Grace wandered the aisles at Walgreens, shopping for motion sickness pills for her upcoming vacation to the Bahamas. It was going to be a quick plane trip from Florida to the islands with her fiance, but no matter how short the trip was, she was sure she’d get motion sick before arriving at the islands. Her search for the pills ended when she spotted them on the top shelf.

Grace, standing at a mere 4’9", found the top shelf a nearly impossible task for herself to reach. Eager to snatch the Dramamine pills, she stretched her body and got onto her tippy toes, straining towards the elusive bottle perched high above. Despite her efforts, it remained frustratingly out of reach. She tried again, this time leaping with arms outstretched. But even jumping proved futile, as the yellow-labeled bottle was just beyond her grasp.

“Here, let me help you out,” a woman behind Grace said.

Still looking up at the bottle, she saw a woman’s arm extend overhead and pluck the bottle with ease. Grace could sense that this woman was taller than her, but that wasn’t saying much, given her exceptionally short stature. The stranger lowered the pills in front of her face, where Grace reached and gently clutched it.

“Oh, thank you! I don’t understand why they put these so hi—” As Grace turned to the stranger, she leaped backwards in fear, the back of her body colliding with the product shelf, knocking some flu medicines to the ground. It was Goddess Hailee—she was sure of it! Despite Hailee, wearing a face mask to cover herself, Grace recognized the goddess’s distinct, ethereal eyes.

Her hands went numb, dropping the bottle of motion sickness pills on the floor next to her feet. Without turning her head, Grace eyed around the busy store and saw everyone going about their business, unaware there was a goddess in their presence. Grace lowered herself, preparing to pray to Hailee, but felt the goddess stopped her, lifting her up from under her pits.

“No, please don’t do that, Grace.”

Grace’s lower lips trembled as she said, “I’m sorry, Goddess Hailee.”

“Shhh.” Hailee lifted a finger up to her masked lips. “I don’t want anyone to know it’s me.”

Hailee stood at 5’7” tall, her pre-ascension height—and it was temporary height, given the difficulty of cramming so much divinity into a small package. She transformed herself to this height and wore a mask so she could visit Grace in public without drawing attention.

Goddess Hailee was a mixture of half a dozen races, giving her a rich dark brown tone that showcased her African American, Filipino, and European descent. Hailee wore clothes that could mistake her for a fashion model, wearing the latest must-have streetwear. Her stylish clothes, from world-renowned designers, accented her form and sculpted ass. Her hair was a natural dark brown with highlights about mid-length. Currently, she had it styled in a ponytail.

“Goddess Hailee, is th-there anything I can do for you?” Grace asked, fighting the urge to drop and cry in the fetal position on the floor.

“Enough with the ‘goddess’ talk,” she said. Grace could see Hailee smiling under the mask. “I was just curious what you guys were up to. I see you’re alone. Where’s Jay at?”

“He-he’s back at the apartment cooking din-dinner.”

“He’s cooking dinner for his future wife? Well, isn’t that nice of him? Hey, what’s with the Dramamine? Going somewhere?”

“Oh yes, me and Ja—Jay are going to the Bahamas on a va-vacation. I need the pi-pi-pills for the plane.”

“The Bahamas? That’s so, so him—just a huge romantic, always planning stuff like that. Imagine that... My ex-boyfriend taking his fiancée on a romantic getaway,” Hailee said. The fluorescent lights in the store hummed like a diesel generator and the lights shined bright like the sun. Just before it seemed like they were going to pop, they dropped back to normal. The customers and employees stopped what they were doing during the anomaly and returned to their business once the lights stabilized. “I’m so happy for you two.”

“Y-you are?”

“Are you scared, Grace?” Hailee asked, as she gently placed her hands on Grace’s shoulders. The petite Asian woman let out a barely audible gasp. “Why are you scared?”

“Because I’m marrying Jay.”

“And?”

“I-I think you st-st-still have feelings for Jay. And you d-don’t want him to ma-marry me.”

