Author: Callista Loveday
Rating: G
Disclaimer: The story of a Greek goddess
who was tragically turned into a dog. In case you're wondering, this amazing
puppy lives with me today. She turned seven on Saturday, January 28.
The Birth of Rosebud
Once Upon a time, long ago, there was a pretty woman
who lived
in the country by herself. The woman had long ago given
up any hope of
getting married, so she stayed in her little cottage
in the mortal world
planting flowers and taking care of her garden.
One day, as Zeus was taking a stroll through Olympus,
he looked down
and saw the woman on earth. Needless to say, he was in
love (not for
the first time!) instantly at first sight and rushed
down to meet her.
Nine months later the woman had a beautiful baby
girl that had light
brown eyes -with a spark in them- and thick wavy brown
hair. Zeus
adored his baby, but unfortunately "always jealous Hera"
would kill
the child if she knew about it, so he stayed in Olympus,
glancing
down wistfully now and then to catch a glance at the
little girl.
Since the day the baby was born roses had bloomed
outside, the child
was given the name Rosebud.
Rosebud's Heritage
Rosebud never seemed to mind not having a father,
her mother
didn't bring it up, so she assumed all children had the
same situation.
But then when she was 8 years old, Zeus told the
mother to take her
to school. The woman was surprised. Very few girl's went
to school in
her town, but after all, he was the father.
So reluctant Rosebud headed off and came back
in tears because
there were no friendly girl's in her class- The few girl's
were wealthy
and spoiled. The teacher made her tell about her family,
so she was
questioned about her father. Rosebud managed to look
up to her
mother and questioned, "Who was he? Where is he now?"
The mother was never able to lie to her daughter, so she told about Zeus.
Luckily at the
time Hera was busy lecturing Medea, so this speech went
unnoticed.
Rosebud was saved the embarrassment of going back, and
enjoyed
learning what her mother had to teach her, and being
taught the joy
of gardening. Rosebud, while she did love growing plants
and flowers,
found a new joy in playing out in the fields with the
goats all around her.
They had an attachment to her, just like all animals
seemed to have.
Once when she was in the woods, she screamed as
she saw a deer
struck by an arrow right in front of her.
Artemis, a goddess with the skill of hunting,
appeared out of the trees.
"Who are you, little girl?"
"I am Rosebud," the little girl replied, dropping
to a curtsy.
But before Artemis could say anything else, a
voice called from home
and Rosebud ran off.
Except the voice wasn't Mother's, it was the town's
doctor with bad news.
"Please, please tell me nothing is wrong!" she
demanded.
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid your mother is sick,"
the man said sorrowfully. Mother had had a illness for weeks, and was unable
to break the news.
She had waited to late, and now she would never get the
chance to say good-bye. The woman was unconscious when Rosebud arrived
to the
small hospital, and stayed that way until the night she
died.
Rosebud wandered the field like she did every
day, although with
a new sorrow.
The Secret is revealed
Rosebud soon got a tendency to make up her own
songs as she walked
with the animals. There was no need for to stay at home,
it was just so
lonely, so she hunted down animals to eat. Although she
had been shocked
by Artemis, hunting was very easy for her. As she shot
down a large raccoon, Rosebud began to sing one of her little songs. Artemis
appeared out of
the trees with her brother, Apollo.
She blushed. "I didn't know anyone was there."
She expected them to
laugh and walk away, but for some reason they stared
at her strangely.
"Why don't you come home with us," Artemis suggested,
and Rosebud followed them to Olympus, city of the gods. The girl stood
behind as
Artemis and Apollo introduced her, and the gods were
smitten with her
charms.
Apollo showed off her talent of singing, his sister
her gift of hunting.
"Take her to Zeus and Hera," the gods said.
And so it was done. The look and joy on Zeus'
face gave away the
secret to Hera. Rosebud although had to wince, because
she never saw
anyone look at her with such hatred. Zeus' well kept
secret was revealed.
The Gift
"What will we do with her? Teach her to hunt?" one
said. "No, let's
teach her to sing!" said another.
Zeus motioned Rosebud over. "I believe you should
sing, little girl.
Artemis and Athena are already two goddesses with hunting,
and you
will live with Artemis and Apollo until you are a teenager,
then become
a goddess to be worshipped by all."
And so it was said, and thus began another chapter
in Rosebud's life.
The first couple weeks were stressful, as to be
expected, especially since
life was always being compared to life with Mother. "Mother
doesn't let
me starve through breakfast and lunch." "Mother buys
me nice clothes to wear!" This went on until Apollo kicked through the
wall of the house in
anger, and the girl learned to keep quiet. She repaid
their kindness by
planting beautiful roses in front, and planting
other flowers did not work out since the deer would eat them. Up to this
point in time roses did not have thorns, but Zeus made it so they did to
keep animals away from Rosebud's garden.
Artemis taught her the basic manners of what every
goddess knows, and Apollo taught her how to sing properly, and the interpretive
hand motions.
The Man with Golden Hair
Rosebud was known as a sweet little girl- The kind
who dropped a curtsy
at a compliment, and who never hung with the 'bad crowd'
at her new school.
When Rosebud turned 14 years she decided she was
tired of the look
she had. She expressed this to Athena and she only laughed.
"Oh you silly little girl!"
That afternoon as twirled a piece of grass around
her finger, there was a rumble in the Earth.
Hades, Lord of the underworld, whispered up to
her. "Why you poor
Rosebud, what is the matter?" The girl knew he was not
trustworthy, so
she did not listen. Perhaps it was not wise to upset
him, but she was in no
mood to think about consequences. Hades of course was
very upset about
this, and so he came up with a brilliant plan. Hades
made a deal with a
man at her school named Antilles. The man had golden
hair that was styled
as a beard and clear blue eyes. He was so known for trouble
that every girl
was warned to stay away from him- Although many seldom
did.
