She came to me in darkness. My little moon. 

 

I met her between two trees leaning toward and away from each other in a deep-rooted back and forth. I knelt in the fronds of ancient ferns, dry linen in hand, and found only cool night air against my thighs where I expected blood. 

 

I told no one, not even he who slipped beneath my furs in the depths of night, his godly vows cast aside. Her arrival heavy with the weight of the divine. Her life sacred. I would hold her a secret among the constellations of my bones a little longer. 

 

We traveled the high road, our journey leading us toward the northern coast where we would build Atreo’s altar. All the while, my little moon waxed, fuller and stronger with each night. It would not be many more nights before her fullness would press against the softness of my stomach. My traveling cloak would cocoon us for only a short time after. Then I would need to speak with him. With them all. 

 

Her existence would shatter the bonds we promised one another - this priest, his acolytes, and the temple maiden. We set out together from the southern coastline, given providence to carry forth the salt and stone for a new temple. My little moon would be safe in the house of Atreo, who commanded the depths of the seas. The ocean and the moon lean toward and away from each other in a deep-rooted back and forth. Precisely where I found her. 

 

We reached the coastline and made camp among tall grasses lining the sand at the edge of the sea. The men proceeded up the cliffside to scout for more permanent locations. I remained behind with the animals and my little moon. I passed the time sorting and moving materials around camp, readying them for the men’s work. I stumbled about with several heavy baskets, grateful the priest and his acolytes were not there to bemoan the weakness of a woman. For I was not weak - I carried a new world inside of me. 

 

At midday, the sun bore down and I grew slick with sweat. My chest tightened against the brine in the breeze. An ache radiated across my lower back.

 

The waves beckoned me, lapping gently on the shore. I left my boots and long socks behind, stepping carefully between rocks and driftwood as I walked to the sea. The water was cool and refreshing against my toes, so I waded deeper until it reached my waist and caressed the space where I carefully held my little moon. Light green fabric floated around me. If the gods peered down at me, I would have been a flower floating in the ocean. 

 

I did not expect the blood as it bloomed around me. A new world poured into the water.

 

My little moon longed for the depths of the sea. I whispered farewell as the tide carried her home.