Hailee giggled, causing her to readjust her facemask. “You know I’m the G-word, right? I got powers that can bend reality. I can make you disappear, like that.” Hailee snapped her finger. Grace felt a tremor deep in the earth at that exact moment. “And poof, you and your family will be my next meal, and your souls would become my possession for all of eternity.”

Grace could not control her shaking. A stream of urine trickled down her thigh and pooled on the ground. “I know,” Grace said under a soft sob.

“But honey,” Hailee said in a warm tone. “You’re still standing. Alive and healthy. I’ve done nothing to you, have I?”

“No.” Grace shook her head.

Hailee ran her fingers through Grace’s black hair and adjusted a few stray strands. “I hope we could have a positive relationship, babe. I don’t enjoy seeing you so scared of me—it kinda breaks my heart, to be honest.”

Grace listened to Hailee’s tone and speech and didn’t find it disingenuous or sarcastic. It felt like Hailee meant her words, but there was no telling with the gods. They could be more manipulative than the most cunning human.

“Hey, this might sound like a silly little question,” Hailee said, her voice sounding like someone about to gossip. “But have you chosen a deity yet?”

Grace nodded and said, “yes.”

“Who is it?” Hailee asked with a smile, obscured by her mask.

“You.”

“Aww, you’re not just saying that?”

“I mean it. It’s you Godd—, I mean, Hailee.”

“Get out of here! You’re not just saying that because you think I want to hear that?”

“No, no, no. You’re the best god of them all. I, I can’t believe how cool you are about me and Jay.”

“Aww. Don’t mention it.” Hailee’s smile vanished. “You know, as my worshipper, your soul will be mine when you die.” The surrounding product shelves rattled and the overhead lights began swinging as a tremor reverberated throughout the store.

“Yes.”

“And you’ll be mine for eternity.” Hailee took a step forward, causing Grace to back into the shelf with more force. Her back and head digging into the metal shelving. “Be sure you send me an invitation to the wedding.”

“O-okay.”

“Thank you. Now, I gotta get out of here soon. You won’t believe how hard it is to stay this small.” Hailee smiled again and waved her fingers at Grace as she walked out of the store with a skip in her step.

-

Jay and Grace found themselves on a bustling commercial plane bound for the Caribbean Islands. The plane’s cabin was configured with three seats on either side of the aisle. Jay sat in a window seat, since his fiancée had a fear of flying over water and didn’t want to see dizzying views. She sat in the middle seat next to Jay, while a stranger occupied the aisle seat.

“You okay, babe?” Jay asked Grace. “You still look spooked.”

It had been three days since Hailee visited Grace, and the short woman had been a nervous wreck ever since. She drank a jack and coke, hoping it would calm her nerves. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw a wrathful Hailee, with a rage that could split the earth, taking out her frustrations on her for marrying Jay.

It had been almost a year since the gods ascended, and it was hard to forget how deadly those first few days were for the world. There was so much chaos in that first week, as the once humans learned how to command their powers and mortals around them. No one, including the gods, knew how to handle a new reality. Death. There was so much of it. Mostly accidental. Then purposeful as mortals tried to fight back against the self-proclaimed gods. The world has stabilized since those days, but no one dared forget how powerful the gods were. They demanded respect and nothing short of complete, unwavering fealty.

“Babe?” Jay asked, breaking her trance and causing her to jump in her seat. “Babe, it’s okay. Seriously, you shouldn’t worry about Hailee. It’s not like she Goddess Alexandra—if that were the case, none of us would be here.” He drank a ginger ale.

“Maybe this isn’t a good idea,” Grace said to him, her voice quivering. “We should call it off.”

“What? The wedding?”

Grace nodded, her face contorting as if she were about to cry.

“Nonsense. Don’t you see what Hailee’s doing? She’s trying to scare you and make you break up with me. Don’t let her win, babe.”

“She’s. A. Goddess.” She took a long sip of her drink. “If she wants me to call off the wedding, I’ll do it. I’ll do whatever she says!”

