

Kinard Mythology Anthology Vol. III

By Kinard Middle School Students

The Boy Life Design

By Garrett Beavers

There once was a city named Ithaca. Ithaca was not best because you could alway smell a feast in the air, but the people were not eating the food, only the suitors were eating. The city looked beautiful and always was silent.There was the sound of laughing children in the streets and a feast in the air, but it was not the best place because the king Odysseus was lost at sea.

There also lived a boy named Telemachus, a young man who was son of Odysseus. Telemachus was a blue eyed, brown dark haired boy who enjoyed being with his worried mother. Little did he know that he would have to pick which was the better god out of Athena, the god of battle strategy and wisdom, or Poseidon, the god of sea and horses. The boy was not in the mood for fun and games because he was focused on finding his father, Odysseus, but the gods had other places for Telemachus.

All of a sudden, Poseidon came down to talk to Telemachus about his father and if he did not pick Poseidon he would make sure that his father died out at sea . Telemachus would say that Poseidon is the better god than Athena just because Poseidon is forcing him. If Telemachus does not pick Poseidon as the best god, he will Odysseus at sea. After Poseidon left, Athena talked to Telemachus. At this point, Telemachus is scared that Poseidon will kill his father, and he would never see his father again. Athena tried to calm Telemachus down by telling him that his father would be ok and would make it home to Ithaca and that Athena would go talk to Poseidon. But, Athena would be back and she would try to tell Telemachus what was going on with Poseidon.

Athena said, "Poseidon, why did you say that to Telemachus?"

Poseidon replied, "because everyone needs to know that I'm better than you."

"Poseidon, this is not about who is better. This is about helping Telemachus," Athena said.

Whsss. Athena appeared in the middle of Telemachus' room to tell Telemachus that Poseidon was set on being the better god and he would do anything to get what he wants.

Telemachus thought to himself, "I can help by trying to trick Poseidon into thinking that I believe that he is that better god. If that does not work, I am scared that we will have only one other choice."

"I think that you would need to fight him," Telemachus said to Athena , "so that this could end."

"Hopefully, it doesn't come to that, because I think that Poseidon is a great fighter," Athena said.

If Poseidon were to win the fight, I fear the worst will come to your father, and he will never come home. Poseidon will make sure that all of Ithaca knows that king Odysseus died at sea and one of the suitors will be the new king of Ithaca."

As Poseidon was getting ready to be picked as the better god over Athena, Poseidon did not know that Athena and Telemachus were plotting against him. Poseidon went up to the Ithaca to be better than the other gods, but he appeared in the city in a fighting arena and Athena was on the other side of the arena ready for the battle and then Poseidon looked up at the stands and saw the young Telemachus grinning, and Telemachus said, " I found a way for you and Athena to settle your differences you and Athena will fight and whoever wins in a fight will be the better god, but you know I'm going to lose. I know that is why I choose for you and Athena to battle. The fighting started right away Athena made the first attack almost knocking Poseidon sword out of his hand, but Poseidon shielded himself and Athena's sword clashed. Poseidon was not done. The fight went on for hours.

Telemachus decided to add smoke to make the fight harder son that Athena that would come out with a win, hopefully.

In the end, Poseidon landed on the ground defeated but Athena stood up ready to be the superior god. Poseidon threw a sword to kill Athena but in did not make it all the way to the body. It was done. Athena was the winner. Telemachus already knew, but he was till very happy for Athena and a little scared.

Tito the Minotaur

By Jacob

Long ago, there was a boy named Tito. Tito had short brown hair, was average sized, and was almost 14 years old. He did not have many friends because he preferred to stay inside, while the other boys played and wrestled outside. Tito lived in the greatest fighting city of Sparta in Ancient Greece. The streets were filled with people buying food and the air smelled wonderful. Out in the field you could see people training for battle because Sparta prided itself in battle and war. Almost every boy was willing to die for their city.

Tito lived in a family, and it was the best family in all of Sparta. All his confident brothers had been great generals in many wars and had won many medals, and so his family was very proud of what they had done. Also, many people respected his family.

Tito was a boy who only cared about learning and all he wanted to do was learn and study all day. He had not told anyone because he knew his family would be very disappointed. He wanted to live up to the family name, so he had to study in secret while other boys trained.

After many days of studying in secret, the day to honor Ares, the god of war, came. Tito didn't want to go, so he pretended to be sick while his family went on without him.

"Yes it worked," exclaimed Tito, "now I can study."

Up on Mount Olympus, prideful Ares became filled with rage when he noticed that Tito did not go to the ceremony, but Ares had a plan. He would hold a tournament. Every boy would have to participate.

"If Tito can show he is a real warrior, I will not punish him," exclaimed Ares, "But if he is not a real warrior, I will punish him for his insolence."

When Tito's family came back, Tito was not in bed or in the house. They looked everywhere for him. But they could not find him.

"Tito!" his family screamed.

Then Tito said, "I am over here."

"Where were you. Wait are those books in your hand," his mother said, "You have been studying again. I thought we told you that you can't anymore."

"Ok, I will stop!" said Tito. He clenched his fist and ran upstairs.

The next day, Tito heard from some people talking that a tournament was being held and that every boy had to participate. This worried Tito, but he knew he would have to participate to earn his family name.

Tito started to anxiously sprint home to prepare.

Soon after Tito left, people started to set up the tournament, and all the boys were getting ready. Then he ran back. Everyone was there. Tito's heart was pumping hard. He could barely breath. He wanted to live up to the family name. He did not know what the first challenge was. Fifteen boys went before him. He heard clapping for them. It was his turn. Then, he went out. Everyone held their breath. It was dead silent. Tito was given a bow. His fingers ran through the fine, smooth, and sharp arrows as he grabbed one. Then they brought out a sheep. Tito raised the bow. Then he saw his family in the crowd holding their breath. Suddenly, he realized he was not a killer. He dropped the bow and ran out. You could hear the gasps from the crowd. Ares got so mad he decided to come down as an old man and ask him one question.

Tito started to cry while running home. Thunder was clapping, the rain was like fast flying arrows and he could taste the rain. Then he saw an old man fall. Tito slowed down.

"Do you need help?" Tito said.

"Thank you," exclaimed the old man. When the old man got up, he asked, "Do you want to fight or learn."

Tito was quite shocked but wanted to tell the truth, "I would rather learn than fight." The old man seemed mad and said, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Tito said.

