The Queen of Miracles

Once, many many years ago, before great pyramids were destroyed, abandoned, and covered by dense rainforest foliage, there was a great Hooglebooglan city.

The name of this city has long been forgotten. But during those happy times of old, it was ruled by a magnificent Hooglebooglan halac uinic, which is the Mayan word for chief. (Hooglebooglans were ancestors of the Mayans.) The Hooglebooglan people loved this Chief, because he was a peaceful and kind ruler. But his time of rule was coming to a close, and he had no children. Therefore, the Chief had no heir to the throne, and his kingdom would soon be passed on to his younger brother, Chad.

However, the chief’s wife wouldn’t give up so easily. She wanted a child very badly. She prayed, and prayed, and prayed some more. Her prayers were finally answered. The great chief’s wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on the thirteenth of the month, which the Hooglebooglans and Mayans believed was a lucky day.

After the child had been born, she was observed by a high priest as well as her parents. The high priest saw that this was no ordinary child. This was proved when the child got up and toddled over to the window. She unlatched it and leapt out, giggling the whole time.

Luckily, a raven was soaring by in the wind. The size of the raven was extraordinary. The enormous bird caught the little girl and flew her to the window. It hovered at the ’sill as the child’s parents thanked it many times.

The high priest came forward and said, "Es milagro!" The chief and his wife agreed, and decided to name their child Milagra, meaning ‘miracle.’ The raven looked at the girl and began speaking, which gave everyone but Milagra a scare. The bird predicted, "She is already showing that she has the ability to be the queen of miracles. I will place a feather of mine into her hair. It will make it jet black and as long as she has her hair, she will be untouched by any sort of harm. But I must warn you… I see two men in her life. Their faces are clouded, but of this much I am sure: one of them is a threat."

"Is that all you can tell us?" the chief was disappointed. His wife laid a hand on his arm to stop him from trying to make the raven say more. It went on, "I cannot tell you any longer. Her destiny has already been decided. You will have to go by Fate. Goodbye." The raven wheeled around and caught a draft of air. As quickly as it had arrived, it was gone.

(~*~)

"It seems like she was just born yesterday," the chief told his wife.

His wife nodded in agreement. They were standing on a balcony in their palace, conversing in quiet tones so that the party-goers underneath them would not hear. "She is fourteen now… nearing womanhood. I can hardly believe it."

"Soon there will be a lucky man in her life. Our child’s life." The couple sighed. They were depressed (as every parent is when they realize how fast their child grew up, and that they aren’t getting any younger). "She shot up like a sprout. From a tiny little thing to a graceful and intelligent maiden."

"¡Vamos! (Come!) Let us put our depresión (dejection) behind us. Let us go celebrate with our hija (daughter)," the chief’s wife declared. They made their way out of the balcony and down to the birthday party.

~*~*~

"Uncle, why are you sad?"

"I am sick, Milagra," Chad told his niece, trying to hide his bad feelings toward her. Milagra was a beautiful girl at the height of her youth, and he couldn’t help but feel jealous of her position.

"Why did you come, then? You could have stayed home. I would have understood." Milagra adored him, though Chad had no idea as to why. He had done nothing but lie and trick her. She is not so intelligent after all, Chad thought, the beginnings of a plan forming in his mind. She is easy to trick.

"I wanted to see my favorite niece at her fourteenth birthday, que es por lo que estoy aquí (which is why I am here)," Chad replied, smiling at her. Milagra rushed at him for a hug, and he grimaced above her without the fourteen-year-old realizing it.

"Mama! Papa! ¡Ven aquí! (Come here)" Milagra cried, as she spotted her parents. She let go of her uncle and ran off, laughing delightedly. Chad turned and left, not to be seen again until quite a few years later. Milagra didn’t notice, and quickly forgot about him…

This proved not to be a very good idea.

(~*~)

Time passed swiftly, and soon Milagra was the ripe young age of twenty. It was time for her to take her place as ruler of the Hooglebooglans. Milagra’s hair had grown into the same exact jet black of her savior, the raven’s, and her skin was the color of cinammon.

