The Day Ununit Blinded Her Sister

“Appa, not again” Atar groaned.

He rolled over to face the wall and buried his head under his pillow.

The triplets shushed him loudly. All three wore very serious expressions on their faces as they did so.

The adventures of Shearashi were their favourite stories and they did not want to miss hearing even a single bit of it. Besides, Atar was never any fun.

With one hand on his rounded midsection, Appa’s body shook with the full force of his hearty laugh.

“Come now boy. You love this story too” Appa said as he wiped a tear from his eye.

“That was before I heard it for the thousandth night in a row. You tell them the same story over and over again. I know it word for word now” Atar’s muffled voice complained.

“Then, then go to the other room” Taten said. His mouth still sat in a pout, but he had folded his tiny arms in an awkward position on his chest.

“Yes. Go” His little sister chimed in.

Atar shifted enough so he could look down his body at them. He lifted the pillow enough to make a face at his three younger siblings. They dignified it with their own creations.

Bamuz pushed off the ground with his hands and feet and walked to the bedroom door. He stood on tip toes and easily unlatched the safety mechanism on the door.

The one put in place to keep the three children in. The first time Atar had witnessed this left him speechless. He had come into the room when they were just toddlers to pick up supplies. Through wordless sounds, Taten encouraged Mahimmar and Bamuz to stand up.

It was the first time they walked, and it was for the sole purpose of unlatching the door that was designed to keep them in. It had not been easy to explain to Mama and Appa that he did not unlatch the door for them.

Now, combined with the serious expressions on their tiny faces and the opened door, Atar and Appa both burst out laughing. Atar scrunched into a ball as he clutched his midsection. Appa slapped a meaty thigh a few times.

“Igigigi, you were supposed to put the children to bed, not excite them” Mama’s voice floated in through the open door.

“Yes, dear. You should have seen what Taten just did” Appa said between laughs.

He had cooled down his laughter at Mama’s voice, but his spirits lifted once more at the memory. Atar had quieted down, though his body still shook with the laughter he kept hidden. Taten still stood by the door expectantly but his face along with his siblings had softened at the exchange.

Mama clucked three times but said no more. With four children and a whole settlement to mother, she had long learned to pick her battles wisely. Regardless of the time they slept, the triplets would be up with Imar’s first rays. Atar had no choice in the matter, he would have to be up to join the hunters. It was up to them to decide their priorities.

In the room, Appa stretched out a long arm and gently pulled Taten into the hollow of his folded legs. Taten burrowed himself further into Appa’s strong legs as he got more comfortable.

Around Appa’s legs was where the triplets enjoyed spending their time with Appa. Laying on his rounded belly when he slept was a close second. Between their clamouring and squabbles, it wasn’t Appa’s favourite. They always woke him up from sleep, but he couldn’t bring himself to scold them for it. Just like Atar, one day they too will feel too old to lay on his stomach. He learned to sleep through it. Eventually.

Appa waited for the other two to find a comfortable spot around him. Mahimmar sat close to his right thigh, placing both her arms and head on top of it. Bamuz scooted closer to Taten. The intention to squabble very clear on his face. Appa picked him up, wedging him in the crook of his arm closest to Mahimmar.

“Since Atar has grown too big for Shearashi’s war stories, I will share with you another story. One even the Great Hunter Atar has never heard” Appa said deepening his voice to mock his son.

“But I want to hear Shearashi’s stories again Appa” Taten complained.

“This is an even more interesting story than Shearashi. It’s about the day Ununit blinded her sister Imar” Appa said.

The triplets gasped in shock. Mahimmar covered her mouth with stubby fingers even as her eyes glittered with Ununit’s light.

“Innit blinded Imar?” Taten asked. None of the three had figured out how to roll Ununit off the tongue smoothly.

He had been attempting to shift his position in Appa’s legs, so they faced each other but abandoned that endeavour at the news.

Appa nodded, his smile a little more subdued as he tried to make the story graver than it was.

“Why would Ennut do that? Imar is very kind to all” Mahimmar asked.

She had lifted her head off her arms and had placed a scandalised arm on Appa’s.

“Why do you think she did that little one?”

“She was jealous!” Bamuz declared from his resting place.

Unlike the other two, Bamuz had settled in deeper into Appa’s chest. With his limited hearing, Bamuz preferred to feel the rumble of Appa’s voice through his body. Staying closer to Appa, he felt he was able to envision the world’s created from Appa’s stories.

He could feel the earth shake when Shearashi jumped and felled Ishmus the great white elephant or the whooshing of the wind when the jealous Ununit tried to prevent Shearshi from climbing into her sister's temple.

“Not this time little one. Ununit is usually very jealous of her sister’s good looks. In fact, Ununit and Imar are just like two of you” Appa said.