The old man started to walk away. Tito walked slower now contemplating what the old man said. But little did he know, Ares had a plan to get back at Tito.

That night, Tito was sleeping and Ares was deciding what to do. Then he had a brilliant plan to turn Tito into a huge monster that would kill anything in its way, a Minotaur. He decided that his punishment should be permanent for his insolence. That night, Tito was sleeping, then he felt something. Suddenly, he woke up and he looked at his hands, they had fur on them, then he saw his reflection in a mirror. Then he saw the monster that he was. He ran outside in rage and tried to get as far away from Sparta.

Now, Tito still wanders the Earth, and eats anything in his way. But Tito still misses his family, and will always remember that old man that did this to him. Now, Tito is no longer called Tito, but called The Minotaur of Sparta.

The God of Fun Comes Back

By Brady

There once was an a ,amazing, god, Brady, with blue eyes and a black and white suit with shades. Down on earth, lived a man named Batman who was as normal, but he had two suits on from the Joker which were green, blue and white.

Also, there was a great villain named Two Face who was a god up on Mount Olympus wearing black and white.

Meanwhile, the great warrior, Achilles was wearing his armor that was shiny with red spots, and he was muscular.

The Brady was doing his regular stuff like making it snow, making people have fun, and things like that.

Then everyone has a meeting except, Brady so the took his power away and throw him off. He was not happy at all. "Why did you do this? There will be no FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!" yelled Brady.

Achilles found the Brady walking on the street like the old waster of time.

"Hey, you in the suit with shades. How are you, what is your name and how did you get here?" Achilles asked.

"I'm a god. But all of the earth gods do not like me so I got thrown off the mountain and lost all of my power,"said Brady. "Do you believe me?"

"Sort of? But who is your father then Zeus/Kronos?" asked Achilles.

"Kronos. Everyone thinks that there are just three gods that came from Kronos, but I got them their weapons to fight Kronos." Brady explained. "But there is only one god that can give me my powers back." Her name is Hebe, and she is all the way in the USA. Do you have a boat to get there?"

"No, but I have a friend there, and he said he needs to fine Hebe too. They will give me the best boat," Achilles said and he hoped so.

So, they left for the USA. While they were on the boat, they got attacked by dead pirates who were going faster than Brady and Achilles.

"SHOOT the head off their captain so they will absolutely stop firing at us, and don't make me reiterate," Brady demanded.

"I will save you," said Batman. Shoot the head off the captain"

"Hi Achilles, are you looking for Hebe because that is a god? I will take you there."

Days later, Batman had delivered Achilles and Brady to the US.

"Here's is Hebe," Batman said.

"Hebe, the god that gives people power, can you give the god Brady power again?" Achilles asked.

"Yes," Hebe replied.

So, Brady got his powers back.

Because he got his powers back, Brady was able to make the world happy except for his friend Achilles.

Poor Achilles died when then Trouser war.

As for Batman, he went on to to fight people.

Up on Mount Olympus Everyone was happy and angry the argy on was Zeus, Poseidon and Hades.

Happiness comes when people are entertained thanks to the god Brady.

Violet's Punishment

By Maeve

Once upon a time, there lived a cunning woman named Violet. She had long brown hair that swept her shoulders, and she had shining deep blue eyes and tan skin.

She lived on a perfect little island with lush, green forests, shining rivers, sandy beaches, and beautiful villages that smelled like the sea. It was called Ocleous.

Throughout the village, Violet was known as the most intelligent person alive, almost as smart as Athena, the goddess of wisdom. If anyone had a problem, they would go to Violet.

One day, an old woman came to her with a very hard riddle. "What belongs to you, but others use more than you?" the woman asked.

Violet pondered the question and finally replied with, "My name."

The woman looked at her with surprise, and she walked away shaking her head in disbelief.

Proud of herself, she thought, "I must be more intelligent than everyone, including Athena!" So, she decided to challenge the goddess of wisdom to a battle of wits and went to the center of the village.

"Attention everyone," she called to the gathering crowd, "I'm going to challenge Athena tomorrow at noon and I will win!"

High on top of Mount Olympus, Athena looked down upon the mortals and heard Violet's challenge. She clenched her fists and glared down at the mortals. She was furious. So, she accepted.

The next day, at five till noon, the village gathered at the stage and waited for the competitors to arrive. Then, Violet emerged from the crowd, and no one dared cheer for everyone knew that Athena would win.

As Violet stepped onto the stage, a little boy in a white shirt ran onto the platform and took Athena's place on the stage. In front of their eyes, the boy turned into the goddess Athena!

Every one stared and waited for the contest to begin. Then, an old woman came from the crowd holding a gold timer, the only one that the village had.

She came onto the stage and set the timer for 30 seconds and whispered into the goddess' ear a riddle.

After many impatient seconds, the goddess called to the crowd, "You should ask the gods for help!" The answer was responded with cheers, but was abruptly stopped by the old woman.

She went over to Violet and reset the timer and then leaned in and whispered into her ear, "You are trapped in a cement room with no windows or doors and only a table and a mirror."

Violet thought for only a few seconds and declared to the crowd, "I would take the mirror and see what I saw. I would take that saw and cut the table in half. Two halves make a whole, and I would crawl through the hole!"

In surprise, the woman called to the crowd, "Violet has won!"

The crowd was silent, waiting for something horrible to happen, but it didn't.

Violet was incredibly happy and turned to the goddess, "See, I am far greater than you. I should be goddess of wisdom cause you are stupid," she taunted.

"Why do we have a goddess of wisdom who is stupid?" Violet yelled to the crowd. Athena clenched her fists.

"YOU CHEATER!" she screamed, finally losing it, "YOU HAVE CHEATED AND YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR IT!"

In an instant, she turned to Violet, and with a swish of her hand turned her into a slimy blob. Athena, then stomped angrily off the stage and disappeared, on her way to Olympus.

Everyone stared at the blob on the stage and soon the crowd slowly started to go home. No one knew what to do with the blob, so they left it.

But high on Mount Olympus, Athena thought about what she had done and how she had turned at terrified person into something with no way to survive.

So, the next day she went back to Ocleous and searched the area, hoping that no one had moved her. Soon, she found her and knelt next to the blob.

She swished her hand over her twice and the blob started to grow eight long tentacles, eyes and a mouth. Feeling less guilty about what she had done, she threw her into the crashing waves of the ocean.

Violet now lives in the salty sea as a small octopus with the rest of her family, all thinking about what she had done.

