The God of Luck Had a Heart of Gold

“I hate Fridays.”

Theo rubbed at his temple, trying to ease the pain as voices chanted prayers, devout and desperate alike, into his head. Of all the days to pick for worship, why Friday? How am I supposed to enjoy my Friday with all these whiny humans crying in my ear? 

As he sipped on his hot cocoa, the lights flickered, then all went out. Suddenly, there was a burst of light, and a voice boomed to Theo. 

“Thireas.” Theo looked over. “What?” Out of the light, walked a woman in white, a blindfold hiding her eyes from view. “The people question your existence. Doubt is growing within them.” Theo took another drink from his mug. “And why should that bother me, O great Raeda, Goddess of Justice?” Raeda—or Rae, as Theo liked to call her—summoned an hourglass, the sand streaming down like syrup. “Their loyalty is wavering. The Council has decided to issue a mandatory quota for you.” 

Theo jumps up. “What?!” Rae smirked. “They demanded that you start performing miracles again.” He groaned, staring into his cup. “Why? What’s that gonna do?” Rae shook her head. “They think it will reignite their belief in the gods. In you.” “And you believe that?” She released the hourglass, letting it hover in front of Theo. “You have until the next day of worship. If your altar is still empty by sunset on that day…” She hesitated. “They plan to banish you from the Dimension of Gods. For eternity.” 

That got Theo worried. Without access to the Dimension of Gods, he wouldn't be able to draw power from it, which meant he'd be just like every other human. Weak. Helpless. Begging to the gods for scraps. "Fine." Rae nodded, and disappeared in a plume of mist. Theo sighed, gulping down the rest of his cocoa and rubbing his temples. "Alright, humans. What do you want?" He listened as prayers flew past his years, before zeroing in on a particularly loud one. "My farm is gonna end up bankrupt if these crops don't grow. Thireas, please bless my farm with rain." 

Sounds easy enough. With a snap of his fingers, Theo was taken to the farmer's fields. The farmer hadn't been exaggerating; the tractor was at least a decade old, and the farmhouse was definitely older than a decade. Theo put a hand to the dirt. Just as I expected. The soil was loose—the seeds must have been blowing away. Rubbing his fingers together, he closed his eyes, reaching for the power he needed. 

As the power of the farm god, Jesaphir, flowed into Theo, he pushed the energy out into the fields. As the energy dissipated, he stood up and looked across the fields. Small plants stuck out of the ground in neat rows, green and healthy as can be. “That farmer better be grateful for this.” Zeroing in on the prayers in his mind, he honed in on a new, desperate prayer. “Please, Thireas, grant me my one desire—help me be with the one I love!” 

Theo blinked to the cafe where a boy was sitting, swirling around his drink as he looked to the sky. “Now, what girl are you so desperate for?” He mentally took power from the Dimension of Gods again—this time from Cerelea, the goddess of the mind—and looked into the boy’s thoughts as they rushed past. They all seemed to be focused on one person, someone named Alex. He reached a bit further in, and found his admiration for—

Ah. That’s why he’s desperate. The boy had become enamored with a street vendor’s son, who sat near the fountain, wiping off his hands. Theo sighed, walking over to the fountain and hovering his hand over the boy’s head. Inside his mind, he formed new thoughts, all designed with the intention of making him talk to the poor boy sipping on coffee in the cafe’s patio, trying not to stare. As the street vendor’s son stood up and walked to the cafe, Theo gave a semi-proud smirk, blinking back to the town his apartment was in.

That should be a decent start, he thought to himself as he strolled to his favorite burger place, his godly form reduced down to his usual human disguise. He suddenly felt a tug at his shirt. He turned to find a little girl, no older than 10, cowering under his less-than-welcoming stare. “S-sir? My dog is missing, can you help me find him?” Theo really wanted to say no; borrowing power from the gods was tiring, and he was desperate for some food. But he found himself kneeling down to the girl’s height. 

