Young Writers Society

Venus

My mother just wanted the best for me. How was she supposed to know the consequences of her actions? I mean, I don’t even think the triple goddesses could have guessed my fate. And all because my mother dabbled in a little magic. It wasn’t her fault she wanted her daughter to be beautiful, I mean everybody wants that for their daughter. She didn’t realize that the magic would make me the most beautiful person in the world, and I only wish that I was being arrogant. And of course she couldn’t have just left it at that, no she had to name me after the Roman goddesses of beauty; Venus. It’s like she wanted to shout my beauty to the entire world

Of course most people see me and think I’m so lucky, “Oh look at her… She must get everything she wants… She must be so blessed for being so pretty” blah blah blah. Well all those people are wrong, it's a curse. Everybody either has two reactions to seeing me; they either try to get me everything I want and get close to me, or they hate me because they think I’m privileged. But no matter which reaction somebody has, they all stare at me. And I hate it, I wish I was normal, but apparently that's impossible.

Solis

When did people stop worshiping us? It seemed like all of a sudden nobody cared about us and just assumed we would always be here. I remember a time when people would sacrifice to us, to me, so that everyday I would rise and bring light. At least the Inca tribes still care for me. But it’s like everybody in the Eastern hemisphere forgot about me. It wasn’t fair, they should respect me far more than they do. And then that girl had to show up and take all of my attention.

The mortal’s mother had decided to perform a spell that would make her daughter the most beautiful thing in existence. She even had the audacity to use magic to steal some of my light. Now every time that stupid mortal walked in anywhere everybody would look at her and see her light. My light. And they just assume that it's hers? Well there's no way I can let that happen. No, I’ll have to do something to stop her.

Venus

I grew up on stories of the great gods and goddesses of Rome, Greece, and Vikings. And, while they are all vastly different, the one thing they all have in common is jealousy. If a mortal makes them jealous then they curse that mortal, so of course they would come for me. I really shouldn’t have been surprised, my mother couldn’t just accept the fact that I may not have been pretty. How would she now anyway, maybe I would have been pretty without the stupid spell. What's worse is that I don’t even know which god I made angry by just existing. All I know is that one second I was outside enjoying the sun and the breeze, and the next there's a blinding light and I’m in a strange room.

I I decided to look around the empty room to see if there was any hint on which god took me. Nothing, absolutely nothing. I wasn’t even sure if the room was an actual room or not. It seemed endless with its sky blue walls, floor, and ceiling. I thought about all of the stories my mom had told me and came up blank for who this could be. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to wait for someone to show up. Just when I decided to sit down on the floor the same blinding light came and I closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes again I saw a glowing figure in front of me. She was wearing a light yellow, flowing, sparkly dress with the shoulder straps hanging down. Her blonde hair was wavy and moving in an unnatural way, almost as if gravity had no effect on it. I couldn’t think of any goddess that fit her description, “Hello” the goddess’ voice sounded as sweet as honey. It was captivating and would have made anyone who was near stop what they were doing and listen, “I am what you mortals call the Sun, though my real name is Solis'' my eyes widened.

Solis

I stared at the mortal and tilted my head. She seemed to be stunned and in awe, but she was not afraid. However, even as she stood shocked, I could see why the mortals thought she was a little pretty. She had a symmetrical face, long hair, and fair skin. Though she was nothing compared to me, I could see why the humans might view her as pretty. After a few seconds of her staring I decided I would put her out of misery and tell her who I was, since she obviously had no idea, “Hello, I am what the mortals call the Sun, though my real name is Solis'' I told her. The humans' eyes seemed to get even wider than they were. Her mouth hung open and I rolled my eyes at her. How could this pathetic human be blessed with beauty, “You’re the sun?'' She sounded genuinely curious. I scoffed, who else did she think I was. I better just tell her everything now so I don’t ever have to see her annoying little face again.

“Your mother seemed that it was necessary to take what you looked like in her own hands. She thought that it would be a good idea to use magic on you so that you would be born beautiful. Unfortunately for you, the magic spell that she used took part of my light and put it in you. Now, I have watched you grow with my stolen light in you and I just couldn’t take it anymore. So I took you from the mortal realm so that everybody can see who really shines the brightest” I smiled at her and she looked confused. I turned around to leave when the mortal yelled at me.

Venus

I listened to Solis explain why she had been kidnapped and couldn’t believe what she was saying. At first I was confused because she sounded so nice but the longer she spoke the more she changed. Her soft voice became sickly sweet like she was trying to deceive me and her kind smile became as sharp as daggers. By the time I processed what she had said she had already turned around, “Wait!” I yelled at her. She turned around slowly and gave me the deceiving smile again, “You can’t do that. It wasn’t me who did that! It was my mother! You can’t punish me for something my mother did!” This couldn’t be happening. I didn’t do anything.

