Bride of the Sky, Part Three

And so the Spirit that is the sky walked in flesh through the gates of his palace and into his great hall. All his wives stood in a gracious line to receive him with fond blessings. He looked upon their lumpy bodies and greasy hair. He saw them dribble and drool. Each wife smelled of dung.

"Ugh," said the great spirit.

Further down the line one of the wives had blown her nose so that the mucus now hung from her nose and stuck to her lips.

"Oh, gross," said the great spirit.

Finally, he walked to the last of the line and set his eyes upon Mela. He spied her ratty wig and her sack-cloth dress. He sighed, shook his head, and walked past.

The spirit walked to the last room at the end of the hall, the forbidden room, and shut himself inside. As the door closed, the wives cheered and hugged each other, cackling in triumph. Still clad in hideous disguises, they shuffled back to their various tasks around the palace.

Distraught, Mela hurried to one wife and asked, "Why do we paint such foulness on our bodies?"

"Hush girl," the woman looked angry, "to do otherwise is to invite death,"

Mela gasped. Her hands hid her face in fear.

"Our great husband would take the fairest of us for slaughter," the woman's words twisted with a sneer, "Such is his bountiful love that he would burn us in a horrible way if we appealed to him with beauty,"

"I had no idea,"

"You have only been here a short while. We all have a good life here. In the fullness of time, you will come to see our wisdom. Hide your beauty and stay away from that forbidden room. You will live happy," the wife nodded and returned to her fond diversions.

Yet Mela was troubled indeed. Her thoughts fell on the look of her husband as he paced the hall. His sky blue skin and his cloud white eyes. What strange wants could muddle his mind that he would burn the beauty from women?

And so Mela approached the forbidden door. The latch lifted easily and swung open. The inside was dark, save for a yellow glow that cast strange shadows on the ceiling. The room was completely bare save for a large, magical table in the center of the room, the source of the light. The Spirit that is the sky laid in the corner, curled up, shielding his eyes from the shadows on the ceiling.

Mela approached the table and gasped, the whole of the world laid out before her. Mountains and rivers and forests all spinning by, reflected in true detail by the magic of the glowing table. Mela stayed awhile in that quiet room, watching the world underneath. In every strange country, every foreign land or exotic kingdom, in every field or meadow, she saw the suffering. The world grew dry and hungry. Sickness and weakness reigned over the peoples of the world. They rent their garments in hopeless despair and feared the coming winter. Mela felt their terror and fled the forbidden room.

She ran out among the wives, who all clucked and tutted at Mela's fear.

"You were told to stay away and you did not listen," they said to her.

"Does that table tell the truth, do the peoples of the world suffer so?"

"What does it matter? People suffer and die everyday. Even with a full belly, they'd find something to fight over. Suffering is their business,"

Mela was shocked to hear such callous words, "We can do nothing to help them?"

"The Spirit could help them if he wanted to; he is very powerful. He does nothing but sit and mope. If he will not help, what can we do?"

"We could go and beg him to bring rain to the people," Mela implored, wringing her hands.

"Beg him? All he wants to do is kill us. And what do we care for those people below? The moment they start to worry about anything, they pick a woman and sacrifice her. They don't care if we live or die, they only think of themselves. You were sent away too, were you not?"

Mela nodded.

"And so you should join us happily. As your unforgiving family has graciously removed you from their bosom, so now you can forget all their troubles and enjoy yourself this wonderous, new life,"

Pleased with their words, the wives all returned to their songs, and foods, and exotic delights. Mela, though, still felt a great trouble in her mind. The faces of her tribe, the worry of her family, the wilting crops.

Mela walked to a great, splashing fountain and with its waters, washed the mud from her face. The wives gasped and rushed to her, begging her not to continue. Mela pulled the wig from her head and the sack-cloth from her body. With scented oils, she annointed her skin. She combed the tangles from her hair and tied red blossoms to her braids. She found bright, rich silks to wrap her body. She ignored the frantic pleading of the women and walked to the last door in the hall.

She knocked and called out, "My husband, come and look upon your wife,"

The spirit opened the door and beheld her fairness with joy. His hands touched her face. He delighted in her fair scent and the color of her clothes. His white eyes shone with a bright light and all the other wives fled and crouched in fear.

"You are filled with joy and love," his words rumbled like thunder, "and it pleases me to see your fine smile. I wish to grant you a gift, that you have brought me such pleasure,"

"My lord and love, the people of the world suffer greatly. I would see them well again,"

He simply smiled and drew her closer. His lips touched hers and he breathed light into her body that she felt a warmth growing within. He held her close in an embrace as the heat grew to a terrible fire. She could feel it burning away like a bright sun inside her belly. She knew fear for a moment, but he held her and looked into her eyes and was a great comfort. She could feel the fire consuming her, though she did not blacken or melt. This fire consumed her and she became the fire itself. It was not a burning of flesh, but of the soul. And soon her body could not contain it.

Her flesh rent apart and scattered across the hall. The wives shrieked and wailed in fear. The Spirit returned to his forbidden room.

But the fire of Mela swelled and spread out. The world fell before her like she saw on the glowing table. With new eyes, she could see each child in every field, each mother caring for their family, each father toiling for love. She saw the suffering of the whole of the world and also their joy. The sight of it drove her to such fits of emotion that she cried great tears. The world was filled with her love and the rain fell.

The world grew green again.