The Avatar
By

Scott "RaZrEsHaT" Hall

The noise on the street was only barely more tolerable than that in her apartment. Jessica preferred not to have to listen to the sounds of her roommate and the boyfriend going at it. She hated when Roy stayed the night because it reminded her of much that was missing from her own life. Besides, a little fresh air might do her some good.

Last night had been crazy. Jessica sat on the front stoop to the building with her head in her hands. Her mind raced and she was not sure if she could make sense of it all. The drinking and the partying--it had been getting progressively worse the last couple of months. But last night had been bad even by the new standards.

The city air was alive with street sounds and smells. It was early afternoon, not a bad time to be getting up considering the amount of damage she had done the night before. Actually quite amazing that she was even out of bed, but that was before considering Sandy and Roy. Under those circumstances, not quite as amazing. As she concentrated, the previous night became somewhat clearer.

Roy had shown up at the bar unexpectedly and the change in Sandy was noticeable. Jessica was annoyed, so she sauntered up to the bar and made sure she leaned in at the end that the hunky new bartender was working. Mitch had been working at the dive they called a second home for nearly two weeks, but Jessica was having trouble approaching him. Roy and Sandy beginning their cutesy routine was just the motivation she needed. Sandy's recent promotion at work only served to highlight the lack of direction Jessica had been feeling as of late.

"What's your poison?" Mitch's beguiling smile was as intoxicating as any of the liquors he served.

"Jack and coke." Jessica did her best to be sublime and flirtatious at the same time.

"Order up, my lady."

Several hours went by and Jessica could feel the flirtatious bond growing. Mitch moved up and down the bar dispensing alcohol and charm with expert timing and his tips reflected. Perhaps he was the one, her fated soul mate. The evening was getting late and Jessica was feeling the need to make her move. Sauntering up to the bar with her sexy appeal turned to overload, Jessica waited for Mitch. Just as she leaned on the bar's shiny brass rail, another well groomed and handsome stranger leaned on the bar just between her and Mitch.

"Darling," the man announced as Mitch approached. Putting his arm out, the man pulled Mitch in by the back of his head and together they shared a long and passionate kiss.

Shocked, Jessica took a step back. Her feelings of dismay centered not on any dislike of homosexuals, she had taken part in several marches for the cause, but from her complete misreading of Mitch. Love had again cruelly avoided her obvious advances. Was there no one out there for her? Was there no greater fate for her, or was she destined to simply live out life as an aging bar fly?

Embarrassed, Jessica quickly downed her current drink and stumbled for the back door. As she walked, the effects of the night's excesses were beginning to take their toll. The rear doors of the bar seemed to shift back and forth as if on the deck of some storm tossed ship. After pushing her way through, she found that the alleyway behind the bar was also aboard the same ship that the doors had been.

Jessica rebounded from alley wall to alley wall until deciding to stick with the wall on her right side. As she slid along, she began to feel sick and searched for a spot to bare her misery.

Time ran out and Jessica fell to her knees. Doubled over, she retched until her ribs hurt and the dry heaves ended. That is when she saw the light. Head down and throat burning, her upper peripheral vision registered a brilliant point of light. Slowly Jessica looked up at the appearance.

Floating in the air before her was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. The woman appeared to be well above average height and in perfect physical condition. Her raven black hair fell onto bare shoulders and her chest down to her thighs were sheathed in a flowing tunic of the purest white. Jessica thought that nothing more beautiful could exist, until the floating goddess spoke.

"Be still, my child." The voice sounded like the most beautiful symphony in perfect harmony. "Fate has deemed that I have need of you."

"What..?" Jessica found it hard to form words while staring at the beauty of the floating goddess before her.

"Please listen," the goddess's voice was reassuring and angelic. "My chosen avatar has passed and I am in need of a successor. The weave of fate has chosen you as the herald."

Jessica could hardly believe her ears. Which one of the many heroes that filled the nightly news or front pages of the newspaper could have been this goddess' chosen representative on Earth? Then a terrible thought occurred to her, was this some sort of dream or hallucination? Was this the byproduct of all the drinking? The depression? Thoughts of many disappointments crept back into her head.

"But I am….not…." Jessica's own insecurity and depression forced her to question even the goddess. What was it about her that caused fate to guide her to this point? What quality did she possess that made her ideal to be the avatar of an immortal goddess?

"Your questions have no answers child--simply you are the one deemed by the fates: "From the lowest's sacrifice shall spring the champion anew". There is no choice in this, not for me and not for you. The selection of an avatar requires you" The goddess announced and Jessica's attention snapped back to the deity in her midst.

"Me?" She managed to question.

"Yes child, you." The goddess's stunning voice echoed through Jessica's mind. "When the time comes, you will not hesitate to act."

A slamming door behind her brought Jessica's attention back to the front stoop of the building. Before she could look to see who had left her building. Sandy took a seat next to her.

"That was quite a night!" Sandy's announcement was more accurate than even she was aware. The cigarette in her hand was freshly lit and Jessica reached over and borrowed it for a drag.

They had been friends since before high school, but sometimes Sandy was a real pain in the ass. She could be so oblivious to others feelings and Jessica didn't really feel like dealing with that right now.

"Yeah, it was great," her dry tone would have been obvious to anyone else but not to Sandy.