Solis chuckled softly, “And what are you going to do? Hmm? Nothing, you are simply a human. You have no power against me. Now if you’ll excuse me I have things that I must attend to.” And just like she came, she left. I sat down and brought my knees to my chest and looked around. Was this really how my life would be? What would my mother think? Will she try to find me? I couldn’t hold back my tears and I sobbed into my arms. I was truly alone.

Lunar

I hated these meetings with Solis. She always demanded something ridiculous and was always causing trouble to get attention. Honestly seeing her once every century is too much. But, I do what I must. I walked into the meeting room and Solis turned around, “Lunar, it is so good to see you.” Her smooth voice was already starting to annoy me. I smiled back at her, “Hello Solis, what is new?” I acted civilly to her. The truth is that I already knew what was going on. Only a few days after our last meeting Solis took a mortal into her prison simply because she was getting attention. Honestly, how childish do you have to be? Unfortunately, part of our treaty was that we only see each other every hundred years so I haven't been able to come and save the poor girl. Solis gestured towards a chair and I sat down. We talked about our treaty and what Terra was up to.

After we finished with all of the boring things, I decided to talk to her about the human, “I heard that you had taken up a mortal from Terra? You know that we are not supposed to take from each other.” Solis rolled her eyes and leaned back against her chair.

“Why is it such a problem? Her mother gave her some of my light, so technically she is mine. Besides that was a century ago, why does it matter?” She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows like she was challenging me.

“Why does it matter? Why does it matter!? We’re not supposed to interfere with the human world! And we’re most definitely not supposed to kidnap them!” I stood up.

Solid slowly rose from her chair, “You and your stupid love for the humans. They don’t care about you, they expect you to rise and fall every night and that’s it.”

I took a deep breath and tried to contain my anger, “I am going to take the human back and you are not going to stop me.” I stood up and left the room.

Venus

My prison cell had been slowly updated since I had been taken. What was once an endless blue sky now had a bed, a bathroom, and a few books I have read about a hundred times. I used to keep track of how long I was imprisoned but lost count after the first year. After all, I didn’t have any hope for a rescue. So when a soft light filled my cell I was confused.

I turned around and saw a man standing in front of me. He was wearing a white robe and had gray slippers on. It was the total opposite of the extravagant clothes Solis wears. His hair and beard was gray with specks of white and he looked to have kind eyes. I wasn’t going to be deceived though, I had thought Solis seemed to be kind. I crossed my arms and looked at the mysterious man, “Who are you and what do you want?” The man raised his eyebrows, “My name is Lunar, though you would know me better as the moon.” His voice was gravelly and deep. Great, just what I need, another god.

Lunar

The human girl was not what I expected. Though I had heard of her beauty I had never seen it for myself. She seemed to look at me as though she were studying me. I let her stare and waited for her to speak, “Who are you and what do you want?” She asked me in a stern voice. I raised my eyebrows in amusement, “My name is Lunar, though you would know me better as the moon” I tried to speak calmly so that I wouldn’t scare her.

The girl rolled her eyes “Wow, another god? What, did Solis get bored with me?”

I couldn’t help but smile, she hadn’t lost her fight. I shook my head, “That is not the reason I am here. I am here to rescue you” the girl's arms dropped and her mouth hung open, “what Solis did was wrong and I am here to make things right. I can give you two options. You can go back to Terra, what you know as Earth, or you can join me and be among the stars. I should probably tell you that you have been imprisoned here for a hundred years, so everyone that you did know in Terra has most likely died.” The girl's shoulders slumped and she turned her face away from me.

Venus

I didn’t understand what was going on. Everything was happening so quickly. I woke up this morning a prisoner of the sun and now the moon has come to tell me I’m free? That I get the choice to go back to Earth or go up to the stars. And then he tells me everyone I ever knew has died? I didn’t know what to do. I looked back at Lunar and asked what would happen if I chose to go with him.

He clapped his hands together and smiled, “Well, if you chose to come with me then I would make you a star. The sky is full of them so you’ll never be lonely. You can be by side, it would be a nice change of pace, having a human to talk to. Of course you can move around and talk to other stars, you would be free. And you can still shine, something that I think would make Solis angry” he said the last part with a sly smile.

I didn’t really have to think about it. Now that I really understand what’s going on there wasn’t really much of a choice. Go back to the Earth where I’ll be another outsider, this time with no family or friends, or become a star and have a new family. I agreed to become a star and I was encased in a soft light. When the light faded I was surrounded by darkness, but there were people. Well, stars I should say. And everyone was glowing. I looked down at myself to see myself glowing and in new clothes. Instead of my tattered, brown dress I was now wearing a white, flowing, sparkling dress. I knew immediately that I had made the right choice.

I have lived a long time now, most of the time I’m by the moon's side. People have called me many things over the years from my own name Venus to Lucifer, though I’m not quite sure I like that one, but my favorite name I was given is The Morning Star.