“Stop worrying,” he said with a smile. “It’s Hailee. Remember that. She’s never harmed a fly and was the nicest person I knew in college.”

“Babe,” Grace said, in a loud hush. “She’s killed people!”

“Oh, come on, babe. You know it’s not fair to say that. If she knew what was going on—”

“How are you so cool with all this? We’re both worshippers of hers. She owns our souls, and she’s going to torture us forever and ever, because I married the love of her life; and because you dumped her when she became a goddess. We’re doomed. Doomed.”

“Deep breaths, honey,” he said as he embraced her. “Deep—breaths.” He lead by example and took slow breaths for Grace to follow. “As insane as it sounds, out of all the gods to worship, my ex-girlfriend is still the best choice.”

The plane shook as it hit a bit of turbulence. He kept looking into Grace, her breathing finally returning to normal and relative peace. He used a napkin to wipe the tears from her eyes and then kissed her lips after words. A loud commotion from the front of the plane caught their attention. They couldn’t tell if people were cheering, gasping fearfully, or if it was a mixture of the two. Several people started clapping, and one person shouted, “hallelujah!”

“Oh shit,” Jay said.

Goddess Hailee walked down the aisle of the plane, standing at her divine height of seven and half feet tall. She wore a shimmering silver dress that gracefully reached the midpoint of her thighs. Her feet were adorned in a pair of matching silver heels, their metallic gleam catching the light. Her toes, perfectly pedicured and painted black, peeked out from the strappy design of her heels. The faint scent of her perfume lingered in the air. Her skin was flawless and had a luminescence to it, as if she were under bright stage lights. Her looks were complete with her sleek hair let down, resembling a cover-model for a magazine.

The passengers on the plane reacted in mix ways. Some were awestruck, some bowed and prayed a generic prayer, others reached out their trembling hands, only for the goddess to reach out and touch them back. Her warmth and love transcending onto them like thick molasses. Some cried in joy. A few cried in fear.

“Goddess Hailee,” a woman in her late sixties, got up into the aisle, in the goddess's path. “I want you to have this.” She took off a wedding ring and handed to the goddess. “My late husband and I were married for forty years. He passed before you became god. I know, sincerely, he would’ve devoted his life to you—as I do today.”

Hailee accepted the ring, touched by the woman's words, and smiled wholeheartedly. As the ring laid in the middle of her palm, it glowed, before turning to a ball of light. The love and commitment for which it stood, Hailee absorbed. The Goddess let out a breath that caused the plane to vibrate as it went through another rough patch of turbulence. Some passengers screeched and held on tightly to their seats.

“Thank you,” the goddess said. “I know that sacrificing your ring meant a lot to you; and it’s a gesture I will not soon forget. It may bring you comfort to know that your husband is with me. And he says he loves you.”

The woman nodded and sniffed, holding back her tears. “Bless you, Goddess Hailee.”

“I’ve noticed your back pain,” Hailee said.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she said, waving her hand. “I’ve had back issues for the last fifteen years.”

“So, it’s probably time it goes away?” Hailee asked as she placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder. In a matter of seconds, her chronic pain was completely gone.

The woman couldn’t believe. A flurry of praise came out of her mouth as she dropped to her knees and worshiped Hailee. The other passengers also joined in and sang their love and devotion to the goddess.

As Hailee closed her eyes, each word of worship, spoken with genuine awe and admiration, seemed to weave through the air, transforming the environment. Their worship of her was intoxicating and contagious. The passengers, previously gripped by fear, found themselves caught in an inexplicable euphoria.

Hailee came down from the high of the worship and released a drawn-out exhale. She opened her eyes slowly, as if waking from a deep slumber. Almost forgetting what she was doing there, she gazed over and saw Jay and Grace sitting near the back.

“Thank you everyone,” Hailee said, “but I must speak to my friends now. Please clear a path.”

