This is a story I wrote for the Modern Myth contest at Latin Convention. Enjoy! And remember... this story is mine. If you take it without permission, that's stealing!
A long time ago in Greece, there lived a girl named Feles. She was a beautiful and graceful girl. She was one of those people you couldn't help but love. She was, however, a brilliant manipulator. She had this look and this voice that just made people give her what she wanted. If she wanted something, she didn't give up until she got it. She was lazy and a terrible procrastinator. She got into all kinds of trouble, but somehow always managed to land on her feet. Figuratively speaking, of course. She would have made a great thief, if she had wanted to. Feles was also very, very vain.
Feles thought herself to be equal to a goddess. With her qualities, who wouldn't? This angered the goddesses on Mount Olympus. One day they gathered together and approached Zeus's throne. Hera, queen of the gods, spoke.
"Great Zeus, this girl Feles must be stopped! She thinks herself to be as good as us goddesses! It is simply not acceptable! You must do something immediately!" Hera urged Zeus. The other goddesses muttered in agreement.
"She is too vain!" Athena argued.
"She thinks she is as beautiful as me!" complained Aphrodite.
"Goddesses, please calm yourselves. Surely you are over-exaggerating the situation," Zeus replied.
"Feles is intelligent and has the quickest wit I have ever seen. Personally, I think she's great," Hermes put in.
"You would! You're the god of thieves! You even talked my poor servant Argus to death, which just sounds like something Feles would do!" Hera retorted angrily.
"Might I propose a compromise?" Zeus asked. "Hermes, you go down to Greece and see if this Feles is really as bad as the goddesses say she is. Then report your findings to us. If she is, we shall punish her accordingly."
"Hermes! You're sending Hermes?! Do you know how much trouble those two could get into together?" Hera asked angrily.
"Enough! I am king of the gods, and you will do as I say!" Zeus said, having heard enough of the situation. How much trouble could one girl cause? "Go, Hermes, and investigate this situation. The rest of you, out! My patience is wearing thin!" So Hermes headed down to Greece and the goddesses departed, not at all happy.
Hermes found Feles sleeping under a tree. He shook her awake.
"Oh? Hello," Feles said, looking at the man curiously. She noted his winged sandals and hat curiously. Surely this must be the god Hermes! But she couldn't let him know she knew who he was. Feles looked at those winged sandals Hermes wore. How handy something like that could be! If only she could manipulate him into giving them to her...
"Could you please help me?" Feles pleaded, looking helpless and sad, while she was actually plotting how to get those sandals away from Hermes.
"Help you? How?" Hermes asked.
Then Feles came up with an idea of how she could get those sandals!
"It's my grandmother.. She lives at least a two days walk from here and she's so very sick," Feles lied. "A messenger arrived this morning. The doctor... doesn't think she's going to last through the night," Feles sniffed and wiped away a fake tear. "If I could just find someone to get there faster, I could maybe... see her one last time," Feles purred sadly, her eyes pleading.
Hermes looked at the sad girl. Normally nothing would make him take off his sandals, but there was just something in this girl's eyes and in her voice that made him do what she wanted him to.
"You poor girl. Here, take my sandals," Hermes said, taking them off and handing them to the girl.
Victory! Feles thought to herself, but didn't let her excitement show. Instead she put on a confused look.
"Your sandals? How will they help?" She asked.
"Well, let me let you in on a secret. I'm actually the god Hermes. Those sandals are magic and you can fly quickly to your grandmother's house with them on!"
"Oh!" Feles said in feigned surprise as she slipped the sandals on and rose up in the air. Then she grinned wickedly as she drifted out of Hermes's reach.
"Thanks. I always did want a pair of magic sandals! Some god of thieves. You should let me have the job," Feles said in delight as she flew away.
"HEY!" Hermes shouted after her. HE couldn't believe it! She's tricked him! Him, the brilliant Hermes, god of thieves! She had to be stopped! He started back toward Olympus, walking miserably.
"Hermes, where are you sandals?" Zeus asked when Hermes arrived back at Olympus. All the gods and goddesses watched Hermes closely.
"That thief Feles tricked me into giving them to her!" Hermes said angrily. "She must be punished!"
"So, you agree this Feles is too vain for her own good?" Zeus asked.
"YES!" Hermes shouted.
"You may punish her yourself," Zeus said.
"Not so fast. We're coming along to make sure you don't botch this up," Hera said as she and the other major goddesses stepped forward.
"Oh, all right," Hermes agreed and together they went to find Feles.
Feles was admiring her winged sandals and was rather surprised when a group of goddesses plus one angry Hermes suddenly surrounded her. Hermes snatched his sandals out of her hands.
"Hey!" Feles said.
"Sorry, Feles, but you're too vain for your own good," Hermes said.
"Oh, please. Just because I trick you out of one measly pair of sandals, you get angry," Feles said in a bored tone as she examined her fingernails, looking as if the goddesses that stood in front of her weren't worth her time.
"You have to be punished," Hermes said as he whipped out his caduceus and pointed it at Feles. Suddenly, Feles disappeared and a new animal sat in bewilderment where she had been! The animal was as beautiful and as graceful as Feles had been. It was small, with four legs and an elegant tail. It had long whiskers, great ears, and a keen sense of smell. It was the first cat.
"This is your punishment, Feles. You have been turned into an animal. I think I shall call your species felines. They shall be just a manipulative and lazy as you!" Hermes said, thinking it was a great punishment. The goddesses were satisfied as well, and they all returned to Olympus, thinking Feles was punished and her vanity gone.
Feles, however, was delighted with her new shape. She found she could manipulate people even better in her feline shape. A purr, a rub against the leg, and a look from her beautiful cat eyes were all it took to get something. She was still very vain. To her, she hadn't been punished. If those gods had failed to punish her, surely she must be equal to them. She still had all her other qualities, too. She always landed on her feet, literally as well as figuratively now. People couldn't help loving felines. This is why our cats today are just as lazy, as manipulative, as vain, and yet as loving as they are. All because of one girl called Feles.