The Unicorn

By: Juan Diego Mina

There once was a dirty town that smelled like cow manure and wet dog way back in Ancient Greece. This town had a dry, dirt hill in its outskirts. The houses were tall and majestic and the streets were filled with markets and people.

Up on Mount Olympus, the gods were all fighting about who was more beautiful Aphrodite or Hebe.

Below Mount Olympus down in the rugged town of Greece, there was a poor horse sitting on top on the small, dirty hill 5 miles from civilization without any food or a shelter. Cold as a stone.

Back on Mount Olympus, Ares was sitting and watching Aphrodite and Hebe have at each other.

Finally, Ares snapped, "Shut up!" he screamed,. "I am done with all your fighting." But they kept fighting.

Ares was so mad he went and stole all of Aphrodite's clothes. Zeus was so mad that he turned Ares into a mortal.

"We need a new god soon," said Athena, "or else everything will be out of balance."

They looked over every city in the world, but they still couldn't find anyone worthy of the gods.

"We need to find a new god soon," Zeus said.

When they went back to Greece, they saw an old poor horse on the hill. And they thought that they could maybe, just maybe, the poor old horse could become a great god.

Hebe said, "Maybe if we mix your lightning with my drink we could strike the horse and he should turn to a god."

Zeus and Hebe started mixing their items and make a lightning bolt that had a mix of Zeus' lightning bolts and Hebe's magic drink. They started throwing the bolts at the poor horse. While the horse was dodging the bolts, he started dancing like there was no tomorrow.

"Zap" "Bang" "Crack"

"How am I not Hitting the stupid horse?" Zeus said.

"Because," Hebe said, "it seems the horse is avoiding the bolts by dancing."

"Wait a second," said Hebe. "We should stop the storm and wait until the stupid horse stops dancing."

Zeus clenched his fists and spat on the ground.

Zeus screamed, "FINE!" as he walked away.

As the stopped the storm, the horse sat down and started thinking. He thought maybe if he wandered of and found a farm he could by chance have a fancy life. Just like those cool horses that pull around carts and go to war in big cool armor.As he sat down, Zeus threw his final lightning bolt. It was a direct hit like an arrow to the bullseye.

While the horse lay on the ground shaking, he transformed. His fur went from half bald to a brilliant white. He went from having a lump on his head to having a strong Nobel horn. He went from dancing in thunderstorms to flying through the sky. His wish came more than true. He became more noble than the the royal horses. He could pull giant chariots threw the sky. He could even talk.

"This is the best day ever," said the horse. "I'm not smelly."

All the gods gather around the big table on Mount Olympus to rejoice finding a new god. By the way, the horse became the Unicorn, the god of rainbows and dancing, Aphrodite got her clothes back, Athena and Aphrodite stop fighting, and Ares died.

The Greatest War

Hendegivus The Great

Hi my name is Mason and this is the story of my life. At the time, I was only five years old, andI lived in a very impoverished city. All of the streets that we had were overgrown with weeds. Like we needed a street because we had no way of transportation. All of the horses that we had we either sold or ate. I had brown hair and blue eyes, andI grew up with three other siblings, two sisters, and one brother. Their names were Avery, Maddy and my brothers name was John. I had a mother and my father was in the military, and our army was tiny. So me and my brother were basically born into being military men.

As I grew older through the years, I got stronger and more intelligent. Of course, I was going to be in the military because almost all of the boys were chosen because our army was so small. Luckily and sadly, my brother was chosen to be in the military as well. Military camp was hard. They put you threw a series of test to see who was the best. Me and my brother were probably in the top five at the time. We us to horse around in our so called backyard or just an overgrown place of weeds. Our country has been at war for several years so our group was bound to go right into war.

I don't know what was worse, the training or the hike to get there. We were all covered in chainmail which was heavy and we also had to walk with all of the weapons which added another al least ten pounds. Not to mention all of the food that we had to carry. We atleast lot 10 to 15 men on the hike when we were attacked in the woods. We also hiked in the mountains so some froze to death; it was treacherous.

We had just barely crossed the mountains when first arrow flew, the sound of bronze on bronze made the horses crazed. Blood poured out of the man there was too much blood and guts everywhere you could practically smell it. When we charged, the war head on the weapon that I used was a spear and it was the best balanced spear in the world it felt like a scale with two rocks at both ends. I hated killing people but it was part of my job so I had to. My brother on the other hand he refused to kill anyone he hated seeing people die so he was in the back a little bit and didn't see much action me on the other hand o was one of the best I had a lot of action. We finally drove the enemy team back enough to take control. We had lots, at least 150 at the time, and we were about to lose another one.

"My Brother!" I screamed.

We knew the war would end if their was a sacrifice to the gods. And My brother was chosen. It was the most heart breaking moment in my life. To know that he was going to die was the hardest moment of my life. When he passed, I was determined to make something great out of his accomplishments.

After the war, and my brothers sacrifice I became one of the most powerful people in the city. I made a great sanctuary out off all his belongings. It took may years, and I finally made it happen. I named the great city that we had after my brothers war name.... Sparta!

Lucky Star

By Jason Popper

Zoe Nightshade hated being the leader in the hunters of Artemis. Being second in command made her nervous. Like right now, she and the other hunters were walking on the 45 mile road to the temple of Artemis to see what she wanted, and she was so nervous to see that that she was spacing out.

"What does Artemis want?'' asked the youngest hunter, Haden, she had been babbling and talking non stop.

"I Don't know,'' said Zoe.

Zoe had wanted to hurry and get to the temple, but now that she was standing inside it, she wanted to be anywhere but there.

All of a sudden, there was a cold chill and a dazzling light, and the goddess Artemis appeared in front of the hunters.

"My dear hunters, I have one favor to have you do. I have teamed up with Athena to help her keep Athens. If you did not know, Poseidon has taken the chance to try to take Athens.''

All the hunters were quiet, and all of a sudden Zoe needed to talk to feel comfortable.

"Why is Poseidon trying to take Athens,''Zoe asked.

"Athena has been on a leave of absence and has not been looking after her city and Poseidon took the chance to take her city."

After Artemis had talked to the hunters, they had trudged back to their camp and started talking.

Khloe started talking first, "I think that we need to ask the gods to give us weapons. We have nothing to fight with."

"I think that she is right,"Zoe interrupted, "but I think that we should ask the other hunters what they think."

