Second Post: My Wife Athena

SECOND POST:

My Wife Athena


According to Greco-Roman mythology, Athena is the goddess of wisdom who emerged full-blown from the head of Zeus, but billions of years before that story was born Athena was my wife on Xela. So long ago. Billions of years before I was the evil, hated, dreaded – misunderstood – Satan, I was Lucifer Epoh, the husband of Athena Dria, the most beautiful and brilliant and good-hearted of all women. Eve was scum compared to her.

We met at the annual summer fair that was always held just a mile from my house. I had been born in that house and had grown up there with my parents. Every summer the fair would set up, and we would all head over there and live there for the entire week. Everyone did. We’d set up our camper and just stay there. Mom and Dad took the week off from work, and we all did nothing but sell crafts that we had made, go on rides, go swimming, and eat all that marvelous fair food, from pickled potatoes to barbequed kumquats (believe me, they’re tastier than they sound). Our whole village shut down for the fair.

I started making butterflies when I was six. By the time I was sixteen, my butterflies had won awards and had also become a helpful source of supplemental income for my family, and the most profitable event for me by far was the fair. So I would set up my stand and sell butterflies at ten dollars each. That was a bit pricy, but people were willing to pay ten dollars a bug because mine were the best.

It was on the third day of the fair when I was sixteen that I met Athena. It was a chilly day, only about a 150 degrees Fahrenheit (on Xela, temperatures ranged from 100 to 300, which, for us, was a pretty comfortable range). I was wearing a jacket and had one of the butterflies perched on my head. Athena, who was seventeen, walked up to my stand.

“I like your jacket,” she said. She had shoulder-length, black hair, fair skin, and dark brown eyes. She was petite, only about five feet tall and slender. She was wearing a denim skirt and a bright red blouse. My mind went blank from desire. Not lust, like you humans are always obsessing over. Just desire in the purest sense. Nobody lusted on Xela, because nobody was able to. We didn’t even know what lust was. It was inconceivable.

I smiled. “Thanks,” I said.

“You’re Lucifer Epoh, aren’t you? I’ve been wanting to meet you for months. I saw your butterflies on the news. I heard you make the best butterflies in the nation. Only God does better.”

“God’s the one who has given me the ability,” I said. I meant it. Back then, I loved That One as much as I loathe him now.

She smiled and touched my hand. “It’s an honor to meet you, and you are even better looking in person than you are on TV.” I could feel my face turning pink. I wanted to kiss her.

“Why don’t you join me?” I asked. We found another chair, and she sat next to me. For the rest of the week, we sold butterflies together and got to know each other. Without ceasing I could feel excitement fluttering in my stomach. I felt aroused, nervous, and giddy. We laughed a lot. That first night we kissed and caressed. We kissed deep and long each night afterward.

The last night we lay beneath the full moons on my bed at the camper at the fair. Mom and Dad were in the next room and knew we were together but were not worried. On Xela, parents knew they could trust their children not to do anything wrong, because no one did anything wrong. They knew that Athena and I were lying naked together in my bed, kissing and caressing, but not making love. It did not occur to us to make love yet, because the time was not right. On Xela, people were neither ashamed of love-making nor careless about it. The balance was perfect. We knew the time was not right, so we could just lie together and be intimate without going too far.

I marveled at her body’s beautiful curves. I loved the sound of her breathing and the feel of her warmth. She lay next to me, her head on my chest, my arms around her.

I said to her, “I could easily fall in love with you.”

I felt her nod. “I wish I didn’t have to go back to my village tomorrow, but I need to go home with my parents. We would miss each other too much.” Now it was my turn to nod. I felt my warm tears run down my face. She reached up and kissed me on the lips.

We promised to virtual-message each other. Virtual messaging meant that you could create a virtual image of yourself that could visit the person. Virtual messaging was not as satisfying as really being with the person, but it was far better than nothing.

The next day we hugged, kissed, and whispered good-bye, our eyes deeply fixed on each other. Our parents were patient and understanding with us.

Xela was wonderful and free of sin, but it was not free of sadness. It was paradise, but it was not heavenly paradise, so there was still the possibility of heartache.