Forgotten Deity

He’s had a long time to think. Too long in fact, He realizes as He looks around the decrepit old shack that He has been taking shelter in for the past stage of his long life.

He’s had a long time to think, despite knowing that nobody would seek Him out for guidance or assistance, as in the current age of technology one could find all the information they wanted with only a few well-placed taps of their fingers.

Yes, He’s had a long time to think, alone and not truly known, His body youthful but frail, time only wearing Him down further.

Unlike most of His family, who had left in search of new worlds once the people around them began to forget, He had stayed because He had believed at the time that humans wouldn’t simply forget Them altogether.

He’s had a long time to accept how wrong He had been. All those who had looked up to Him now had been replaced by those who looked up to only themselves and their most trusted friends. Oh, how this world had become so mistrusting.

Looking out of the shack down at the narrow street that was far overdue to be cleaned up, He spotted a grown woman walking up the pathetic excuse of a front yard that the shack boasted. He certainly didn’t recognise this woman but knew what she was here for.

Dropping off of the oversized chair that He was sitting on He began to make His way through the shack to the door to wait for the woman to knock. He noticed that the mirror that His father had given Him as a gift before leaving in search of safety had been knocked over, probably by a rat.

He sighed and made a mental note to pick it back up after the woman had finished her business here before turning his attention back to the door.

On the other side of the door the woman, Melissa, had been having a hard time traversing through the highly overground yard and had already had to take her shoes off to free them from the entanglement of the weeds.

“Honestly, I’m not sure what the agency was thinking when they agreed to let a child live by himself, without anyone to even pull out the weeds,” she muttered to herself.

Pulling papers out of her bag, she pulled her hand back to knock on the door when the child opened the door and ran out past her to the middle of the yard. Without getting caught by the weeds even once.

“This shouldn’t be possible, we were forgotten centuries ago.” He turned to the woman. “My Name shouldn’t have even survived this long. There’s been no one for so long.”

“Hang on, what? What are you talking about?” No one could say that Melissa hadn’t worked with strange children before, but this was new for her. “Do you say this every time you get a new case worker?”

“What? No, of course not, what I’m talking about is that I’m an old god who has only survived because people have seen Me and acknowledged My existence. No-one should even remember My name but there is someone, somewhere on this god-forsaken world praying to Me. Me!”

Melissa was slightly taken aback by the child in front of her who was claiming to be a god. Rolling her eyes, she flourished the papers that she had been given by the previous case worker and began to make a performance of reading them again. Then she noticed a footnote that she had managed to miss the first time she read through.

With her eyes wide Melissa finished reading the note and looked up to the child who was walking from one side of the front yard to the other, trying to pinpoint the direction that the feeling he was getting was coming from.

Making up her mind, Melissa pulled out her phone and searched up some facts about ever older parts of history that a child of the age would surely not know.

“Excuse me, do you think you could answer some questions for me?”

While He continued to search for the source of the feeling He explained to the woman, “Shouldn’t you at least tell me who you are first, before we talk about anything else?”

“Oh, sorry about that, I just found a small note in your papers and got a bit excited I suppose. My name is Melissa Ros, I’m your new case worker since Rufus was transferred, but he left me some rather specific information regarding you, apparently.” The boy didn’t seem like he was paying any attention to Melissa as he had stopped moving and was looking a little to the left of the shack, as if he could see through all the buildings that were in the way. “So, um, could you answer my questions now please?”

“Yes, Melissa, I suppose I could, but please make them quick, because I really want to find the person who is calling to me.”

“Right, ok so first question, who invented the internet, and when?”

He was quiet, just looking directly at Melissa’s face.

“Really? That’s your first question? That’s still in human memory! A man named Tim Berners-Lee and 1989. Next please, and try to make it more difficult.”

“OK that was right, so how about this? William Shakespeare. When was he born?”

“1564. Seriously, I’m pretty sure I said harder not easier.”

“OK fine, final question. In 1066 who defe-“

“Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror defeated Harold Godwinson. So if that was the final question may I go now?”

Melissa was, without a doubt, amazed.

“Wow, He’s actually correct, and He got it instantly.”

However…… “Fine. But I’m coming with you. Three questions are hardly enough to convince me that you’re some kind of …god!”

“That’s alright, you can quiz me some more along the way. And besides, I think I’ll be needing a chaperone to get to this person.”

As He began walking towards the street, Melissa swiftly placed the papers back into her bag for later and followed behind Him, one final question hanging around her mind about Him that she felt she shouldn’t ask.

“I can explain His name not being on the papers as being a mistake, but why didn’t Rufus tell me? What is His Name?”