This is another story that I wrote for a high school mythology assignment. More old stories here.
“Demetrius! Jacasta!!” My wife, Diana, called for the children.
I glanced over to the yard where they were supposed to be feeding the geese. A few handfuls of grain had been thrown on the ground, but the feed sack had been left against the storage shed and some of the geese were eating grain directly from the sack.
The sky was darkening quickly.
“Children!” Diana was standing in the doorway of the house holding the curtains aside. She saw the sack, and hurried toward it as the geese scattered and sought shelter.
It was not until it began to rain that the twins came running from behind the shed laughing, and ducked into the house under their mother’s halfhearted swing. I believe that Diana would not have missed had she not been encumbered by the sack of grain.
I unhitched the plow-horse and led it to the stable, then came in myself – stripping off my wet clothes and placing them near the fire to dry. The children came into the room wearing fresh clothes, and sat down by the fire looking glum.
They called to their mother in the next room, “Mother, why can we not play in the rain?”
“Ask your father,” she called back.
Jacasta turned to me. “Why, father?”
“And where does rain come from, anyway?” added Demetrius.
So I told them the story of the origin of man.
“A long time ago, when the earth was young, Kodimo, the father of gods, decided to create someone to rule under the gods: man. He asked his three sons – Hostum, the earth; Maiko, fire; and Carlus, water – to find a suitable place for man to live.
“First, Carlus took man to the water. Man seemed to be all right for a few moments but, when man tried to breathe, he began to drown. So Carlus quickly took man out of the water. Water would not be man’s home.
“Then, Maiko took man up to the sky where the sun is. All above the earth was far too hot for man to live, and again man took ill and nearly died — until he was saved by Maiko. Fire would not be man’s home.
“Finally, Hostum took man down to the earth. Maiko, the hot-tempered and jealous fire god, hoped that man would not survive on earth either, but man took an immediate liking to the earth, and all could see that the earth was the perfect choice for man’s home. Carlus, the cool-headed and sensible water god, accepted this, and even decided to aid man as needed.
“Maiko remained very angry, and continually tried to strike man dead with lightening. Every time there is a rainstorm, it is Maiko and Carlus battling over man’s fate and, as Maiko strikes to kill and set fires, Carlus does his best to undo Maiko’s mischief by raining water from the sky to quench the fires and aid man in growing food.
“That is why you can’t go outside during the battle between Carlus and Maiko that you hear as thunder. That is also why it is difficult to get reluctant Maiko to appear in the form of the fire we use for cooking or, as this fire now, for heat.
“Until this very day, Carlus, the water, and Hostum, the earth, work together to help man. Hostum watches over man and brings forth seeds, while Carlus helps these seeds grow. Maiko unknowingly aids man with his heat and light.
“And that is the story of rain, and the story of man.”
The children kissed me. “That was a very good story,” said Jacasta. “Yes,” said Demetrius, “thank you, father.” And, because it had stopped raining, they ran back outside to play.