Diana’s slumber was shortened by a sudden intruder into her dark cozy den. The door to her room was opened without even a courteous knock. A figure stood in front of the door but was hard to make out due to the blinding lights that accompanied their entrance. Diana remained in her fuzzy polar bear form trying her best to keep her eyes closed. She moaned before angrily muttering.

“Shut the door!”

Without any questions the intruder closed the door behind them only to have the lights fail to fade fully. Their figure was illuminated in a warm glow brighter than an average night light. Diana knew who had entered the room, it was none other than her twin brother, Apollo.

“Apollo, what do you want?”

Apollo chuckled lightly as if this was an inside joke not a serious question.

“I am here sister to grace you with my loving presence.”

Diana tried to bury her head under her large paws to block out more light. Apollo wandered around the room glancing up at the ceiling.

“Where did you put the moon?”

Diana muttered a quick response.

“Too bright.”

Apollo looked behind the television to find a blanket that was emitting a faint glow. Under the blanket was an orb that resembled the moon, craters and all. Apollo lifted the orb up and flung it at the ceiling. The throw was rather weak and should not have reached the ceiling but was aided by a mystical force. The orb jerked back and forth wobbling across the ceiling but never seeming to touch it. As if magnetized it steadied in a single location in the center of the ceiling. Apollo smiled.

“Much better.”

The room was filled with light after the addition of the moon. Diana was reenergized. She stretched in her bear form before transforming back into a mature woman. She was still lying on the floor rubbing her golden eyes. In the light Diana’s simple dress no longer was a simple white but had a silvery tone which shimmered like a fish’s scale. Her silver hair was still messy and had knots down its length. Apollo was also more visible, his skin tone was a stark contrast to Diana, a pale alabaster. Diana also appeared more physically fit with defined muscles on her legs and arms. Apollo, however, was lacking in that department. He seemed frail, like a single gust of wind could cause him to topple over. Apollo’s black hair was short unlike his sister’s long wavy silver hair. While the two looked like complete opposites they shared the same golden colored eyes. Diana finally spoke again to her twin.

“Why did you turn on the lights? You know it is a pain to get that thing down.”

Diana gestured to the hanging moon orb. Apollo shook his head.

“The only reason it is like that is because you would sleep all day and shirk your duties. You should be happy I take time out of my busy day to help you.”

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Apollo looked very proud of waking his sister up. He was still glancing around the room indicating he had trouble staying focused on one thing for too long.

“Yeah and you need to take a nap.”

Diana pulled Apollo onto the soft rug on the floor that she refused to remove herself from. Apollo struggled but could not win against his sister’s strength.

“When was the last time you slept?” Diana questioned him.

After a long pause Apollo responded reluctantly without making eye contact.

“Twenty days...”

“Apollo!”

Diana jumped up and she glared down at him.

“What is wrong with you.”

Apollo started counting on his fingers.

“Well, the fact I am in charge of the sun but easily sun burn,”

One of his fingers ticked down.

“I am in charge of both medicine and illness,”

Another two fingers moved down. Before Apollo could start a full list Diana interrupted.

“It was a rhetorical question dummy. I know we are dysfunctional. Most gods don’t sleep all day or not at all. We are just defective.”

Apollo waited knowing this was likely the start of a rant. Diana tended to get like this after a long period of being alone.

“Like who has a pair of twins and then is like wow let’s make them only be an effective person together. Like without thinking they need to live their own lives. Or maybe one day they would want to have privacy or a significant other.”

The animal noises that had stopped resumed in a full uproar of support. No words could be distinguished but yelling and screams could be heard amongst the growling and hissing. Diana ranted for a while before subsiding.

“I mean our dad lived a polygamous lifestyle but then had to marry the goddess of monogamy. Like of course that wasn’t going to end well!”

Apollo appeared distracted, his hands running through the rug over and over. He uttered some words of sympathy.

“I think we can both agree our parents are not the best. But here we are. How about we at least try to have some fun.”

Apollo smiled hoping his appeal worked. Only to see Diana drop onto the couch with her head drooping as she tried to sink into herself.

“Fun. Easy for you to say. You're not different like me...”

Apollo crawled over to the couch and dragged himself up. His effort was uncoordinated, and he missed his mark multiple times. He still was recovering from being pulled to the ground earlier and his self inflicted sleep deprivation. Each movement seemed to be a laborious task. Apollo placed an arm around Diana.

“I... I wish I could tell you it was easy. I wish I could drag you out there into the light and have them see you like I do... I’m sorry Diana. But I can’t help but hope the more they see you the less they will question you.”

Diana remained curled up with Apollo lightly hugging her. She began shrinking until she became a small black cat curling up on Apollo’s lap.

“I just wish I could be more like you. You're so bright and warm. Everyone wants to be around you. But the minute I show up people want to leave.”

Apollo lightly patted Diana, not having any words of comfort left to give. After such an unfathomable length of time to still feel like you are repeating the past over and over there was little left to say. Diana also felt like the impossible barriers meant she was just destined to be apart from the other gods. At least she had her forest of creatures to talk with, the excitement of the hunt, and her brother who cared to check on her. Diana started to purr and the comforting sounds began to lull Apollo to sleep as well. His frail body finally collapsed on the couch getting some much-needed shut eye. Diana jumped on top of him bouncing up and down trying to reach the moon orb on the ceiling before curling up again for a nap at Apollo’s feet.