Naeshe's Village

Emily Burns

Her scent was one of lingering dew, and as the world passed, indeed did she. Her hair was as black as ebony, skin as pink as a fresh born piglet. Her eyes were pearly grey and her wrists glittered with jewels.

Her name was Naeshe.

She watched over the plain, vapid world in trances - men and women marrying, children being born, young adults picking berries from their neighbouring farms, and their tans. For the sun, then, was a constant. Never did it cease ; never did it take cover. The world was a sunny place to be, then.

She watched, in such trances, with increasing animosity and in every passing day she wondered, 'Why can something not change? Why this indifferent constance, this safe haven for foliage, beast, man?'

She thought, 'Can there not be a place recluse from the hideous sunlight, once, someday, sometime? Why can the routine not change?'

Grow, bake, dance, sing, sleep. The villagers in her sight did the same things every day - and how could they separate each day from the next? What was day? She never could tell, except she knew it was not when the thick shades in the village were pulled low and the activity ceased and the elders whispered, "Shh," to all of the younger folk, who snuck stealthily to see each other anyway.

Naeshe grew more restless as the years passed, and one day, she thought of an idea.

What if the world was dark at night, as to make it easy to fall fast asleep?

She thought that the villagers would quite like that, and so she closed her eyes and when they opened again, it was dark.

She could hear the panic in the voices of the villagers when they awoke from their slumber, but she could not see them, and they could not see each other. It was a mayhem, and so to stop it, she thought very hard.

What if there was a single shining light, as to help them see?

She thought that the villagers would quite like that, and so she closed her eyes and when they opened again, there was a single eye hanging in the dark of the new night, pearly grey as Naeshe's own. This way, she could watch over them.

The villagers began to celebrate when the moon appeared, and pointed and started to dance and sing. All of them were woken at once, and a party was begun. Their celebrations delighted Naeshe, and so she decided that she would do one thing more for them.

What if there were dozens of tiny lights, to look pretty in such a dark sky?

She thought that the villagers would quite like that, and so she closed her eyes and when they opened again, there were stars.

Children cried joyously, "Oh, praise you, night! Oh, praise you, moon! Oh, praise you, stars!"

From that very first night, the village belonged to Naeshe, and people came from far and wide to see the glorious night, moon and stars.

Rumours in the village soon started that the moon was there, not only to help them see, but to keep their children safe in the dark. They began to pray to Naeshe, and she could hear their whispers in her delicate ears. The stars and moon bowed to her command, and one day she realized.

"I am a Goddess."

From that moment, she made it her business to create shooting stars on nights of festivals and galas for the children to enjoy. She loved her villagers, and they loved her. They knew that she was looking out for them, even on the darkest of nights.

When a film of cloud covered her pearly eye like a widow's veil, they prayed that Naeshe would find her love again. When the moon was a sliver, they prayed that Naeshe would be happy again. When the moon did not show itself at all, they prayed that Naeshe would be well again.

As the lines on Naeshe's pink face deepened, she became wise. She sent bats with news of death; owls to lovers. When her villagers looked forlorn, she ordered crickets to sing for them. To keep children out of danger on the moonless evenings, she whispered stories of demons into their ears to caution.

When a young man, who grew up under Naeshe's watchful eye, received a letter to a school in a land far away, he packed his things and said goodbye to his mother. She prayed that he would find happiness in his new home, and that he would be safe.

When he arrived at his new home, he was greeted by a dozen other young men, all from far off places that he had never heard of. As the day grew, the young man grew more and more nervous. All of these boys carried heavy curtains with them to this new and exciting place - but why?

After dinner, the boys carried on outside and back to their dormitories. Twelve out of thirteen young men stopped abruptly.

The young man from the village asked what was the matter. The other boys did not answer, only stared up into the sky, where a bright gray orb was appearing and the sky was darkening. The villager tipped his hat and said goodnight, but could not sleep for the sounds in this new place. When his room mates arrived back at the dormitory, he could hear their awed whispers in the dark.

'Have you ever seen anything so incredible?'

'I thought that I was dying.'

'I wonder where the sun went?'

It was this that made the village boy understand that the stories his mother told him had been true - Naeshe had created night for them - something he had always found difficult to believe.

"Thank you, Naeshe, Goddess of the Night" he whispered i, below the voices of his new roommates, and with a smile he said, "and oh, praise you, night! Oh, praise you, moon! Oh, praise you, stars!"