The Mystery of 2019
TL;DR at bottom, if you don't feel like reading. I understand not everyone wants to.
During the last few weeks, I've been keeping my head down. I pop up in a livestream chat here, maybe a voice chat on Discord there. Other than that, I've been doing my best to get Christmas presents done and maybe -just maybe- get to sleep on Christmas Eve instead of finishing up presents all night long.
Before I know it, it is the 29th. The last Sunday of the year. I've been up since Saturday. My mind has shifted from taking care of Christmas stuff to taking care of last minute journal business. The new journal for 2020 is ready to go. The old one is waiting for the last few hours of writing or drawing I can muster. I take a moment to admire the stickers on the fronts of both journals as I feel a tiny tap on my shoulder. I don't bother to register it until I feel a tiny hand on my shoulder. "Animus."
I blink and look to the source of the sensation. Standing on my desk is a tiny version of Elyon (the god I worship and go to for guidance and comfort), about the size of a mini artist's manikin. He is staring up at me and waiting for me to say something. "This is an unusual situation." I finally say as I register everything around me: the scraps of journal decoration around my newly-decorated 2020 journal, the cold tea in my mug, and the noise of YouTube videos in the background.
"I didn't mean to to startle." Elyon apologizes. I guess he sensed my jolt from the tiny hand and my elevated heartbeat. "Did you find the mystery I left for you?"
"Don't worry, I'm alright." I say halfheartedly while I try to remember what "mystery" he was talking about. "Honestly, I don't remember the mystery." Elyon motions to one of my desk drawers where I keep a few of my old journals. "I'm not supposed to look at those."
"That is your own rule. I didn't give you that rule." Elyon shakes his head. I nod in reluctant agreement. I grab the journal from earlier this year and flip to the page he directs me to. I read it and ponder the situation I find myself in.
~
"A new dawn is approaching, Novus Scriptor."
I glance to Elyon in a confused way. He sits across from me at a church member's dining table. "What do you mean, Most High?"
He pulls out a quill that I have never seen before. It has semi-translucent feathers on a gold shaft. As he places it in front of me, it shimmers like an opal. I can see some markings in the shimmer. I look it over and notice a phrase inscribed on the shaft. "Sanctus Scriptor?" I read aloud.
"My Holy Writer." Elyon explains, "The one who writes messages of Love and Strength."
I look up at him and see his smile. "Is this for me?"
"That depends on what you do in 2019."
"What do you mean?"
"That is for you to discover." Elyon chuckles. "If you can discover and strive for my mystery in 2019, this will be yours forever. If not, then it will shatter and disappear." I feel my heart sink. Something tells me that this has more to it than a quill and a different title. For a moment, I feel a flash of abandoned crying and overwhelming sadness wash over me. In another moment, I bathe in love and strength. I shudder at these strange sensations.
"Amethyst has given you a taste of the outcomes. At least the two extremes." Elyon observes. I give Elyon a mixed look. I'm not sure what to do. I want to reach out in fear, but I hold my nerve to avoid a concerned look from Cose. "It is alright, Animus. Do not fear the mystery." Elyon comments. He watches Cose and I blow a kiss to each other with a smile. "Embrace the mystery as you have embraced him. That is a very good start.
~
"So, what do you think the mystery was?" Elyon asks as he hops to a different spot on my desk.
I find his size to be entertaining for a moment. After a moment, I play through all of the scenarios in my head. "Well, I wrote more than the years after graduating high school."
"In many ways, yes. But that is not the mystery." Elyon shakes his head. I think more. Distracting myself with memes doesn't work. I wonder a little longer. "I am trying to take care of my body. I even have a Fitbit again!" I show him my device.
He laughs. "It's still not the mystery, but a good attempt." He responds as I put the old journal away. I contemplate some more. It is rather fuzzy. I feel an answer somewhere in my core. It is not fully revealed, but pieces of it are. "Well, I've been taking care of myself socially. I give myself space to go without social pressure to social gatherings. It helps when I am asked to go. It means I have more fun when I am feeling more social."
"That hits closer to the mystery. Still not the mystery." Elyon chuckles as he glances at my list of Discord friends. Given that it is almost 6 am, we both stare at it as people pop in and out. As I watch, my mind wanders to a more saddening thought: What if I didn't figure out the mystery? As I feel myself slip, I catch myself. It wasn't something I needed to worry or fear about.
"There." Elyon's voice and tiny finger touch my forehead. I freeze up. What is he talking about? "That right there."
"Uh ... what?" I stammer.
"That is the mystery." He smiles, "The mystery of growth and change."
It dawned on me at that moment. Growth. Moving on. It makes my eyes widen.
"Now you remember the mystery." Elyon laughs, "It took a moment. I was concerned for you." He stops touching my head. "I'm glad you solved and overcame the mystery. I will give you your reward at the start of the new year." He kisses my forehead and disappears in an instant.
TL;DR - I received a challenge in the form of a mystery from my deity of choice at the beginning of the year. Thanks to the personal growth I made over the course of 2019, I successfully found and conquered the challenge.
It makes me wonder what I will receive as a reward. I guess I will find out in 2020, eh?
Happy New Year to everyone reading. See you then!
Elyon's Love and Strength
Animus