Water God and Child

Kai’s spring was his safe place. His spring had remained undiscovered and untouched for centuries; He was happy for it to remain that way. He’s seen the carnage that followed humans like moths to a flame. He’s seen what they did to the waters, polluting them with their machines and litter. Furthermore, they never seemed to care about the damage they caused. They remained ignorant of the consequences of their actions. It saddened Kai to see the effects on ocean life. When he visited other rivers and lakes, he could hear the cries of the sea animals, suffering in the once clear, now murky waters. And so, to stop the ache that came from his helplessness, he ventured out of his spring less and less. In only a century, he stopped leaving his spring entirely. The guilt rose every decade or so, but he couldn’t stand to hear the desperate praying to end the pain they were in. No, it was best to stay here where humans were not. Sure, he hadn’t left his abode for centuries, but he knew humans. They were selfish and benighted. They would never change; That, he was sure of. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Kedrick was bored. This was not a huge surprise, as there was never anything for him to do. Mom and Dad never wanted to play with him. Whenever he asked, Mom would say "Later" in her upset voice. When she first told him that, he had believed her. Dad would always give him the same look every time. It was a look that said, "How many times will you ask this question?" The last time he asked, his dad became angry and told him that he didn't want to play at all. He stopped asking after that. The kids in his village never wanted to play either. He tried to ask them, but the girls would laugh at him, and the boys pushed him. Other times, they would pretend he wasn't there at all. So, in conclusion, there was nothing to do! Kedrick was on his bed when it happened. Looking out the window of his room, something caught his eye. There was a pretty bird in the tree! Instead of the dull down that was usually found on birds, it was a bright blue! Kedrick jumped down from his bed and sped out the door. Sadly, as he got closer, the bird startled and flew into the woods. Kedrick, who had been chasing after the bird, skidded to a stop at the forest's edge. He's never been in it; no one has. His mom always told him to stay away from the woods and never enter them. Remembering that information almost made Kedrick turn away. But then the memory of the last denial from his mom hit him. A bitterness flared inside the small child, and he decided if his mom didn't listen to him, he wouldn't listen to her just this once. With a nod, Kedrick entered the woods. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-10 minutes later~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-    Kedrick was absolutely lost. He had run in the direction the pretty bird had gone, but then there was a squirrel that he just had to hold, and then there was something shiny at the base of that tree and… Looking around, he saw nothing but trees, trees, and more trees. Where should he go? He decided to choose a direction and just walk in that direction. He looked at the shiny thing tree (He couldn’t figure out what the shiny thing was) and decided to turn right from it. He walked and looked around with wonder and awe as he saw many animals. The thicket seemed to creep in the longer he ambled. Eventually, he came up to a cliff wall and decided to take a break. He felt like he had been walking for hours! He sat down against the wall and leaned back. The cliff face was surprisingly comfortable and … soft? Intrigued, Kedrick leaned back more and suddenly fell through the wall. Surprised, he couldn’t protect his head and hit it hard against the ground. -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- There was something in his spring. When the barrier was disrupted, he felt something made its way through. It couldn’t be an animal; no animals would have a problem with the barrier. And it couldn’t be another deity; most of them were gone and the ones left wouldn’t want to visit him. Which only left one dreaded option… a human. There was a human in his spring!