บท 7: 7. Hitchhiking
Exactly 24 hours after making the deal with the Primordial, Levana woke from her power nap and took a sudden deep breath. As she breathed in and out heavily, she looked down at her arms after bolting upright from her previous supine position.
The veins in her arms, hands, legs... All the blood in her body began glowing with golden radiance causing them to be visible through her skin. Physically, she felt herself burning up as if she had a severe fever. She watched in awe as the glow slowly subsided. The feverish feeling left with it.
With a happy smile plastered to her face, she got up from the couch immediately. She felt more energetic like she had taken an entire packet of sugar, her senses clearer than they had ever been, her body felt stronger and she was. These were simply small power-ups that came from becoming divine.
Remembering her part of the deal, she quickly schooled her expression and gathered her things. Her rucksack, her sleeping bag, her bottle of eye drops that she had taken out, the smelly and sweaty shirt that she took off and put into the plastic bag that she had prepared for dirty clothes.
As she stuffed her dirty clothes into the plastic bag, she had a weird thought. Did gods get dirty and smelly? If they did, did they also bring their clothes to the laundry? She simply could not imagine the gods washing their own clothes in a river. Maybe they had servants that would do the washing for them? She knew that some of them took showers or bathed in rivers. There were stories of them doing so after all.
Having packed up, she knocked on Evangeline's door and waited for the woman to open. When she did, the mother scanned Levana who looked ready to go mountain trekking. Clinging to Evangeline's leg was Aethra. The little girl had tears in her eyes.
During the 24 hours, Ouranos and Evangeline had given Aethra the rundown on why they were sending her away with someone who was essentially a stranger. Yes, though the girl liked Levana, no child would want to part with their parents at such a young age.
What was truly surprising to Levana was that Ouranos was actually acting like a real parent. A real, caring parent who listened to their child's tantrum. Most gods were either terrible parents as they lacked the common sense required to raise one or they straight up didn't care whether the child was theirs.
Perhaps being overthrown by his children and then castrated by his son was what had caused the Primordial to change. Maybe he just really loved Evangeline and was putting up with Aethra because of her.
Wait... Levana physically squinted as she watched Aethra go to her father and hugged him. How had the Primordial had a child if he had been castrated by His son? Did his dong grow back when he revived?
Seemingly having felt that Levana was having weird thoughts, the Primordial looked at her with a strange look. Levana was standing outside the room that the family was hugging in. She had no intention of ever standing that close to another Primordial again if she could help it.
The stress and general unpleasantness from that experience were a full 10 of 10 rotten eggs on her unpleasantness metre or worse. Maybe even an 11.
Soon, Aethra walked over to Levana and held her hand while wiping her tears on her shirt. Evangeline then handed Levana a backpack. It contained Aethra's extra clothes, her toothbrush and a towel. Levana grimaced and sighed as she took the backpack from the mother.
As they walked out of the house, Aethra waved her mother goodbye. Then, the duo began walking along the roads as per Levana's map in silence. Well, not quite in silence as Aethra was still sniffling. Every time a car approached, Levana would attempt to flag them to stop. She planned to hitchhike their way all the way to her next stop.
After more than 15 attempts, a car finally stopped for them. By this point, Levana could be seen carrying her rucksack, sleeping bag, the backpack and a sleeping Aethra. On this day, Levana found out that even Pseodo goddesses like herself could sweat and get tired.
As the Toyota Camry pulled over to the roadside, Levana barely managed to hold in a laugh of pure joy. Instead, she simply let out a squeak. An Indian woman walked out of the car seemingly in a panic.
" Are you alright?! You are drenched in sweat. Come, sit down in my car." She said in rapid succession as she lead Levana to her car.
" Are you a single mother? I cannot imagine a man allowing his wife to walk carrying all those things while taking care of their child. Are you okay? Do you need a drink? There is a drink under over there. Take the water." She continued rapid firing. A gobsmacked Levana simply sat in the car stunned while weakly nodding.
Her? A single mother? She wasn't hadn't even hit 20 yet!
The woman continued to pester her to take a drink, so she did. In the meantime, the woman pulled the bags off Levana to put into the car's boot. Snapping out of her fugue, Levana buckled Aethra in. A little while later, the woman entered the car in the driver seat and turned to look at Levana.
" So? What is your story? Do you live close by?" The woman asked.
" No... I am trying to get to Imam Ali Hospital."
" Are you injured?! I have a first aid kit in my boot. I can get it now. Come I will get-" The woman said as she jumped to conclusions immediately.
" No! No, no, sorry to interrupt you but I am not injured. I just want to see my mother. She is in Imam Ali Hospital as a patient." Levana said hoping to clear up the misunderstanding.
" OOOOHHHH, I see... How about this? I will take you to my house first. It is getting very late and Imam Ali Hospital is all the way past Baghdad. I will let you and your child stay at my place for the night. Okay?"
" I, um... She-" A flustered Levana attempted to correct her about the fact that she was not in fact Aethra's mother.
" No, no, don't refuse. Seeing a struggling young mother such as yourself makes me remember what I used to be like. I will help you and you will take my help." The woman said as she turned to look at the road. Without looking back, she started driving.
" But-"
" No buts. I am doing this out of my own selfishness. Think about it. For your child." The woman said sternly.
" I... Okay..." Levana said defeated.
Shortly after, Levana nodded off, still tired from the day before.
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
Ethan_peh
Ethan_peh I imagined myself talking to the Indian woman and found that they are usually strict and give zero shits. So... I enhanced that feeling with this woman.
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