The Earth’s Beginning: a creation myth by Payton McHugh

In the beginning, all was dark. The universe was a lonely place. One day, the four goddesses of the elements decided to create the earth. Rani, the water goddess, called her sisters together. They talked of what this world would be like. Then, they set to work. First, the earth goddess, Tierra, created the earth. She was the eldest and the bossiest of the four sisters. She wanted everything about the earth to be perfect. Flawless. She made the earth from the fabric of space and time. When she finished however, the earth was far from perfect. It was just a dark lump in the middle of space. She needed help and fast. So Tierra called her goddess friends of shape and color, Hayfa and Jade. Hayfa was a quiet goddess. She never said much and was always very serious. She shaped the earth like a sphere with her bare hands. Jade was a very creative, and talkative, goddess. She was very friendly and kind. But sometimes nosy too. She decided to make the earth green because it was her favorite color. The second eldest of the four, the fire goddess Fiametta, was very hot tempered, literally. She was always jealous of her sisters no matter what. She was always very revengeful as well. Everyday she was jealous of something else. This time she was jealous of the earth her sister had made. It looked so beautiful with its round shape and green color. Fiametta thought she could do better than that. She asked Tierra and Hayfa to make and shape her a sphere just like the earth, except bigger. Way bigger. As soon as they finished, she rubbed her hands together and lightly touched them to the surface of the ball. Instantaneously, the sphere burst into flames. Fiametta’s intentions were to outshine the earth and diminish it’s beauty. However, all she did was benefit the earth by giving it light. She put a curse on the fiery globe, a curse that would keep it burning till the end of time. The curse would also make it rise and set in the sky everyday, as a sign of her hatred, anger and jealousy. She called it the sun. One day, while Rani lay on the surface of the new earth, she realized that it was very hot because of Fiametta’s cursed sun. Rani was a very active girl. She loved to explore the new earth her sister had created with her little sister Aura. Rani finally couldn’t bare the heat any longer. She then allowed her hair to become water. It flowed continuously becoming the rivers, streams and oceans on the earth today. Around the same time, Aura the wind goddess, also noticed the unbearable heat given off by her sister’s sun. Aura was a very shy and quiet goddess, a lot like Hayfa, except younger and not as serious. With one breath, Aura’s breath became the wind and air, cooling all it touched. then, the goddess of nature, Tivona, was called upon. She was a fairy-like goddess. Everything was fun to her. She was stumped by this case though. What was wrong with the earth?  Yes there was land and sea and sky and sun, but something was missing. Life was missing. The earth was barren and lonely, empty. Just as space was before the earth was made. So, first, Tivona snapped her fingers, allowing plants, flowers, fruit and trees to sprout up from the ground. Next, she used her hair to make the animals. Then, from the inside of a juicy fruit, she made the animals that live in the sea. Lastly, using the soft core of the sun, she made the human race. The people and animals thrived on the earth. However, whenever night came, all was dark. The people and animals were scared, there was no light for them to see. They felt very vulnerable. In order to soothe the peoples’ fears, Hayfa molded yet another sphere. However, this time, she created craters on its surface. What for though? Well, Hayfa had a trick up her sleeve. One evening, before the sun had set, Hayfa traveled to the end of the world. Just as the sun was setting, she took a ray of light from the sun. That night, she placed the ray directly in the core of her new sphere. It spread to the hole in the craters she had carved. Suddenly, light flowed from the sphere, shining across the world. The people were no longer scared. However, the goddess Fiametta was jealous of the lighted sphere because the people no longer treasured her sun as much as they formerly did. The sphere did not dare com out during the day time in fear that the sun would get revenge. After all, Hayfa had stolen a piece of the sun. Today, Hayfa’s sphere is known as the moon. Soon the earth was a perfect  place to live. All of the goddesses had children who invented new things on earth such as electricity, religion, cars, language and art. Although they are not alive today, the four sister goddesses of the elements will always be remembered as the creators of our world and all things in it.