[A Villa in the city A of the Earth.]
"In the beginning, there was nothing. Not even this earth nor the heaven up above." A soft voice read out a line from a bed time stories book.
"The Jade Emperor was the only existence and he was always floating over the universe all alone.
So he decided to create other gods to assist him in making humanity.
The original gods were the ones who were created when the universe came into existence. They were powerful than any other gods with vast number of followers and worshippers.
But there were other gods who were born out of the needs of the humans, their survival and existence solely dependent on the prayers and offerings of their followers.
These were called the mortal gods.
And there were other deities who cultivated and went against the heavens for the sake of ascending to god hood and immortality. They were called as lesser gods.
The lesser and mortal gods felt they were oppressed and tried revolting against the proud original gods.
It was not long before the peace and harmony in the celestial realm was disrupted when the heavenly deities divided into two factions plunging the whole celestial realm into war and chaos.
But there were two gods, the goddess of War who was a mortal ancient god and God of destruction, a lesser god who were against the idea of fighting against original gods for power."
"Then what happened?" A small boy lying on his tummy asked curiously, his round black eyes showing a beautiful glint.
"Hush..let me finish first." A beautiful and mature lady gave an amused laugh as she patted the soft and fluffy head of the boy
Turning the page of the book she was holding she gave a warm smile.
"Those two deities despite being the bringer of calamity, were in deep love with each other."
In the pale light provided by the dim table lamp, her face glowed in a warm yellowish glow.
She looked healthy and lively but even the makeup could not hide the wrinkles and dark circles under her eyes.
"Then...." The boy asked excited.
But he was not excited to hear the story rather this excitement came from the fact that he was getting to spend time with his mother after so many months.
She managed a smile on her face and looked at the naughty boy whose head was on her lap.
"Don't be impatient okay??"
"Hmmmm hmmm.." The boy nodded his head making himself comfortable on the lap of his mother.
"When the people got their wishes and prayers they forgot about the mortal gods." The lady continued as she patted his head.
"Many gods were slowly forgotten so even their existence perished."
"Even the god of destruction was slowly losing his power because people did not care for him anymore."
"If this continued, he would disappear for ever."
"Isn't that selfish??" The boy who was calmly listening suddenly lifted his head to look at his mother's face, his face full of pain and sympathy for the mortal gods.
"I feel bad for the god of destruction." He looked at his mother with a pained expression as if he was the one in place of god of destruction.
'This kid is too soft hearted.' The lady looked at the child on her lap with a complicated feeling.
'I am afraid....he might be trampled on and eaten alive by the evil predators and those around him.'
A painful expression appeared in her face for a fraction of second which immediately got replaced by motherly affection.
She lifted him up and placed him on her lap, circling her arms around him and pressing him to her warm bosom.
"Yes, humans are really selfish." Her face had a bitter look, her hands slightly trembling as she rubbed his back.
"So, my little baby, promise me one thing." She looked lovingly at the small chubby baby face, her heart aching.
"Promise me you will never let people take advantage of you..hmmm?"
The boy did not understand anything but still he gave a wide grin as he promised her nodding his head.
"Promise."
"So, what happened to those gods?" The little boy immediately asked with a painful expression. He hoped they would be happy.
"What about god of destruction?"
"Did they fight with the other gods for power??"
"They…." She hesitated a little looking at his face while her eyes darted to the next page which was full of tragedy.
'Why did I even choose this book?? Ughhh...stupid old me!!' She face palmed in her heart as she cursed her stupidity for choosing such a sad and bloody story.
It was not right to blame her considering how this was the first time and probably the last time she was reading bedtime story for her child.
"Mom.." The boy tugged at her sleeve and pouted slightly bringing her back to reality from her thoughts.
"Ahh right....the original gods....they decided to share their power with these gods and everyone lived happily ever after." She replaced all the sad and bad portions with her happy lies.
'Damn this book, why is there so much tragedy!!' She cursed whoever the writer was and also the publisher for printing it under children book.
"And god of destruction hmm....." She looked thoughtful for a second making the child anxious and nervous.
"He and the goddess of war married and lived happily ever after." She tickled the boy on his tummy making him giggle while she herself laughed out squinting her eyes.
"Although they were divided they later learnt to live in peace." She gave a wink showing a bright smile.
"Really??" His face lighted up with a smile when he heard it.
"Yes, yes. Everyone lived happily ever after....They even have a cute baby boy."
She concluded looking at the happy face of her only child.
Although it was not the truth she knew at times happy lies are better than depressing truths.
Even if what she was telling was just a fiction; a fairytale that had been passed down from a long time, she could not bear to see the lines of depression on his face.
"Now, go to sleep…" She placed him on the bead and covered him from all side with blankets wrapping him in the cozy and comfy white quilts.
"Good night mummy." Showing his milk teeth he smiled at her and slowly drifted into a sleep snoring slightly and drooling from his mouth.
Wiping the drool, she looked at the innocent face with tears welling up in her eyes.
It was the last day she was going to see him.
'If gods really exist, then please look after my baby.' She whispered silently inside her heart which was about to fail any moment.
"Mom is sorry, Xu Yang...mom is bad but..." She slowly rubbed the forehead of the sleeping boy.
"You must live well….even if I am not here for you….you must live well…"
The voice got distant and distant until he could hear her no more.
-
-
"Gasp…"
"Hufff"
"Hufff"
Xu Yang sat up on his bed, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Squinting his crescent eyes he looked around the place he was in.
Feeling the wetness in the corner of his eyes, he lifted his thumb to slowly wipe it.
"It's the same thing again.'