Cupid

I scratched at my head, wondering why this night of all days.

Because you write better in bed, when you don't pay attention to every silly detail, Mars roared, as you know, all my sons have been declared dead!

Cupid? Is Cupid out of favour, is he dead?

“I said, close to death,” he ranted. Hey, are you listening to me, shouted the giant next to my bed, who was clearly on the warpath.

The image of a chubby baby with ridiculously small wings appeared in my mind's eye.
Bleh Cupid. Who would believe that a baby with that much hair could shoot an arrow? And why did I have to go save his offspring?

If humanity continues like this, soon there will be no Cupid left, Mars roared upset. My phone landed on the mattress next to my head with a thud.

Hey, be careful, if you break it there will be nothing left to write, I growled.

Should I enlighten you, he asked sweetly, while aiming a bolt of lightning at me like a spear.

How is Venus, I asked, ignoring his angry look.

Good, he muttered in surprise.

Well, then there is nothing to worry about, after all, she is the Goddess of Love and otherwise, you would just adopt that Greek guy Eros.

I grabbed my phone and pulled the covers over my head. I didn't owe that old god of thunder anything, what was he thinking?

When was Cupid's change actually initiated? From a young man, he turned into an overweight baby. A baby who couldn't even fly properly. Were his wings clipped or just for appearance's sake?

Where are the bow and arrow, I wanted to know from Mars, who still stood menacingly next to my bed.

It is that cursed Valentine who has driven away my sons with his one-day annual celebration. And if you must know... A bow and arrow appeared in his open hand.

That bow and arrow looked familiar to me. I automatically stretched out my hand.

Hands off Diana! If you don't save my boys, you can forget about hunting from now on.

As if there is still a lot to hunt, I grumbled, modern man knows 1001 rules as to why hunting is prohibited and has clearly forgotten where the food comes from. Why do you think I became a writer?

I'm waiting, get started!

Oh well, how could Cupid the Roman god know that everything he stands for would one day be forbidden?
Those who do not keep up with time are erased from memory. The Cupids had not noticed that their arrows were no longer effective or even had an unwanted effect. The Church had banned Desire, Lust, Eroticism, Attraction and Affection centuries ago and governments worldwide had done the rest by killing Creativity. Each modern human was a clone of the other. And Cupid? He changed into the devil's son to make each religious person stay away, at least those who don't want the gates of heaven to remain closed.

What nonsense are you scribbling, Mars roared, heaven is only for the immortal race, the Gods!

What your children need is a makeover, an upgrads because Lust turns into obsession, Desire into stalking behaviour. You know those unwanted guests who enter your bedroom in the middle of the night. I looked irritated at the giant who had made himself comfortable and lay down on my bed.

Hey!

There is plenty room for two, you don't need that much space.

My bed creaked alarmingly under the weight of Mars.

Eroticism had destroyed itself and had no longer anything to do with true love. Attraction just like Affection had experienced that themselves, without Love each one of them was meaningless. The first was not allowed due to the trafficking of women and Affection was only for the elderly and for those who had a pet.

The God on my bed, who, unlike his children, regularly showed his presence, read silently over my shoulder.

I think you are right, he said, without Venus, there is no true love including everything that's part of it.

I reached for the bow and arrow he had left on my bed. To Love and Happiness, I said, as I aimed my arrow.

Flashes of lightning shot through the sky.

Diaaaana! It thundered.

I smiled. It was bull's eye. It promised to be a beautiful day.

18-2-2024

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