Later that night at their evening meal, there was a shimmering light, and right before the hunters, there was Athena dressed in full battle armour. Zoe was the first to talk.

"Great Athena, why have you showed up?"

"Zoe is one of the best hunters. I have heard of you, and I have come to give you the supplies you will need to defend my beloved city."

"How are you going to give us the supplies we need?'' said one of the littler hunters reply.

"I will prove how I will what would you like to use to defend my city?" Athena asked.

The little girl pondered what she wanted to use, and at last she finally said, "I would like to have a bow with bronze tipped arrows." and then she added politely, "please."

All the hunters went up to Athena one at a time to asked for the weapon they needed to use when Zoe got to Athena she said,

" Dear Athena I would like to have something special I would like to have. I have a feeling that we will need more than just bronze weapons i think we will fight wolves not just monsters ,so i would like to have a never ending supply of gold bronze and silver arrows and a bronze on one side and silver on the other sided sword."

"You are a very smart girl Zoe I will grant you what you want on one condition i know you will lose a lot of hunters are you ok with that." Athena made it sound like she had to say yes like it was a statement and if she did not she would be in smithereens so she said

"Yes I am willing to lose hunters for you." Zoe said at last.

"That is a very wise choice Zoe the second in command is a smart one you will be rewarded with something special."

Once Athena had said those words she disappeared in a great white blinding light all the hunters turned and where Athena was standing was the gifts for Zoe and a gong with a note that said bang this once before you go out to battle and when you get back bang it four times.

Zoe and the rest of the girls took turns to heave and pull the gong to the middle of the camp after that they went to bed.

Zoe spent all night thinking about the look in Athena's eyes when she said to hit the gong three times after the battle.

Zoe had a dream that night that she was in the sky and all of a sudden it got dark and the stars came out and a lot of the hunters were dancing around all these shiny, silver lights Zoe wondered what those things are she had never seen them before in the sky at night and then she saw a big bright light and it was above all the bright lights (it was the moon but back then they did not have a moon or stars) Zoe looked around and realized she was no longer on the ground and was in the air dancing with all of the other hunters the dream faded out and Zoe found herself in her sleeping quarters she looked outside and decided that it was 7:00 and get ready for the battle tomorrow then she saw Haden she was sitting and crying and sniveling Zoe realized she was only

The Golden Currys

By Ryan Lugo

Hello, I'm Ryan. Oh sorry, meant to say Ryan Lugo, not to be confused with Ryan Chen. Anyway, I will be telling the legendary story of how I got the limited time golden Curry 3's.

To begin, we start the story off in Loveland,Colorado. It was a typically warm day, so some of my friends and I decided to get up and go to the Under Armour to get some fresh gear.

"I can't wait to smell that sweet sweet pancake smell that all the shoes have," Dylan said.

"Wait, hold up. So I am taking you guys to get so fresh gear and all you can think about is pancakes?" I said

"What, I like pancakes," Dylan said. Suddenly there was a deafening noise from my friend Joey.

"Please don't talk about breakfast in front of me please. I still haven't had breakfast and you promised us Chick-fil-A!" a very cranky Joey said.

"Wait do you guys see that?" I said

"Nope," hollered the other two.

"It is a sign in front of Under Armour saying, Sale: 50% off all shoes. Limited time Golden Curry 3's," I read aloud.

"We need to get down and go right now. I could buy so many shoes to the point of my room smelling like fluffy, delicious pancakes,"Dylan spoke.

"No, Joey said, what am I going to eat? I'm going to starve."

"Joey, your hunger can wait. Do you even understand the meaning of Golden Curry 3's?" As my friends and I exited the car, we entered the store and see that a Mini World War 3 has broken out. The golden Currys right in the middle.

" What are we going to do?" asked Joey.

"I don't know, but I do know one thing, and that is we are going to get the Currys and leave victorious,"

"Sounds like a plan," said Dylan. "Ditto,"said Joey. "Alright, let's go!" I exclaimed. As we are walking we hear a ear-splitting sound. KA-BOOM!

"What was that?" I said, nervously. I looked around to see what caused the noised. I was a deadly confetti cannon, built to blow someone away with 14 tons of confetti."Guys, it was that green confetti cannon!" I exclaimed.

"There is only one thing to do. We have to take out the man controlling the cannon," Dylan said.

"Well, Joey said, are we supposed to do that. That thing has a 360 field of vision."

"Maybe we don't have to take out the person controlling it we just have to cut the power," I aforementioned.

"I see the power cord!' Dylan said.

"Great work Dylan. We just need a dazzling distraction. I can cut the power since I am the

fastest here. You guys will be the distraction.You just need to buy me enough time to get from the front of the store to the back!" I yelled as I started running.

"All right got it," the Dylan and Joey spoke in unison. "Wait, said Joey, I you don't make it back I just want you to know that you left me without Chick-fil-A. Major party foul in my books."

"Really, in a time of life or death you are talking to me about food, not about how I am going to give my life, no not that, we are talking about food!" I said. Suddenly, we heard another thunderous KA-BOOM again. I decided to go on the stealth mission. As I was making my way to the back, the distraction went off. I know knew I only had a little bit of time before it ended. I made it to the back, and everything went quiet, a little too quiet. I decided to use the opportunity to cut the power to the cannon. I made my way back, but not long before the cannon was restored power.

"I need to make it back but there is no way. There are people everywhere." I spoke to my self. Little did I know, there were the supernatural superpowers watching over me. Out of nowhere, Hebe and Athena appeared. "What the!Athena! Hebe!" I said shocked. "We will only help you this once Ryan. Drink from my cup to gain the various powers of the gods," Hebe told me. "And I will give you the strength of a thousand men," Athena added. "Thank you," I spoke to the gods

Using my new powers, I power through the crowds and manage to reunite with my friends.

"Guys we need to go for the Currys now,"I said.

"Why, the cannon is still operational,"Joey spoke.

"It doesn't matter we need to grab the Currys and run," I said. We turned to run for the Currys, but there was this figure that was looming over us. We decided to run and never look back.We got the Currys, the one thing I have been yearning for.They were made by gods and felt like a cloud.We ran out of there with confetti blast behind us.

"Whoa, who did that!" I exclaimed.

"I may or may not have rigged the confetti cannon to blow to we would look cool," Dylan said.

"Good work." I said

As we left the store, my friends decide to get some stuff for themselves. But not before Joey exploded and told me that he needed food. On the notion we decided to get some

Chick-fil-a .

