Oh My Big-G Gods! If Anatole guessed right about Persephone’s return date, Hades will have to pick up his own togas for an entire week!
Monique’s long-delayed test result! The launch of Waller’s climate change-fighting social media platform! Cleo foxed in her efforts to learn about Ari Cantor! Hades makes a wager with Anatole that he may regret! Physician Apollo sees something highly unusual in Monique’s condition! Thelma books David and Cleo tickets for- -“Fiddler on the Roof”?
Week Fourteen:
September 26th through October 2nd, 2025
City of Mount Olympus: Friday, September 26, Monique comes to grips with her period being three months late. Lightly disguised, she purchases a pregnancy test at a corner drug store. The result is positive. She’s always been so careful but- -furious with herself, she determines it could have happened during the drunken one-night stand with David or the wild romp with Hermes in The Power’s security vault. . .
Hermes meets with Athena at Olympus, Inc., headquarters. She wants a report on Waller’s climate-change social media campaign. The platform went live on Monday and already has over a million hits! Anecdotal evidence suggest mortals may be consuming less fossil fuel, but it’s too early to see a trend. Though jealous over Waller’s possible success, Hermes perks up when Athena reveals the “diplomatic” side of her climate change fighting plan: sending operatives into the mortal world to compile dossiers on the biggest players in the fossil fuel industry with the object of- -blackmail?! Regrettable, but. . .
Monique secures an appointment with Apollo, physician to the gods, on Saturday, September 27. From the physical exam, Apollo estimates her pregnancy is well into the second trimester- -impossible, given her health history. Apollo suggests she may be carrying twins and instructs her to make an ultrasound appointment for the following week.
In Salt Lake City, Utah, Cleo doggedly queries the Sinatra sing-alike Ari Cantor with zero success. Adding to her irritation, an appeal sign for some environmental website keeps popping up on her screen! It’s been happening for days, some organization called Green Something-or-Other that relentlessly promotes using public transportation instead of cars. Frustrated, she hits the “Join” button to avoid further harassment and returns to querying Ari Cantor. . .
Wednesday, October 1, finds Hades alone and lonely in his Underworld palace. Persephone should have been in touch by now to give him an estimated return date for the end of harvest. He invites his valet, Anatole, to join him for a glass of wine, an invitation Anatole cannot refuse. Desperate for conversation, Hades first asks about the white spot in the ceiling over Elysium. Nothing new to report, Sir. Hades then insists they make a wager as to when Persephone will return, and sets the stakes. If Anatole wins, Hades will pick up his own togas for a week; if Hades wins, he will keep a month of Anatole’s pay. Going first, Hades bets Persephone will return October 17- -she’s never been later than that! Anatole reluctantly predicts November 14. His reply troubles Hades. Too late, he remembers Anatole is psychic.
Monique lies on the ultrasound table Thursday, October 2, burdened with 8 glasses of water. It feels like the baby is using her bladder as a trampoline. The ultrasound technician calls in Apollo. There’s a nebulous quality about the baby. The heart beats regularly but the form of the child keeps dissipating and reforming. In a private consultation Apollo says, “I’m not here to judge you. . . but I need to know who, or what, is your baby’s father.”
Meanwhile, in Salt Lake City, everyone in the Bernstein house is confined to their room for a personal time of fasting and reflection in keeping with Yom Kippur. David ruminates miserably about his soured relationship with Cleo, as well as the unmoored pain of not knowing his own origins. Finally Thelma calls them to a break-fast meal of her fabulous kugel. He and Cleo leave tomorrow, first for a week at the Grand Canyon, then on to Seattle. Thelma insists on buying them a pair of tickets for a touring production of Fiddler on the Roof that’s coming to Seattle. Cleo’s thrilled- -she’s never seen a play with mortal actors before!
What’s up with Monique’s baby? And Waller’s social media platform? And Persephone’s very late return? And, most importantly, why “Fiddler on the Roof”?
If you’re about to fall out of your chair with anticipation, try this instead:
https://www.susandmatley.com/beyond-big-g-city/
