My cupid entry: Cupid

Cupid, though he went by the name of Nathaniel, was comfortable in his bed.  It was a firm bed with a thick down topper on it. Thick, comfortable pillows were under his head. A tightly quilted tan comforter lay atop him. He didn’t want to get up. He was comfortable.  His wife was snuggled next to his side with her head on the crook of his shoulder. This was heaven.  This is what he tried to give to others. 

         He didn’t stay in bed. One of his other great loves was calling to him.

         “Daddy!  Daddy! I’m thirsty! Tommy is not letting me watch the animal show. Daddy!”

         Grudgingly, though only slightly, for he loved his two children dearly, he eased himself as gently as he could from underneath his wife. Gabby’s screaming hadn’t wakened her so he wanted to let her sleep.  He quietly got his jeans on and walked down the hall to the living room. Tommy was sitting on the floor watching a show on the Discovery channel about the planets and solar system.  Gabby was on a chair trying to reach for a glass. Her small body was straining as she reached to the cupboard for a glass.  Nathaniel rushed over and grabbed her around the waist to ensure she wouldn’t fall. He playfully grabbed her by the waist then and swung her around and up to the cupboard so she could get a cup. She giggled as he swung her around.

         “Thank you, Daddy.” She giggled.

         He laughed as he set her down. He walked over and ruffled Tommy’s hair. Tommy casually swatted his hand aside.

         “Dad, what’s a Kelvin in temperature?”

         “It is how they measure heat.”

         “How hot is 5778 Kelvins?”

         “It is very very hot, son.  Why do you ask?”

         “That is the temperature of the sun. I saw it on the show.”

         “Well, let us see, then.”  They went to the computer and looked up the conversion for Kelvins to Fahrenheit. On Wikipedia they found the temperature was about 9900° Fahrenheit.

         “Oh, Ok.” Tommy said and went back to the show. 

         Gabby got interested in the show after this, so the three of them settled down on the couch after Nathaniel made coffee and watched the show together.  It was Nathaniel’s day off and he was enjoying his family.  He worked hard at work, but he valued his time at home.  He never missed things with his wife or kids.  Of course, this was easy when you could just appear and disappear at will.  There was no commute, no getting tied up in traffic, nothing to get in his way from spending as much time as he could with his family. 

         His wife, smelling the coffee, came out in a robe, got a cup of coffee, and sat with them on the overstuffed forest green couch. Gabby cuddled next to her while Tommy sat on the floor in front of her feet.  After the show, they got dressed and went to the country to ride horses. They didn’t take a car. Nathaniel just held on to each one and disappeared with them to the farm in upstate New York.

         They rode horses and fished all day. It was a glorious day.  The sun was shining. The trees were so green they didn’t look real. The pastures were flowing with green grass. They trotted the horses through the fields and picked their way through the short rock walls separating the fields. They had a picnic set out on the grass in a field filled with purple and yellow wildflowers. This is one of the perks of being able to just go anywhere in the world at the blink of an eye.

         The next he and his wife, Liz, were off to work. Gabby was babysat by Gail, an older lady who lived in the main house. She watched Gabby for free since she didn’t need the money and she loved Nathaniel and his family. Tommy went to school with Nathaniel and Liz.  He was in the third grade. Liz was Tommy’s teacher. Nathaniel was the fourth grade teacher. The three of them walked the two blocks to the school together every day. Next year when Gabby started school, she would join their little group. 

         The walk down their street wasn’t just a normal suburban environment where all the houses were carbon copies of one another. The houses were colonial, Tudor, and many other styles. The lawns and front gardens were immaculately created. Some houses had intricate gardens with sitting areas and gazebos. Nathaniel’s house was a small cottage in the back and to the side of one of these houses. He and his family lived here because the owner of the house was like family to Nathaniel and Liz.

Gail was a woman Nathaniel had helped over sixty years ago. She and her husband had met due to Nathaniel’s interference. They have had a long happy life together. After 56 years of marriage, four children, and nine grandchildren, they were as blissful as two successful people could be. Nathaniel worked hard to help people find this sort of bliss. Gail and her husband were a wonderful example of what Nathaniel could do.  When he decided to marry a human woman and have children himself, Gail and James immediately offered him their cottage. They had all been happily living there for ten years. 



Word Count = 900 words