Amayah, the water god

It smelled of hot fresh herbs and fruit in the kitchen. Amayah carefully placed perfectly iced catnip cupcakes onto a platter. She was exactly two minutes away from her birthday. Cats could not have tea, she knew that- but she'd prepared a fruity version. She could see the hands ticking ever closer to the 2 o'clock mark on her watch. She had been born in a small Munich hospital on February 24th, 1992, and she's turning 40. Her cats slouched on smooth satin cushions in her dining room amidst her rich decorations. Today, they were her tea companions, and they would be the royal family while she delicately sipped her tea. It was on her way through the archway that connected the kitchenette to the dining room that something strange happened. It was as if for a second, the world changed into a doctor's skeleton x-ray vision, except there was color and no bones. Amaya paused, before it flashed again. There it was, the tea in the room a warm glowing gold color. And she could see, as she further scanned, the gold liquid lying in wait underneath the crook of the kitchen faucet behind her, and a streak of it in a linear line behind the cabinets before it would pump out of the faucet. Amaya stood amazed at the seeming x-ray vision before her, but something stood out of place. In the tray of teacups in her hand, in one cup, a billow of purple arose like a small tendril of flickering fire. It was purple, and it was then Amayah knew that it was bad, very bad. The world flashed back to normalcy and Amayah dropped the tray of teacups with a start. With a dash, there was a streak of orange and black of a tabby that quickly lapped up the concoction of steeped fruit and milk and the billow of purple. Amayah barely had time to stop it when the tabby suddenly grew stiff and fell over as if it were made of stone. And so it was that Amayah found herself crying uncontrollably by the window that overlooked her windowsill garden. It was her cat, and he died; it was her fault, she should have warned it; why did she get a cat that liked spilled things so much? It was her birthday, she'd had a bad day at work, and it was ruined…It took her a while to realize that she was not only drenched, but that there was a pool around her. It rose to her knees which bent on the chair right beside the garden window and the water flowed out the room with a faint trickling sound, as if teasing her. Dipping her fingers in the water, she brought it up to her lips. Just as she thought: slightly salty in taste. The water was her tears. With haste she picked up the phone and called the plumber. "Hello?" She made sure to omit the part about the water being her tears. She'd left the faucet running while at work, she explained. She had been laid off of work and was so upset that she had forgot. It was partially true. The day had been her last at the library - they no longer needed her. She had thought a birthday celebration would cheer her up, before thoughts would turn to her paycheck. That was before her cat had unexpectedly died and her tears spilt over. The doorbell rang and Amayah slowly waded over to the doorway, the water swishing behind her. He would fix the faucet. He would drain all of the water. No way she had cried this much. A small man was at the doorway, small and squat. Water came rushing out and hit the man with a short splat. "Num-bare 2-oh-2?" He said. He had a slight accent. Amayah nodded, and suddenly she found a herself thrown backwards back into the water, her hands behind her supporting her, her seat drenched with the water. There was a whizzing sound as her cats fled the scene, bursting out windows and scurrying past the man. Amayah stared at him, afloat in the water, hands still supporting her. It was as if there were a force surrounding him, a red forcefield. The small squat man gave a short yell as the room became full of red light. Amayah brought an arm to shield her face and knew to close her eyes. Suddenly the light stopped as something great and blue flew stooping, knocking the man over onto his face. It was a tall figure in a blue cape with wrinkled lines on his forehead. He gave a yell and Amayah got up, ready to flee, to run from whatever it was that was going on, that was attacking her…

"Before he detonates!" Shouted the man in blue and Amayah found herself pinned by a woman with pointed angelic features as the two men toppled out the door amidst the swishing water. There was silence, then an explosion. It was as if the room were full of light. The walls flew apart to welcome sunlight, and Amayah screamed while the woman hugged her tight, a warm embrace. The water was splashing and falling away into the street below, sinking back into the earth. Out the front door Amayah met the sight of her former home now blasted to pieces, and a blackened hurricane in the center of her street. The smoke cleared and whisps of the man in blue appeared. 

"He'll be back," he said, rushing towards the woman in yellow. His voice was elegant, almost smooth. He put his hand lightly on her arm. 

"Keep her safe." And Amayah found found herself tunneling in the woman's arms, shooting up into the sky and watching clouds stream behind her. → amayah watched as the man tunneled up into the sky, streaming into the clouds. 

