A Golden Venus

Lois Lane knelt amid the shattered remnants of the idol. Brushed the last clay fragments away from the gleaming golden surface. The workmanship was crude, compared to that which had contained it. A solid lump of raw, natural gold; not smelted or cast, but dug up out of the ground and worked into shape. Bulging belly, bloated breasts, and actual head; legs spread, the suggestion of arms holding the gaping, oversized vagina open...it reminded Lois of the prehistoric Venus of Wallendorf, and the Sheela-na-Gig, both sort of rolled together in a single primal image of fertility...of bringing life into the world.

"Why did they hide you away in there?" Lois asked aloud.

Curiosity had overpowered her momentary rage. She forgot for a moment the bloating of her own stomach, the positive pregnancy test, the aching tiredness from the long night. Her hands turned the idol over, examining it minutely. There were no letters or signs on this artifact at all...and it was heavy, obviously solid, obviously real. Yet they had hidden this beneath layers of clay...why? Was it to protect it from unworthy eyes?

Or maybe, the reporter's imagination started to play out. It was to mute its power? Maybe it was too much. Some stone-age tribe, if it was too fecund they might have trouble feeding all the little ones...and every pregnancy was dangerous back then, with just one baby, never mind multiples...

She paused. Why am I suddenly thinking in terms of multiple pregnancies?

Lois shook her head. The idol was heavy in her hands. She turned it around to look at that dilated vagina...and it almost looked like a baby was crowning there. A little round pearl of a head. Instinctively, her thumb ran over it. The metal was worn smooth there. The reporter relaxed almost instantly as her thumb rubbed back and forth.

She smiled as her imagination played again. Maybe it was to keep unworthy people away. Perhaps there's a genie inside, like Aladdin's lamp, waiting to grant wishes. What else would women have wished for back then, than healthy babies and surviving pregnancy?

As soon as the idea struck her, Lois was tickled by the thought. Like a devil whispering into her ear. She had to try it out.

"I wish..." she said aloud.