In the beginning, a cold wind blew through a vast wasteland of endless rock. Dirt rode the wind and there was no life, not a single seed. Hundreds of miles beneath the earth�s crust, there were tons and tons of molten metal such as steel and iron. An ant, about seven feet in length, lay asleep in this metal. His name was Tooishishawnamacalazna. This was the creator, and this was the beginning.
As Tooishishawnamacalazna lay in deep slumber, he dreamt of the time, billions of years ago, that his only daughter, Aurora, had taken over the earth. Aurora was the goddess of lies, hatred, and other evil things. As a young child she had shook the fertile grounds of Old Earth with her tantrums. Then came the day when she rebelled against her mother and father, who were both gods, and sent her father into the center of the earth and her mother, Heredia, into the sky. Aurora destroyed everything that was ever created. Her mother got so angry that she reached as far as she could towards the ground and grabbed Aurora. Then she flung her into space. Aurora was never seen again. Though Heredia tried as hard as she could, she didn�t have enough materials in the sky to create the life that had once flourished on the now dead planet.
Ten years after the beginning (or the beginning after the first end) a meteorite crashed to the earth bringing with it millions of one-celled organisms. The impact of the meteorite made a deep crack in the earth�s surface. Lava began spilling out, and as it mixed with the icy air it formed a large lake of water. Heredia blew this water all around the earth, being careful to leave room for any creatures that might only survive on land. The earth could sense the coming of the great god Tooishishawnamacalazna, so it started preparing for his arrival. The sun god, Motasy, again warmed the earth, and Heredia blew away her dense clouds of sadness.
Tooishishawnamacalazna began to wake up. When he finally did, he sprung from the earth with more power than ever because he had been asleep for so long.
Seeing the lifeless earth he quickly set to work. For thirteen days and thirteen nights, Tooishishawnamacalazna worked nonstop at creating new animal and plant life using the one-celled organisms from the meteoroid. He made fish, whales, sharks and coral in the water. Bears, raccoons, and badgers were made for the forests, and lions, elephants, and giraffes for the grasslands. And he created many other animals. He also created many exotic plants such as banana trees, wild strawberries, palm trees, honey suckle, lilacs, and orchids.
After the thirteen days were over, Tooishishawnamacalazna spoke to his royal advisor, the lion, and his chief advisor, the rabbit.
�I am tired,� he said in a voice like honey oozing out of honeycombs. �I�m appointing you two to deal with any problems that happen until I�m finished resting.�
�I shall watch over the animals,� growled the lion. �For nobody should ever dare disobey me, except for you, Exalted Master.�
�I shall watch over the plants to make certain that all animals have enough food for the winter days,� said the rabbit, wiggling her small pink nose. So, knowing his earth was in good paws, Tooishishawnamacalazna mounted his amber-winged Pegasus and flew to a castle made out of clouds where silver fountains gushed melted diamonds. Heredia had paved the halls and the courtyard paths with crystal and gold, and she had sent the sweetest sounding birds to sing for her long-lost husband.
Tooishishawnamacalazna left his mount in the castle stables and began crafting for himself armor of steel that couldn�t be penetrated by any weapon. He made the finest leather boots for his eight legs and a helmet that reflected everything like a mirror. He fashioned an iron sword, mace and shield with precious gems embedded in them. His entire armor was strong and deadly, especially the diamond that had been somehow melted into the breastplate. Over this he wore a cape woven of moonbeams and sprinkled with stardust.
After he did this, Tooishishawnamacalazna lay in his warm bed of pink tipped clouds and sighed. He thought about what he should create next and then consulted Heredia and Motasy.
�What should I create next?� he asked them. �I believe I need a helper that can also create, but who should this creature be? What should it look like? And how could another creature be like me without becoming like our stupid, spoiled daughter Aurora?�
�Make it a female, with hair as gold as the light I cast upon your earth,� Motasy offered.
�With eyes like the sea,� added Heredia. �And skin the color of a pale pink rose.�
�With only two arms and two legs,� said Motasy.
