The story spark was anomalous names. I chose 3 from the list of names we could choose from.
What’s in a Name
Jupiter was a bossy kind of child. His parents decided to name him Jupiter after the planet Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. They hoped that he would grow up tall and powerful.
Unfortunately, growing up tall was not in the cards for him. He remained rather short. However, he was rather wide. As he grew older, he grew wider and wider. He looked more like a planet than a person.
When he was old enough, Jupiter, realizing that his name was different than others, did some research on the name he had been given.
The planet Jupiter was a side note in the entries he found in his research. The main thrust of information was on Jupiter the God, the almighty, the king of all of the gods. He was power amplified. That was who Jupiter was meant to be.
So, child Jupiter began making demands of his parents, his neighbors, and when he became of school age, his schoolmates and teachers.
Whether it was pity because of the body he inherited and not wanting to hurt his feelings, or fear of what he threatened others with, which he was perfectly capable of doing, everyone bowed down to Jupiter’s every whim.
And that is where this story should end. I don’t know if you readers feel compassion for him or anger towards those who should have taught him better, but be that as it may, a change was in the making.
It was the day the twin girls, Sage and Alchemy, became part of his classroom mid-semester. They had just moved to his town from an unknown place somewhere called Anomalous.
Sage talked funny and always wore a cap and gown. Every sentence that she spoke was some sort of wise saying. “Goodness is always rewarded with kindness.” or “It’s better to have a strong heart than an addled brain, when dealing with others.”
Alchemy was different. Alchemy was always transforming things. She wore a lab coat and sported a magnifying glass every day. She could take anything that was given to her and find some other use for it, transforming it into a completely different object. She once took the paper and pencils that she had been given to take notes, and turned them into the object that the teacher asked her to write about. Not many people I know can change paper and pencils into a 3D image of George Washington.
Needless to say, none of Jupiter’s tactics worked on them. He could boss them, threaten bodily harm to them, and they would quickly turn it around into some wise, thoughtful saying, or an object that he wanted to play with.
Of course, they wouldn’t let him play with anything that was made.
Eventually he got tired of his games. Others started emulating the girls. Whenever Jupiter attempted something against someone else, several students would start spouting out advice to him. More and more students were learning proverbs to use against him. “Waste not, want not.” “A bird in the hand is worth two in a bush.”
And the students also learned how to create all sorts of play things and other tools that were not only fun to use but useful.
When others learned of what was going on, they started doing the same things to him – his teachers, his neighbors, even his parents.
It got to a point where Jupiter had had enough and wished to be like the others. He knew he needed to change. And so he did. And as he did, he started to feel and grow taller.
Jupiter, no longer goes by the name he was given at birth. He is now known as Harmony.