"You ready?" The Woman in yellow called. Amayah didn't know why, but she trusted her. Her house had just been blown to bits and she had no where else to turn. 

"Watch me!" The Woman said, and, bending over slightly, her toes stretched and the woman arched until she was floating in mid air. She somersaulted around Amayah. 

"Copy," she said, simply. Amayah blinked. Copy? Slowly she bent her knees and arched her heels. 

"Close your eyes," a voice whispered behind her. Hands slowly covered Amayahs lids. 

"It helps." Amayah understood, and briefly envisioned herself floating. When she opened them she nearly stumbled. She was one inch off the ground, floating in midair. 

"Now flyyyyy!" The woman in yellow’s words floated as her body flew into a curve and careened out of Amayah's sight. Amayah stood there silently, her feet pinched off of the ground. Slowly, she closed her eyes for help. She envisioned herself floating, and she envisioned herself soaring. There was a rustle around her ears and Amayah opened her eyes with a gasp. She was careening upwards, shooting up into the sky. She began to scream and close her eyes before hands wrapped themselves around her. It was the yellow woman, guiding her. She laughed and took Amayah's hand. Together they soared through wind, air, and clouds. They seemed to fly for hours. It was like a plane flight but different with streams of air in her face, which was growing numb. Amayah was beginning to feel her strength drained out of her when they reached a rectangular skyscraper, stretching up into the haze of clouds. She had almost forgotten her home being blown to bits and the strange things that had happened in there. It had been a long day and Amayah was tired. The two encircled its point. Amayah sliding down, the woman in yellow catching her and Amayah leaning her weight on her as they settled onto the building's tip with a graceful final flutter. The woman in yellow gently lay Amayah on the cold hard ground of the top of the skyscraper. I flew, Amayah thought, and it was wonderful. Slowly she slipped out of consciousness. 

~

It was sort of a hotel. Amayah could tell because she'd stayed in one before, and it had the exact same wallpaper as the walls she stood staring at now. Upon close examination, she could see that the decorative flourishes on the wall formed outlines of shells. Shells, repeated over and over on wallpaper that surrounded her room. Amayah at up. She was in a hotel room, and she was alone. She rubbed her eyes. What was she doing here? Oh right. She remembered. I flew. Briefly she explored the room. There was a large glass globe full of white round mints. Amayah popped one in her mouth. The saltiness of the sea, mixed with the stickiness of the gum, reminded her of saltwater taffy. She wondered what it would taste like if she tried another one. On a small stand was a little treasure box, seemingly tilted on its side. Treasure spilled out: a long pearl necklace, a ruby red pendant necklace. The closet was also full. Dresses of a thin material were in her closet, green in color, and they fluttered slightly, lifted by the air conditioning of the room. Amayah ran her finger over the material. The dresses resembled seaweed but in a way only a skilled seamstress could produce. Then Amayah drew her curtains. She gasped. The deep blue sea covered her window. A fish snarked by. Amayah stood there, gaping at the window. She was…underwater? She didn't remember the skyscraper even being surrounded by water. Hastily she drew the curtains before opening them again. The deep blue sea was still there. She briefly wondered what it would be like to open the window, but reconsidered. She didn't want to make a mess for the plumber again. Slowly she began to tiptoe around the room, admiring its features. She wondered what the rest of the hotel was like. How many more rooms had features like hers? Amayah touched the tip of her doorknob before letting it work on its own. The door was open- not that she expected herself to be locked in. She had trusted the woman in yellow to keep her safe. Hands behind her back, she wandered down the corridor. It was plain and ordinary, not unlike her room. No one could guess what lay beneath the door. She stared down the hallway and gasped. A long window overlooked a giant city. She was not underwater, after all. It was only her room, she guessed, that was under some kind of spell. She heard voices and slowly crept towards them. Something told her she didn't want to be noticed. A doorway was partially open at the end of the hall. Inside, people were talking. 

"Waterpowers, it seems," Someone said. Amayah peeked through a door's crack. There was a conference table with colorfully dressed people around it.

"Waterpowers, yes, of course," a man snapped. It was a choppy little man in iridescent blue. "Meriwhether left her his powers, but why?" 

"Goodfortune, perhaps," a cheery voice spoke up. Amayah peeked. It was the woman in yellow!

"I've watched her. She can create disastrous thunderstorms like no one else." Amayah backed into the wall. A thunderstorm? Since when did she create that? Then she remembered. Her tears, a literal flood of water. It had reached her knees, her waist even. If it flooded like that every time it rained, Amayah would not know what to do. 

