.
Over the next weeks, the daughter was tormented with her suddenly flourishing love for the boy, and the thought that her parents were no doubt looking for her every minute that she was gone. She knew that if she chose the way of her heart, she could never see her family again, but if she went with her mind, she would live under the suffocating gaze of her parents and their expectations, and wouldn’t see her new love again.
The girl finally told the boy of her heritage, and, as she waited for the cringe that she expected, she realized that it would never come from him. He smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I wouldn’t care if you came from the moon, because I see you for you, and your family cannot change that, no matter how powerful they are. I love you as you are.”
Her heart broke and she made her choice; her family never knew her, they knew what they wanted to know. But this boy standing in front of her, he knew and loved her, and no one, not even the gods, could change that.