The Goddess of Small Mistakes
A minor goddess secretly prevents disasters by causing tiny inconveniences.
ImagineYourBook writes a fresh draft from this idea.
How it begins
The goddess was charged with dropping a stitch.
Also three keys, a wedding ring and a tray of expensive glasses.
Mora stood in the celestial courtroom while the clerk read the remaining complaints. A late train. A missed appointment. Toast burned on one side. A printer that stopped working immediately before an important signature.
"How do you plead?"
"Useful."
"That is not an available plea."
"It rarely is."
From the public benches, Iris watched with the uncomfortable feeling that several complaints belonged to her.
The train certainly did.
Because she missed it, she had missed an interview.
Because she missed the interview, she had remained in a job she disliked for another year.
She had come prepared to be angry.
Mora looked smaller than expected.
No thunder.
No enormous crown.
A woman with thread caught in her sleeve and the expression of someone who had been interrupted while doing several necessary things.
The prosecutor displayed a shining picture of the delayed train.
"An efficient world," he said, "does not require this interference."
Mora pointed at a bridge in the distance.
"Show them the bolts."
The picture moved closer.
Iris leaned forward.
She was an engineer.
She knew what those bolts should look like.
She knew what would have happened if the train had reached them at full speed.
The prosecutor closed the picture.
"Speculation."
"No," Iris said.
Every head turned.
She had not intended to speak.
Mora watched her without gratitude or expectation.
That helped.
Iris stood.
"The connection was failing."
"The witness is not authorized to assess divine infrastructure."
"Then divine infrastructure needs a better inspection policy."
A sound passed through the public benches.
Not quite laughter.
Not quite relief.
Mora pulled the loose thread from her sleeve.
"Sometimes," she said, "a small mistake is the only thing that leaves time for a larger truth."
Iris thought of the interview she had missed.
Then of the people who had reached home on that train.
She remained standing.
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Outline and characters
- Mora is arrested for causing everyday inconveniences.
- Iris is summoned after a missed train disrupts her career.
- Evidence shows each small mistake prevented a larger disaster.
- The gods conceal the human cost of their perfection service.
- Mora admits she has sometimes chosen badly.
- Iris rejects both absolute control and blind trust in divine intentions.
- The court removes Mora's powers for one flawless day.
- The city experiences dangerous chains of unbroken efficiency.
- Iris persuades citizens to create human safeguards and tolerate uncertainty.
- Mora returns with limits, accountability and no promise to prevent every loss.
Characters
- Mora, 900. An overlooked goddess of small mistakes
- Iris Bell, 39. A mortal engineer asked to testify against her
Series possibilities
- Mora investigates a divine contract that promises people never to change their minds.
