Diane's Story

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Medusa's Tears

Diane Neisius

Summary. The story is told by a female police officer of special forces. A kind of monster has appeared in the city, killed several citizens and now hides in the tower of a gothic church. As the video tape from a nearby bank's security camera shows, it is a gorgon, a monster from greek mythology. And like it is written down, she petrified her victims to solid rock by a simple look of her eyes.
The special force group of the police enters the gothic church tower to drive out the murderous being. It takes not long until our female hero meets Medusa - no one other is the monster - but unfortunately she's captured by the gorgon in a small room inside the tower where she hides.
Now, following her psycological guidelines for such critical situations, the police officer tries to talk to Medusa. A criminal who gets a chance to justify herself doesn't kill as long as she talks. At least so it was taught at the police school.
But soon the talk leads to strange matters. Medusa tells the officer she lived for long years in the city in the shape of a normal woman. The transformation to her true shape came unexpected even to herself and happened when she was out in the city. When people noticed what she became, they attacked her in fear. She had to flee, petrifying in defense any of the panic attackers.
The talk goes more and more strange. The reason for Medusa to be here is, she's an emissary from the divine powers. Men, changing the world more and more by technical and scientific knowledge, occupy the role of the heavenly beings. They loose their true belief in supernatural, so immortal divine creatures no longer can come to the world to make stop men. Only Medusa, divine but mortal gorgon, still could be sent to Earth.
At this point a trace of sympathy begins to grow between the two women. The police officer feels the hopelessnes in the mythological being's soul. She had got no chance to do anything. As soon as anybody saw her, she was attacked. The more if Medusa now tells she was on earth before. In antiquity, Perseus killed her by cutting off her head just when she was sleeping. Contrary to the hero legend he in reality was a pubertary boy who wanted to impress his bride's father by bringing him Medusa's head.
In medieval times in France she came back again. By storytellers, her name was misspoken Melusina, and she tried to get some influence to men by a marriage to the Count of Lusignan. But a medieval woman had no other rights but to bear children to her husband. So her first mission as an emissary of the divine failed, and when she felt the transformation to her true shape coming, she left Lusignan. Somewhere in Eastern Europe where she tried to hide, a warrior slayed her down creating one more dragon myth.
The female police officer feels here is no murderous monster at work. More and more she compassionates the gorgon. Medusa is old, wise and in a way of a strange beauty, but not powerful enough to protect herself from attackers. And, looking so frightening to men's eyes, she even has no chance to fullfill her divine mission. She only wants rest and is near to the point of surrender.
The officer convinces the gorgon to go with her in peace. Both leave the church tower, Medusa literally weaponless with covered eyes.

The story ends with the thoughts of the female police officer. As was told to her, she now is in the psychologic clinic just for recreation. Medusa is dead, shot down by police in the moment she left the church tower even if totally helpless by covered eyes. And now, the officer is asked again and again by psychologists if her memories are right. But she knows what she has seen and heard. Moreover, no paper, no news told anything about a gorgon in the city. Her traces has been wiped out. And the female police officer suspects even her memories and feelings to Medusa now shall be wiped out too.
It is a warm summer night with clear sky. She watches out the star's constellation of Perseus. One star of it, Algol, "the devil's head" as the Arabs called it, is depicted as Medusa's cut-off head in Perseus' hand. Poor Medusa never will be understood. And when finally some shooting stars began to fall it is like Medusa cries them as tears.

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