Mrs. Hephaestus

They told me it would come suddenly, that it would wreak havoc in my life, but I didn’t believe them.

I talk to myself: “What will it ever be?! It’s part of the journey… it comes and goes like many other small annoyances, just let it flow.”

Then, here comes the first time… the one that should never be forgotten and it’s so hot that it even ignites the frost, so in less than a minute I find myself in my underwear on a cold autumn day.

I ripped my clothes off and for a moment I feared I was a victim of some gamma-ray just like Doctor Banner, only instead of going green and giant I am, alas to say, always small but red as a pepper.

“Heeeelp I’m on fire!!! Water… water…”

(In fact, it looks like the riddle game: water; little fire; little fire; no no water.)

Just long enough to say those words and the temperature drops below zero. I dress up baffled, look around to make sure it wasn’t a joke, and think:

“Well, now I understand why the hot flash is so feared… it is none other than Mrs. Hephaestus and her husband, the God of fire, must have made her so angry… that she wants to reactivate every extinct volcano.”

A challenge but not mission impossible! Each volcano holds the memory of its past and although inactive, it’s always alive.

I admit that it has broken me down and I’ve not remedied its ardor.