52. We Did Not Stop Running Until We Reached Our Cave
We Did Not Stop Running Until We Reached Our Cave
My mind raced with questions
and my breath quickened
as my feet ran across
cool marble floors then to warm sand.
When we were finally there,
safe in our hallowed cavern,
with its welcoming water
and the azure glow of my worms,
we crumpled to the floor.
Quietly, with just the sound
of our own heavy breath,
we sat in contemplation.
‘Do you think,’ Styx asked,
‘if my father becomes king,
there is a chance for my sisters
and I to be more than nymphs?’
I considered her question.
‘I think,’ I said softly, remembering
what Coeus said about desiring
a son, ‘that even if our fathers
were rulers, every Goddess or nymph
would always be beholden to someone.’
Styx contemplated this,
her split eyes pensive.
‘Surely…’ she said eventually,
‘all Gods cannot be so cruel.
Some of them must know
the kindness of mercy.’
A few minutes passed by
and then we heard the sound
of footsteps.
We looked at each other,
fear caught inside our eyes.
Was it our fathers?
Had we been seen?
What would the punishment be
for listening to what we should
never have heard.