THE VALLEY OF THE

GODDESS

T
he snow had finally started melting. It had been snowing for months and now the
blissful summer was upon us. Our valley was accompanied by a large mountain. On
top of that mountain stood a goddess who was the sole protector of our valley. The
statue of the goddess was made of crystallite white rock which no one knew where came from. She
stood in middle of a lake on a stone pedestal facing the North. Her right hand was raised which
pointed to the sky. Its shadow on the still lake told the acolytes the time during the day and night.
The acolytes worshipped and lived around the goddess. The always kept the statue clean and shining.

The valley was ruled by the council. There were four council members who decided
everything but with consultation of head acolyte. The job of head acolyte was to predict future events
and fortune telling. She was the oracle to people of the valley and the only person who could speak
to the goddess. She predicted future events on the basis of the reflection of clouds in the lake upon
which the goddess stood. People believed her and trusted her. It was believed that in time of need,
the goddess herself will always come to aid of the valley.

“This year the harvest will be good. The summer will last for 7 lunar months. Three of the
peasant families will have twin children and the valley will be safe for the rest of the year” predicted
the oracle this time. Everyone was happy. A feast was to be held tonight beside the lake. People
started preparing for the feast. It was during that time that I spotted my sister. SHE IS BACK! I cried
while my eyes filled with tears. She left the valley many years ago in search of wisdom and
knowledge. She never believed the oracle and her ways. I was the only sad person when she left the
valley. Now, she was returning. I ran towards her and hugged her. She was so big now. She told me
she was in a nearby valley and she had come to warn us.

“The glacier has started melting. This sun has come nearer to earth and an avalanche of snow
will engulf the valley. You have to leave.” She said to the people gathered but no one believed her.
Everyone said to her that the oracle has already predicted that the valley will be safe and no harm
will come to the valley this summer. Everyone took her warnings as a joke or some took it as
blasphemy because she was going against the belief that the goddess will protect us. Our parents
feared that they will exile her again and tried to stop her but she was adamant and kept trying to
persuade people to leave the valley. She told them there was a way if they all excavated the land to
north beside the mountain and made a slope toward the abyss, the avalanche will change direction
and the valley will be saved. She tried but still no one heard.

I told her that they would only listen to the goddess. The goddess would protect us. I don’t
know whether it was this or some other thing that sparked an idea in her mind. She jumped with joy
and left the house. I quietly followed her kept myself hidden from her sight. I saw as she went to the
old temple of the goddess beneath the mountain and took some things from there. She also gathered
several things form the market, I had no idea what for, but she looked happy.

In the evening it all became clear. She dressed herself as the goddess and painted her face and
body in white color. Then she covered herself and the robes with some mystic sparkling powders
due to which she was glowing. She was completely unaware of my presence and I was watching
astonished of what she has achieved, also curious of what she is about to do. She finally burned
something which raised a lot of smoke in the mountain area. The smoke was also glowing, and it was
almost night. People saw the smoke and gathered nearby. She rose from the smoke and faced the
people. She raised her voice. “The girl who has returned from the lands beyond, speaks truth. Danger
roams towards this land. My powers have weakened. I can do nothing but to warn you. Do what she
says or the valley will be desecrated.” And with an explosion of smoke she disappeared. For a
moment I thought, she was the goddess in flesh. Maybe the goddess had possessed her but I knew the
truth.

Next morning every person in the valley brought something to dig the slope. My sister was
leading them. It was almost afternoon when she cried AVALANCHE!. The slope was almost
complete. People ran toward the valley and prayed to the goddess to protect them. Then it was all
just as my sister said, the avalanche came and went down the slope into the abyss. People were
happy once again. The started calling my sister messenger of the goddesses but she rejected the title.
I whispered in her ear “I know”.

Next morning, I was packing my bags to accompany her in her journey, for I now knew that I
still know nothing and a flame for knowledge sparked in me which desired to become fire. I was
leaving with my sister. On our way out my sister once again addressed the people. She told them that
they had to stop relying on prophecies and to start looking out for one another and helping each
other, but one person replied “ The oracle predicted the valley will be safe, and it is safe. She is never
wrong.”