With his free hand, he tapped a finger to his lips as though he were thinking about the truth of his statement.

“It is Taten. He is jealous of me. He wants everything I have” Mahimmar pushed her brother with one accusing hand.

“That is not true. You started it. You always take my toys” retorted Taten.

He too pushed at his sister from his perch. Before they could devolve into another quarrel, Appa stepped in.

“Ah, ah, ah. Play nice or I’ll ask Mama to tell you the story instead”.

“No” Came Mahimmar’s soft voice, somewhere between a squeal and a whisper.

“No, not Mama. Don’t call Mama” Taten complained. He gripped Appa’s cloak as if to show the sincerity in his voice.

On the bed, Atar scoffed.

Appa knew he was listening even if he pretended to be asleep. It was all he got out of the boy these days.

“Settle down Mahimmar. Taten play nice. One day you will be answering to Mahimmar in Mama’s place”.

Taten scowled his discontent but said no more. A pleased Mahimmar sat back down on the mats below them and waited patiently for the story.

“Do you remember the story of how the plains get their grassy cloaks after the ice melts?”

Three enthusiastic Yes’s followed the question.

“Shearashi tricked the evil spring goddess and run away with their clothes” Taten said, gesturing wildly. The three broke into fits of giggles at the memory.

“That he did. But the tricky, conniving Shearshi was not do- “

“-What is conni-cono-connivip?” Bamuz asked, lifting his head to meet Appa’s eyes.

“That’s when a person plans to do something that is not right. Like stealing the cloaks of the goddesses” Appa explained.

“But Shearshi is not a bad man, He would never do that” Bamuz defended his favourite hero.

“Shearshi is like all men. He has his Zali and his Aros and can use them at any time” Atar responded. His voice not quite as muffled as before.

“You are a man too Appa. Do you have Zali?” Bamuz continued to question.

Appa smiled. Instead of a reply, he posed a question.

“Even you have Zali, Bamuz. Remember when you set your sister’s hair on fire?” Appa said, dropping his head closer to his son.

“If I have Zali, then Atar and Taten have even more Zali” He retorted.

Instead of letting this turn into another argument, Appa quieted them all with another threat to call Mama.

“After Shearshi stole the goddesses’ cloaks, they ran to Ununit to seek justice. Since it happened under cover of darkness, only Ununit and her luminescence would be able to-“

“What does that mean? The lumistent” Bamuz asked once more.

Appa wished not for the first time that he had Mama’s patience. If Bamuz continued to ask questions every time he spoke, they would never sleep or let him finish the story. This was his boy and the one likely to take on his role when they all grew up. So, he throttled the growing irritation and answered the question.

“It means to shine, just like Ununit shines at night”.

Then he continued the story, reminding himself to breakdown his words to avoid more questions.

“Only Ununit could judge on their behalf. So, the bitter goddesses trek-walked up the mountain to Ununit’s temple in Mabarra-Kahimmar to plead-tell her their story.

“They walked under the scorching gaze of Imar and the soothing breath of Ununit without food or water for thirty days and thirty nights. This time, Imar was the jealous one. She had gotten very used to having all the praise and the worshippers coming to her temple.

Even though her sister did not get as much attention, she was jealous seeing the goddesses doing Barashi and walking the opposite way to Ununit’s temple.”

With his free hand, Appa gestured, bringing the story to life for all his children. He deepened his voice when describing the goddess’s determination and Umar’s jealousy. Despite his threats, Appa has an expert storyteller and he loved telling his stories.

One day, he would convince his wife to allow him to gather all the children around the house to pass on the stories. For now, he would hone his skills using his own children and build the love of it in them. If Mama didn’t allow it, when Mahimmar took on Mama’s role, he was sure to convince her.

“No matter how much Imar strengthened her gaze on the goddesses, they did not stop walking towards the temple. So, Imar crafted a plan. A very sinister plan. Sinister means evil. She wanted to know what the goddesses had to say to Ununit to make them so strong against her”.

Atar had abandoned pretending and was resting his head atop the open palm of his bent arm.

Then Appa whispered, leaning in to four pairs of eyes.

“Do you know what she did?”

The triplets shook their heads softly. In their eyes, they held the glimmer of fear mixed with their desire to know more. The triplets leaned into Appa as though they would hear more the closer they got to him.

“She turned her face towards Kaga and the three Amarashi beasts living there” Appa’s whisper turned harsh as he threw the words at them.

Mahimmar rocked backwards as if Appa’s words had been made physical and she gasped. Taten and Bamuz’s eyes opened wide in shock, and they searched Appa’s eyes for more answers.

“The Amarashi beasts only have Zali, they will corrupt Imar and we will have no light in the day!” Bamuz complained.

“Imar thought if her rays could not stop the goddesses, then she would scare them off their path. If she scared them away, they wouldn’t want to worship at Ununit’s temple”.

