Practically perfect people

In the garden where life began Adam was an intellectual giant with the heart of a lamb and Hera disguised herself as Eve.

Adam did not believe in gods or goddesses unless it was Hera, but he did believe in her. He loved his children, but he worshiped at Hera's altar.

Each child's assigned role was clear at birth. Child one was the father's child. So much so that she often wondered if she belonged to Hera at all. (although as she aged one could quite often see Hera looking back through her eyes.) Her mind was nurtured, but it was also trained. A woman was first and foremost a wife.

Child two was the cute one, the pretty one, any intellectual arts she may have had were downplayed. Her role was dropped over her head with her crinoline petticoats. There were no great lines written for her -- only great presentations.

Child three was the mother's son, but he had his father's heart. He was doomed from the beginning. Ordained to fight the family demons without armor or weapons of mass destruction. His battle scars were immense.

Child four was the last chance for redemption. Force fed on tall tales and family myths he set out to do all those things everyone else missed.

Hera's pride and joy was the fact that all her children were unique. She believed it was the final proof of great parenting.

Adam and Hera had a great amount of love for their children, but an even greater love for each other. Adam willingly gave up anything and moved anywhere in his attempts to make the proper sacrifices at Hera's feet. Each child grew up believing that was their purpose in life too. The family came first and Hera was the family.

She helped them to rely on her in every way. She was there to hold their hands and type their term papers. Her job was to plant enough fear to keep the family centered and close forever. Only one child ever dared leave the fold and she nearly died of homesickness; then spent the next twenty years trying to rear her children in Hera's image as penance.

The beauty in leaving was that eventually it was discovered that love is strong enough to weather distance and even individuality, but that took most of a lifetime. 

Don't get me wrong. One in four isn't bad and they were all successful in their own way. The others just had to do it while wearing the chains of a long line of practically perfect people whose strongest assets were bottling up their  independence and "faults" until they exploded out of their hearts, or leaked out of their minds. 

Like Adam said, "Humans don't eat their young, they just nibble away at them forever more".  Or as Hera said, "I could just gobble you up looking for the good sugar!"