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From his creation, Ra had worked endlessly. He has asserted himself as King of the Gods. He had ushered in an age of prosperity.
“Not that humankind is intelligent enough to appreciate my hard work!” harrumphed Ra under his breath.
“And these young’uns think they want my job!”
After toiling for years upon years with little thanks, Ra was simply exhausted. His last wish was to become one with the heavens and look down upon the world he had built. As Ra continued to exhaust himself, the days grew shorter and the steps to his throne grew taller. He knew it was time to name an heir to his throne, but who could ever fill his shoes? Was he not the almighty King of Gods for a reason?
“These greedy children know nothing of ruling and guiding,” grumbled Ra, rounding the corner to the great hall. His guards opened the double doors, revealing his subjects who eagerly awaited the announcement of their new heir.
Many whispers had reached him over the years. More whispers reached him now as he made the slow processional to this throne for the final time. He had listened to each different voice; he knew each of his subjects. There was little doubt in his mind who to pick. Ra would have to choose Osiris.
Ra loosed an entirely too tight breath that he'd unintentionally been holding.
Although he had already chosen, Ra incessantly second-guessed himself. He knew Osiris would be a fine king… But couldn’t he be a bit more interesting? He was so bookish. He kept spouting ideas about spreading “wisdom” to mankind. What was the point? Shouldn’t mankind have figured it out by now? Why bother with the effort of enlightening the humans?
Why not pick someone more entertaining? Set! Now that kid would be an INTERESTING King of the Gods! Sure, he’d ruin all of Ra’s hard work, and yes, he would create civil wars among the gods, but Ra would never be bored watching from the heavens.
But then there’s the business of the prophecy…
“Osiris has come… He’ll be the lord of everything… Yadda Yadda Yadda. Blah Blah Blah,” murmured Ra while hitting his walking cane against the bottom of the stairs to his throne.
“Pardon me, Majesty?” beseeched an unnerved guard, averting his eyes from Ra’s face.
“Mind your place, boy!” snapped Ra. He hated the pitying looks from his palace staff. He was old, but he wasn’t dead yet. If he could just make it up these damn stairs this one last time, he’d finally be able to rest.
What seemed to be hours later, Ra reached the peak of the stairs and turned to face his kingdom one last time. He had always imagined this as being more joyous. He had always presumed he’d be ready to go. He had never imagined that he might miss being King of the Gods. Standing there for the last time, however, Ra was overwhelmed with emotion.
“Be se-” Ra's voice cracked. He cleared his throat carefully, avoiding conveying the sadness threatening to drown him.
“Be seated, my children,” he continued, knocking his staff against the floor three times and lowering himself onto his throne.
“You have long wondered who I will choose as my heir, although many of you could have guessed who it would be,” drawled Ra, making eye contact with Osiris's wife, Isis, after scanning the crowd.
“My heir will be the Wise and Just Osiris, as was prophesied long ago. His coronation will take place today, and I will ascend to the heavens, permanently, tonight,” proclaimed Ra in his most kingly voice. He rose, and his subjects followed.
He descended from his throne for the very last time and approached Osiris and Isis.
“You will not disappoint me,” Ra threatened before he painfully dropped to a knee, grasping his cane tightly , in front of Osiris.
The crowd audibly gasped and quickly followed suit.
Good, they are still mine to lead, thought Ra before rising and exiting the great hall.
Author's Note:
Here's a little bit of background for you... I totally changed this story a bunch. I loved the story as I read it HERE, but I wanted a closer look into how Ra might have been feeling before handing the throne over the Osiris. I expanded the word count a bit and really took creative liberty with a TON in this story. It's more of a preface and an expansion on an existing story rather than a retelling. It's almost a different story altogether, just loosely based on Osiris. If you're unfamiliar with Egyptian folklore and mythology, you really just need to know that Ra was the King of the Gods until he was old and Osiris took over. In the version I read, there wasn't a ton of information as to why Osiris was the right one to take the throne, but there was mention of a prophecy very early on in the story I read, and I knew I had to include the prophecy (at least a little bit) in my adaptation of the story. I think I would actually be super interested in continuing this story back in time. I want to explore the possibility of making Osiris and Set super competitive with each other. I want to see how they would've interacted as very young gods and if they were always rivals or if they were friends in the first place. I could kind of see them playing Set's classic tricks together when they were younger, but then Osiris realized that these tricks can be cruel? I'm not sure. I think this could all tie in together, though!
Bibliography:
Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907)
Music:
I've chosen the embedded soundtrack below to accompany Ra's Story. Honestly, it's for some pretty obvious reasons. The title, "Ancient Egyptian Music - Tomb of the Ancients," really throws the reader back and adds just a tiny extra little flair. I like to think that if I were an all powerful god, I'd always have music floating through my giant castle!
Here is an alternate link just case the embedding didn't work! www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI6dOS5ncFc