Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
“Does that surprise you?” I asked instead of answering. I mean, there were a ton of terrible male gods too. But I always found it telling when someone had an opinion on strong, somewhat wicked, female characters.
“Actually,” he said, thinking for a second. “No. No, that doesn’t surprise me at all.”
“Why not?”
“Because, historically, women get the shit end of the stick, right?” he asked.
“I mean, if you consider mass rape, forced marriages, being burned alive, and early death from childbirth, then yes.”
“Fair enough,” he agreed, finally pulling out his chair.
“You could also argue that some of the ‘bad’ gods being women as less to do with women seeking revenge for the crimes committed against them and more to do with society vilifying women. And often just things like women’s pleasures or their independence. But we are probably getting a little too philosophical,” I said.
“I can get a little carried away sometimes. I blame my childhood.”
“How’s that?” he asked, leaning back in his chair, and it was intimidating just how large he was, even when he was seated. Didn’t men that large typically go into things like the military or sports? Not academics. At least, not in my experience.
“Oh, I was raised by my father and, by extension, all of his scholarly friends. Our house was always full of debates of the philosophical kind.”
“No mother?” he asked, seeming to have completely forgotten about his app and the subsequent research.
“Nope. I mean, of course, there’d been an egg and a uterus at some point. But the second I was fully formed and not leeching off her system, she got rid of me.”
“So you’re adopted?” he asked, seeming to almost stumble over that word as if it was a new vocabulary word for him.
“No. My father is my biological father. He wasn’t with my mom. Not in the committed sort of way, anyway. She called him from the hospital after having me, basically telling him to come get me, or she was signing me over to the state to put into foster care or whatever they do.”
“Cold,” he said, shaking his head.
“I guess. Maybe. She was really ambitious and one whoopsie would have ruined all her plans. I actually kind of give her a lot of credit for knowing what she wanted out of life, even if that wasn’t me.”
“That’s a very mature way of looking at it.”
“It probably helped that my dad never had any bitterness about it,” I said, taking another sip of my coffee. “That is one fun aspect for your app,” I said, realizing I’d just spilled my whole story to a relative stranger who likely had no interest in it.
I wasn’t great with social interactions. I either shared too little, and came off as standoffish and superior. Or I shared too much and came off odd and awkward.
“What is?”
“Crazy family dynamics,” I told him. “I mean, the light stuff. If this is geared toward teens or anyone younger, you might want to leave out all the incest.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. So, if the gods were about to make a big… show of power, what do you think that would be?”
“A show of power? Uhm, that’s an odd question. I mean, their subjects would already know what they were capable of.”
“Say they didn’t. Or that they don’t worship the gods properly.”
“That would be a big no-no. The gods, for all their supposed virtues, had pretty fragile egos. They were quick to take out their tempers on their people. Which is why there were so many temples and offerings for the gods.”
“What if, say, the gods all took a long nap,” he said, leaning forward to wrap his hands around his coffee cup, like he was seeking the small bit of warmth the travel mug provided.
“A nap?”
“Yeah. Say they all decided they were a bit worn out from all the ruling and worshipping and fucking,” he said, and I swear that last word sent an odd thrill of excitement to my core.
“Okay…” I said, not really able to think of anything save for the strange pulsing sensation between my thighs.
“And then several hundreds or thousands of years pass. Eventually, the humans who once worshipped them, start to think they were all just stories.”
“Alright,” I said, a small smile tugging at my lips because I was actually liking where he was going with this.
“In their absence, other gods rise up and gain the largest followings.”
“Of course,” I agreed. If there was one consistency with human nature, it was a belief in something ‘other than ourselves.’
“Then, one day, they’re rested. They’re ready to wake up. When they do, not only have humans evolved a lot, but they don’t believe in them anymore.”
“This is really interesting,” I told him truthfully. I wasn’t an app person myself, but I would so be into this as a story in a novel.