Storytelling for Week 2: Cupid and Psyche in a Conquered Earth

Cupid and Psyche Retold

Space Elevator by Rei. Space Wikimedia

            In the not-so-close future, there was a beautiful girl named Psyche, who grew up in a small town in Montanada. The girl’s father was very smart and owned much of the land in the federation of Montanada. When his daughter turned 18, he was selected to become the high chancellor of their great society. With this, the family moved from a small farm to the large, bustling capital, Wilton. Suddenly, there were pictures of the high chancellor’s family everywhere, and everyone became obsessed with the beautiful Psyche. Paparazzi followed her everywhere, everyone photo shopped pictures of themselves with her to prove that they were her friend, but no one ever actually tried to be her friend or even stop and talk to her. She became more scared and depressed as time went on.

            Psyche’s two older sisters had gotten married before their father had come into his fame, and they soon became jealous of their younger, prettier sister’s fame. Her popularity had grown so large that it was brought to the attention of the overlords. Venus, the most beautiful of the overlords, was in charge of all legal marriages, and she had grown tired of hearing of this mere mortal who surpassed Venus’s beauty. She told her son (and employee as head matchmaker), Cupid, to make sure that no marriage ever be issued to this girl so that her beauty will be for not and the public would get over their obsession soon enough.

To complete his job, Cupid came down from Station 1 (where the overlords lived and controlled the earthly federations) and sought out Psyche for some reconnaissance. At the first sight of Psyche, Cupid’s heart skipped a beat… literally. Fortunately for Cupid, Psyche saw him as he collapsed and ran to his side. “Are you alright?” she asked. She stared into the stranger’s eyes and he felt familiar, like someone she had known a long time ago and had promised to someday meet again. “Uhh… uh,” Cupid mumbled as he stared at his newfound love. “I’m gonna go with no,” she said as she got on her phone and called the hospital. “Great,” she thought, “the only way someone will talk to me is if they need medical attention, and even then all I get is a useless ‘uh.’”

Later, Cupid tried to devise how he could see his love again. He was forbidden from even speaking a word to an earthling and if he got caught he would have his mother to deal with. But, despite the dangers, he came up with a plan. A week after their meeting, Psyche received a letter from the overlords saying that she had been given a match since she had become of age. Psyche was excited at first, but soon rumors had spread that the overlords were trying to banish her because she was distracting from the earthlings’ daily work. Her parents increasingly worried and cried over how they may not see their daughter anymore, but her sisters secretly rejoiced that their sister would be out of the spotlight. The letter contained no details about to whom she would be married, but it did contain strict instructions to show up at the sky elevator the next morning.

The departure of the lovely Psyche was covered by every allowed news source on earth. The optimistic reporters shared stories that she was betrothed to the head of space exploration and would spend the rest of her days seeking out other civilizations in the great unknown. Others reported that she was doomed to marry the Europa King, a slug-like creature who only appreciated the dirtiest things in life such as moldy plain yogurt and bad 1980s sitcoms. Soon, the elevator came down and the whole world watched as Psyche hugged her family, stepped in, and rose out of sight in the elevator.

In just a couple of seconds, the door opened and Psyche stepped out. What she saw was a large meadow full of wildflowers, a dark green forest, and a very large, yellow and blue mansion. She walked inside, and sitting on a small table was a note. The note said:

My Dearest Love,

We have met before and I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you that you were the one I wanted to spend eternity with. However, due to dire circumstances, which I cannot explain, I can never speak out loud to you and you must never know my name. I know this will be difficult, but just know that I love you and it must be this way.

Forever Yours

            The note had no name and no handwriting, but it was enough to calm her nerves.

            Several weeks passed by, and not only could she not talk to her husband, but she never saw him in the light. In the morning, he would be gone and a letter would be in his place. Her sisters, with murderous jealousy, would send her emails daily warning her that her husband was a fraud and that she needed to escape using any means necessary. Two months after her arrival, Psyche snuck her sisters onto the elevator and granted them access to her oasis in the sky. The sisters, growing even more jealous, did everything they could to convince her to escape this mysterious husband. They handed her a knife and told her to stab him in his sleep and then run away in the night. Psyche, confused by her sisters, planned to follow their advice.

            That night Psyche did not sleep at all. When she was certain that her husband was in deep slumber, she grabbed the knife and held it over his chest. But before she plunged it forward, she decided to look upon her husband’s face. She turned on the bedside lamp, and saw the stranger who had fainted at the sight of her. Reminded of their encounter, she threw the knife to the floor as her heart filled with love for him and hate towards her sisters and her own foolishness…

Author's Note

I decided to tell the story of Cupid in Psyche where the gods were aliens that governed over earth. I felt like that was the only way to have them in the future. Also, I only did the first half of the story before anything horrible happens because I honestly did not think that their version of a happy ending made up for all of the bad stuff in the middle. Also, I had to stop because I could not fit that long of a story into 1000 words. 

Bibliography

Kline, Tony. Apuleius's Golden Ass. 2013. Cupid and Psyche. Story URL