She walked quietly on the roof tops of the moderately high buildings of a large city somewhere on the east coast of the United States.

Her foot falls were light and elegant like the way a professional dancer glides across the floor. She lept from one building to the next so lightly it was as if she weighed no more than a feather.

No one paid any notice to the beautiful black haired woman as she flittered across the city’s sky scape looking down on the passers by.

Her eyes were wide and dark, accustomed to the midnight hour. She still hadn’t found her true quarry.

The wind swept through the city with a warm summer air. Though night may have fallen the heat from the sun beat pavement warmed the streets enough that a wispy fog had formed just at ground level. She paid no mind to the cool air mixing with the warmth wafting off the tar. To her it was naught but one layer to the many depths of her surroundings.

She could hear the people wordlessly marching on the sidewalk below and the cars roaming the roads beyond the one she stood above. That was just the tip of the consciousness of this city. There were people dreaming in their homes, heavy worked employees struggling to stay awake in their stations. A vagrant pawed through garbage with a pained headache, trying to survive by no other mean than his own.

All the thoughts of the city’s complex lives piled on top of the barrage of existence flowing into her head. She could sense it all and she forcibly worked to cut out the onslaught of information passing through her. This was her esistance. To be connected to everything and never take part in any of it. She wanted desperately to influence people, to help and be a part of society.

She wanted life.

But this millennia old goddess had always watched from afar. The pain of never being able to interact. The pain of loneliness. She pained for so long that she ended up putting herself into a deep sleep. That was very long ago.

The humans back then knew of her. They brought offerings and prayers. She would hear the struggles of each of her followers but never interfered enough to make a difference.

She had always left enough of her influence to speculation. The humans never knew how much she truly did. They would attribute their own success to her blessings and their failures to her wrath.

In truth, she did little more that cast a breeze to blow away a storm cloud, or draw in a rainstorm from out at sea. She may have once imbued a field of crops with her blessing to bring forth a bountiful harvest, but that was a rare deed.

Her powers were limited by the range of her domain. The smaller the area she resided, the weaker her powers were. She had been cornered off in all direction by other gods and natural phenomena.

When she woke the other day she had spent some time blocking out the information flowing through her region. The vastness of what was happening around her made her cry out in confusion.

Eventually her consciousness adapted and she was able to filter out the nonsense. But her power was overflowing. All the area she had reigned was filled. It had also expanded by many folds. She could feel that even still her domain could expand. It was not boxed in by other gods and the raging energies that churned at some of her old boundaries had been tamed.

There were so many more humans now. So many that, even if she were to whisk away a few, there would be still countless left.

It was a freedom to blend into the chaos. One strange occurrence could be written of as just a drop in a puddle.

She felt more free now then she ever had before.

She saw people eating, working, fornicating, and she want to be a part of it. She wanted to experience it all.

There was a man walking down the street. He had on tattered clothes and tightly held a paper bag covered bottle in his hand.

The man felt sick. His body was broken and his mind was a sea of chaos. The goddess could see what she needed to do to fix his body but his mind was a different issue. She could hear his thought roll from depression to hatred and back again.

Maybe if she followed him she could find a way to help.

She watched over him as he asked passerby’s for cigarettes or money. He was always shooed off and the look of disgust on the people’s faces as he walked up to them made the goddess’s being ache.

When the man settled down in an ally between a dumpster and a pile of boxes the goddess decided she would try to do something.

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Jumping from the rooftop she floated down in front of the ally and made her way toward the mans location.

The old man looked up at her as she walked in front of him and a drunken smile spread across his face.

“Hey there sexy lady. You looking for me?” The man slurred his words and took a swig from his paper wrapped bottle.

“I am. I have come to grant you a blessing little one. What could I do to bring happiness to your life?” The goddess’s voice was like a calming song. Her appearance was an attractive female figure clothed in thin flowing fabric.

“Heh, I could use another bottle of malt.”

“Very well.” The woman conjured a full bottle identical to the one the man had grasped at his side. She passed her gift forward and present the liquor forward. “I do not believe that this spirit will bring happiness for more than a moment. What could I offer you to leave a lasting joy?”

The man reached out and studied the bottle while he listened to the young woman talk.

“If you really want to brighten my night why don’t you come snuggle up and share this bottle with me.” The man said this in a joking manner that was lost on the goddess. To her it was no significant struggle to sit next to the man and share a drink. Alcohol had not intoxicating effect on her but she didn’t mind the taste.

The man was shocked when she shifted the boxes to his right and sat down at his side. He could feel her warmth radiating around him and she smelled of a fresh pine forest he remembered from his childhood.

The woman reached over and plucked the new bottle from his hands and pour herself a glass that seemed to appear from nowhere. She passed the bottle back and sipped her cup slowly, seeming to savor the flavor.

The man set down the bottle between his legs and wrapped his arm around her. It had been a long time since he had been this close to anyone, let alone a beautiful young woman.

The woman seemed to understand this and shifted into his side, still nursing her amber liquid.

“Why you doing this?” The man asked. He had seen his share of kindness’ on the streets. He had seen people give out fistfuls of money with dumb looks on their faces. He had been handed entire packs of cigarettes or beer out of pity, but he had never had someone just sit with him and show him any form of actual mercy. He had been entirely joking when he told her to sit with him. He had figured it would get the strikingly beautiful woman to leave sooner and he wouldn’t have to be reminded of those who had it better. But she sat next to him without another word and let him pull her close. He smelled of garbage and body odder, a testament to his depression and self hate. Yet she hadn’t so much as plugged her nose when she sat with him.

“You seemed like you needed the company. It isn’t much but I will sit with you for a while. If I could do more to lessen your tortured mind I would, but sadly I do not know how to heal emotional pain.” The woman spoke so matter of fact that he got the impression she was capable of many things.

“I got a lot of baggage that no one else can carry but me. It’s my own dumb fault for the way I live. I’ll end up drinking myself to oblivion one of these nights and it ain’t nobody’s fault but mine.”

The goddess could sense the sickness of his body and the weakness of his life fire. She turned and placed her hand on his chest and closed his eyes.

“What are you...” the mans words trailed off as a gentle warmth spread through his body. He caught sight of a gentle glow emanating from the woman’s hand. He felt all his aches fall away and the fog that filled his mind seemed to vanish. “How did you do that?” The mans voice was soft and filled with awe.

“I healed your body but there isn’t anything I could do for your life fire. I can only hope it gets stronger after some rest and a bit of effort on your part.”

“Are you God?” The man asked his eyes filled with tears.

“I am, but not the one you are thinking about. My cup is almost empty now. I think I’ll take my leave and let you rest for the night. I don’t want to disrupt you any further.” The goddess smiled and stood up as her glass disappears from her hand. “Please be well and remember to take care of yourself.” With a wave she flew up into the night sky back to her rooftop highway.

“The thoughts that man was going through really sent me for a spin. He had such high expectations for what a god could do and the reverence he felt made me really uncomfortable. Next time I’ll try to hide myself better.” The goddess contemplated her encounter while dancing from rooftop to rooftop, disappearing into the night.