The door creaked gently behind them and four out of the five jumped at the sound. In the faint light, they could barely make out Mama’s form stood there with her face settled into one of reproach.

“Igigigi, you have joined us” Appa said, having recovered the quickest from the unexpected sound.

Mama did not speak. Instead, she walked over to Appa and sat in the same cross-legged position he was sat in. She lifted her daughter into her arms, settling the girl in to be rocked to sleep.

Mahimmar attempted to protest. She did not like being so far from Appa when her brothers surrounded him. One look from Mama silenced that protest before it could escape her lips. It was bedtime and all three were lucky to still be up long after Imar had gone to sleep.

Appa and Mama communicated in a silent language before Appa continued the story.

“Imar told her plan to the beasts who were only too happy to help. In return, they asked to give some of their Zali for Imar’s Aros. They wanted a chance to ascend to the higher gods and rest when their time was over”.

“No Imar don’t do it” Mahimmar said. She was not happy with the turn of events.

“Because of their punishment, the Amarashi beasts are only allowed out of their cages for a short time once every few years to do their jobs. They chase away the children of monsters so our world is not full of earthquakes and strange beings.

Imar had always gotten what she wanted so she did not think too much about the deal and agreed. She showed the Amarashi beasts how to find her temple to collect their payment. If they made three holes in the stalks found in River Irin, and looked through it, her light would show them the path towards her temple in Kamar-Ashi.”

Bamuz settled in a little closer and Appa sat him down on his thigh. He still cradled the boy in his arms but had an arm around him instead of under him. Taten was long gone. He was always the quickest to put to bed.

Appa could see Mahimmar was close to sleeping herself in Mama’s arms. Appa was sure she would be gone by the time the story ended. He looked at Atar and nodded once in silent communication. Atar threw his long, lean legs over the bed and walked over to his family.

“With the deal struck, Imar turned her face away from Kaga. Shearshi had heard all that happened. He was fearful that if successful, the Amarashi beasts would take so much from Imar that her light would never shine as bright during the day.”

“I’m not sleepy” Came Taten’s sleepy voice as Atar gently lifted him into his arms.

Atar rocked Taten who had started to blink himself awake in protest.

“Shearshi was not sure what he should do. If he did nothing, the goddesses would not make it to Ununit’s temple in Mabarra-Kahimmar and Imar would be forever tainted. Crops would not grow, and the cloak of green grass would wither into nothing. If he stopped Imar’s plans, then he would get into a lot of trouble with Ununit and taint himself with more Zali.”

“Food is more important” Mahimmar started but she was stopped short by a yawn. Mama tapped two fingers over Mahimmar’s open mouth.

“That’s right, he jumped out of his hiding place in the bush and ran ahead of the goddesses. Shearshi was not doing Barashi so he took the shortcut up the mountain. He would tell Ununit and ask for forgiveness for stealing the cloak. He knew Ununit was fair, and she loved people. She would not want to see the earth crumble because of Imar’s mistake”.

Mama stood, still rocking Mahimmar gently. She walked to Mahimmar’s bed and was followed by Appa and Atar. Each walking towards the beds of the triplets. This close to sleep, the triplets did not protest.

“On the last day of the goddesses climb, Ununit allowed the beasts to scare off the goddesses. This way there would be no complaint and Shearshi would be spared punishment. It also gave Ununit enough time to tell their mother Sasun, Ruler of The Universe what happened. The Amarashi beasts, happy to have freedom so close to them started the journey towards River Irin. They would take almost all of Imar's Aros”.

At this point, the triplets were close enough to sleep that it didn’t matter if he finished the story, but Appa carried on for Atar's sake.

“They had no time to come up with a plan to prevent the beasts from finding Imar, so Sasun ordered Imar to stand still. During the last few minutes, Ununit would blind Imar by covering her light so the beasts could not find the temple. A sacrifice both had to make so we can all share in her light”.

“Ennut was good” Mahimmar said.

All three had been tucked into bed. Except for Mahimmar, they filled the room with soft snores.

“Yes. Very good. She put aside her jealousy for her sister and protected us all. Every few years when the beasts are set free, Ununit blinds Imar so they cannot ever find the path to the temple” Appa said, then he looked at Atar “According to Hadas, it will happen again within two complete turnings of Ununit’s face”.

Appa leaned in to place a kiss on his only daughters’ forehead, speaking the last words of his story.

“In two days, everyone will be doing Barashi on the way to Mabarra-Kahimmar. We will give thanks to Ununit and complete the journey the goddesses could not”.

Appa placed similar kisses on Taten’s and Bamuz’s foreheads. With the discouraging look Atar shot his way, Appa decided against kissing Atar’s forehead. Mama held his hand, leading the way out of the bedroom of their children.