I was my mother’s favourite.  I don’t know why.  Perhaps it was the comet that splashed across the heavens at the vernal equinox one week before I was born.  Perhaps it was my eyes, which opened two days after the labours ended.  My mother tried to explain.  She named me Jupiter.  But I was sceptical.

You see, I was one amongst a set of triplets.  So which of us three playful spirits arrived on the wings of the shooting star?  And if it was the first-born’s privilege to be bestowed that honour, which of us was born the first?  But my mother had no doubt.  She believed that my eyes confirmed my status.  It was a miracle that my two-day-old eyes could see.  It was a sign, the mark of a free spirit that arrived with fire and lightning, eager to impress his will upon a world waiting in awe.

My brother and sister opened their eyes on the eighth and tenth days respectively.  By their tardiness, they surrendered their birthrights to me.  This taught me early in life about the rewards that await the industrious.  My dear siblings!  I shall call them Mars – or Mark (to suit your ears); and Venus.

So we were – each to varying degrees – celestial spirits.

We hid in a large crevice in the rock.  Outside, the lush golden lalang danced in the hot equatorial sun.  They were my standard bearers flapping in the wind.  But no one recognised them.  My time had not yet come.  For now, they were our camouflage, screening our tiny bodies from prying eyes.

It was ironic that a celestial spirit such as I, who arrived in such pomp and splendour, should have to hide amongst the crickets and frogs that creaked and croaked in the grass.

But such thoughts did not trouble my mother.  She was mindful only that we be hidden from the wrath of the world – including, of all creatures, my father!

So for several weeks my mother hid with us.  She did not dare to venture out for food or drink, nourishing us instead with her warm milk while she weakened and waned.  Eventually, our infant teeth got in the way, and my mother knew that we were ready for solid food.  But still we could not venture out.  Instead, she left us for short periods of time to bring back the meat.  We, the triplets, were like temple gods.  Immobile, frozen into the rocks, we waited for the gifts and offerings of those bound to us by a strange power.

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