The Crush of a Fate

Atty looks for inner peace in a place that is anything but quiet.

"Atty stood stock still on a path that wound through a field of tall grasses bleached beige by the love of the sun. The sun itself soared overhead with the arching triumph of illumination, and the grasses beside her bent and danced, sweeping down and up, moving like waves and crests of an ocean under swells of gusting wind.

"Atty's dark clothes billowed like sails, pressing flat against her where the wind pushed at them; and she noticed that standing still at this spot required its own kind of effort. Her eyes smiled with the joy of it, seeing and feeling her wide pants and tunic billowing like that—the air so tumultuous here, especially compared to the still air of the caves far below where Atty spent most of her time on a typical day."

Atropos, called Atty by her family, serves as the Fate who trims the threads of all living beings—gods and humans alike.

But her current thoughts distract her from her job, and she needs to get them sorted out, and soon.

Because her conundrum, a warring within her heart, feels like enough to give even the Fates a headache.

In the sequel to Cousins of the Fates, Atty returns, and tackles a decision trickier than she expects. If you love stories of Greek gods and goddesses, buy "The Graces of Apollo" today!

This short stories originally appeared in Tales of Fates and Graces: Everyday Goddess Stories, Volume 3, and is now available here as a stand-alone story for the first time. It can be read as a stand-alone story, or, if you prefer getting a fuller backstory to the events that take place here, you can first read the stand-alone stories "Cousins to the Fates" and "The Graces of Apollo." Or, pick up the complete Tales of Fates and Graces collection by R.S. Kellogg, which includes all of the above stories.

BONUS story: Included at the end of this stand-alone story is a bonus story: "Norrit and Hale, an Origin Story," which is story #1 from the fantasy collection The Adventures of Norrit and Hale, by R.S. Kellogg.