Achieving immortality was the first step. The chains of death would only weigh her down. She found that by drinking from some cup in a lake. Later came all the monster-hunting. Lots of it. Hydras and minotaurs, yacumama and yetis. Then people became more interested in feats of guile. Toppling empires from within by spreading rumours and dueling kings. After an awful lot of war, most people got sick of it and she turned her hand to invention and discovery. Anatomy. Flight. Radon. Recently came environmentalism and peace-making. She’s tucked away a few Nobel’s these past few decades. Now, after two millennia, she feels ready for the job.
Despite her otherworldliness, even she must avert her eyes from the blistering horror of the heavens before her. Around a great dais, the gods and their servants sit considering the history of the hero and her potential to join them in the pantheon. Some of them have visages so unique, it would melt her brain to look at them, so she stares at her boots instead.
There is a sound like thunder breaking, but it is just one of them; the one the Roman’s called Juno, clearing her voice.
‘Did you bring a covering letter?’ the god asks.
‘Shit.’
Paddy Dobson
4th August 2020