The sky roiled above me as my fingers sank into the lifeless dirt beneath my bloodied fingers. The jeering laughter of the men in the camp began to fade as the sky grew darker from thunderous clouds gathering like too much fat in a stew. Their predatory amusement was replaced with fearful whispers.
“Could that be…Is that… her?”
“No way! It can’t be! She’s just a myth!”
I knew what would happen next, as sure as the sun rising in the sky after a long night.
The faintest rumble began in my core. Just a ripple, spreading out to fill my being. My every extremity. The sky echoed in response. The first man fell to his knees in supplication, and another threw something in my direction, but it never reached me. The wind was rising, whipping strands of my chestnut hair. At least the strands that weren’t matted to the tears streaking down my face. Still another grabbed one of the women they had locked in the cage, too small by half for the six women shoved inside. Holding a knife to her throat, he threatened her life, demanding I stop my “witchcraft”. I laughed mirthlessly as I finally pushed to my feet.
The saddest smile broke across my face, laced with pity and regret, before the pulse inside my veins took over.
The voice I spoke with was mine, yet not. Older than time but fresh as a bright green bud on a tree.
“Your crimes have been laid bare for all to see. You caged the soul of what remains, and now you beg for mercy you never gave. Trying to steal power that was never yours, now you must answer to true power”.
First came the rain, a fat drop landing on the knife-wielder’s head, stunning him into looking up as more and more rain began to fall, first in a trickle, then in sheets, until the splattering droplets were all you could hear, all you could see.
At least for them, protected in my little bubble, I moved between the stunned faces to the man holding the knife. Their reactions were understandable. Rain hadn’t been seen in this area for over a generation. But it followed me, and I was drawn to their sins.
The knife was loose in his grip, too shocked to react even as I removed the woman from his grip. She recoiled from me and instead ran back to the “safety” of the cage. The action cut deeper than any weapon that had been brandished in my direction, but still, I placed myself in the path to make sure no one could reach the women this time as the rain slowed and trickled to a stop.
Without the water falling from the sky, everything happened rather quickly. The violent man, finally noticing his hostage was missing, lunged toward me only to be blown back by my windborne barrier, which swirled around me, lifting me into the air as static began to crackle along my skin. Another rock was thrown and deflected, hitting the thrower between the eyes. In truth, he was dead as soon as he threw the rock, but that mattered little to the next man. Another wild charge, and this time a bolt of light split the sky, striking the man and killing him instantly.
One after another, vicious men threw themselves at me, each one failing. Each one dying with hate in their hearts for a power they would never have been able to wield. When the last of the hostile people were dead, strewn across the muddy ground, my feet finally touched the wet earth.
This time, the knee I took was purposeful. Placing both hands on the ground, the dirt shifted, swallowing up the bodies. The light brown, dusty dirt was replaced with rich, dark soil, and shoots of green began springing up from the freshly fertilized earth. The green spread in a wave, culminating in the center where a tree burst from the ground, sprouting blossoms before they turned into fresh, crisp apples. A ripe one fell into my hand, and I brought it to the women huddled in the too-small cage. I held the apple out to them, but they only shrank back in fear. A braver woman knocked the offering from my hand.
My shoulders fell; it was like this every time. Everywhere. Despite my actions, I was rejected, unwelcome, and unwanted.
A gentle breeze wafted by gently, and in the warm air, I could hear the whisper, “You’re not wrong to be big. You’re not bad for being strange. They’re just afraid of what you make them feel.”
So I lifted my shoulders and smiled kindly, heavy heart and all.
“You were meant to be free. To hold humanity together. The bridge from before to what comes after. Protect yourselves. Protect each other”.
With that, I walked away, pulled in a new direction where the vulnerable called out for help, and the wicked told them they were alone.
My bare and bloody feet left blossoming footsteps as I traveled.
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