“This is awful,” Heidi said when I was done making our food.

I shrugged. “It’s a meal.”

There was a long, awkward pause after that.

She didn’t look up at me when she said, “So, are you going to tell me the truth about you now?”

“I have.” I said.

“I can’t stand lies.” Heidi, as I would come to learn, was sassy at the best of times, but especially when people weren’t truthful with her. “Tell me the truth.”

I closed my three eyes. There was nothing left to say if she decided not to believe.

“I guess you can choose to be a lying piece of filth if you want. Don’t come crying to me when it gets you into trouble.” She finally looked up at me under her angry, bushy eyebrows.

“It’s not my fault you choose not to listen.” I answered evenly.

“Come on, Joshua. There’s no such thing as Gods.” She insisted.

“That’s not a nice thing to say to a God who saved your life.” I countered,  attempting to keep a level head. I had to.

“Why would a God be looking after me of all people? Why would they give up paradise, even for a year, for my benefit?”

She put her bowl down on the filthy floor and waited for an answer.

All I could say was, “You didn’t deserve to die.”

“Then why…” She shook her head. She got to her feet and went outside.

Of course she had quite the temper. I couldn’t blame her. With all she’d been through, she earned whatever fits of anger she had. To myself I murmured, “If things were fair Heidi, you would have my life, and I yours.”

__

Heidi cheered up over the next few days. I went out of my way to help her. First, I cleaned up her house and organized it until it was fit for a God. That was for my benefit as well as hers. Then, I cleaned up her garden. As most of my power had been temporarily taken away by the Gods, I only had so much left to sneakily make her garden healthy.

Heidi was elated when it began growing. She said giddily, “My luck is finally turning around!”

She grew to be fond of my company, and even embraced me when I cleaned her house when she had gone to the market for the whole day to sell possessions she had no need of. At first, she didn’t want to be seen with me outdoors, as people would whisper things about me, and she didn’t like to hear them. But when she saw I didn’t care, she didn’t mind either.

As for me, I hated the work and still thought it beneath me; but for the first time in my life I felt what it was like to make someone else happy. Even though my hands were raw, I felt like I knew what happiness really was for the first time in my life. Life in The Above was muted. Nothing was extreme; everything was even, even emotions. Here, I could be who I really was. I felt free. More importantly, the world was not on my shoulders.

For a month, we did the same things. Tended to her garden, took walks, spoke of mundane things, and Heidi was making the most profit she ever had. We were both very happy.

But that wasn’t good for me. I would always have The Fear. The Fear of letting our emotions rule our actions. Some Gods were able to control what they felt wonderfully--like Fate-- so it was understandable that Fate allowed herself to feel whatever she liked.

For me and for Death, however, it was dangerous. I was afraid that The Fear--feeling things too deeply--was one of the things that had corrupted my brother. His mind seemed to have become diseased by feeling too much and spending too much time with his mortal woman.

I didn’t love Heidi, luckily. She was a wonderful person, and an even better friend, and I loved that she kept to her own business mostly. Beyond that first week, she no longer accused me of not being a God. Without her, I had a feeling her mortal friends would have either killed me, or sent me away by now. 

Instead of pushing the subject of whether I was a God, one day, after we were done tending her garden and we were watching the sun set, she looked at my vacant face and asked, with a little laugh, “Don’t you ever smile?”

I looked at her and blinked. Then I looked up at the sky and said quietly, “Smiles are earned. You have earned them in full--I have not.”

She looked confused for a moment, and then smiled. “You can’t put chains on a smile. Smiles aren’t earned; they should be given to you by those you love.”

I attempted to give her a very slight smile at that, and then I said, “You have a good point of view, Heidi.”

We were silent for a while, and then Heidi suddenly gave a little gasp. “You know what I realized! The prince of Ga is coming this season. He always vacations here!”

I raised an eyebrow. “What’s so special about that?”

“Me and the prince have been friends for a while.” She answered.

“You and a prince…?” I was a little incredulous. I had looked upon princes before in my life, with all three of my eyes, and in general, none of my eyes liked them. They were selfish, greedy, cruel people, who built fortunes on the backs of honest mortals. I couldn’t imagine a prince being friends with one as poor and honest as Heidi.

“I can’t understand why he vacations here, either. Ga is much more exciting.” She shrugged.

“There’s a peaceful atmosphere here…” I offered.

She snorted. “It’s boring. If I could move, I would, but there's no safety or security in moving to a new place. Not when you're as poor as I am. ”

“I think you can do anything you wish Heidi. You have the tenacity.” I commented honestly.

She ignored the comment, too humble to accept it. “You know… I’ve been thinking. You’ve been more of a help to me than anyone ever has. You don’t have to stay here any longer if you don’t want to. We can get you a job elsewhere.”

“I want to stay,” I said easily, “it’s safe here.”

But something bit at me from the back of my mind. The Fear. Because of my presence, Heidi could get hurt--possibly killed--and when I thought of that, I wasn’t sure I wanted to stay, after all… I would think it over. 

After all, my brother was probably watching us.

I leaned my cheek on my hand. I wished to go home…