Blue Moon

The gods were angry with Celius. He could tell because everything had gone wrong for him in the past year. His crops, the ones that had appeared, had shriveled up within a week of their first appearance disregarding the rain and fertile soil that they had been planted in. His wife who had never swayed in her steadfastness to him, had begun to glance elsewhere, her eyes following the men that slunk past his house. When confronted she laughed and shrugged with disdain.

Celius tried to recall what he had done to wrong the gods, but could think of nothing. He had made his annual sacrifice of two goats, a hen and one sixteenth of his earnings. Although in retrospect, he had not counted the money he had made on the selling of his mule as earnings.
This thought corrected">occurred to him in the dead of night, smacking him out of his half slumber and into the silence of his room. His wife did not lay beside him and when he searched for her through out the remainder of his house, she was not to be found. Cursing himself at his own selfishness and stupidity he gathered two coins from his purse and headed out towards the temple.

"Perhaps," he said to the night sky, hoping that the gods might be listening, "if I get the money to the alter by morning, the gods will have forgiven me, and return my life to me."

His journey would take him most of the night, for the sky was dark with only a few distant stars peering through the cloudy sky at him. He had gone only a small distance when he realized that someone walked ahead of him, hidden under a long cloak and carrying a lantern that lit the road in front of them, making their shadow loom out and behind them.

Relieved that he might have some company on his journey he sped up slightly thinking that he would soon overtake them, but as his footsteps grew faster, so did the figure in front of him. After a brief moment he realized that the person might fear him and think he might mean them harm, and so he called out to them. "Hallo! Would you like some company on your journey?"

The figure stopped abruptly, and Celius did as well his eyes struggling in the dark to make out what was happening. The light that the figure carried faded slightly and then grew as the figure turned back towards him and it was then that Celius realized it was not a lantern that was lighting the way for the figure, but its eyes, that slid cold blue back and towards him. Celius dropped back a step, his hands rising to protect his eyes and he let out a low murmur of terror. Here was one of the gods in the flesh, come to take him for wronging them. Stupidly he held out the money in his trembling hand, turning his face away.

A long moment passed, Celius kept his eyes closed, not sure what to expect until he heard a slight jingle of laughter and felt breath upon his hand. He turned his face forward and opened his eyes a slit to see that the creature stood only steps from him, its eyes gazing down on the two measly coins that rested in his hands and its sharp toothed mouth open in a smile.
Instantly the eyes shredded the air and met his, blinding him for a moment before they dimmed and gazed upon him. "What is this?" the thin lips slipped the words out, filled with a hissing undertone.

Celius stared and could not find his tongue to speak. He felt hypnotized by the eyes that did not leave his and what ever other part he had that he could have claimed, was paralyzed with fear. The creature shifted its weight and repeated itself. "What is this?" This time its voice was more human sounding with less hissing. As the silence ensued and Celius still could not bring himself to speak the creature, moved its eyes in a rolling motion before fixing themselves upon Celius again, along with a long fingered bony hand.

For a moment, Celius reeled away from the dry cold touch of its hand, but it pulled Celius towards it and he found he could not move. For a moment, his eyes still locked with the creature, he thought he saw shadows of his own life flicker within its eyes.

The creature let go of Celius, leaving him feeling empty as if he had revealed to much of himself, and once again began to laugh. This time the jingle was louder and the mouth opened wider, revealing two sets of sharply pointed teeth and a somewhat serpentine tongue. Fascinated, Celius watched unable to move in the sudden dark that the creature's closed eyes caused.

"You owe me nothing!" The creature suddenly hissed, closing Celius' hand and pressing it back towards him. "You have offended no one but your wife."

"Wife?" The reference to her finally forced words from his throat.

The creature wiped its mouth and nodded. "She has cursed you."

"What?" Celius, for all his fear felt the disbelief spin up from his heart and into his head. "My wife would never do that!"

The creature smiled. "Just like she would never leave your bed in the middle of the night for another man?"

Celius stared, his eyes suddenly filling with the tears he had not allowed himself to face.
The creature cocked its head curiously like a dog, watching the tears slowly roll down Celius' face and down his chin. "Such strange creatures you humans are. To be so stunted by emotion."

Celius swiped his eyes quickly with the back of his hand, feeling anger build within his chest.

"Hush." The creature suddenly placed its hand upon Celius heart. "I did not mean to laugh."

"Why would she do this to me? It affects her too!" Each word was abrupt as it spun from
Celius and fell in the night air.

"She is woman." The creature said. "She reacts to what she sees. She knows about Coretta and Alphony. She responds as she sees fit."

Celius stared, his heart suddenly strumming in his ears at the names of his lovers, long cast off but still a memory. "What can I do?"

"Go home." The creature reached out its finger and touched Celius' cheekwhere the remainder of one tear still lay and brought it to its eyes where for a moment it glimmered prism bright before joining the light that lay there. "All is well."

Celius opened his mouth to say something, but discovered he was alone, staring up at the rising blue moon. After a long moment he shook himself.

"I must have been dreaming," he muttered and headed home, passing his fields tall with wheat and corn that bent in the small breeze that played around him. He smiled as he entered his home, dropping two coins in the jar by the stove that he discovered in his pocket and crept into the back room where the snores of his wife shifted the shadows of the room. Quietly he crept into bed, trying not to awaken his wife who suddenly stopped mid snore and turned to him, her eyes bright in the moon that shone through the window.

"Hello, my love." She smiled at him, curling herself up to him, and his arms slipped around her.

"Hello." He closed his eyes and smelt the smell of the days baking in her hair and for a moment felt a ridiculous gratifying feeling of relief. "I dreamt you had left me," he whispered into the night air.

She chuckled from below his chin. "Don't be ridiculous."