�My, my,� the creator said, �What a funny creature this shall be!�
Taking a light pink cloud he carefully formed the creature, making two arms and two legs, coloring her eyes a deep sea-blue and the rest of her body pale pink. He gave her golden hair that reached all the way to her waist and a sweet, musical voice. He clothed her in a robe of pure white silk.
�You are a human,� he told her. �And your name is Tiandra, helper to the god of all the gods. You shall complete whatever task I ask of you. In return for your labor, I�m bestowing upon you the gift of imagination. Whatever you imagine will become real if you wish it so, but you shall never have any wish to harm any of the gods.�
Her red lips smiled, revealing perfect white teeth as she said, �I should never have dreamed of harming the gods, for it was you who have created me.�
She took in her hand one of the ant god�s many arms, silently thanking him through her young, but honest heart. For she knew, as he did, that she might never have another chance to look upon him in his true form.
Excusing herself from Tooishishawnamacalazna�s peaceful castle, Tiandra walked to its gate and looked back for the last time. Closing her vibrant eyes, Tiandra looked almost like a goddess herself as she slowly glided down to the earth, her pure white robes flowing behind her.
~~~~
In his billowing domain, Tooishishawnamacalazna sighed dreamily. He had somehow fallen in love with his thought-to-be �finest� creation, the human.
~~~~
Up in the top tower of the castle, Heredia fought to keep in her fire-like jealously. She was in one of her favorite forms, some type of rare bird that had purple feathers. She had four slender, green arms, each with white flowers sprouting on them and she had two green eyes. Two large wings grew from her back. Heredia was clearly angry; any fool could see that. Her eyes had turned a glowing red and she beat her wings furiously. She had to do something about her husband�s love for this new creation!
Finally, she decided she would become a human. Since her husband had fallen for a human why couldn�t he love her as a human? Finding the materials she needed, for she was no miracle worker like Tooishishawnamacalazna, she began creating. Slowly and carefully she detailed every inch of her body with blended colors and mixed dyes until she reached the exiting moment of completion.
After she was finished, Heredia was a dazzling sight. She had soft brown skin and dark hair. Her features were perfect. But the one thing that made her more beautiful than ever were her exotic green eyes framed with thick, dark lashes. She was clothed in blood-red robes that surrounded her like flower petals and her voice was deep and pleasant.
Walking to her husband�s room she tried to glide over the clouds in a calm and graceful fashion as Tiandra had done, but she almost instantly tripped on the root of a fruit tree and fell head over heels at Motasy�s feet.
Motasy drew her to her feet and winked at her. �I didn�t know Mr. Creator was making any more of his lovely humans. You sure are beautiful. How about taking a stroll down to earth and getting a bite to eat? Go on a romantic walk through the forest? By the way, my name�s Motasy and I��
Knowing Motasy couldn�t recognize her in human form, she decided to play stupid and listen to his foolish talk of �getting a bite to eat� and �taking a romantic walk�. Finally, beginning to get extremely bored, she cut in and said, �My name is Lilyana. What I�d really like to do is meet Tooishishawnamacalazna.�
�Haven�t you met him already?� Motasy asked suspiciously. Just because he was a younger god, he wasn�t stupid!
�Well, I was created by Tiandra. She said she thought I could meet him so she sent me up here looking for him.�
�Well, I don�t think he can see you now because he�s busy. Why don�t you go to his two advisors, the lion and the rabbit? They live in the glen over by Mossy Lake and Long Grass Meadow. Off you go now. That�s a good girl. Hope to see you soon, Lilyana.�
Heredia stomped angrily off and dove through the clouds, for there was no where else to go with Motasy in the way. The reason she was really mad was that instead of her disguise attracting Tooishishawnamacalazna, the stupid sun god had fallen in love with her.
Instead of telling her husband her problems in her regular form, she squished through the marshy land in search of either the rabbit, the lion, or Tiandra. Whoever she came to first would pay dearly if they refused to help her. She secretly hoped it would be Tiandra.