"That was good , Joey said happily, let's go get some gear."

"Sweet Sweet pancake smell here I come," Dylan said. We entered the store to find it littered with confetti.

"We did good today," I exclaimed

"Yeah, I guess we did," the two others said, admiringly. We struggle to find anything except a few shoes for Dylan and a couple of hoodies for me and Joey. We loaded up the car and on the way home we talked about how crazy that visit to Under Armour was, of course my mom didn't believe us, but me and my friends knew what happened. I also promised Joey that we would get food before we ever did something like that.

"Obviously, Joey, no guarantees," I said.

"Why me!" Joey vociferated.

The Invention

By Jason Ly

The streets were filled up in Ancient Greece, not one person was staying home today, it was two days until my speech... kids were playing, adults were talking, people were buying food. I could also smell the fresh loaves of bread that just got out of the oven, I hadn't seen a day like this since my father's last invention, what a terrible thought.

While I was walking home, I decided to stop by the invention room, a place where my parents would go to make new tools and gadgets.

I soon walked in, I was greeted by a close friend, it was Goku, knowing that he was a God gave me the chills, I've always wanted to be a God but never wandered how. Goku walked me to the counter where Uther Brighthammer was waiting for me, he was the best inventor in town, taking the place of my father.

"Hey Kayle it has been too long my friend how have you been?" said Uther, "not the best. I have my speech in two day,s and it's making me nervous and scared. I don't want it to be like my fathers," as I said that, he had a sad reaction, and was walking to get something from the back cabinet, I wondered what it is. I saw him turn around and gave me a tiny telescope, I felt the rust and platinum on the telescope, polished to perfection

"It was given to me by Apollo, and now I want you to have it," Uther said. Looking into the little sized telescope that I just received, I walked by the window and looked up, it was night time and I saw the little suns in the sky, I really don't know why we call them that. Uther and Goku walked me to my home and said goodbye. I was glad I had them, they were the only family I had. I sat down at my desk and started working on the letter Uther had given me, I saw that he already started. I was truly tired but had to keep working in my letter since the speech was only in two days. eventually my head fell and my eyes slowly closed.

I woke up to the ring of the doorbell. It was Goku and Uther.I opened the door and said good morning and welcomed them in. We ate breakfast together; the taste of the food as it traveled into my mouth made me travel to cloud nine.

"I had just finished up my letter," I said "

That's great," said Uther. "Kayle it's time to work on the invention for tomorrow, Apollo is furious," Goku said.

Had I just forgotten that we were supposed to make an invention for the town. I thought to myself.

"Good thing we have one more day before the speech," Uther said. We gathered around the table where the telescope was in the middle and started working on the invention. Uther was working on making the pieces, Goku was gathering the materials, and I was working on how to say my speech. I saw Apollo reining from the sky and informed Uther and Goku. He wanted to speak to me. All the people in the village were filled with excitement, except for us... The three of us got out of the house and now we were in sight of the man on fire.

Goku informed me to stay inside, luckily, I had just finished my letter for the speech and was on my way to work on the invention that Brighthammer had already started.

The invention I was thinking about doing would allow us to read the stars that the Gods send to us,kinda like decoding. For right now, I was just afraid Apollo would find me. I wasn't sure what he would do. My plan for the speech was trying to get all the gods on my side because without them I couldn't power my invention. Goku told me he would be in human form at the speech. I hope he'll be there in time.

The next morning, I had just got up and downstairs, and I could hear someone speaking. As I figured, it was Uther and Goku. They were glad to take me to the speech. On the way, there no one said a word, it was dead silent. We finally arrive and the people were waiting for me to get on the stage. Uther quickly went back to the house to finish the invention but Goku stayed. But I didn't know where he was at. An hour later, my speech was finished, the people grew silent. The riot soon began\ and everyone became angrier and angrier, I could hear the screams of people

who wanted to see my invention. Minutes later, we saw fire in the sky, and Apollo's face appeared. Flying down the sky, he was determined to kill me. Goku soon came and we both ran back to the house. Uther had just finished and the invention was ready.

Gathering our supplies, we were heading up to the mountain. Looking back I could see the red demon. Apollo was tearing the city apart! He was going berserk! It was not a good sight to see. Finally, he saw a glimpse of me. The man on fire was charging up the mountain. There were stars in the sky, and it was a night to enjoy, but our mission was not complete yet. We reached the top of the mountain, placed the telescope down, and I looked into it...

In the sky, I saw the words, 'I'm coming'. I few and seconds later a chalice fell from the sky. I was filled with amazement. Looking closer at it, I saw it was Hebe's chalice. It reached my hand, and I quickly drank from it. I suddenly started to glow and I thought,Is this what it's like to be a god? I looked back quickly and Apollo was standing there astonished at what he just saw and he lowered his bow and arrows. We came down to the mountain to meet him.

"Good to see that you're not a demon anymore," said Goku. "I will not harm anyone anymore. What I saw made me see enough, and I will rebuild this town and protect it, and I also apologize," Apollo said. Five months later, the town was rebuilt, the streets were filled up, children were playing, and it was a beautiful day. Looking to my right, I saw Kayle,Goku, and Uther on the stage. It made me wonder if I could just interfere a little bit; that the whole thing would go unsuccessful. Making him a God questioned me and made me angry. Let's see what power I can get with Apollo by my side... Apollo and hebes live their days angry.

Hank and Willie

By Zain Mazeh

On the edges of Ft. Jackson, lived the best detectives. They were named Hank and Willie.

Lady Lina awoke the whole town, her husband had been murdered! But there was one person awake, but he didn't hear a thing except for his soft played banjo. The birds were chirping a tune and were Pecking Down old Hanks half eaten sandwich with beef and fresh made cheese from Jackie's Farm.

"Hank!" yelped Willie, "We got another one, Lady Lina's husband had just been murdered! Hank, Stop daydreaming it's time for work!"

"Be quiet Willie!" Screamed Hank, " Just say it calmly I can't hear you, sometimes you are just too crazy."

Hank and Willie were the best detectives, but they always yapped in the morning, Hank was really tough on Willie ever since he was a kid, but Hank still loved the spirit in the boy, but Willie didn't know that.

"Grrrrr, just get up! You are the most annoying detective I have ever seen." Willie left Hank and kept as much distance as he could from Hank, even though they were on duty

While Hank and Willie were checking out the House for any clues of the murder, Willie was so mad about how every day he had to get up an old man who somehow became a star detective and did nothing for it. Willie, rage filled, wanted to punish Hank.