Milagra was definitely not an ordinary female of the tribe. She learned the art of warfare from her father and made her own tools, including spears, swords, and arrows. She excelled in everything she was taught, and sometimes she knew things before they were taught to her—and she didn’t even know why.

As Milagra grew more and more experienced and mature, she had no idea that her father was hiding from her the fact that war was upon the Hooglebooglans. Finally, Milagra discovered that nomadic tribes were trying to raid the prime trade city of Tonto Oca, (Silly Geese). She took an armed patrol of warriors with her as she traveled to the city.

The twenty-year-old gazed upon the scene of great destruction with immense sorrow. She turned around as her second-in-command and said, "¿Qué planes tienes? (What are your plans?)"

She smiled deviously. "We will plan a nightly attack and tomar a alguien por sorpresa (take them by surprise)." Her second-in-command nodded and the camp began preparing.

(~*~)

Milagra and twelve fighters tiptoed through the palace that the Jeeshdarams had taken over. Milagra stopped them and told them to wait where they were, while she crept into the room where she supposed the ruler of the Jeeshdarams was sleeping.

"¿Eres tú, Chad? (Is that you, Chad?)" cried Milagra as she sprinted forward. Unbeknownst to her, Chad secretly signaled one of his fighters to nock an arrow. The arrow flew straight and true. Milagra cried out in surprise. But she was even more shocked when the arrow burned two inches from her stomach and shriveled into ashes. The ashes fell by her feet and were quickly carried away by the wind.

Chad rushed over and began lying profusely. "Oh, gracious, gracious (thank you, thank you)," he cried, kneeling down and kissing Milagra’s hands. "Thank you for freeing me from the tyranny of the Jeeshdarams!"

"They were holding you captive?" Milagra questioned. Her fighters had finally realized she was in trouble, and were awaiting her command at the door to the room.

"Yes! You will never believe this… they think that I am destined to be their king! They will do whatever I want, when they realize that you are here. Oh, thank you!" Milagra nodded.

She said, "Tell them to get out!" Chad smiled and said, "Of course, my lady." He was seething inside as he turned around and snapped his fingers, his signal to the Jeeshdarams as ‘Go.’ They understood. Chad mouthed, ‘I’ll be with you soon.’

"Won’t you rest awhile here?" Chad said. "I’m afraid I’ve gotten used to this place… I wouldn’t like to leave, really. Could you stay a night or two with me? I’m not as young as I used to be!" He laughed, but the sound was completely devoid of any humor. Milagra suppressed the urge to shudder.

She nodded her consent. "We will stay a night."

"Use this room, lady… it is the most comfortable of all," Chad told her, smiling in a secretive sort of way. Milagra was tired and did not suspect her uncle, of all people, of treachery. Again, she nodded.

"I need to rest," she said. "I will be up and as busy as any abeja (bee) in the morning," she said. "For now, I just need to sleep."

"Of course, lady," Chad agreed graciously. "Take the bed. Make yourself comfortable." Milagra collapsed onto the bed and was asleep as soon as she hit the soft mattress.

That night, Chad crept into her room. He was wondering how that arrow could have burned like that, in front of Milagra’s very eyes. He decided that the cuervo (raven) that his foolish brother had been yakking about must be real—and it must have given her a charm of some sort. He searched Milagra’s bags and clothes for the charm. Finding nothing, he felt very frustrated.

He looked for something to take his frustration out on, and finally decided on Milagra’s beautiful, shining hair. He took her own knife and chopped all of it off. To his shock, the hair fell to the floor and immediately became a long black feather. When the initial shock wore off, Chad smiled greedily, took it into his arms, cradling it carefully, and stole away from the palace that night.

When Milagra woke up and found that Chad was gone and all her men had been killed in the night, not to mention that her hair was gone, she was devastated. She sobbed for hours and did not eat or drink a thing as she ran the whole long way back to where her parents were.

Much to Milagra’s grief, sorrow was everywhere in her life. Her father had died during her mission to save Tonto Oca from the Jeeshdarams. For days, Milagra could not leave her room. She would listen to no one. She spent most of her time listlessly pacing. She did not speak for forty days of mourning.

