“Hello,” she answered. I recognized her voice immediately.

“Hi,” I replied scratchily, suppressing a nervous cough.

“This is the Goddess Marquesa,” she said, “to whom am I speaking?”

“My name is Ralph.”

“Well, Ralph,” she purred, “I don’t recognize your voice. Are you a first-time caller?”

“Yes.”

“You are a lucky boy, Ralph. Today is July 1st. Do you know what day that is?”

“No,” I answered.

“It is My birthday.”

“Oh! Happy birthday!”

“Thank you, Ralph. I honor an old Native American custom of giving others gifts on My birthday, and I just decided that you will receive My gift this year.”

“Wow,” I grunted, not knowing how to respond. “But…..I prepaid for this call….”

“It is not that kind of gift,” she explained. “I am going to be very candid with you, Ralph, much more candid than I would usually be with a first-time caller.”

“Ah…”

“You should know what you are getting into,” she continued, ignoring my mumbled interjection. “Your desire for Me is in its infancy now. Your mouth waters at the sight of My face and body. You can feel a tingling deep down in your groin as you listen to My voice. All of those feelings are going to grow more intense…”

“Is that a bad thing?” I interrupted.

“Just listen and learn, pet,” she countered impatiently. “Your focus on Me will become obsessive. You won’t be able to stop fantasizing about Me. No amount of masturbation will be able to slake Your desire for My voice. My image. My energy.”

“Do all of your callers become so obsessed?” I asked.

She laughed. “No. But I can hear it in your voice. In the way you are breathing on the other end of the line. You are particularly susceptible to My allure. Once you let Me into your mind you will inevitably become My slave.”

“Oh…will that be painful?” I asked.

“Sometimes,” she declared matter-of-factly. “For my slaves life is ruled by a simple principle: Anything is better than nothing.”

“Anything is better than nothing?” I repeated, feeling as stupid as I sounded. “What does that mean?”

“It means that your life will be as bearable or meaningful as I make it,” she explained. “The pleasure I give you will be the greatest of your life. Ecstasy you never imagined your body, mind or soul was capable of.”

“Oh…” I moaned. “That sounds wonderful.”

“It is,” she agreed. “But I won’t always please you. Sometimes I’ll torment you.”

“Why?”

“That is for Me to know and you to never question,” she declared. “But it won’t matter, you’ll be grateful to be tormented by Me.”

“Why is that?” I asked again, feeling like a broken record.

“Because being tormented by Me is better than being ignored by Me.”

“You ignore your slaves?”

“Sometimes,” she explained. “There are so many of you, and you are all so selfish and needy. And sometimes you bore Me. Or I get busy. But there are worse things than being ignored by Me.”

“Like what?”

“Being forgotten by Me. Sometimes one of you pets just slips My mind. It is terrible, I know, and I would never be so intentionally cruel. But even the mind of a Goddess has its limits. I can only keep track of so many playthings.”

“That’s awful,” I said.

“Yes. But all of the slaves I’ve spoken to say it is better than the alternative.”

“Which is?”

“Not having the chance to worship Me at all, silly boy. At least if you have ceased to exist for Me, I still exist for You. For those who have fallen completely under My spell, simply knowing that I am here is enough to keep them going, until they can catch My attention again. So that is the Rule of Goddess Marquesa’s slaves: Being pleasured is better than being tormented, being tormented is better than being ignored, being ignored is better than being forgotten, and being forgotten is better than not worshipping at all. Got that?”

“Yes, I think so,” I replied. “Gee…thanks. I’m glad you warned me.”

She laughed.

“What’s funny?” I asked.

“This was not a warning, sweet pet.”

“No?”

“Of course not. There is nothing you can do to prevent falling under My Rule.”

“But I thought I would only become Your slave if I let You into my mind.”

“I’m already in your mind, silly boy. What do you think has been happening all the while that W/we’ve been talking?”

“Have You been hypnotizing me?”

“Not in the conventional sense. But in a manner of speaking, yes. My will is stronger than your will. I’ve implanted the idea of becoming My slave deep in your consciousness. What I’ve told you frightens you. You will try to resist calling Me again. But you will fail. As frightened as you are of My power, your desire for Me will overmaster your fear. I’ve trapped You.”

“Why? Why did you do it?”

“Because it amused me.”

“I thought You were giving me a gift.”

“Well it is My birthday, pet. A Goddess can’t be expected to neglect Herself entirely. Besides, this was a gift. I could have enthralled you without letting you in on what was happening. I made you aware by way of tormenting you. That is the second-best kind of attention a slave can hope for from Me. You should thank Me.”

“But…I….uh….”

“That’s all right, pet. You can thank Me later. It has been lovely talking with you. Happy Birthday to Me!”

She hung up the phone. That was a week ago. I had made phone-sex calls before, but never been so confused or disoriented. At first I shrugged it off. “Oh well,” I thought. “That’s ten minutes of my life I’ll never get back.” But after a couple of days the fantasies began. I keep recalling Her voice. Imagining what it would be like to be with Her. To kneel at Her feet. To beg Her for…for…for I don’t know what. I keep wondering what She is doing right now. Is She happy? Does She remember me? By four days ago I began masturbating compulsively, but no amount of self-pleasuring has helped quell the yearning.

I know I shouldn’t call. I can feel the obsession building inside me, consuming my mind. My soul. But I can’t help myself. She is so fascinating. So compellingly beautiful. So irresistibly mesmerizing. I have to stop writing now. I need to get my phone…

The End