“Sure. What does he look like? Do you have a photo?” She sniffled, showing him a photo of a smiling, cream colored corgi. “His name is Monterey Jack. H-he got out of my yard this morning, I’ve been looking for him the entire morning.” Theo nodded, straightening up and searching the roads for the dog. “Alright, stay here. I’ll go check the next street over.” “Ok.” He speedwalked to the street to his left, calling Monterey Jack’s name quietly. As he turned the corner, however, his heart dropped to his stomach. 

In the middle of the street was the little girl’s dog, motionless. Theo’s heart pounded. Shit. How was he supposed to explain this to her? He ran to the dog, trying to feel for a pulse, but came up empty. He lifted his head, making sure no one was around before picking up the dog, bringing it into an alley. He saw 3 possible solutions here: tell the girl her dog is dead, throw the body in the trash and say he couldn’t find her dog, or leave the body and head for the burger shop. 

Theo didn’t have the heart for any of them; telling someone their beloved pet was dead never ends well, but lying would make them even more devastated when they never find it. And walking away just felt wrong. He racked his brain for a solution. Suddenly, it hit him—he could draw power from another god! He put a hand over the dog’s torso and closed his eyes, searching for a god to bring it back to life. 

The god of life was too strong to borrow power from; it was forbidden. The goddess of death was a similar case—she was barred from sharing her power, so that it could not fall into the wrong hands. There was one god who would allow Theo to use their power: Temporest, the god of time. Theo focused the energy on the corgi, reversing the state of its body, down to the cellular level. Slowly, the corgi began to breathe, then sat up, healthy as can be. 

Theo sighed in relief, wiping sweat from his brow. He picked the dog up and went back down the street, to where the girl was nearly in tears. “I found him!” She burst into joyful tears, taking Monterey Jack from Theo’s arms and hugging him for dear life. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” She buried her head into the corgi’s fur as Theo gave him a gentle pet. She attached Monterey Jack’s collar to a blue leash, waving goodbye to Theo as she walked home, Theo leaving for his well deserved lunch.

The rest of the week went smoothly for Theo: grant a few wishes, be proud of himself for a few minutes, then head home for dinner. Come next Friday, he traveled to the Universal Temple, a part of the Dimension of Gods where all the altars and temples around the world converged. As he entered, he went to observe the other gods’ altars. Each one had crowds of blurry images of humans, offering thanks and whispering prayers as the gods sat upon their thrones. As he reached his own altar, however, Theo found his altar empty, save for an hourglass, ticking down the minutes until sunset. He settled into his throne, tapping his fingers against the armrests. 

Any minute now, he told himself. The humans I helped will come soon. Despite his self soothing, Theo’s altar remained empty as the sky turned orange. He slouched in his seat. This was why he hated worship days; everyone loved to demand things from him, yet they never once visited his shrine, or left any sort of offering. Ungrateful little brats. 

As he watched the other gods shuffle out, he noticed Raeda in the crowd. She turned to him and gave a smile, which faded as her eyes fell on the empty altar below him. She looked back up to him, a nervous frown on her face, before the crowd pushed her further into the hallway. 

Theo sighed as the sun began to dip below the horizon. He could feel himself being pulled from the Dimension, feeling his powers begin to dissipate. He looked to the moon, already rising into the sky, and closed his eyes. Oh well. I was a bit too lazy to be a god anyways. Just as he was about to be taken completely, the sensation stopped. Opening his eyes, he saw the little girl he had helped, her corgi following closely behind her. 

In her arms, she held a bouquet of hydrangeas. Setting them down at the foot of the altar, she knelt down. Her voice entered his mind, frail, but hopeful. “The man who helped me find my dog… please, grant him every happiness.” Despite never being one for flowers, Theo was nearly in tears at her offering. As she filled a vase with water, placing the bouquet inside, he thought of a way to repay her—she had just saved him from a life of squalor and ruin. 

Floating down from his throne, Theo pulled a flower from the bouquet, which glowed with an ethereal light, going unnoticed by the girl, who had turned to leave. He rubbed the petals between his fingers, watching as the hydrangea morphed into a dianthus, the flower of the gods. The petals of the flower separated, flying to the girl and circling her head, like a crown. He had given her a blessing; anything that she asked of him from that day forward, would be granted.