Gradually, Milagra’s grief wore away. She reunited herself with the Hooglebooglan people. The time came for them to choose the ruler. The Hooglebooglans had no idea of Chad’s deception—that is why the youngest chief of the Council of Inteligente Personas (Smart People) didn’t know what to say when Chad came to him in the night.

~*~*~

There was a tap on the window. Bob rolled out of his bed with a thud and groggily opened it. "¿Quién es? (Who is it)" Bob said in an irritated tone of voice.

"Um… my name’s… er… Mister Ioso."

"Misterioso?" Even in his state of half-unconsciousness, Bob was suspicious. "That means ‘Mystery.’ I don’t…"

"Not misterioso… Mister Ioso. I have to tell you something about Milagra that no one else knows. I only know because, well, that’s what I can’t tell you."

"What do you know about her?" Bob demanded.

"She’s insane. She is entirely incapable of ruling us, Bobberoso."

"How do you know my real name?!" Bob cried hysterically.

"I know many things. But that isn’t the point. The point is, do you want to know why she has no hair? Do you want to know why she spent forty days not talking to anyone? It’s because she doesn’t want anyone to know that she has voices in her head. The real thing is, she thinks she’s talking aloud…only she’s not. She’s talking inside her mind…She’s esquizofrénico (schizophrenic)."

"¡Dios mío! (Oh my God!)" Bob was horrified.

"She mustn’t become ruler!" Chad said loudly. His tone became softer as he added, "I’m your friend, Bobberoso. I just wanted to warn you. Do you believe me now?"

"Of course… what must I do?"

"You must kill Milagra."

"Kill her?!"

"It is for the good of the Hooglebooglans! I must go now, Bob. You know what you must do. You must prove…are you a hero, or are you a coward? Everyone’s counting on you, Bob. But entre tú y yo (between you and me), I was never here." Bob nodded vigorously, and Chad’s voice vanished from the window sill.

~*~*~

The next night, Bob found his way into the palace. He opened the door to Milagra’s room. Chad had paid him another visit to explain to him where it was. As soon as he saw her, he began having doubts. She didn’t look insane to him!

But he knew often maniacs didn’t look maniacal. Unless they were truly crazy. Wait, what am I thinking? Let me just get this over with, Bob thought. Taking out a knife, he tiptoed over to her bed and stood over her.

His heart thudded in his chest, and his top priorities vanished. He looked down at her and was immediately in love with Milagra. She opened her eyes and slowly smiled. She thought he was a god of her dreams…but this was reality.

"Milagra!" said the kind voice of the god. Milagra had been running in a golden meadow, laughing and playing like when she was a child, before her father died. She stopped as the dios held out his arms. In one of them was a knife, and suddenly the smiling face was replaced by a demonic, evil one. It screamed in her face and Milagra sat up in bed, her face wide in terror.

Too late, Bob realized his mistake. An arrow whistled through the air, straight to Milagra’s chest. She died immediately, just as realization dawned on Bob.

"You tricked me!" he shouted, his voice breaking with sobs. He ran to Chad. Before Chad could do a thing, the knife was embedded in his chest, right where he had hit Milagra. Chad sank to the floor and choked out, "The joke’s…on…you…" as he passed on to the afterlife.

Bob shrieked with agonized sobs nearly taking his breath away. Before he could even know her, his one true love, he knew this now, had passed away. "Milagra!" His tears dripped onto her face. There was a whoosh throughout the room, and Bob saw a raven fly through the window.

"Bobberoso." Bob’s tearstained face looked up. It was the raven that had saved Milagra so many years ago. Bob stopped sobbing as a peaceful aura surrounded him and came inside him.

"I will give you a choice, Bobberoso. You may live on without Milagra… or you may both become ravens and work milagros (miracles), flying with the spirits of your lives inside you. But you will never be able to return to this life, Bob. Now…what is your choice?"

"I—I—I will go with Milagra," Bob said decisively, smiling through his tears.

"Very well. It is done."

And so it came to be that the spirits of Bobberoso and Milagra live in every raven. All miracles are worked by the great birds of the Hooglebooglans’ and Mayans’ histories. These birds watch over everything and everyone, making little and small things happen with their powers. But most of all, they show us that life is really worth living, no matter just what you are.