~~~~
Totally oblivious of what was happening with Motasy, Heredia, or Tooishishawnamacalazna, Tiandra was running gaily through the sunlit plains of the world. Without Heredia up above, the sky worked without orders. A misty rain began to sprinkle down as a puff of gray cloud crossed overhead. The still-shining sun sent a rainbow shooting across the heavens as it gleamed through the rain. Tiandra climbed a somewhat damp tree and watched the almost magic scene. It was one of the most amazing and thrilling sights she�d ever seen. Some deer frolicked in the afternoon light and added to the picture of pure beauty.
Tiandra soon fell asleep in the tree and dreamt of an animal called a mugluff. Instead of having skin like hers, its body was entirely covered with turquoise fur and two pointed ears seemed to roll around on the top of its head. It had no visible eyes, though they must have been there somewhere, underneath all that fur. It had a pink hole for a mouth and it made gurgling, squeaking noises like a newborn baby. All it really looked like from a few feet away was a ball of fur that was constantly rolling around.
When she woke up she found that the mugluff that she had dreamed of had somehow been created. Then she remembered the gift of imagination that she had received from Tooishishawnamacalazna. So just by dreaming something she could create it. The mugluff was as tall as her knees, and she soon found out that it was very friendly. It was also very hungry.
�I�ll call you��
�BURP!� said the mugluff as it swallowed a bush.
�OK, I�ll call you Burp.� Tiandra said.
While she was curiously watching her newly found friend, a bee buzzed by and then turned around and stopped inches from Tiandra�s face.
�The Creator hazzz sent me with a meszzzage for yoooouu and yoooouu alone,� said the bee quickly. Tiandra noted with great interest that the bee�s constantly buzzing wings made him stretch out his words. She was eager to hear the message so she stayed quiet.
�Yoooouu are tooo create fourrr seasonzz called-d-d spring, summer, autumn, and winter. They are tooo bee different timezz of the year. Have a nice dayyy.� And with that he flew away, leaving her standing in the moist grass to figure out how to make the seasons.
She chose the warm air, green grass, and flourishing flowers for spring. The hot sun and the warm waters for summer. The multicolored leaves, mostly bare trees, and chilly weather for autumn. And she finally chose the snow, cold wind, and frost for winter. It took her about an hour of thinking to make these up and was exhausted because she never had thought so much about one subject at once before. So she took another nap and again had another dream. But this dream was far less pleasant. She dreamt of a young woman clothed in dark blue robes with her brown hair in curls. Her eyes were a deep endless brown and her nails were long and pointed. She was in a human form, and she was riding a silver scaled dragon that had hypnotizing yellow eyes and sharp claws. In Tiandra�s dream she spoke.
�You are a such a beautiful child. Tell me where I may find my mother and father, Heredia and Tooishishawnamacalazna.�
Since it was more like a command than a question, Tiandra said. �They are both in the-the-the��
�Where are they you fool?� the woman shrieked.
Tiandra couldn�t speak. Then she remembered why. She promised Tooishishawnamacalazna that she would never dream of harming any of the gods. This was a dream and the weird lady in her dream seemed dangerous enough. Seeing that Tiandra wouldn�t tell her anything, the lady faded into nothing and Tiandra woke up.
�I have to tell the Creator! I have to tell the Creator!� She found herself yelling as she came out of her dream. She jumped up and, not noticing that the mugluff was gone, imagined that she was where Tooishishawnamacalazna was. She had to warn him before it was too late.
~~~~
Meanwhile, Heredia was trudging along the muddy banks of Mossy Lake. Why did her husband have to create so many annoying insects?
Soon she came upon the glen Motasy had told her about and where she met Tooishishawnamacalazna�s chief advisor, the rabbit.
�Do you know where Tiandra is?� She asked him as politely as she could, even though she was very impatient.
�Tiandra was last seen wishing herself to the grand castle of Tooishishawnamacalazna in the sky.�
Heredia groaned. �Thank you,� she mumbled quietly.
