The Goddesses
Jan. 17th, 2009 12:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crankyoldmanFandom: Original
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Old friends. That's how it goes.
Notes: Semi-autobiographical. Why is it that it always ends like this?
They called each other goddesses.
It wasn't a secret as much as just a way to make sense of the world. Gods had let them down and made them as confused as the boys that they wanted to talk to. So they made themselves into godesses instead. What they presided over and did with that had yet to be determined. They weren't yet teenagers and not really children, so sense had to come tied up in codes and bad mythology.
Juno was the oldest both chronologically and mentally. She had seen things that the other two wouldn't for a few years and her father quoted Scripture in Greek and carried around a broadsword in his home. Juno looked like a baroque statue, all bottom, long haired and possessing a French nose. She was aristocratic and trapped in a small country town. She insisted on going by her Roman name because she'd heard enough of Greek.
Athena fell in the middle, precocious intellectually but sometimes lacking in the emotional department. She'd read things that the other two hadn't, but had held back on the experiences outside of her own mind. It was better in there. Her feet were too big and her legs were too skinny; she lacked the kind of feminine ease that Juno commanded. Athena would have looked like a boy if not for her wild manner of dress, which involved too much jewelry and baggy hippie shirts. Her wit was biting and often offensive, and her tact was atrocious.
The youngest was Aphrodite, whose distinction was almost a cruel jab from the other two. She'd been cursed and blessed with developing early, but unlike Juno, she didn't know what to do with beauty. The boys always noticed her, blonde hair trailing behind her and still girlish face reflecting a kind of naivety and sensuality all at once. Sometimes Aphrodite made Athena roll her eyes with her coy pretenses of ignorance. She seemingly felt everything, and managed to make everyone feel it with her; happiness was bubbly and childish, while sadness was black eyeliner and bad poetry.
They weren't a clique in the normal sense, because they would have welcomed other goddesses. But together they were unapproachable, that was for certain. Athena's cruel wit, Juno's highbrow criticism and even Aphrodite's clingy innocence had isolated them somewhat. Maybe it was better that way.
---
"I always figured you'd burn your bra and join the peace corps."
The time is now and they are sitting outside of Juno's father's church. They aren't quite adults and no longer teenagers, so sense has to come tied up in bold statements about the Future. Athena blinks at Juno's audacity, but then something had to be transferred over the years of being around each other and the silence of college. Aphrodite smiles, still pretending that she's a few years younger than she is and still gets hit on by adolescent boys.
"I'm hardly one of those. Just a little queer and offbeat." Athena means both meanings in the word queer and Aphrodite shifts uncomfortably. She had renounced the carnal pleasures of her namesake and had accepted the chastity they had all assumed Athena would keep up. Then again, they'd all suspected the problem had been with Athena more than the boys.
"So what are we going to do now?" Aphrodite talks with a psychology student's tone, which differs from an elementary school teacher's in that there is more respect from the teacher.
"I don't know, are you allowed to stay out late?" Athena talks to both of them. Aphrodite still answers to her oppressive parents and Juno got married to the boy that used to mow her parent's lawn.
They haven't called each other by their designations yet, but it's on the tips of their tongues. Especially now that Aphrodite, with her teasing demeanor and plump good looks has broken the hearts of half the boys at her college. And even Juno has taken on more of the persona, the regal queen of married student housing, taking a feather duster to her and her husband's coat of arms and skewing the statistic that all people that marry young do so out of ignorance and end up divorced. Athena looks like Truth, sunken-eyed and thinner as opposed to thicker like the other two, taking drags off a cigarette despite people wrinkling their noses.
They all look charming and tired.
"Oh, I told them there were some more Church activities." It becomes plain why Aphrodite took to religion so easily, like most grown children of broken and messed up homes--churches sometimes resemble families. Juno shrugs a queenly shoulder; her husband will not mind.
"Then let's walk. Sitting around is making me antsy." This is one of those lazy summer afternoons that if they were different people, Lifetime would make some kind of heartfelt woman bonding movie out of. But they aren't that kind of trio.
The heat isn't oppressive yet, the summer hasn't hit that point where everyone hides indoors under climate control. Juno and Aphrodite's skirts flow with the roguish breeze. Athena grips her hat so it doesn't fly off. There are a thousand things that need to be said.
"Do you remember..." but Aphrodite trails off. It's so hard to pick back up after the years.
"What the hell happened to us? Do you remember, honestly remember the goddesses?" Athena's voice cracks a little. There had been no pledges to be friends forever between them--that wasn't the issue. This issue was how much they had crumbled in the face of the sands of time.
Aphrodite's wide blue eyes and Juno's knowing brown ones both look off in other directions. Athena sighs.
"Time happened. That's all. And even you didn't screw up utterly, Athena." The art of defensive war was based on two things: survival, and anticipation. Juno knew that Athena would always survive. She was just working on the anticipation part.
"Imagine where we'll be in twenty years," Aphrodite offers.
---
A long time ago the summers were endless, and time dilation hadn't taken its effect. They'd been goddesses for a year now, even if the only worshipers were the occasional hormone-inspired kind. Mostly for Aphrodite, Juno had noted without the usual hint of future bitterness.
Roads on the outskirts of housing developments that were not quite in the wild country were always best for their walks. Athena never could sit still, and they'd had enough of cards and Ouija boards for the day. Back in those days the sun set when it should have; later, but well within a reasonable time.
---
"We used to be goddesses, and now?"
"Now we're only mortal."
"But isn't that how it was supposed to be?"