As Hailee walked down the aisle, locking eyes with Jay and with a smirk, objects around her levitated an inch off their surface. Cups and tissues on tray tables, passenger’s ties, and magazine floated as she walked by, the power of her presence casting an electric aura around her.

She stopped at Jay and Grace’s row. She looked at the stranger seated in the aisle seat next to Grace and asked if she could borrow his seat. He unbuckled and jumped out of his seat in less than a second.

Hailee smiled at him and prepared to fit her statuesque height into the economy seat. Her legs pressed up against the seat in front of her, her knee ramming into it violently, punching the back of the passenger seated there—who took the hit without a trace of a complaint.

“Fuck,” she said. Her left leg, she extended and let stretched out into the aisle. She moved her right knee over so it spilled in front of Grace. She shoved her foot over and got it under the seat in front of her. It was like an adult man trying to fit in a kindergartener’s chair. “Son of a bitch.” The armrest dug into her hips, but Hailee grabbed the plastic piece and bent it outwards so she could fit comfortably. “There we go.” She looked over at Grace. The Asian woman’s face was frozen, her mouth wide open, looking as if she were catatonic.

Jay was shaking his head slowly and said, “what are you doing here Hailee?”

“What? I can’t stop by and see how my ex-boyfriend and fiancée are doing?”

“I’d say no. See, it feels borderline stalker-ish.”

“Come on, Jay.” She said, talking over Grace who hadn’t moved, her mouth still gaped open. “I’m god. It might seem like I’m stalking you, but I’m just checking on my subjects.”

“Does that explain your behavior towards Grace the other day?” he asked, point at his frozen fiancée. “You scared her half to death at the store. She wants to call off the wedding now, because of how scared she is.”

“Really?” Hailee asked, perking up, causing the sun outside to burn brighter. “So, it’s over?”

“No, Hailee.”

The sun returned to its normal brightness. “Oh.”

“We know what you’re doing, and we think that’s really mean of you. Scaring Grace with your powers is so messed up. I love Grace. Love her so much, I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I want to raise a family and grow old with her. You get me?”

Hailee looked despondent, like someone losing at Mario Kart when they were so close to winning, only to get hit by a red shell right before the finish line. “I didn’t ask for this, Jay.”

“I know.”

“If I could trade spots with Grace, I would. I want to be with you.”

Jay reached over and took Hailee’s massive hands into his, resting on Grace’s lap. “Grace and I are—we worship you. You have my soul, Hailee. In a weird way, we’ll still be together.”

“I don’t want you that way. I want a family and to get old with you, too.”

“It won’t happen. Remember, I’m in love with Grace now. Not with you.”

That felt like a punch to the gut for Hailee. Storm clouds formed outside the plane windows as Hailee sat back in her tiny seat. She looked forward and saw that nearly all the passengers were looking back at her. Hailee gazed down at Grace, whose fearful eyes remained glued to hers.

“Please stop looking at me like that,” Hailee said. “I already told you, I’m not gonna hurt you, okay?”

Grace finally blinked and broke her hypnotic stare off the brown-skinned goddess.

“Here, have this,” Hailee said as a red rose materialized in her hand. She gave it to Grace, who hesitated for a moment before plucking the rose. It was a perfect specimen, with rich color and elegant petals.

“Thank you,” Grace mumbled.

“Don’t mention—it.” Hailee leaned in and gave Grace an intense stare accompanied with a smirk, with only one corner of her lips raised.

Grace swallowed a lump as she looked into the goddess’s eyes. There was something there. She looked closer. It was if her eyes became a telephoto lens. She kept zooming into Hailee’s eyes. Details unseen before became clearer as the brown iris took up her entire vision. There was something there. Behind the black pupil. It was moving. What is that? Grace moved her head closer and saw what it was.

Her breathing became short and rapid. Her heart thumped irregularly, and the color from her skin drained. An overwhelming horror caused the hair on the back of her neck to rise and goosebumps to rivet across her skin. She screamed. Behind Hailee’s pupils were tiny people, pounding on her eyes as if they were trying to escape from behind a window. Souls… many of them, trapped inside Hailee, tormented and wailing for release.

