4 Goddess or Midwife (2)

As she sunk back into yet another failure, a sudden movement pulsed underneath her fingertips, and her face flashed in astonishment. She actually felt a subtle sensation of life pulsating. And with the realization, came a cold feeling that the life she felt inside was dwindling within the minute.

Riya Rejoiced to herself momentarily anyway at the first sign of a supernatural ability but was dragged back to reality by the fact that the baby inside will die any minute if it doesn't come out of there.

Summoning up all her strength and courage, she decided to do the only thing she could possibly think of.

She closed her eyes tightly and lifted up the woman's robes in fear as if expecting a swarm of bats to flock out the moment she reveals the holy entrance. Senthia nearby raised her eyebrows in wonder and shock, which quickly turned into a look of utmost horror, as the great goddess herself, plunged her hand into her mother like a Cookie Jar. Her hands swirling around as if she is trying to find the secret of life in there. She was now certain that midwives she had seen before, seemed more like a goddess.

The woman screamed in agony at the top of her lungs, her screams only overshadowed by Riya's screams, who reached in and tried to grab the baby. Her hand brushed something, and without thinking, she just grabbed on and pulled. Anyone watching this would be horrified, as she plucked a naked baby out and held it up like a prize in triumph.

"I have done it! I, The great goddess of childbirth, have blessed thee." she shouted in tears, as she held the baby. The little baby boy in her hand wailed in acknowledgment to her barbaric methods and smiles formed on the faces of the mother and daughter, regardless of the method used.

"Oh my baby, thank you, thank you so much." the woman cried as she reached towards her baby, which Riya still held in the air like a newly caught fish. Basking in her glory.

"Wait, I see something still moving in there,"

Senthia's voice carried in the air, while she was leaning down and cutting the baby's cord. "I think there is another one coming," The mother grunted along, as she felt the contractions ensue once more" Twins..Oh its twins.. Goddess Riya, you have truly blessed us"

Riya's face went white with terror the moment she realized the ordeal was far from over. "I would rather die before blessing anyone with more babies, why me?!" She resigned, as she tossed the first baby boy to Senthia who expertly grabbed the child, before diving back to her womb plucking mechanics.

The screams ensued once more, but this time the baby was lodged within and would not come out, "Push! Push!" Riya screamed at the mother as if she was the one giving birth. Her method seemed to have failed this time though when no baby came out with her constant grabbing.

It took what seemed like an hour, but eventually, the second baby popped out like a cork on its own, skidding past the ill-prepared Riya to land on the floor underneath her. "Got'em!" Riya claimed the victory regardless of her contribution. "Is my baby okay? is it a girl or is it a boy?" the mother whispered, beyond exhausted. But Riya made no answer.

She prodded the baby girl gently, who made no movement at all. "Hey baby, wakey wakey. Welcome to your new home!" She shook the baby and put it against her ear to feel if there was any breathing.

But there was none.

"No...no…" the mother whispered as she saw her baby lay motionless in Riya's hand. "Please ….my baby." Tears welled up in her eyes, as she reached for her baby. Riya's thought process froze, as the adrenalin rush she felt faded away, and she found herself with a stillborn baby in hand.

"I killed it, didn't I?" she whispered to herself, laying the baby on the ground near his mother who reached out with a great effort to nuzzle him closer to her. Senthia's voice got stuck in her throat, as she swallowed painfully and watched the events unfold. She held her surviving baby brother in hand, while snot and tears alike rained from her visage.

"Is this what being a Goddess is? I'm beyond useless and you send these people to me? What cruel joke is this?" Riya stood up and walked away from her worshippers, kicking the nearby jars and glass and smashing them against a nearby wall. It wasn't till this moment that this title she treated as a joke, threw its enormous weight at her. Was she truly expected to be a sort of deity performing miracles for these people?

It seems impossible. She should have been trained for this if she was truly expected to do something to help. But her pleas fell on deaf and arrogant ears that choose to relocate her to a remote far away place rather than help her make sense of things.

It was at this moment that the altar-ground behind her began to glow again with a faint blue light. Was it another fire, this time sent to devour the poor mortal family in the altar and possibly her too?

At first, nothing happened.

Then the sound of a second baby joined the chorus of the wailing mother and daughter.

Riya turned around instantly, only to see the presumably dead baby screaming loudly at the top of its lungs. Beside him, the mother and daughter gaped their mouths in shock and looked at the goddess with tears overflowing in their eyes.

Tears of gratitude and tears of joy. No words were spoken as their twinkling eyes sang a million song of gratitude and their heads bowed low in veneration the savior before them. How else would a dead baby come back to life if not for a godly intervention?

Riya stood dumbstruck. But nodded back at them in silence, before walking away from the small rejoicing family towards her private chamber at the back of the temple. "Thank you." She whispered quietly to the empty air.