Rebecca Mullins

Nature Myth
Once, a long, long time ago, when gods and goddesses were real and the human race was
just beginning, there lived a man. This mans name was Darius, and he lived in a tiny, two-room
cottage in a small village surrounded by trees. No one ever dared to leave the village and enter
the forest, because it was dangerous among the tall trees. Now, Darius wasnt a superstitious
man, and he never believed that there were things in the forest that he couldnt handle. So he set
off one morning, and ventured into the dark woods in search of what lay beyond the village.
What Darius didnt know was that there wasnt much to see beyond the woods. A desert
stretched for miles in every direction, separating his village from others. Walking into the desert
was a death trap; a man would end up wandering through the sandy dunes until he eventually
perished. Up in the kingdom where the gods and goddesses dwelt, one particularly kind hearted
goddess looked down in pity.
Oh, what a poor, nave man, she murmured, watching Darius enter the forest, Hes
going to get himself killed. The goddess, named Feyra, was the ruler of the skies. She
controlled the wind and rain, and had a soft spot for humans. She couldnt let this one, poor man
walk straight into certain death, so she disguised herself as a maiden and hid behind a tree in the
forest, waiting for Darius to walk past.
As the man stumbled through the dark forest, he spotted a maiden peeking from behind a
willow.
Why is someone as fair as yourself in a forest as dark as this? Darius asked, giving the
maiden a grin. She smiled back, and walked out from behind the tree, stepping closer until she
was merely inches away from the man.
Im here to warn you, she whispered into his ear, Go back home, theres nothing to be
found beyond this forest. Feyra gave Darius a pleading look, and lightly touched him on the
shoulder. Darius looked down, debating whether to take the strange maidens advice.
I will, on one condition. You come back with me, he said with a grin, staring into
Feyras eyes. The goddess hadnt been on earth since the dawn of mankind, and she decided to
humor the man. Darius took Feyra back to his village, and she lived with him in his small, two-
room cottage. Eventually, the goddess fell in love with the man, and became his wife. They
lived happily together, although Darius still wondered how she found her way to his village that
one, fateful day.
Eventually, the curiosity became a little too much for Darius. Feyra couldnt have
appeared out of thin air! She had to come from somewhere! So in the middle of the night, while
his wife was sleeping, Darius set out to find where she had come from.
The woods at night were indeed a very dangerous place, though. As Darius wandered
through the darkness, a pack of wolves followed him closely behind him. Darius stumbled over
a root and the wolves jumped onto him, tearing the man apart while his wife slept miles away,
oblivious to her husbands demise.
When Feyra woke up, she immediately knew something was wrong. After searching the
house for her husband to no avail, she stepped outside and called on creatures of the forest to
help her search. She was astounded to find her husbands remains in the woods. Feyra gently
picked up Dariuss body, and carried it body back to the village. He was buried next to their
house, and many villagers showed up to grieve. On Dariuss grave, the villagers placed poppy
flowers to show their condolences. Feyra returned to the kingdom of the gods and looked down
upon her husbands grave, now covered in the beautiful orange flowers. She began to cry big,
heavy teardrops, and as she cried, rain fell from the sky. The goddess wept for many days and
nights, and the deluge continued, unabated. So much rain fell, that the deserts filled with the
salty water of her tears. When Feyra finally came to terms with her grief, the raining stopped,
and the desert was no longer. A body of water connected the villages now instead. Feyra
dubbed them the oceans and whenever she sees poppy flowers today, it reminds her of Darius
and sh e cries, producing the rainstorms that you and I experience.