Devendra’s Three Gifts

The humanity train comes along every thousand years or so. As Devendra stands at the train station he sees the tracks stretch out to infinity, as if looking at them could make his train come back.

*****

Devendra, like the other demi Gods, had been given gifts to give to humanity. The first and most important gift was brilliance. Sheer and utter brilliance, like the sun’s. The second gift he’d been given was dance, a key to happiness. The third and final gift he’d been given was sadness, so humanity always remembers to feel. How could they know to play without sadness? How could they dance without at least a little hurt?

This was the first time Devendra had been given such an important task. He could barely sleep the night that his train was to come. He kept looking up at the grass ceiling of his hut and wishing he could open the gifts and fool around with them himself. He’d always wanted to see the humans, he wished so hard to play with them. For the tenth time tonight he thought of how lucky his friend Claudio was. They’d grown up together and his hut was only a few away from Devendra’s. In fact, it could probably be said that they were best friends. Tonight though, Devendra’s heart was filled with jealousy. Demi Gods aren’t supposed to speak of their gifts to humanity, it’s not their place. Friends are friends though and demi Gods or not, friends will always end up breaking the rules a little. Claudio had told Devendra the gifts he was bringing to humanity: play, joy, terror. How Devendra wished he could be the one to bring play to the humans. Everyone knew Claudio was a better dancer than he, and Devendra a better gamer than Claudio. The Gods, like always, were so wanton with their decisions. There’s an old joke around the village that says, “even the Gods make sense twice a day”. Devendra never really understood it (he’d never seen a broken clock), but found it hilarious.

Just as the sun was rising Devendra got out of bed and looked for the gifts. He took them in a hurry and then went outside excited. He’d always loved the sweet time of day when you could be outside and it’d be cool. Not too cold, not too hot. Cool. And today was a special day indeed. He went behind the hut and picked up some water from the stream. He bathed and enjoyed every drop of water rolling wet down his skin. He got clothed, ate in a hurry and soon he was out the door – hours early. As instructed, he hadn’t taken his eyes off the gifts for even a minute. Not even to bathe. He thought of running to the station but then decided against it – what if he tripped and broke the gifts?

Despite all his best efforts, it was halfway there that he met up with some old friends of humanity. Like a swarm of dark black bees, lazyness, frigidity and numbness came at him hissing. They had smelled the gifts and were determined to get inside them and eat them. Devendra protected his treasure as best he could had ran. The bees chased after. Every time he tried to run torwards the train station he found that the bees were blocking his way. Devendra got lured further and futher away.

After hours on the run Devendra knew that he could take no more. In almost no time at all the train was going to arrive and he needed to be on it. He stood his grounds as the bees came at him and held up his hand. The bees ignored him and went straight for the gifts, puncturing holes in them and spilling the contents of the beauitful leather packages to the ground. Desperate, Devendra began flicking off the bees one by one and covering the holes in the packages with his bare hands. The bees grouped together and attacked as a single being. Devendra looked at the leaking package and realized that he didn’t stand a chance, he would have to break the rules much more than he’d ever dreamed. He took some of the leaking brilliance and poured it on his head. The battle with the bees raged on, but now he hit them harder, faster, now he knew where they went before they did. As soon as he saw an opening he ran.

Almost an hour later Devendra arrived at the train station. A quarter of his gifts had leaked out, his body (his face in particular) was covered in bee stings. Nothing though, absolutely nothing, hurt like not being able to complete his mission.

******

Devendra knows he can’t go home. He could stay, he could try to just live in the station and hide from the shame. It’s not the shame though, that motivates him most. It’s his love for humanity, a humanity that will now be without his three gifts. He runs then, he runs as fast as he can down the tracks. He runs and runs for hours, every muscle in his body aching. Every bone from his toes up feels like it’s going to crack in a thousand places. From afar, finally, he sees it. The train has stopped for something, he can’t tell what. Hope invades Devendra, but then he notices the smoke in the air and knows the train is just about to start again. Without much time he hurls his gifts in the air with all his strength. Magically, they reach their destination.

Devendra smiles a sweet sad smile. He knows that he hasn’t finished the job right. He wishes he could do it all again, but is proud of what he has accomplished.

And it is because the gifts came to humanity without a guide that they are so badly distributed. And it is because the gifts were tainted that so few are ever complete. But every so often, in some few people, the gifts come crashing down all three at once. And it is because of Devendra that on Earth there are such brilliantly sad dancers.