~~~~ Tooishishawnamacalazna was resting when Tiandra got to his castle. For some reason Motasy was resting, too. Parts of the once glamorous walls were eaten away and the paths in the courtyard had been stripped of their jewels. The trees and plants had all withered and died, and the fountain that had once gushed the melted diamonds was dry. Dead birds were scattered on the ground and everything was ugly. There was an air of unfriendliness around that place now that this had happened.
Tiandra�s heart was filled with a terrible hurt that grew and grew as she saw all the things that had happened to the castle in the sky. She quickly ran over to Tooishishawnamacalazna and woke him up.
Seeing his loved one in tears he sprung up to look for the reason and found his home in ruins.
�If I didn�t know better I�d say that my daughter Aurora had done this, but she has been gone for many years.�
�Not long enough to keep me away Daddy,� said a voice from behind.
It was the lady from Tiandra�s dream, Aurora. Right next to her stood the silver dragon Tiandra had seen earlier. And on the other, rolling around and whispering softly, was Burp.
�I enjoyed your little pet, my dear,� said Aurora. �I�ll bet when you created it you didn�t guess that it had such a monstrous appetite. It especially liked the gold and gems. And did you know that it would mean the destruction of the newly created world? Picture the whole world filled with these devious mugluffs. Billions of little hairballs eating every inch of this planet.�
�NO!� Tooishishawnamacalazna shouted. �I�ve worked too long and too hard for all my work to disappear like nothing had ever lived. All the other creators on Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and every one of the billion planets beyond will think I�m unworthy of being one of them, I can�t even control my own daughter!�
�I�ve already killed most of the other creators on all those planets, though some were too str ong for me. All I managed to do to them was to send them to the core of their planet like I did to you. You didn�t think I�d sit around being lazy, did you? I wouldn�t even consider that. I mean, it was a great opportunity! All those dead planets, how wonderful!� Aurora cackled gleefully.
� BURP!� said the mugluff.
�It could never happen,� said Motasy.
At that moment Heredia popped into view, although she soon wished that she hadn�t. Her robes were soiled and ripped from w alking through the underbrush, and her hair was disheveled.
�Lilyana!� Motasy cried. �You shouldn�t be here!�
�Who�s Lilyana?� asked Tooishishawnamacalazna.
�MMFFLLOODA!� said the mugluff who was trying to swallow a large puff of cloud in one gulp.
�I�ve never seen you before,� said Tiandra to Heredia, with a puzzled look on her face.
�Tiandra didn�t create you?� said Motasy. �You lied! You terrible creature!� Then, on second thought, �Who are you anyway?�
�Oh mother,� Aurora said sweetly. �What a silly disguise you have on. To think, my mother dressing up to look like a human? What a strange thought!�
�Heredia? Is that you?� asked Tooishishawnamacalazna.
Motasy could only stand and gape.
�Yes,� she said. �I�m sorry but we have bigger problems right now.�
Aurora couldn�t wait any longer. She gave a terrifying shriek and called for her waiting dragon, which instantly tried to kill Tiandra. Tiandra created a magical sword and killed it. Aurora screamed in rage and created another dragon that was slain as easily as the first. Then Aurora created dinosaurs. Millions of them. Tiandra fought them with her sword, Tooishishawnamacalazna with his creations, and Heredia with her hail and lightning bolts (being the goddess of the sky she could command these things). It was a long, bloody battle.
Then Heredia was killed. Aurora had come up behind her and struck her with an enormous wave of pain and sorrow. That had been too much for her and she died. The three survivors had just finished destroying the dinosaurs and had seen what Aurora had done. They were so angry that they somehow pushed her to the core of the earth. There she would stay forever, though the evil would never leave the earth entirely, all the time trying to gain back her power and all the time making problems and evil things happen to all the creatures of the world.
Motasy went back to the sun where he now stays. Tiandra and Tooishishawnamacalazna sat for years in the broken down castle. Finally, they called up the rabbit and the lion and told them they�d finished their job.
Tiandra and the great Creator shall now sit repairing the castle and creating new animals till the end of time.