A summertime breeze chased away the creeping chill of night. It rustled Grigor’s hair as he sat on a hill observing the soft, gently-rolling terrain below him. A distant streetlamp bathed the world in its sodium-amber glow, driving a wedge of light into the surrounding darkness. Grigor could just barely make out the reflection of the pond at the base of his hill, a pool formed from the spill of a slow-flowing hot spring that trickled from a sheer face on the other side. And within the pool, the figures of his yearmates frollicked and swam within the characteristically thick water. He longed to join them, but yet he waited, for the shape of his favorite was nowhere to be found amongst the laughing and chattering groups below.

However, there was also a hesitancy to his waiting. He and his mates were intruding upon sacred lands– lands preserved for the goddess, dangerous to mortals, where the terrain could shift violently at a moment’s notice. But these ponds were known to form every night, and it was a dream of their generation to bathe in them, even if just once. With their Adulthood Rites given just yesterday, they’d decided there was no better night than now to fulfill their collective wish. Given the occasion, Grigor had decided to attend the celebration after some convincing from his friends.

His eyes wandered. From the range of great hills in front, down to the enormous plateau to his left that was surrounded by flat-topped mesas of various sizes. All this made up his home: the enormous land they called “Rūm.” He remembered his first time being on that open plateau, surrounded by the enormous land masses, one of which he now sat upon. He’d felt so small then; just a mote living upon a world so large and uncaring as to leave his continued existence to little more than pure chance. And now, gazing into the darkness while another warm breath of wind washed over him, he felt that same insignificance. The smallest whim of his goddess could snuff him out before he’d even know what was happening.

A hand on his shoulder startled him out of his musing.

“Grigor! Why aren’t you swimming?” Her sweet voice made his heart leap.

“I was waiting for you,” he said, and turned around to look up at Reyna, his favorite person in all the wide world.

“Oh! You didn’t have to!” her delicate hands gripped his arm and attempted to pull him to his feet. “I had to wait for my parents to fall asleep. My father had evening watch tonight... and I think he suspected something.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said, standing and looking down into her excited face. But after a moment, her expression fell.

“You looked sad.”

“Just thinking… but I’m glad you’re here! I didn’t want to come all the way here for nothing.”

Reyna laughed, and took him by the hand. “Then let’s make it worth the trip!” With that, she pulled him down the slope.

They stripped until only their undergarments remained and their bare feet sank into ground saturated with moisture. Their yearmates cheered a welcome to them both as Grigor and Reyna flopped into liquid so viscous as to almost be a slime that swallowed them in its warm embrace. The pair couldn’t help but laugh in delight as their bodies sank between the bubbles and froth; finally, they were here in a sacred pool, bathing in waters belonging to no one but the goddess herself! But religious fervor was quickly overtaken by youthful inhibitions. Moments later, Grigor and Reyna were both splashing and leaping with the rest of the celebrants.

The night wore on. As liquid seeped into the ground, it was replenished from the ever-flowing trickle from the cliff-face, and gave its scent to the air that blew from the very same cave. Grigor held his favorite close; how supple her skin as it dimpled beneath the touch of his fingertips! How soft her hair beneath his chin, and the tickle of her eyelashes and lips on his neck! He hummed to her the only love song he knew while they stepped back and forth in the warm water.

Reyna lifted her head from under his. Her eyes sparkled in the red-sodium glow from beyond, and he saw her lips part. Grigor’s heart pounded, but nevertheless, instincts drove him on. He tilted his head and lowered his jaw. Their breaths mingled as their mouths drew closer to each other. Months of longing all condensed into this single moment. Their lips met.

A rumble rolled across the terrain. A blast of wind, harsher than before, blew from the cave in the cliff. It tore drops of liquid from the pool, and forced the bathers to all look toward the cave in terror.

“Uuuuggh…” it said. The earth churned, hills becoming plains and plains becoming hills, and the entire mountain range began to rise before the collection of youths. Grigor hugged Reyna tightly while her fingers clutched at his chest. Neither made a sound; astonishment sat like bricks on their lungs. In front of their eyes, the world took form, and with the light of the distant lamp, they saw that it was the shape of their goddess.

Her statuesque form merged into the darkness, shrouding her face from their surprised staring. She was so big… the entire pond they were in could fit within the palm of her hand several times over. Though he’d seen her many times before, it was this moment, being so close and unsheltered that Grigor realized the true extent of his insignificance. The entire enormous, endless world was made for her, and he was only there by happenstance.

Her hand appeared from the black sky. The palm descended, coming closer, blotting out everything beyond with its immensity until it seemed to extend from horizon to horizon. Grigor understood now why this place was forbidden, but one last look at Reyna made him glad to have unheeded his elders’ warning. He only wished her eyes were not full of tears.

----

The sudden wetness under her palm gave Sarah a start. She looked down, and by the streetlight shining through her window she saw a splatter on her pillow. She touched the back of her hand to her cheek. Sure enough, a strand of drool trailed from her lips and over her cheek, to presumably the former puddle below.

“Ew…” she muttered, but wiped her mouth along her arm. She then threw back her blankets and plodded out of the room.

She returned a few moments later. With the sensation in her bladder relieved, she crawled back into bed. A quick glance at the clock on her cell phone told her she still had a few more hours of sleep before work. She tugged closed the window curtains so that the room was thrown into near-complete darkness, and then she flipped over her pillow. With a pleased sigh, her head settled into the fresh, cool, crisp fabric. She was asleep only a few minutes later.

With her mind lost in the clouds of slumber, Sarah’s lips drifted apart. Her breath flowed out as a warm wind, and drops of drool began to trickle out onto the pillow below. After some time, nestled between two folds in the fabric, a new pool had formed.

On the other side approached a group of minuscule figures. Their bodies were haggard, and their eyes were stained with the wrinkles and tears of worry. They glanced at each other, and then down toward the pool.

Sarah’s breath ruffled their hair as they began their futile search.