"Why should Hank be the star he hasn't done anything/ I Should be the star not him!" He exclaimed into the shadowy window.

Little did he know, someone was actually listening to Willie's rage filled yapping. It was a being that people thought never existed. It was a goddess named Nemesis.

Nemesis came down to earth and told Willie he could get revenge for what Hank did to him. "Yes, yes I like that, I want you to punish Hank for what he has done," Willie said. Nemesis instantly knew that Willie was now in her clutches, and she slowly disappeared from Willie's domain with a snake like grin.

Next morning, Hank woke up early because he was concerned, but this time the sheriff was there.

"Is this your banjo Hank?" He said in a angry tone.

"Yes yes it is," He said joyfully.

The sheriff said, "you are now under arrest for the murder of Lady Lina's husband."

Old Hank was then cuffed and taken to the Jail. Willie watched in joy on how he was the new detective. But he felt empty inside like as if he lost his father for something. The next morning, Hank woke up and saw the poster informing everyone that Detective Hank would be executed for his crimes. With Willie staring in awe, he then realized what he had done. Willie quickly fell into depression.

"I wish I could save my only friend, the only person that truly accepted me for who I am," he said ready to give up in life and cry his life away.

Hank was then executed next day and the only detective left he was Willie a detective in training not nearly as good as Hank. Then the murders kept on coming and no one knew whom was the culprit killing off the town.

How Cherries Came to be

By Jade Miller

One Beautiful morning, Mia and Cherry were walking through their big gorgeous garden and as they were watering their carrots and picking their tomatoes in their garden. Mia thought, why do we just have vegetables and flowers? We need something sweet and juicy. Maybe something with bright colors and something that has bumps or that is smooth?

Later on that day, Mia and Cherry were walking through their town of fruitalopus. The town was small and had very little shops. It rained a lot in the spring and most of the town got flooded .In the summer, it was always so hot. In the winter, it would be below zero. Since it was the summer, they decided to go swimming. As they were swimming, Mia and Cherry saw a seed at the bottom of the beautiful lake and they really wanted to try to get the seed.

Mia and Cherry tried to plug their noses and tried to get to the bottom, but they couldn't seem to hold their breath long enough. Then, they tried to fish for it and and grab it, but it wouldn't stay on the hook, so they had to come up with a different plan.

Suddenly, Cherry had a brilliant idea, she and Mia went to go find a big machine that could go in water and also would grab the seed.

As the big machine lowered into the lake, the two girls were nervous and were worried that it wouldn't. Thankfully, the machine safely got the seed out of the water and placed it into a bright yellow pot. Then Mia and Cherry walked over to see the seed, and Mia touched the odd shaped seed, and then Cherry did. When Cherry touched the seed, it turned into this small bright red round plant. Cherry and Mia decided to taste it and there eyes light up and they got shivers on their entire body. It was so juicy and sweet.

After they tasted it a couple times more, they came upon a really hard seed and it was big. The two girls decided to walk back to their garden and try to plant the seed.

They kept watering the seed day after day and finally it turned into a small tree with lots of red plump circle things and so Mia and Cherry named the red things cherries because Cherry was the one who made cherries come to be.

The Bat Brothers

By: Bridger Moore

In the black night of Colorado, where there was a small breeze, just enough to cool you down after a long day of relaxation, lived two boys that loved to play outside and soak up the summer sun. There were two boys named Blake and Brian who were brothers that hardly ever argued and were always friends except when they were bored. When they were bored, they had nothing to do except argue with one another.

Blake and Brian were extremely bored of summer and wanted something new to happen. Their solution to this was to do something bad that could get them in trouble if they got caught. This excitement of being sneaky was what they would do to get away from the boredom that summer brings. Would they be able to pull it off?

They once decided to go to the convenience store and lure the cashier away and go behind the counter of the store.

Why did the boys decide to be mischievous?

Due to their extreme boredom, they decided to sneak out of their house one beautiful night that was well light by the moon and stars. They crept out of the house at nine o'clock precisely and ran quietly and on their tiptoes two blocks to the neighborhood's trampoline, that had been there ever since last summer, to enjoy the nice weather and burn some energy. They started to jump higher and higher, until they were scraping their heads on the underside of the clouds. Their heads were soaked from the cloud of moisture. One jump in particular sent them onto the top of a cloud that had Zeus (the God of lightning and of the other gods).

After they had landed on the cloud, they were taken into Zeus's arms and all struck with a crash by lightning in the calm night air.

Due to this extreme electrocution, and the fact that Zeus is the greatest of all of the gods, he said, "You boys will forevermore be able to fly in the night when everyone is asleep without getting in trouble after I turn you boys into bats."

The boys exclaimed in between tears, "we are sorry, we don't want to become bats!" In the time it took for the boys to say that, the were turned into bats. Now all they could do was screech.

The sad boys swooped and soared back down to earth where they would have new lives as bats instead of humans. They flew back to their house and through the open window, and into their parents room.

"The poor boys were seen as a threat of having a disease so they were not welcome in their home any more.

The bats leveled off on top of their parents' bed in sorrow They were regretting ever disobeying their parents. The poor boys were seen as a threat of having a disease so they were not welcome in their home any longer. When the parents woke up, they were immediately shooed and when they kept dodging the broom, they were shot down by the dad who always slept a gun on hand in case of threats from the outer world.

The Battle of Heaven

By Space Ranger Steve

This story takes place long, long ago in a Greek city that no one has ever heard of. This place was called Orgathia See now, this place had a beautiful golden pallas that only the the bravest warriors, richest men, and the king would stay. However, bordering the walls of the pallas was forest where the warriors got their food and water supply. Although ,behind the gates of the forest, there was a hot dry sandy area where all of the normal people (citizens) who the king Kortan thought were useless were to live in these conditions.

These citizens were treated very poorly, and they had very little food supply even though they were the ones who provided the tasty food for the general's. They also had a very small water supply, this all happened because of a selfish King that took all the credit for all the battles the army had won, and as mentioned before his name is Kortan.

However there was one warrior that went by the name Hevan and he was the main reason that Orgathia had won every battle they had fought. He was the strongest and most muscular man it the village he was as good as Hercules and Achilles combined. Hevan had lived in the palace enjoying all the wine, food, water, and riches, but something was off. He knew something was wrong, and that was when he started to see the world in a totally different way...

