Aeila's Lesson by DSDragon

Aeila's Lesson

An original short story by Darcy Smittenaar

It had been a long Eternity, Aeila mused. She had spent the last uncountable eons training to be the goddess she was destined to be. All the others from her space and time had already moved on to claim their rewards, but Aeila was held back. Why? She did not know.

The eternal being had all the powers and knowledge of her long-gone brothers and sisters, and yet the elders--those whom had gone on before even the eldest of her siblings--held her to her training.

Frustrated, and impatient to get on with her timelessness, Aeila paced the crystal of her home world, watching as the sunset glittered off the peaks of her favorite thinking place.

She was startled out of her reverie, however, by an eerily quiet, booming voice trembling over the glass-like precipice.

"Aeila," the elder--for that is who the voice came from--spoke. "You have done well in your studies, but there is yet one more thing you must learn--and master."

Aeila's smile at the initial praise faded when she heard the elder's rebuke.

"What else is there to learn, Sire?" she asked, respectfully.

"That will be revealed after one last assignment, Dear Child."

"Very well," she nodded, not bothered by the nickname. She knew of the affection the elder held for all her brothers and sisters. "What must I do, Father?"

"You know of Earth, Aeila?" the elder--Aeila's father--asked.

"Yes," she replied. She knew she'd be expected to summarize her knowledge before the elder asked. "My eldest brother created it, shortly after receiving his own reward. It is both the most good, and most evil, of my brother's worlds."

"Very good, Young One. You remember your lessons well." Aeila nodded, acknowledging the slight praise.

"Your assignment, Aeila, is to watch and observe one of your eldest brother's children. You are not, however," her father admonished, "to interfere in any way. Once you have completed this assignment, you shall be rewarded."

Always eager to please, Aeila smiled and bowed. "It shall be done, Master. Who is this being I must observe? How will I find him among my brother's numerous host?"

"You will find him in the northeastern portion of the western continent. The one you are looking for is a fourteen-year-old boy by the name of Joseph."

"It shall be done as thou command, Father," Aeila intoned as she bowed again, ready to start her assignment.

"One last reminder, Daughter, that you shall not interfere," the elder spoke, voice fading as his presence left the crystal cliff side.

Determined to do everything as her father asked, Aeila quickly made her way to Earth.

#

Aeila had been observing the boy, Joseph, unseen for many years, and she had only respect for the young man's faith, perseverance, and endurance.

But, as she watched the bullet speed inexorably toward Joseph's heart, Aeila's resolve not to interfere faltered. This man had done his best to bring faithful people to his father's side, and all the others had done was punish him. He had been jailed, beaten, even covered with tar and feathers because of his devotion to Aeila's brother.

Why did he have to die? He didn't deserve such punishment, Aeila's heart, mind, and soul cried at once.

Without revealing herself, Aeila moved a piece of furniture into the bullet's path, changing Joseph's dire fate.

Abruptly, Aeila found herself back home on the crystal cliffs her journey had started on what seemed like only moments ago to her, but was actually many Earth years.

"Fool!" the elder's voice echoed through the glittering canyon. "Do you realize what you've done?"

"Father," Aeila cried as the wind stirred up by her father's wrath whipped her hair over her anguished features. "He was going to die!"

"I know, Aeila," the elder's voice softened. "But it is his time. Your brother's work must go on, and for that to occur, Joseph must die."

"But why, Father?" the sadness in her tone belied Aeila's wish that she had not lost the ability to weep when she had become Eternal. "Why must a good man die to promote my brother's work?"

The tone in the elder's answer was the same, soothing, instructional tone that Aeila had come to seek comfort from throughout her millennia of millennia.

"Do you know what lesson you were to have learned from this experience, Beloved Daughter?"

"No, Father, I do not know."

"Aeila," the elder seemed to sigh as the wind died to a cool breeze against the eternal being's cheek. "You know the plan--the big picture--inside and out, and that is good. However, your attention to detail is lacking. You must," the elder continued, "weigh each event to determine its effect on the whole of eternity. Do you understand now, My Child?"

"Yes, Father."

"Very good. Now, you must go back before it is finished. Make your goodbyes, and return here for your reward."

#

What felt like years, but was actually seconds after she had been taken away, Aeila was back on the second floor of Carthage Jail, watching another bullet sped toward her charge's chest.

And as she watched--only watched--the man who had taught her unwavering obedience was killed in an eternal instant.