A Tale Of A Cursed Heart, or, How Cupid Got His Bow

Cupid was a foolish man who upset the Goddess of love.

Cupid was a man like any other. Prone to fighting, and lusting after beautiful women. The problem was, he never seemed to find what he was looking for. Sure, he would lay with the flesh of women, but somehow, it always left him feeling even more frusterated.

 

He stood at the edge of the sea, staring out with anger in his eyes. He had chased many women in his twenty-five years, but always knew he wanted something more. Something real. Love. He was looking for love, but it never seemed to be in his grasp. Angered, he shouted his rage at the sea and sky. "WHY DO YOU TORMENT ME WITH WATCHING EVERYONE ELSE FIND LOVE? WHY DO YOU NOT GIVE IT TO ME? I WANT LOVE!! WHY DO YOU KEEP IT FROM ONLY ME?" He bent, and picked up a rock, throwing it with all his might into the sea.

 

Aphrodite happened to be dancing with her wood nymph friends this day, and heard his plight, felt his rage. She danced to the edge of the forest, and watched Cupid as he continued to shout. She grew angered by his display and approached him.

"Cupid, why do you demand from the gods? Are you not happy for what you already have?" Her voice, as he turned, cured his rage, calmed his soul, and he fell to his knees before the Goddess.

 

"My Goddess, I seek love, will you not give it to me?" he begged of her. She smiled, knowing the path of love his life will take.

"You must wait Cupid. Love is not ready for you yet," she told him as she turned to dance off.

"Then I will find love some day?" he called after her, but she didn't answer, didn't turn around as she disappeared into the forest. Her words gave him hope though. Perhaps he wasn't destined to be alone. He felt better as he turned back to the sea.

 

His contentment lasted for some time. The Goddess of love herself told him to wait, and wait he did. He waited for five years, and had many disappointments. He found a few women he would have enjoyed a relationship with. However, each time chance seemed to be against him. The ladies came and went and his hopes sunk lower and lower until one day he couldn't stand to be alone anymore.

 

Anger surged through him when yet another woman left his life. Disappointment burned in his heart as he made his way through the same forest and he stopped at the same cliff edge. He stood there for some time, his hands clenched in fists at his sides. Today was a much colder day than the first time he came here. The sky was black with a coming storm and the sea churned violently. His rage erupted in a long howl as he began to scream at the sky. "YOU TOLD ME TO WAIT!! HOW LONG DO I WAIT?! UNTIL I'M DEAD?!"

 

As though the idea suddenly dawned on him, he closed his mouth, panting through his nose. The resentment clouted his mind, burned his senses. He was livid, at his life, at his lack of love, but mostly he was upset with Aphrodite. It was her words that had soothed him before, and it was her words that taunt him now. How could he have been so foolish? He wasted his life, waiting for a woman who didn't exist. Well, no more...

 

He took a few deep breaths, closing his eyes so he didn't have to look at his fate. He could still hear it though, the waves crashing roughly against the cliff face as he took a few deep breaths. Then he stepped forward, and forward again, until his toes felt open air. He clenched his fists at his side, and then he jumped, throwing himself as far out as he could. He felt the wind rushing past him, amd was sure he left his stomach on the edge as he plumeted towards the icy water.

 

What he didn't know, was that just under the surface of the water, a layer of boulders was hidden, and his last thought was to curse Aphrodite for pushing him to this end. Then there was nothing. At least that's what it seemed like. He felt nothing, neither the cold of the water, nor the pain of his broken body. He could see nothing either, and he wondered why he still had the capacity to think in the first place. He tried to move his arm, but he could feel nothing, to know wether or not it was in fact moving.

 

He could hear something, movement in front of him. "H..Hello?" His voice echoed back at him, "Is someone there?"

"I am here Cupid," the Goddess's voice replied, "but why are you here?"

"You told me I would find love... You lied," his voice shook a bit, knowing he shouldn't speak to Aphrodite in such a way, but his anger was so great he couldn't control himself. Her laugh was mocking.

 

"No, I told you love is not ready for you yet. Now you will never find it," her words were harsh. "Not only have you doomed yourself, but your love will also suffer as you have suffered. She will never find her love, but you will give love for the rest of eternity," As she said this, she clapped her hands together, and before her appeared a bow made of gold, the string her own hair. She pulled a thin branch from the Tree of Life and used it to make an arrow.

 

"This bow will be your tool, this arrow your curse. No matter what you do, it will always be a part of you," she said this as she stabbed him in the heart with it. Pain erupted in his body, and suddenly he could feel every nerve ending. He screamed, curling up in a ball as the arrow disintegrated into his body. When the pain eased, he realised he was alone. Aphrodite had left him, the bow and arrow at his feet. He still could not see, but he could feel it, and when he picked it up, he was returned to earth, though he himself could not be seen.

 

Now he wanders, still lost in the anger and despair he felt the day he took his own life. When he needs to fire his arrow, he can feel the longing in him as strongly as if his lungs burned for oxygen. He readies his bow, and steadies his arrow, knowing that his aim will always be true.