"Sure was. You know, I could try and get you a position at my work?" Jessica fought to keep the remaining contents of her stomach down. She and Sandy had grown apart over the last year and the last thing she wanted was to spend more time working not just with her, but for her. Dead end job after dead end job was one thing, but being forced into the audience of someone else's success story was another.

"That is quite alright." The sarcasm was blatantly obvious.

"What the hell does that mean?" More than once they had gone round and round over how unhappy Jessica was with her various jobs over the last year.

"Nothing, I still don't feel well from last night," Jessica lied to avoid a fight. The truth was that she was beginning to feel energized about being chosen by the goddess. She was starting to think that being an avatar wouldn't be too bad. Fate was starting to look up for her.

"Well, you need to get with it. That job isn't going to change and you are not getting any younger. The best parts of your life are going by and you have yet to get a steady job or boyfriend." The best parts, Jessica started to really think about what Sandy was referring to as the best parts of her life. Working pointless jobs to pay for her apartment and weekend fun, drinking until they could barely walk home, and spending the night with men that barely treated her like a human being; the best parts of her life indeed. Fate had finally given her something real to believe in.

Frustrated, Sandy had gone back inside. Jessica felt a sense of peace wash over her with the removal of her roommate's presence. They had been such close friends when they moved in together and Jessica wondered how it had turned so bad. Her mind wondered back to the goddess.

Again she ran through the list of heroes that battled the forces of evil to keep their world safe day in and day out. Which one had been the avatar of the goddess and what had caused their fall? The thought of replacing a dead hero caused a slight moment of hesitation in Jessica as she realized that a violent end was a realistic possibility for every hero. But being a chosen one was something that she could not fathom turning down. Besides, what was there left for her to be tied to in this life? No love in her life, no job worth showing up for, and now Sandy was completely unbearable to live with. Contact with her parents had been nearly non--existent for the last couple of years. Jessica was alone and directionless--until now.

The sounds of children playing across the street broke Jessica out of her self pity. She watched as a mixed group of children played with a large red ball. Tossing it at each other, the red ball bounced back and forth and off of the building and cars parked near the sidewalk. It was always amazing to Jessica how the children of the neighborhood managed to find a way to play regardless of the limits of their surroundings. The red ball bounced off of the hands of a young black girl and headed between two parked cars and into the street. The girl instinctively ran after the ball and the shriek of tires on pavement filled the city block.

Before she realized what was going on, Jessica found herself halfway into the street on a dead sprint. The girl was only beginning to comprehend what was about to happen and she stood with the ball in her hands facing the impending doom of the car. It was clear to Jessica that the car would not be able to stop in time and she dove forward without hesitation. She was sure that she could feel the divine power of the goddess in her as she pulled the girl into her arms and turned her back into the oncoming car.

The loud screech of the tires followed by a boom of the impact made the relative silence afterwards almost deafening. Jessica could feel no pain. She lay on the pavement on her side facing away from the car and unable to move. The left side of her face rested on the pavement and her left arm pointed in the direction of the girl she had just rescued. She couldn't feel anything, but she could see her blood starting to create a pool around her and fill the crevices in the pavement that were only obvious when you looked at it really close.

The young black girl had rolled several feet away and landed facing her and in obvious shock. She stared at the accident with all the horror of someone who had never watched another human being die before.

A sensation of cold started to creep into Jessica through her arms and legs. She could hear the noise of the gathering crowd, but it too began to fade into the distance as the corners of her vision blackened. Suddenly, from seemingly nowhere, the brilliant light of the goddess appeared again.
The perfect form of the floating woman quickly expanded out of a point of light right behind the young black girl. Her features were as immaculate in the daylight as they had seemed the night prior. The divine grace of the floating deity made Jessica almost happy with her fate. But then the goddess slowly descended and wrapped her arms around the young black girl. She picked the girl up and looked into her face and smiled brightly.

"I am pleased with your choice…" Confusion burned through Jessica's mind and forced her voice to action.

"But I am your avatar!?" Confusion flared in Jessica's mind. "How can something as mundane as a car have struck me down?" Time seemed to have stopped around them and Jessica was amazed at the ease at which the words came out of her mouth.

"You thought that you were my avatar?" The beautiful voice of the goddess pierced the time frozen moment.

"Yes! How can you have let this happen to me?!" Jessica was frightened and confused.

"My child," the angelic voice took on a sympathetic tone, "communication between the divine and the mortal is difficult at best. I am sorry if…"

"No, please….please…" the truth was beginning to dawn on Jessica.

"Child, I am afraid that you misunderstood. I said that you were required for the selection of my chosen one--the herald of my avatar; not that you were my avatar."

"But…"

"There is no other way, this is as fate intended. This girl will be a fine champion when she grows into my power." The eyes of the goddess took on a faraway look as if she was looking into the distance, "I see that she will save the Earth and the heavens from almost certain doom on many occasions."

The strength to speak seemed to have drained from Jessica and she stared in disbelief at the divine creature. Sympathetically, the goddess moved closer and brought her hand down to caress Jessica's cheek. Warmth washed over her body but eventually gave way to the creeping cold.
The goddess moved back to her chosen one. She scooped her up in her perfect arms and began to float away. The brilliant aura of the goddess faded as she floated toward the heavens and left Jessica alone in the darkness.