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Old friends. That's how it goes.
Notes: Semi-autobiographical. Why is it that it always ends like this?
They called each other goddesses.
It wasn't a secret as much as just a way to make sense of the world. Gods had let them down and made them as confused as the boys that they wanted to talk to. So they made themselves into godesses instead. What they presided over and did with that had yet to be determined. They weren't yet teenagers and not really children, so sense had to come tied up in codes and bad mythology.
Juno was the oldest both chronologically and mentally. She had seen things that the other two wouldn't for a few years and her father quoted Scripture in Greek and carried around a broadsword in his home. Juno looked like a baroque statue, all bottom, long haired and possessing a French nose. She was aristocratic and trapped in a small country town. She insisted on going by her Roman name because she'd heard enough of Greek.
Athena fell in the middle, precocious intellectually but sometimes lacking in the emotional department. She'd read things that the other two hadn't, but had held back on the experiences outside of her own mind. It was better in there. Her feet were too big and her legs were too skinny; she lacked the kind of feminine ease that Juno commanded. Athena would have looked like a boy if not for her wild manner of dress, which involved too much jewelry and baggy hippie shirts. Her wit was biting and often offensive, and her tact was atrocious.
The youngest was Aphrodite, whose distinction was almost a cruel jab from the other two. She'd been cursed and blessed with developing early, but unlike Juno, she didn't know what to do with beauty. The boys always noticed her, blonde hair trailing behind her and still girlish face reflecting a kind of naivety and sensuality all at once. Sometimes Aphrodite made Athena roll her eyes with her coy pretenses of ignorance. She seemingly felt everything, and managed to make everyone feel it with her; happiness was bubbly and childish, while sadness was black eyeliner and bad poetry.
They weren't a clique in the normal sense, because they would have welcomed other goddesses. But together they were unapproachable, that was for certain. Athena's cruel wit, Juno's highbrow criticism and even Aphrodite's clingy innocence had isolated them somewhat. Maybe it was better that way.
---
"I always figured you'd burn your bra and join the peace corps."
The time is now and they are sitting outside of Juno's father's church. They aren't quite adults and no longer teenagers, so sense has to come tied up in bold statements about the Future. Athena blinks at Juno's audacity, but then something had to be transferred over the years of being around each other and the silence of college. Aphrodite smiles, still pretending that she's a few years younger than she is and still gets hit on by adolescent boys.
"I'm hardly one of those. Just a little queer and offbeat." Athena means both meanings in the word queer and Aphrodite shifts uncomfortably. She had renounced the carnal pleasures of her namesake and had accepted the chastity they had all assumed Athena would keep up. Then again, they'd all suspected the problem had been with Athena more than the boys.
"So what are we going to do now?" Aphrodite talks with a psychology student's tone, which differs from an elementary school teacher's in that there is more respect from the teacher.
"I don't know, are you allowed to stay out late?" Athena talks to both of them. Aphrodite still answers to her oppressive parents and Juno got married to the boy that used to mow her parent's lawn.
They haven't called each other by their designations yet, but it's on the tips of their tongues. Especially now that Aphrodite, with her teasing demeanor and plump good looks has broken the hearts of half the boys at her college. And even Juno has taken on more of the persona, the regal queen of married student housing, taking a feather duster to her and her husband's coat of arms and skewing the statistic that all people that marry young do so out of ignorance and end up divorced. Athena looks like Truth, sunken-eyed and thinner as opposed to thicker like the other two, taking drags off a cigarette despite people wrinkling their noses.
They all look charming and tired.
"Oh, I told them there were some more Church activities." It becomes plain why Aphrodite took to religion so easily, like most grown children of broken and messed up homes--churches sometimes resemble families. Juno shrugs a queenly shoulder; her husband will not mind.
"Then let's walk. Sitting around is making me antsy." This is one of those lazy summer afternoons that if they were different people, Lifetime would make some kind of heartfelt woman bonding movie out of. But they aren't that kind of trio.
The heat isn't oppressive yet, the summer hasn't hit that point where everyone hides indoors under climate control. Juno and Aphrodite's skirts flow with the roguish breeze. Athena grips her hat so it doesn't fly off. There are a thousand things that need to be said.
"Do you remember..." but Aphrodite trails off. It's so hard to pick back up after the years.
"What the hell happened to us? Do you remember, honestly remember the goddesses?" Athena's voice cracks a little. There had been no pledges to be friends forever between them--that wasn't the issue. This issue was how much they had crumbled in the face of the sands of time.
Aphrodite's wide blue eyes and Juno's knowing brown ones both look off in other directions. Athena sighs.
"Time happened. That's all. And even you didn't screw up utterly, Athena." The art of defensive war was based on two things: survival, and anticipation. Juno knew that Athena would always survive. She was just working on the anticipation part.
"Imagine where we'll be in twenty years," Aphrodite offers.
---
A long time ago the summers were endless, and time dilation hadn't taken its effect. They'd been goddesses for a year now, even if the only worshipers were the occasional hormone-inspired kind. Mostly for Aphrodite, Juno had noted without the usual hint of future bitterness.
Roads on the outskirts of housing developments that were not quite in the wild country were always best for their walks. Athena never could sit still, and they'd had enough of cards and Ouija boards for the day. Back in those days the sun set when it should have; later, but well within a reasonable time.
---
"We used to be goddesses, and now?"
"Now we're only mortal."
"But isn't that how it was supposed to be?"
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Date: 2009-01-17 01:31 pm (UTC)