"Disastrous thunderstorms?" A man pounded on the table and Amayah gave a start. "We don't need disastrous thunderstorms. We don't need her." 

"She can fly," the woman in yellows voice tremored in response. Don't need me? Amayah bit her fingernails. She had to get out of here before she created too much noise, or worse, began to cry. She ran back to her room and shut the door. She began pacing. Waterpowers. So that explained the theme in her room. So she was a water god, given powers by someone else, but they didn't need her? She ran to the window and looked out. She had to get out of here. She was not going to be stuck with gods arguing all day. Amayah blinked, and the world crashed into xray vision. From here, in her bedroom she could see golden gleams of water for miles. It seemed to stretch beyond into infinity. Amayah blinked again, and her room stood still. She scanned the horizon and briefly, the xray vision reappeared, showing golden gleams of rivers and man-made lakes, backyard pools and underground reservoirs. Suddenly a resolve plunged in her. She would avoid water altogether, and forget this ever happened. Slowly she scanned the horizon until she found an area that was bare: no golden gleams in the darkness of her vision. She ran to the window and paused. She had water powers, right? What would happen if she opened the window? Amayah jimmied her window open. The water of the deep blue sea seemed to stay, and didn't come crashing through. That was good. She didn't know what she was doing. Hastily she thrust a hand out, and felt clean air. So the fish in the deep blue sea were an illusion. She took a step out and pranced into a position as if preparing to run a race. With a dart, she thrust her arms into the deep blue sea shooting forward before pulling her arms back as if pushing water out of the way. She found herself falling, air streaming past. Her mind screeched to a halt. You know how to do this. Come on. 

"She can fly," a voice said: the yellow dressed woman, in her dreams. Gently Amayah pulled up and careened her neck. She was soaring, and she was soaring gracefully. Amayah smiled. Once again, she was flying. Back in the clouds, she did a somersault in the air before she realized: she would have to take a break. She couldn't do this for hours. She gathered her arms about her, and what she realized was a green cape. She hadn't realized it, but she was no longer wearing the clothes of home, but one of the dresses from the hotel closet. Nothing she could do about that now. She'd just have to wear it. Amayah's first resting place was a small clearing in a forest, padded with damp leaves and surrounded by the scent of pine. In xray vision, even the leaves glinted with gold. She huddled down, pulling her green cape around her, and willed herself not to cry. By now, the others would be sure to sense her disappearance. She had to hide herself, but how? It was staring at water flowing out from an underground pipe that Amayah had an idea. She took the plunge, and found herself underwater. Strangely, she did not feel cold. It was a nice sensation, better than flying. Here, the air did not hit her face making her feel numb. Here, at least she was masked from the others. She didn't remember seeing another green cape at the conference party. She would appear as a sort of green algae, ruffled by the pipe water's current. Amayah swam for miles, and she did not grow tired. She swam in the loops and curves of the pipe, and she would count landmasses that she passed. It was when the pipe began to grow dry that Amayah knew she was almost there: the barren land. She grew tinier and tinier, a small tendril of algae, caught like a floating leaf, wandering down an ever growing small trickle of water, and finally wandering into a side of fine sand. She slowly halted, and stared into the face of a very sunburnt boy, a silver cup within his hand. The stream she floated by on was like a very long snake, slithering back and disappearing over rocks and heaves of sand. The boy stared into the small pool of water before him, a hungry look on his face. Slowly the last bit of pool disappeared as Amayah materialized, sparkling onto a dry bed before her. She stretched, briefly spotting the boy running back towards a straw hat village. An empty expanse of tan stretched beyond Amayah. Heat shimmered on the horizon. She was safe, wasn't she? It was floating through the village, the dust pecking at her legs, that Amayah stopped. The land was barren. No water. She stared into wrinkled sunburnt faces and realized - she would like a drink. Slowly she willed herself to look up at the sky. The sun was mocking her. I win, it said. Amayah reached the edge of the village. The pipe water was beyond her reach, undrinkable, lost in her excitement to lose herself. What was she thinking? Amayah climbed onto a jagged grey rock and lifted her arms into a u. She closed her eyes, and envisioned the haunting faces, dark and worn and wanting. She was wearing their shoes, frayed and threadbare. She tasted the flecked skin of their parched lips. And slowly, Amayah began to cry…