Heaven started to finally care about the complaints about civilians dying of thirst, starvation, and sickness and how they needed more food and water. Heaven never knew about how poorly these people were treated, so he went to the Border Homes. Hevan reached the outside of the palace walls, there was a long dark forest that you half to pass through to get to the border homes and when he reached the walls Hevan could hear coughing.And joust when he opened the gate he saw a sight he could never forget...

There were people walking with their kids who were so skinny you could see the full outline of the bones in their bodies that smelled horrible. Then Hevan looked to the right because he could not bare the sight of starving people, and he saw a hospital. He felt relieved that there was some support for the sickening people, but he saw rats come from the other side ot the building, and he had to investigate. Just when he thought nothing could get worse, it got way worse; he saw a pile of rotting dead bodies that had bugs and rats eating at their flesh. And just then , Hevan came to realize that all of this was happening because who the people in the palace.

One hour later, Hevan Reached the pallas with fire in his ies searching for Kortan right then he turned into the kitchen and there he was Hevan ran to him pinning Kortan down yelling onto his face screaming,

"Why have you not been telling me that there are poor people that are starving

and dying all because of us," Kortan just laugh and said,

"You think that they are more important than us look at them they are weak and

worthless they have no use to this village" Heaven stepped back in shock And said in a soft tune.

"This is what you think of those people and you think that it is ok just to let them rot out there."

"Of course."

Kortan replied. Heaven power walked to his room in anger saying in his mind over and over again.

This is not right this is not right...

That night, Hevan started to come up with a plan to help the poor people, but what could he do then it happened? He figured that the only way to help the poor people was to steal. Now Hevan had never done anything wrong besides kill people in battle.

But Heaven though, "I am doing the wrong thing to wright the right cause."

So at night, Heaven started to take a chariot full of food and buckets of water, for decades until Kaven figured that he wasn't throwing any food away, but luckily by now the citizens had healed and got stronger. As Kortan came to realize that the poor were strong, he sent an entire Argothian flete with the best of the best.

Since God was on the lookout for Hevan, he gave Haven the strength he needed to fight the Orgathian flete. As Hevan came to realize that his body was somehow getting stronger he knew that god was on his side. So he decided to take the Orgathian flete on himself.

Hevan, Kortan,and the Orgathian fleet met at the forest just inside the walls of Orgathia. However, Hevan was alone and he had the element of surprise, so he hid up on the tree tops waiting till the right moment. One hour had past and Hevan could start to hear he Orgathian flete marching through the woods. Ten more minutes passed until he could begin to see the Orgathian flete, and just then Hevan jumped from the treetops and struck the fleet defending the walls and taking out two soldiers free falling from the trees. The battle began. Every soldier that came got struck down by Havens fiercely swinging blades until they came in groups with god's power. He could take down the groups, but every time they came at him one of the soldiers would slay a hit on him.

This happened over long periods of time until they felt had injured him so badly he could not fight any more. Hevan laid in the battlefield bleeding out watching the flete open the gates and charge for the citizens. But when the Orgathian fleet came out, there was no citizens but what they did not know is that while Hevan was healing and feeding the Citizens. He was also training them how to fight. By now, the fleet started to search in the huts and if they did not find anyone they would burn the hut down after they had burnt the last hut the fleet began to leave the the desert area until they heard, "Charge." After the flete heard this, there was dead silence until the young began to shake and just then they saw a group of people flying like bats out of hell with axes and hammers. The fleet began to retreat. Since Hevan took out about ¾ of the flete out, they knew that they did not stand a chance against an entire rebellion. Right as they turned around, they saw another group of citizens. Charging at the flete from both ends, the fleet surrendered and gave the citizens everything.

Once the citizens had tied the flete up, the finally remembered Hevan they quickly ran inside the gates and searched for his body. Now they never found his body but in a hour of searching. They saw a golden eagle shoot up from the ground, and they knew that the golden eagle was heaven, and the gods had gave him such honor. They made Haven the god of heaven, and so on the citizens mate their way past the two gates and settled in the palace forgetting all about the rest of the fleet...

The Origin of the Aspens

By: Grace

Long ago in Ancient times, where Colorado is now, lived two girls Aspen and Minerva. Minerva was very wise and was the smartest girl in her school, Triton Middle School. She had been for five years and was being honored today because of it.

Aspen was not known for anything and watched jealously as her friend was led onto the podium. Minerva's round face was flushed but held in a smile. Her long brown hair was pulled into a tight bun but it obviously wasn't done neatly because hair poked out in weird places, but Minerva didn't seem to care. The principal started his speech about his school and Minerva searched the crowd hoping to see her friend. What she saw wasn't something she liked.

Aspen was jealous of her. Minerva was shocked and bewildered but being the kind friend she was, when it was her turn to give a speech she started out this way," My fellow students, I am honored to receive this award, I really am, but I could not have done this without my best friend Aspen. Aspen please come up here." There was no reply. Minerva cleared her throat, "Hem, would Aspen Jones please come up here." Minerva scanned the spot where she had seen Aspen last, but she was gone.

After the ceremony, Minerva ran to where Aspen went when she was trying to cool down. She would never let Aspen know that she knew this though. The area the went to was actually quite pretty, with red, pink, yellow, and white flowers surrounding a bubbly little creek. Aspen was there and obviously wasn't happy. Her face was streaked with tears. "I have been looking everywhere for you," Minerva lied. Aspen turned, "Really," she said in a disbelieving tone, "You're so smart that I'll bet you knew exactly where I was." Minerva stayed silent, she didn't want to show how much hearing that stung. Aspen continued, eyes flashing," I deserved the award more than you did because I AM BETTER THAN YOU, I ALWAYS have been and I ALWAYS WILL BE!" at that, Aspen turned away breathing heavily.

"Well I'll leave you alone then." Minerva stammered walking slowly backwards. She then turned and ran into the forest and into a clearing. A rock was in the center and Minerva fell onto it and wept.

Suddenly, bright light filled the clearing. Minerva looked up and saw Iris, the messenger goddess for Zeus coming down on a rainbow of color. Iris landed neatly in the clearing and walked up to Minerva. Iris perched on the rock beside her and spoke clearly," Minerva, daughter of Zeus, I am surprised it has taken you this long to understand. You are not a mortal, you are the daughter of Zeus, you are a goddess, but since you have not had nectar or ambrosia, you are not a full immortal. Meet Hebe here in twenty minutes to have a sip from the cup of the gods."

