*400
You enter a room filled with fragrant
roses. Doves perch on the branches of
flowering trees. And there, sitting on
the back of a white swan, is a goddess
more beautiful than any human could be.
*401
She is wearing a golden belt and a tiny
gold heart around her neck. She smiles
at you and says, "Welcome, dear [name].
I am Aphrodite, the goddess of love and
beauty."
*402
Aphrodite's eyes look angry enough to
shoot arrows at you. "You are nothing
more than a thief, [name]!" she snaps.<
"I bid you ill fortune in love until we
meet again!"<
<
"I apologize, your beauty-ness," you say
humbly. You slip out the door.<
*403
"Do you make people fall in love?" you
ask.<
<
"My little son, Eros, shoots arrows that
make people fall in love," Aphrodite
says. "And, if a human shows me the
proper respect, I like to do all I can
to help things along."
*404
"How?" you ask.<
<
Aphrodite thinks for a moment and then
smiles. "Well, there was the time I
helped that young sculptor, Pygmalion,"
she says. "He made a statue of a woman
and then he fell in love with the
statue."
*405
"Pygmalion came to my temple and made
some offerings," Aphrodite says. "He
told me how kind and how beautiful I
was. You know the sort of thing. Anyway,
I was well pleased. So I brought his
statue to life. When he came home, she
was a living person."<
<
"That's great!" you exclaim.
*406
Aphrodite tries to look modest. "Yes,
well, they did marry AND live happily
ever after," she says. "Thanks to me."<
<
"That is just the happiest story I've
heard lately," you say.
*407
"I am glad that you like happy endings,
[name]," Aphrodite says. "You must be a
romantic at heart. You deserve a token
from me. This gold heart can bring you
luck in love. You will touch the heart
of whoever touches this heart. Please
take it."
*408
"I must go now," you say. "Thank you,
Aphrodite."<
<
"I will look after you in love, [name],"
she says, "But you must look after
yourself in the maze. Good luck!"
*409
There is no more to read.
*1000


 