“Grace, Grace, what’s wrong?” Jay asked. “Hailee, what did you do?”

“Oops, maybe she saw something she wasn’t supposed to?”

“What does that mean?” Jay asked, holding his hysterical fiancée who was trying to back away from Hailee, kicking back and clamoring up on top of her seat, screaming, and falling on Jay’s lap. “Hailee, tell me!”

Hailee rolled her eyes and said, “Grace, chill. That’s just what happens to bad people, okay? You’re safe with me.” She gave the frightened woman a wink.

“The fuck does that mean, Hailee?” Jay asked.

“Okay, you don’t have to curse at me,” Hailee said.

“Leave us the fuck alone, please. We don’t want you here.”

“Careful, Jay.” The clouds got darker outside and rain pelted the outside of the windows.

“No, you be careful!” He shouted. Grace was still shaking in his arms. “We’ll change who we worship. We’ll praise Goddess Melissa instead and give our souls to her! At least she doesn’t tease us and scare us to death with every visit.”

“Enough!”

“No, Hailee, it’s never enough for you. Get it through your goddess head. I’m not in love with you! I love Grace.”

“Stop—”

Hailee vanished. Jay looked around the cabin and saw no trace of her.

Then the plane shook uncontrollably as it encountered violent turbulence. The seatbelt sign came as it dinged three times. Passengers shrieked and renewed their prayers to Goddess Hailee while tightening their belts.

“Babe, you got to sit.” Jay helped Grace into her seat and buckled her in. The plane felt like it suddenly dropped four hundred feet. Everyone’s lunch went up their throats as they experienced waves of positive and negative G-forces.

“Take back what you said, Jay,” Hailee said. Her voice was everywhere and nowhere. Everyone on the plane heard it, but its flat volume gave the illusion that it was in their head. But it also sounded like she was next to them. It was bizarre but explainable coming from a goddess. “You will only worship me and your soul will be mine.”

A bolt of lightning struck the plane, causing the lights and electronics to power off-and-on in the cabin. The thick clouds outside swirled away to reveal Hailee’s form.

She was immense.

Which was an understatement.

Jay looked out and saw the visage of ex-girlfriend, taking up his entire field of view. The plane was about the size of Hailee’s fingernail. It flew slowly in front of her face, her eyes locking on the pill-sized craft with over a hundred and seventy souls on board.

“You have to earn my worship, Hailee.” Jay said. “Please stop tormenting Grace and me.”

“Insolent, mortal!” The plane’s nose dove, losing lift and altitude fast. It fell below Hailee’s nose, past her slender neck, and nearly collided with her breast. “How dare you think you’re able to set conditions? You will worship me. You will hand me your soul. And you will call off the wedding.”

“Do what she says!” Grace yelled. “This isn’t worth it!”

The passengers held on their armrests, and some even assumed the crash position. They tearfully said their goodbyes to one another and prayed Hailee would spare them. Bags from overhead bins fell out, cups went flying, and flight attendants not seated strapped collided against walls and others. Some helped them and attempted to hold on as they lost thousands of feet in elevation. They looked outside and could see they were nearing Hailee’s hips.

“No, Grace, I want to marry you.” Jay yelled.

“But why me?” she asked. “You can be with a goddess. Why are you giving that up to be with me?”

“Because I love you.”

The plane was traveling past Hailee’s thighs when she heard Jay profess his love to Grace. Hailee focussed on Jay’s words and a wave of remorse overcame her. “Fuck.” And there it was. Despite being a goddess, despite her powers, and despite the plane nosediving back to earth, Jay loved Grace and not Hailee. A part of Hailee wanted the plane to crash, but that was unlike who she was. She wouldn’t let Grace or Jay perish, and definitely wouldn’t crash a plane because of her tift with the couple.

