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Storytime Blog Hop: The Big Red Eye

Oh great and mighty skygod, as your lesser eye turns upon us now, we present our gifts for your favor. Let the oceans swell with your bounty; let our beloved dead be carried within your glory; let the fury of your greater eye pass over us without harm. We beg to be taught by your mercy, and pray our love for you will be returned to us in the greatest measure.

And I, your First Priestess, your most humble servant, ask for your aid. We have a heretic preaching in our midst. He has become bold enough to stand even upon the steps of this temple to shout his lies. Please, help me to understand why the people listen to him. Have I not been your most faithful, most devoted, most ardent evangelist? Have I not shared the tales of your glory and power to all the lands in your view? The people once adored me as your mouthpiece, once hung on every word of the lessons we learned from you. They once sacrificed for you in rapturous terror, as is our holy obligation. Now they stare defiant even up at your greater eye, inviting your wrath upon us all. 

Have I failed you, great skygod? How could it be? How could I, who sang your praises the loudest, who traveled the farthest to carry word of your blessings, have not been good enough? Is my fault in your eyes, or is it in theirs? Have I served you well enough–does some interloper now come between us and the people? Or have I been parted from you as well? Please, great skygod, give me a sign–do I, at least, still hold your favor? 

I hear him shouting at the temple entrance now. If I have disappointed you, surely you would let me know, or is this crisis how you tell me? Is this a test or a message? Do you push against my devotion as he pushes his way into your sanctum?

Or this heretic, is he the vessel of some darker god? Does he speak for the darkness that surrounds you? The terrible things he is preaching outside this room, of great spheres in the void, moving in greater circles, this surely cannot be true. These must be the words of the darkness that would swallow us but for your shelter, yes? As the sun gives us light, as the moons reflect it back, so you shine on us in your infinite patience and wisdom. You are ever-present and everlasting. Yet he says we live on nothing more than a ball of dirt, and that you are no better. Surely any fool can see how untrue that is! The bands and patterns of color across your face are more brilliant than a painter could paint, more precise than a sculptor could carve. You are too beautiful to be dirt; you are greater than anything we can imagine.

Yet the heretic gains more followers by the day. Yet he stands outside my door. He claims the prayers and sacrifices do not appease you because you are not divine, as though your splendor and power are only coincidence. He tells the people we keep their gifts to you for ourselves, but you know we do not. It is all for you. Everything is for you.

Why do they believe him? How can I turn the people from him, beloved skygod, and back to you? Surely we need your help; surely your greater eye is fixed on the darkness that now threatens us. While you fight in the sky, how can I fight on the ground? Great guardian above us, what can I do below? Please–the other priestesses have barred the door, but he will surely get through soon. The crowd around the temple is roaring. What did we do to deserve this? Please, oh god, give us a sign! How can we have displeased you so, even in the time of your lesser eye? What can I do to appease you?

He’s breaking through–please, skygod! Is this what you wanted? Is this how things must change? What world would you have us live in?

I will not turn my back on you, skygod. I will never stop believing in you, even if I am to join you in the sky!

Existential Conundrum by T. R. Neff
Harvest by Barbara Lund
The Big Red Eye by Gina Fabio (you are here!)
How I lost Tom by Katharina Gerlach
Broken Hearted by James Husum

3 thoughts on “Storytime Blog Hop: The Big Red Eye”

  1. Pingback: Halloween: Storytime Bloghop - Katharina Gerlach's English Site

  2. Great prayer. It’d be interesting to see the whole situation through the eyes of more people. And all of them should only have tried to make the world a better place — the way they thought right.

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