Once upon a time, there was a boy who questioned his faith.
Cujoh had always been a believer in the All-Mother, like his father and mother before him, and like the Kadamons who first met her gaze long ago.
But now he felt that something was wrong with his faith — something big. It wasn't just the number of people who were dying; it wasn't only the fact that the sun was melting away the last bit of cold in the town; it wasn't only the way the world seemed to be ending around him or the signs he saw everywhere that this was not simply another disaster, but rather the end of everything.
He sat alone at church, the All-Mother's effigy towering before him like the mighty God she was. He prayed, hoping for God to hear his call.
Yet the All-Mother's eyes were still closed. It must have sounded like nothing more than senseless babble, but then all good prayer was meant to be nonsensical. That was how he hoped to gain wisdom. So he decided to pray again, this time to the empty hall before him. Not because he feared the consequences, but because he wanted to know whether the All-Mother truly understood him or not.
Just as he was about to open his mouth, the All-Mother opened her eyes.
"My child, speak. What doth thee desire?" A voice echoed through the hall.
Cujoh could not help but shiver. The tales were true! He didn't know whether to rejoice or lament the path he was to take. He had no idea what to say or what to do. She wanted his desires, but he had none. Every time a thought came to him, it evaporated in an instant. His mind was blank.
Then came a whisper, a song that slithered deep into his heart and grasped his soul: "I want to... kill the sun!" It was his only wish.
* * *
He prayed and waited. And waited. And waited.
But nothing happened.
He looked up at the All-Mother and she was just as she always as: nothing but a lifeless effigy for reverence. Cujoh was starting to think he had gone mad. Was it the heat? Or the twisted machinations of his mind?
He had no idea how much time passed. But just as he left the effigy, he caught sight of a woman in a blue dress, who was making eyes at him. Cujoh was flustered. He thought he had been alone here. Everyone in town had gone east to chase the last bit of cold there was left in the world - even his family, who left him to his prayers without a second thought.
Still, this was a church, the only safe haven to stand the might of the heat. There were always people bound to come; travellers, thieves, killers - all were welcome in the house of God.
When he tried talking to her, she gave him a smile and a coy look and Cujoh knew that he needed to leave before he ended up doing something he'd regret.
It was around midnight (he couldn't exactly tell) when he returned to the dilapidated shack he liked to call home. It was once a mansion in better times. But now most of it had melted away, leaving only bits of the ground floor for shelter.
The moment he came in through the door, he saw her again - the woman in the blue dress - sitting on what remained of the stairs.
Her face was hidden by a veil, but he recognized her immediately. Cujoh was at a loss for words. How was she here?
And then she spoke. "Cujoh," she said softly. "You've got a lot of nerve."
Cujoh halted. How did she know his name? That was when he realized she wasn't just some traveller passing by. She knew who he was.
"Are you not going to invite me to your comely abode?" She smiled.
Cujoh didn't know what to do. He simply did as she told him.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You're right. Come in."
He led her into the living room, or what was left of it.
The woman sat at the table, taking her time getting comfortable. She crossed her legs, stretching out her arms as she did so.
"I don't think I'm supposed to know you," he confessed.
"Oh, really? You want to bet?"
Cujoh wasn't sure if she was joking or serious. So he shrugged.
"Well, I guess we'll never know then."
"So, Cujoh," she said, looking down at the table and tapping her fingernails against the wood. "Are you ready to die?"
His eyes went wide. He froze.
She turned her head to the side, examining him. After a few moments, she sighed and leaned back. "Why does everyone keep doing that?"
"Everyone?"
"Yeah. You think you’re so special?"
Cujoh began to wonder if he was in some sort of dream. Then he wondered if he was dying. But no matter how he shook his head, she was still there.
"I've come to warn you. You've been chosen for great things."
"By whom?"
She laughed. "Me, of course! Who else?”
“I don’t-”
“Look, we're all chosen by someone for something eventually. And I can tell by the way you talked back there that you believe in the All-Mother, yes? She knows your heart. Your fears. Your desires. And those desires brought you me… so hey, lucky you. You just hit the jackpot! Woohooo!"
Cujoh was surprised. He didn’t know whether the sun had driven this woman mad or if was it he who had gone off the deep end.
"If I may ask, who are you?"
“I am whatever you want me to be.”
Cujoh felt a chill in his bones.
"But you can't possibly mean..."
“No. Now you’ve strayed too far…”
A strange presence filled the air. It made Cujoh feel as though he had stumbled upon an ancient secret. He was suddenly afraid to move.
Then the woman stood, smoothing out her dress as she pressed toward him. She stopped beside him and lifted her right hand to his cheek. "How long has it been since you last slept?"
Cujoh had no answer to that. He couldn't remember.
"Don't tell me you haven’t had some shut-eye in months now, have you?"
"No..."
She smiled, "Yep. You've got quite a couple of screws loose alright."
She pulled away, placing a finger under his chin. "You're smiling."
Cujo hadn’t noticed it but it didn’t surprise him anymore - not when nothing made sense with this woman.
"Let's go somewhere more private, okay?"
"Where are we going?"
She smiled again, turning her back to him. "Just follow me."
She led him from the house and onto a nearby hillside. The heat was suffocating as always, like a blanket wrapped around his throat, but it was nothing he was not used to.
There were fallen trees, and a small stream ran through the dried grass, boiling and popping with heat. The sun nestled above the horizon, just as it always was, casting a red glow over the land. It was old, its skin blackened by the heat. But it was beautiful… and Cujoh hated that.
Be it day or night, the blazing disk never left the sky. It was always up there and it was always melting. His only respite from the searing light came when he slept and in those moments he dreamt of waterfalls, forests and clear skies. The things that had once filled him with wonder were now distant memories. A pale imitation of what they used to be.
“Now,” the woman stopped. She turned to look at him, “think about your desire.”
“What?”
She leaned closer to his face, “The thing you desire most in the world.” She whispered in his ear, “Think about it.”
Cujoh tried thinking for a moment.
But before he knew it, the woman was kissing him.
Her lips were soft and warm as they slid against his. It was all too much for him to handle. He tried to pull away but she held on tight, kissing him with a passion that matched the intensity of her gaze.
The kiss went on and on for a long time; it wasn't until the second round of kisses that he realized how awkward this situation was becoming. She pulled back, looked at him with a devilish grin, and then kissed him once again. “For good measure!”
“What are you…?”
And in one fell swoop, she aimed her finger at the blazing disk and...
She shot the sun.
It blasted, like a shooting star, streaking across the sky.
An instant later, the world went dark. The star's light faded away, leaving only darkness in its wake. A single ray of sunlight peeked through the thick cloud cover.
Cujoh jerked up in shock, but a quick look at the faint glimmers of darkness before made him realize what the woman had tried to do.
For the first time in millennia, the sun was gone from the sky, and Cujoh could not help but laugh out loud.
“Piece of shit pulled its defences and scrammed, huh,” the woman chuckled as she helped herself off the ground. She looked at Cujoh, “What were you thinking about?”
Cujoh's face turned bright red. "I, uh… err…”
The woman sighed, “Ho boy, this is going to be a lot harder than I thought.”
“Harder? You shot the freaking sun! How harder can you go?” Cujoh tried to wrap his head around what just transpired. “Just who the hell are you?”
It was here, underneath the blazing rain, that the woman revealed herself for the first time.
“My name is KISSGUN…” she turned to Cujoh and smiled. “I’m an angel of death. And you’re going to help me kill the sun.”
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