As the aircraft approached her shins, she waved her hands and halted the plane’s descent. She then leveled it and gently returned it to the sky. The storm clouds faded away and as Jay loosened his hug on Grace to look out the window, he saw they were going past Hailee’s stomach, then breasts, and then finally up to her face. She looked like she was coming down on her anger, brows furrowed slightly, while chewing on her inner lip.

“Behind you,” Hailee said.

Jay turned his head and Hailee materialized back in the aisles, at her goddess height of seven and a half feet tall. Jay turned his head back outside, and Hailee’s colossal form was no longer there. The sun was back out, and the winds were calm. The commercial plane returned to its cruising altitude of 30,000 feet and its normal cruising speed.

Hailee turned and faced the disheveled passengers, who stared back at her with fear. The love in the air was gone. “Sorry,” she said, her words laced with guilt. “I sort of lost it there, huh? I still love you all and I hope I can win your love back.” Hailee sensed some worshippers returning, but it wasn’t like before. Too far. You went too far.

She then turned to Jay and Grace: he looking up angrily, and she traumatized.

“Hey,” Hailee said, “let me repay you guys for everything. I’ll plan the wedding for you. I’ll take care of everything. Venue, cost—”

“Please, leave us alone, Hailee.” Jay said. “You’re not invited to the wedding. How could you be, after everything you done to us?”

Hailee didn’t respond. After several moments, she nodded in agreement with Jay’s words.

She walked to the rear of the plane, feeling all the passenger’s eyes on her. When she reached the last row, she asked for the man’s seat. He didn’t resist or ask questions and fled from the seat. Hailee sat down next to a stranger, getting comfortable in the tiny seat quicker than before. As she sat there, she looked over the heads of dozens of passengers and stared at Jay, watching him console his future wife.

Hailee looked down at the woman seated next to her and waved her fingers. The woman was gone, replaced by a man wearing a tux.

This mysterious man appeared out of thin air like an apparition. He seemed dazed, but maintained his composure. He lifted his hands up to about shoulder height with his index fingers pointed up. His eyes darted left and right until he caught sight of Hailee, changing his mood instantly.

“Goddess Hailee,” he said with a lilt. His smile was radiant and was genuinely happy to see her. “To what I owe this pleasure?”

“Professor, don’t call me ‘goddess,’ it sounds so weird when you say it.” She frowned mockingly.

“And don’t call me ‘professor.’ Makes me feel old. I’m only in my thirties.”

“Fine. Stanley. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” she asked, looking up and down at his outfit.

“Not really. I can always watch the Rolling Stones live at the Met, anytime.” He said, adjusting his cuff links.

“A tux to a rock concert?”

“It’s a long story, really. See, I got into this argument with my sister, where she accused me of dressing like a hobo. So, I’d thought I’d embarrass her by wearing this to the concert when we met up.”

“That wasn’t a long story.”

“Oh, shoot, you’re right.”

“Did it work? Was she uncomfortable being with you?” Hailee asked, her body melting into the seat as her friend took her mind off things.

“Not at all.” He slunk back into his seat. “This is going to sound weird. But I think I was the one embarrassed.” He shook his head and said, “oh, my sister is really crafty.”

Hailee smiled and brought her attention forward. She casually looked at the back of Jay’s head, as he was still helping his fiancée relax.

“What’s up, Hail? I’m sure you didn’t bring me on this…” he said, looking at his new setting. “Plane? …to talk about me. Where are we headin’?”

“I screwed up, Stanley. Like, royally fucked things up.” Hailee explained the events preceding his appearance.

Stan took a deep breath as he processed what she said. “So… you were… how big?”

“That doesn’t matter. I just—I don’t know, I got big to show off my powers. It backfired hard.”

“B-but, how big?”

“Huge.”

“And I missed it? Do it again, show me.”

Hailee smirked and let out a puff of air. “No, I won’t do it again.”

“Hail, you gotta understand. When you want to get big like that, you teleport me before, not after.”

Hailee tweaked his nose playfully. “Focus, Stanley. What can I do to fix this? Can’t I just make him stop loving Grace? Or, or, just shoot a cupid’s arrow in his butt and make him love me again?”

