eos, goddess of dawn

The sky was pink.

Well, maybe more of a fuchsia, with giant swaths of orange and red painted across it, only hints of the dusky blue peeking through in the shadows of the clouds. Monet would struggle to capture something so beautifully, as even the master couldn’t create the seamless blends between the brilliant colors, his paintbrush no match to that of the nature spirits in the sky.

Eos was a fair maiden, her smile only greeting the earth for a few moments every day, her masterpieces missed by most, only begrudgingly witnessed by the few who were dragged from their slumber by the monotony of life, and Eos an afterthought.

He thought she was the most effervescent being ever to have existed. If he could, he would have spent his entire life trying to capture her beauty, to make the dawn permanent, to lock her away so that her cool fingers of watercolor skies would only ever touch his face.

He was the only one that truly appreciated her beauty, even though she bared it all for the world to see, giving everything to selfish lovers who only admired her in passing, forgetting her the moment she disappeared, making way for the obnoxious day.

He was the only one who cherished her, who sought her out every morning, waiting for her beautiful colors and form to grace the skies again.

Waiting for his goddess to notice him.

Every morning, he woke to darkness, knowing that only she could bring light into this world. Nothing could compare. Not the fake lights in his apartment, the lamps his sister bought a disrespectful imitation. Not the twinkly lights in the city below, which couldn’t compare to the stars above.

He hated the way the buildings blocked the light, their artificial glares only reflecting the world’s masterpiece, blocking his view of his true love in her primordial form. On the streets, he was surrounded by images of her, distorted and warped, the city built in a way to minimize and ignore her beauty.

Running away was the best decision he ever made, leaving behind the world of concrete, glass, and callous people. Up in the hills, he could watch his goddess take her first steps every morning, waking from another night with another ungrateful lover.

Until one morning, she finally blessed him with her presence in her earthly form, running past his shelter in the bushes.

Even on earth, she was the most beautiful creature he’d ever had the privilege to lay eyes on. With her fiery, red hair that blazed brighter than the sun to her alabaster skin, perfect and pristine, he knew she was his goddess finally coming to visit him, finally coming to return his love.

Except, he wasn’t so foolish to let her go.

Everyone took her for granted, only seeing her as the herald for the long-awaited day. He was the only one who waited for her on baited breath. He was the only one who sacrificed for her.

He gave up everything for her.

He deserved to spend an eternity with the sunrise, keeping her all to himself. No one else deserved to look upon her holy face.

He crept behind the fire-haired goddess, tracking her movements as she stretched from the shadows of his hideaway, his own movements like that of a jaguar stalking its prey.

He’d spent his entire life waiting for this moment, prepping in the shadows and the dark night, waiting for the sun to rise and finally shine on his face.

The rope slipped between his fingers like silk, wrapping around the digits, tightening around his pinky until the finger turned the color of the sky before Eos graced the world with her presence. He relished in the feeling, letting the pain ground him as his flame-haired beauty finished her warmups.

She barely took a step before the man leapt, the rope tightening around her neck, her face turning to the same shades as the sky above. His grip tightened as he gazed upon her face, her brown eyes wide with fear.

Brown that was the color of the earth when her blood spattered against the dirt as her head hit the rocks, her fiery hair now hanging limply around her head. Musty, dirty, brown, like the mud that people traipsed into their fabricated office building, tainting every moment of their mundane lives.

The man screamed, the sound echoing in the bare hills, as the first rays of sun flickered on the horizon.

His goddess betrayed him once again.