An atheist and a hard polytheist were having an argument. It started out with the atheist congratulating me for not having religious beliefs.
He made this conclusion because I wore no religious symbols. I asked him to define “religion” and he started tearing into me for being a stupid cunt. He never did define religion. I said my belief is that gods exist. That was enough to gain his derision.
I ignored him and resumed napping under the tree at the park.
He didn’t like that either. Another person came up and asked what was the first yelling at me about and why was I so calm. “A militant atheist found I don’t agree with him. He can’t handle that. We’re in public. It’s a nice day. When I ignore him, he becomes more entertainment than irritation.”
“Well, that’s not right! There are gods and who is he to tell me different!”
“Whoa, you don’t have to engage, you know. Him spouting off doesn’t change you and yours. He wants to verbally bully someone, leave him be.” But he had already begun arguing with the atheist.
I listened to them both for a while. Both were fervent in their beliefs. Both couldn’t stand the idea of someone that believed the opposite of their heart-felt beliefs. I realized the hard polytheist would be just as vicious to me for some of my views.
So glad neither one is the norm for their peers.
I intended to lie down under the tree in the park and nap more, but my napping space was now occupied.
“Such a racket. What are they arguing?” The guy looked familiar. Mousy brown hair floated around his head like he was floating. But he was sitting down.
“Of gods, hubris, and human limitations. In short, a pissing contest.” I couldn’t place him. But I was getting annoyed. I wanted that nap!
“Are they seeking a god?” He leaned forward, rotating slightly. I realized he was floating, just a millimeter off the ground. I’m sure I’ve seen him before.
“They are seeking domination. I’ve already filed them both under “not the boss of me”, so I’ve lost interest. In them.” I look up at the calm face. “I know you. But from where?”
“A poor Watcher you are if you did not pay attention.” He turned his head towards me, the momentum subtly rotated the rest of him away. So physics mostly applied to him. Except he was hovering. Just enough that only a sheet of paper could slide under him, but he was hovering.
Like the ground rejected him.
No.
Like he rejected the ground.
“Apotheosis.”
He smiled. “Hmm?”
“You’re the cliff jumper. The guy that decided to ascend to divinity.”
“Yes.”
“Well?”
His face darkened as his good humor faded. “I’m stuck.”
“Stuck? What do you mean, stuck? You’ve removed yourself from the human condition. You have infinite possibilities. How can you be stuck?”
“I didn’t think this through. I left behind a great deal of myself. There is much I can not understand about humanity anymore. I’ve even forgotten why I did this. I remember you watching me jump. Of my human life prior, I remember little else.”
The atheist and the hard polytheist were still arguing. They had a small crowd of onlookers and baiters, but I had been forgotten about.
“Maybe you should talk to Antinous. He’s a human that became deity, though his passing on and through was more accident than deliberate motion.” I tried to think of other humans that became divine.
“Antinous had his first worshipper while still alive. I have none. None know of me but you. And you worship none.”
I start laughing. He glares at me and pouts in anger. His skin darkens from the freckled pale he jumped off the cliff with to the black-blue of deep tissue bruising. I watched his pale green eyes turn black. “Oh, that’s interesting.” At my calm words, he stopped pouting but remained the dark hue. “Did you have an anger problem while human? Not mocking you, but your foibles will be amplified by ascending. That will restrict what kind of god you become.” I poked at his arm. “Responsive like living flesh, but you look like you have a whole body bruise. Interesting.”
“I am not a science experiment for you to dissect!” He rose to his feet, but still hovering.
“You are an apotheosis experiment for me to watch. That you said with your own words, calling me “Watcher” and sealing my role in your cult. I will not worship you. I will never worship you. The observer must not become emotionally involved in the observed. That’s just good process. I was laughing because I already recorded, and made public, the moment of your ascension.” I stretched out under the tree. “You already have living folk interested in you. Folk that reason, think, and ponder. Some are atheist and will find this a curious look into my mental processes. Some are soft polytheist and are interested in how the One is manifesting a new shard of itself. Some are hard polytheist and are looking for modern gods. And some just like the stories I tell.”
His anger left him and he paled in hue until he was his previous freckled self. He sat back down, floating over the ground he rejected, and huffed in defeat. “Will you write of this moment?”
“I am your Watcher, apparently. How can I not?”
“It’s not a good moment. This will reflect poorly on me.”
“Depends on how you handle it after. And you remember nothing of your humanity?”
“Nothing.”
I said nothing but kept my thoughts under cloak and cover. Antinous ascended because he already had a worshipper while alive. Hadrian already adored his lover before his untimely death. This guy, has nothing. The hue he took on while angry was that of a bloated corpse.
Was I dealing with a mortal that had shed his body and ascended? Or a newly dead that hadn’t come to grips with his fate yet?
Either way, I consent to being his Watcher.
“Funny you should come to this park.”
“You were here, where else should I have gone?”
“In my dreams, the park is an allegory for the Internet. Those two are dukeing it out on some forum. This tree is one of the websites I lurk at, and where your story will be posted as it unfolds.” I yawned. “Now, if you’ll excuse my arrogance, Oh Divinity, I’m going to sleep and consider how much trouble you and the day will bring.”
And I did. Now I typing. Now I’m posting. And hoping other words said in private don’t come back to bite my ass.