“We went over this, Hail. If you do any of that, you’ll be ending freewill. And no one wants that, including you, even if it means Jay comes crawling back to you.”

“I’m not talking about everyone’s freewill. Just his.”

“Let’s suppose that’s true—it’s not, by the way—but let’s say you remove only Jay’s freewill. You make him un-love Grace. You make him love you. Now, what do you got?”

“I have Jay back.” She said, placing her hand under her chin. Her attention was solely on Stan.

Stan smiled back at the goddess. It was like looking at a Photoshopped image: flawless skin, perfect hair, and captivating good looks. Even before her ascension, Hailee was an attractive woman with a promising future, and a heart of gold.

“Would you have Jay back? His actions and thoughts—would be completely controlled by you. Would he love you? You can make him love you. But do you think that’s really coming from him?” he asked and paused, allowing Hailee to digest his words. “Hail, it would be the equivalent of looking at the mirror and telling yourself how much you love yourself. It wouldn’t be Jay. It would be a robot repeating your commands.”

“I see,” she said, unwilling to accept reality. “So, I should just give up? Because he’ll never be with me again?”

“I don’t know. But I know the more you press him, the more he’s gonna resist you.”

“Why did you say, if I affect his freewill, it will affect everyone’s?”

“That’s the game. It’s why all gods before you, to include the original, never took away our freewill. We would no longer be autonomous creatures, carrying about life without someone else’s control. We’d be lifeless puppets, that the puppet master would have to control—and I mean all the puppets that ever existed. The trillions of life out there in the universe, every day, every second. A lot easier, and practical, if everyone had their own freewill, that allowed them to live their own unique lives and control their own destiny.”

“Jay doesn’t want me to be at the wedding,” she said in a whisper. “And he said he was going to stop worshipping me. He said he’s switching to team Melissa.”

“That, I cannot understand. Hey, did you sense me worshipping you this morning? I went extra hard.”

Hailee giggled. “You are up there.”

“Wait, I’m not your top worshipper? How?”

“There are some people that are—really dedicated, y’know?”

“I guess I didn’t know that.” He wiggled in his seat, feeling discomfort by her words. “I guess I have to up my game. I’ll be your top worshiper, Hails. You’ll see. Have you got a personal prayer yet?”

Hailee rolled her eyes. “No. Those things are so dumb. Besides, I still don’t know what kind of god I am.”

“You’re the best! Maybe that should be your prayer. ‘Hail, Hail, she’s the best; she’s godlier than the rest.’”

“Shut up,” Hailee said with a laugh, loud enough to make people turn their heads. There was a sense of relief washing through the cabin. The goddess was no longer in a sour mood and it probably meant no more near-death experiences. The plane was flying level and without issue. Outside, the weather was perfect, with a calm Atlantic ocean shimmering under the sun. “So, what should I do about Jay?”

“Give him space Hail. Let him know you're available to him when he’s ready to talk. But no more psycho ex-girlfriend antics, ‘kay? It’s really rough for men to deal with crazy ex’s—and I can’t imagine what it’s like for Jay, because his crazy ex is an all-powerful god.”

“Okay, new rule, don’t call me a ‘crazy ex’ anymore.”

Stan snapped his fingers. “That should be in the second part of your prayer.”

Hailee giggled. Her smile was contagious, and those who witnessed smiled back at the goddess.

“Thanks for the talk, Stanley. I really needed it.”

A gust of wind struck him as the goddess disappeared. Passengers glanced around to find that the towering goddess had vanished. A wave of sadness washed over them, as her absence meant they were no longer graced by her presence. Though she had her hangups, though she was terrifying when she lost her temper, when Hailee was in a good mood, then everyone was in an exceptional mood.

“Hail?” Stan asked, rising from his seat. “Hail, you forgot to send me back to the Met.” He sat back down with a sigh. “Well, shit.” He turned to the passenger next to him and asked, “where are we going?”