A Thousand Beginnings and Endings: 15 Retellings of Asian Myths and Legends by Ellen Oh

Author:Ellen Oh [Oh, Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780062671172
Google: Pgo3DwAAQBAJ
Amazon: 0062671162
Barnesnoble: 0062671162
Goodreads: 35430013
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-05-30T00:00:00+00:00

Mahishāsur was sitting on Indra’s throne of pure gold. The skulls littering the stone at his feet shook as his minister ran into the room.

“Master! They cannot defeat her—she is too strong.” The gods had sent a woman to defeat him, the most powerful being in the universe. He laughed at the thought. A woman? Too strong for his army? She truly must be a fearsome thing to behold.

“How can my warriors be so weak as to be defeated by a woman? I will own this Devi. She will be my wife. Let us see her defeat me!”

“He helped one kid stay on his garbā team so that he and his team can win the competition… and?” Nirali had joined Jess and me on the floor in a corner of the gym while we ate our weight in desserts. I had just finished sharing what I’d overheard in line, and she was dismantling my guilt block by block. “Mahishāsur was nice to Mā Durgā for like five minutes during their battle, too. Remember? Crap people can do good things and still be crap.”

I paused, a piece of jalebi halfway to my mouth, and stared at her.

“I can’t believe you just compared Dinesh to a shape-shifting demon who literally created hell on earth.”

Nirali shrugged.

“Whatever. I still think we should do it. He is a Navrātri terror.” She looked past me at the dancers flying by to dhol beats. The toes peeking out from under her lenghā were tapping along.

“Aahw ooo hurr?” Jess attempted to ask around the dense ladoo in her mouth.

“Swallow your food, Jess.”

She made a comical effort to swallow and then downed half a glass of water. She grimaced.

“That was like eating a spoonful of peanut butter. Next year, remind me that I should stick to the delicious soft sweet cheese, please. I was saying ‘are you sure?’” She gestured toward the dance. “We could just have a good time and not take down any ridiculous boys for past evil deeds?”

Nirali focused a very intent stare on our favorite do-gooder.

“Jessica Zhang. He left me. In my underwear. And he hit some girl in the nose. And he was a butthead to Jaya. I need this. I need closure.”

Jess put a hand on Nirali’s shoulder. “Then that’s that. Uteruses before duderuses, as the T-shirt says.”

“Yes! You’re the best!” Nirali all but tackled Jess in a hug. “Okay, so we just have to get him between us in that fast circle and trip him into the pujā setup. That seems easy enough.”

Not going to lie: it felt a little bit like we were devi warriors planning for battle. Nirali’s feet were tapping faster, and I could feel the energy building in my core. Even Jess’s eyes had taken on a wild glint.

“I am the best but, like, I’m not going to do the actual plan. My dancing is nowhere near good enough. We all agree, right?” Jess tucked her hair behind her ears.

“No, Jaya and I can handle that.” As Nirali laughed, I caught Dinesh entering the gym floor from the foyer.

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