The man was sent to woods outside of Rosebud's
home that night, as a lost traveler.
He collapsed in front of the house, giving the
performance of a life time.
When Rosebud rushed outside to give him water,
he muttered his
thanks and looked up into her face. The girl was instantly
in love with him. Artemis smiled and shook her head when she saw how Rosebud
would
copy the tilt of his head, and the swagger of his walk.
Artemis herself
could remember Orion, which still made her sad.
One day as Rosebud was walking out in the field
with the man, Apollo
pulled his sister aside.
"There's something I don't trust about him," he
said.
"But the girl seems happy.. Very happy." she protested.
But Apollo wouldn't give up, and went to Zeus.
"I believe something is
wrong with your daughter," and out came the story. Zeus
almost excused it as a crush, but decided to ask around. Hercules didn't
have time, Hera didn't
care, and neither did any of his brothers and sisters-
That is, until he came to Hades.
"No, I did not put a spell on Rosebud," said Hades.
Luckily Zeus saw through this white lie, and his
brother was put to shame.
By the time Zeus threw out the man, however, it was too
late.
Rosebud's Marriage
Rosebud was constantly getting into trouble, and this
destruction craze
went on until she was 17, and came upon the marrying
age (actually, the marrying age could be as early as 13, but no man for
miles around would
agree to marry her).
But one day, the "always impatient Hera" put a
stop to this. "Zeus, find
that girl a husband!" There was a debate about this,
but finally it was
decided that perhaps if she settled down, she herself
would settle down.
This wasn't very logical, but everyone was so desperate,
they did it. Plus, Apollo really wanted her out of the house.
So began the search for a husband. Only gods showed
up, of course, and
the ones that did lived far-away, much too far to hear
the harsh gossip.
It stretched days before the search was narrowed
down to five men. All
the important gods made the final decision, the one left
was: Tidentis, a
serious scientist who was twenty years older than Rosebud.
When he was introduced to the unsuspecting girl,
the results were as
expected. Rosebud shook at first, then fell to the ground,
kicking and screaming. Zeus could only watch this scene with pain and embarrassment.
Rosebud threw her tantrum for a couple days, and
then Artemis came
up with an brilliant idea.
The girl sat down in front of a open space, and
cried. A month later, the
space was turned into an ocean, and it covered most of
the world. The
ocean was called Rosebud -the name was later changed-,
and animals were made to swim. At this period, one of the largest, meanest
creatures in the
sea the girl called: Megalodon. Zeus tamed one of the
megalodon's, and let Rosebud swim with him. It somehow calmed her, as she
needed a quiet companion who also had a powerful grace, like she had. It
was one week later that she was married. However the ceremony was very
peculiar: Instead of white flowers, they were black with spikes. The wedding
dress had crimson along the hem instead of traditional white (which was
even a must back then). Rosebud wanted the ceremony to take place in the
underworld, but the idea was shot down immediately.
Later that year, Rosebud had a baby.
Baby Lowick
The babe was born on a cold winter morning (because
at this time, Hade's bride was with him, and the bride's mother made the
Earth to look as
dreary as she felt at this time of year) and Rosebud
wasn't too happy
about having a child. At least, not until she caught
a look on him. The
boy seemed to look up at her with such innocence, she
feel in love, and
named him Lowick.
"Oh isn't he beautiful?" Tidentis said.
"Boy's aren't 'beautiful'," Rosebud said. "They're
handsome."
Her husband of course blushed, as she wanted him
to, but she didn't pay too much attention.
"Yes, he is beautiful," she whispered to herself
after he had gone.
That night she thought for a long time. She didn't
love her husband,
she didn't even like him. The boy would probably turn
out the same way, and
she didn't want him to be miserable. 'I'll have to go,'
she decided. 'I'll find someone I really love, and Lowick can then be happy..
We'll both be happy.'
So she packed up her stuff, and left.
Rosebud and the boy wandered the Earth for many
days, and finally
settled down in a cave for the night. When she woke up,
she was out in a
field, surrounded by centaurs. She had heard many horror
stories about
them, and screamed as loud as she could. She looked around
for Lowick,
only to find he had disappeared. "My baby, my baby,"
she murmured.
The creatures only laughed, and she could feel
tears in her eyes. Then a man broke through the crowd, and rescued her
and the babe.
Later, when she got a drink of water from the
pond, she looked up at him. Instantly she knew this was the man she had
been looking for.
Right before she could get up the nerve to say
she loved him, a lightning
bolt hit the ground.
Zeus.
"Rosebud, what do you think you're doing?" came
the voice.
"Why, Papa, what ever do you mean?" she said innocently.
Now, back in those days, there was no such thing
as divorce. You could
kill the person, yes, but you could not divorce.
Rosebud was taken to the council of the gods,
where the decision was made.
That day, Rosebud was turned into an English Springer
Spaniel, a beautiful new breed of dog with a thick fur coat of brown and
white.
Rosebud tried to speak using her lovely voice,
but all that came out
was a weak bark.
The one thing she was skilled at anymore was her
hunting. Rosebud
could catch more birds and ducks than any dog around.
Baby Lowick was raised by his father, and was
very happy- Especially
when his father remarried to a beautiful goddess (the
two had a very
successful marriage).
Artemis, Apollo, and Zeus went on, and it wasn't
long before they had completely forgotten the whole thing.
Rosebud had a good life as a dog, even better
than when she was a
human. Well, almost.
She lived for a long time, and then was able to
come back in the same
form in the year 1994, as Rosebud Loveday.
THE END
-Written by Callista
Loveday
