Interlude: The Quark and the Giant Eland

A pause after Part One of this story, which is already posted.

The quark theoretically drummed his trillions of theoretical fingers. He was impatient with this part of the deities' plan to make humans care more about critically endangered animals. It may be needed, but he considered it a waste of time.

The quark had started this new idea involving an unfortunately dead Western Giant Eland, also called a Lord Derby antelope, the largest in the world, and a momentarily dead human woman. Mother Creator had agreed to put the endangered eland's spirit into the revived woman, so the woman, Connie, had two spirits inside her now - the eland's and her own.

As the quark watched other deities wander around, waiting for Mother Creator and a trophy hunter on Earth decide what to do with the eland remains, the quark thought back to the reason he was a deity himself: the Quark Epoch. He liked to remember how he came into being, a fraction of a slice of a bare bit of a second after the Big Bang. This calmed him.

He saw his importance in the world where some deities were forgotten. He was in the very material the universe was made with, and would not die out due to lack of interest, like maybe wood nymphs and water sprites would.

Those very deities were now noisily organizing a game with each other to pass the timeless wait. The oldest wood nymph, covered with lichen and mushrooms, declared the rules.

"We will each name two musical bands of humans in alphabetical order," she said. "The names must refer to Earth or Nature, picked from the players of popular music. The nymph or sprite who names the most will win a... well ...maybe a good seat at some venue where this kind of music is played on Earth. Start... now!"

Nymph: "Adam and the Ants! The Animals!"

Sprite: "That first one is just is silly. Mine are good - Beastie Boys and Buckwheat Zydeco!"

Nymph: "Oh, haha...zydeco? Hmph. Counting Crows. Cure."

Sprite: "Deep Purple. Dire Straits."

Nymph: "Eagles, and uh...Earth Wind and Fire!"

Sprite: "The Fifth Dimension. Fluke!"

The little creatures, so often unseen, were definitely making themselves heard. Many deities made a few bets, and an audience of those from Pele to Neptune watched them now.

Nymph: "Green Day! Green Grass, Blue Sky."

Sprite: "Hollies. Howlin' Wolf."

Nymph: "Indigo Girls! Iron Butterfly."

Sprite: "The Jam. Journey."

Nymph: "Killers and Kiss! That's two names, by the way."

Sprite: "Huh, that's interesting. Still, there are these - Lemonheads and Lipps, Inc."

Nymph: "Max Roach. Muddy Waters!"

Sprite: "New Riders of the Purple Sage. Nirvana."

Mother Creator whispered to Pele, also known as 'Mountain Mover' among her kind.

"I wonder where humans get these ideas," she said. "Do you think the names are real? Oops, and watch where you put that lava, please!"

Pele said nothing but, "The odds are on the nymphs. Wanna bet they win?"

The Creator just laughed. She actually already knew the outcome of the game.

Nymph: "Oak Ridge Boys. Ohio Players."

Sprite: "Pearl Jam. Pixies."

Nymph: "Oh no, don't call any pixies around here. Too much trouble! And here we have Queen and Quicksilver, and both are good names!"

Sprite: "Ram Jam! Rolling Stones!"

Nymph: "Scorpions. Smashing Pumpkins." She laughed nervously.

Sprite: "T-Bone Walker! The Turtles."

The quark watched with a mix of disbelief and intense interest. Though he was in everything in the universe, his knowledge of human music was limited so severely he'd never heard any of these names. He didn't place any bets or guess a band name himself. For once, he was ready to watch the next stage of the experiment with the giant eland and the woman.

But the nymphs and sprites continued their shouting and milling around.

Nymph: "The Undertones! The Unknown."

Sprite: "Velvet Underground! The Verve."

Nymph: "Weather Report! Wild Cherry."

Sprite: "Jimi Hendrix! Styx!"

"Wait!" the eldest nymph said. "Those names don't begin with an X! They end with an X. Do you really think that's fair? And how are those names used in Nature? I know humans rarely use 'x' words but we must follow the rules. So, with that in mind, I say - 'X' as in a band in America and 'X' as in a band in Australia! And I think we can agree this is a special circumstance. Right, Mother Creator?" But Mother Creator had no time to answer.

A nymph, impatiently interrupting the eldest, yelled, "Yardbirds! Youngbloods!"

And a sprite was quick to say, "Ziggy Stardust! Zombies!"

The sprites cheered, but again the eldest nymph said, "Wait! Stop! Ziggy Stardust doesn't count. It's not a real band. I mean, really! We must follow rules here!"

So the sprites picked up that eldest nymph and carried her around on their nonexistent shoulders. She was soaking by the time they put her down. She was also laughing, and so were all the woodland nymphs and water sprites. Whenever they played a game together, it was always difficult to say who won. They began dancing, but Mother Creator, while keeping in step with them, sent a sub-vocal message to all the deities there.

"Watch Earth with me now," she said. "Things are starting to happen and, as you know, there's no telling what a giant eland will do when he loses his head."

Author's Note

Hope you already read Part One of this story. Even if you haven't, you'll get a sense of what is going on. Did this game and 'intermission' work for you? Please leave constructive comments. Thanks for reading!