Medusa

 Hey! Here's that story I promised from Pandora. Please let me know what you think!

Medusa

The day I was born, I killed three people. Not purposefully, of course, but the guilt is still mine.

The midwife was first, a woman who was too plain to catch a husband when she was younger, so she turned to the secrets of childbirth, helping many of the women before her death. She screamed when she saw me, when my eyes opened, and turned to stone.

My father was next, prying me from her cold hands, looking for himself what could be so horrifying. The nest of snakes that was my hair hissed at him, and he was next.

Finally, my grandmother, my mother's mother. She proclaimed me cursed and took me from my father's arms, intending to kill me there and then. But she met my eyes, and she too was petrified. 

Mother wrapped me in a blanket, head and all, and tucked me in a basket. She was weak, but knew what she had to do to save my life. I looked like nothing more than a pile of laundry, as long as I stayed quiet.

We escaped the village, and then she began to run, as fast and far away as she could go. She told me of hearing pursuit and running faster, or hiding in brambles. All the while, I stayed silent and still. Often she wondered if I was dead, suffocated, but then a snake would hiss, or I would coo.

Finally, she came to the temple, where she knew I would be safe. It was abandoned, and too far from the path for anyone to ever find me.

I had a good childhood, even though I had to cover my eyes, in order to keep my mother safe.   It was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

She told me stories, stories of her life in the village, of growing up, of the father I never would know, and of the day I'd been born. I had no friends, no playmates, so she was the only person I ever knew. Mother taught me that I was to hide, that I would be murdered if anyone ever saw me. My snakes told me the same.

I was always able to understand them, even when I was young. It nearly gave Mother a heart attack when the first sound I truly made was a hiss.

Of course, all good things must come to an end, and my childhood was no exception. 

I couldn't see her, but I could hear her cough and wheeze, my snakes telling me that she was thinner and thinner, eating less and less. Even though she denied it, I knew she was dying.

Eventually, she agreed. "We have to go to the village," she whispered, her skeletal hand clutching mine. "They have medicine there. Someone will be able to help."

I agreed. Mother couldn't die. 

First, though, there was the matter of concealing my differences. The blindfold would have to stay on, my snakes could direct me. I preferred it that way, anyway. The only time I ever took it off was when I was completely alone, bathing, or preparing food. I'd learned to floor plan to the temple ages ago. However, the outside world was a mystery.

Mother talked me through making a hood that would cover my hair, using the remains of the clothes she had been wearing when we ran. It worked, as long as my snakes kept quiet. But that meant I was essentially blind.

The journey back through the forest was filled with the sounds of me yelping as branches whipped across my face, my snakes hissing, and Mother groaning and coughing. She had one arm around my shoulders, to help her walk. That did meant that if I fell, she would too, so I had to be extra careful. It took hours.

I sensed when we reached the edge of the forest because it there was suddenly a breeze on the exposed parts of my face. Mother stood a little straighter, and my snakes went silent.

"Hello!" Someone called, making me jump a little.

"Answer him, Medusa," Mother said. I was named for my grandmother, the woman I'd killed the day I was born.

"We need help!" I called back.

Then Mother's weight was lifted from my shoulders. "Let me take her. We'll get you to a healer, ma'am."

"Thank you," Mother whispered. "Tell me, what is your name?"

"My name is Nikos. What about you?"

"I am Amalthaea, and my daughter is named Medusa."

"It is nice to meet you both," he said. "The healer is not far. Can you make it?"

Mother answered, but it was too quietly for me to hear.

"We'll just take our time, then. Keeping up, Medusa?"

I was a few steps behind, careful to follow the sound of them talking. "I'm here," I replied.

"If you don't mind me asking, where did you live? There's nothing on the other side of the forest, nothing but impassable mountains."

"We're nomads," I replied quickly. "We've been in that forest almost a year, ever since Mother got sick."

"Nomads, you say?" Nikos sounded thoughtful.

"Our clan was wiped out," Mother told him. "We were the only two to escape the massacre."

Nikos walked in silence for a long while, then said, "Here's the healer's hut. She's one of the best this side of the mountains."

"Thank you," I said, "I can help my mother from here."

"No, I insist. Let me help you."

Without giving me a chance to argue further, he opened the door and went inside.

To be continued.....

Looks like I caught Pandora off guard! She's promised that she will have the rest done by next week. This will also become her first novel (a fleshed out version, obviously).

Thanks for reading this far, and see you next week!