Iris floated back up into the sky leaving Minerva in absolute shock. "Me?", she whispered. In twenty minutes on the dot, Minerva appeared. Hebe appeared only a few seconds later holding a golden cup with golden stuff in it. Hebe smiled and held it out to her. Minerva bravely stepped forward and took a small sip. It tasted like nectar.

Immediately, she felt different and shot towards the heavens. The wind whipped around her and she landed in a room that had the name Athena written on the door. "Oh," she exclaimed, "I'm in someone's room." She heard whistling down the hall coming toward the door and she dove under the bed just as the door flew open and a beautiful goddess girl came in and yelled, "Welcome Athena." Minerva peeked out and the goddess exclaimed, "You're shy," she said," Oh well, you're my age, and I have been needing someone to be my friend, by the way my name is Aphrodite.". She had said all of this very fast but by now Minerva had crawled back out from under the bed and finally she said," Um, I'm not actually Athena, my name is Minerva.". To her surprise, Aphrodite burst out laughing. "To tell you the truth, your father, Zeus, named you Athena but hid you with the mortals as Minerva.".

Minerva's eyes widened," You mean my name is Athena?" she said, "Why are you here?" Aphrodite let out her big bubbly laugh again, "As the goddess girl of beauty, it is my job to get you a new look as a goddess," she explained. Aphrodite looked her up and down from her hair to her sandals. "I'm thinking blue chitons, and gold sandals with blue gray eye shadow." Athena backed up, "No makeup." She did not want someone making her look like a doll. Aphrodite's shoulder's sagged," Oh all right." she huffed, "Let's go shopping for your new clothes!"

At the store, they walked down aisle after aisle looking at all the merchandise. When they finally got to the chitons, they saw all of them color coded in every color of the rainbow, including colors that weren't. Athena immediately thought of fashion loving Aspen. "If only Aspen was here." she whispered.

Aphrodite looked at her curiously, "Who's that?"

"My friend back on earth." Athena answered sadly.

"Why don't you invite her here."

"How can I do that?"

"Well you call a magical wind tell it to go get your friend then send it off, it will come back with her riding on it." Aphrodite answered casually, starting to look at the chitons. After, they left the store with a pile of fifteen blue chitons in various beautiful shades for Athena and five pink ones for Aphrodite (Aphrodite already had about one hundred). Athena Minerva called a magical wind and asked it to bring Aspen Jones to her. Exactly one minute later Aspen came hurtling down to the ground. She fell over and then slowly got to her feet looking around. She saw the two goddess girls and stared in awe as they smiled at her. "Welcome Aspen!" Athena exclaimed happily but Aspen was still mad at her. It showed in her eyes even though the awe was more powerful than that.

Aspen only said, "Oh, hi Minerva."

Athena answered," Actually, I just found out that my name is Athena."

"Well I am still better than you whatever your name is." Aspen smirked. "I am always better than you and if you're a goddess, I am better than the gods."

Aphrodite gasped," How dare you," she thundered, "No one is better than the gods.".

Athena was stunned than Aspen was so mean. She simply called the wind back and gave her friend one last dirty look before Aspen was shot into the cream-colored clouds. Then she turned to her new best friend and walked away from Aspen forever.

Later, the council of the gods met and Athena and Aphrodite were allowed to watch. It was about Aspen. She was telling all the mortals on Earth that she had been to Mount Olympus and that she was better than the gods. One god named Ares violently suggested that they should put her in the underworld and let her die of grief but the others suggested something more peaceful. Finally, it was decided to turn her into something. The gods and goddesses were suggesting things like an ant so she could be stepped on or a pig so she would be ugly and no one would like her. Athena then did something both very brave and very, very dumb. She ran out into the middle of the gods and said, "Wait, she might deserve something bad, but she is a human being you know!". After some staring, the gods kept discussing and they finally decided on a tree.

A few days later, Aspen was playing with some forest nymphs and she started to feel very heavy. She screamed as her skin started to harden and her arms multiplied and spread out farther. The transformation was complete. Where once stood a living, breathing human girl, now stood a really tall tree. Its bark was tan with white powder and it had little black rings on it. The only problem was it was so tall and skinny that it reached the very top of Mount Olympus. That meant mortals could climb up the tree and be on the mountain of the gods. To solve this, another meeting was held, and again Ares suggested the most violent way to handle the matter. And again, Athena was the one who came to the solution. They should multiply the tree into more trees that were smaller but identical to the first. This was so and then there were about one hundred leafless trees.

In the end, Athena now the goddess girl of wisdom, gave this tree a gift, beautiful yellow leaves. Now, there are Aspen trees all over where Colorado is today.

The End

The Colors

By: Katy Rouault

One bright happy day, Redgules, Blueshus, Orgelica, Yelladite, Greemter, Pinky, Purela were having a picnic in the park in the town of Colors.

" Hey Redgules ","" Pinky asked, "do you want to go play on the seesaw?"

"Oh yes, that would be fun "!" Redgules said.

Days passed, and soon the little town had not changed and had turned gloomy.

"Does Blueshus want to do anything ," Yelladite asked Purela.

"Most likely no he can barely get out of bed," answered Purela.

" Oreglia the Queen needs to do something she can handle everything being gloomy, she needs to make something new!" said Yelladite.

People soon Began thinking of moving to a different and better town. There was boxes and trucks every where. Blueshus was moving to France with Yelladite.

"Hey Pinky are you ready to go," asked Redgules

" Just a few more boxes then I will be ready to go, I am I going to miss this place," Pinky answered.

"Wait, before everyone goes, I decided to do what Yelladite said, and we made something new it is called the bumble bee or a swing!" said Queen Oreglia.

"Yeah," everybody answered.

"This will be in the park and hopefully for now it will keep you from going anywhere but here," Queen Oreglia said to the people.

"What is that," Greemter pointed out.

"It look like a magical creature or a horse, wait but it is flying," the queen said, "how about we call it a unicorn because it looks like horse with a horn on it, it is perfect. Oh how I just love it!"

The so called unicorn flew around for a few more days letting everyone admire it, but soon the town became gloomy again.

One day, the unicorn flew right across and something came out. It was not black or white like their town. They didn't know what it was, but they sure did like it. They decided to call it "a color" named after the town.

Soon after that, it happened again, but it was a different color. This kept happening, and it finally stopped. The whole town was filled with colors.

"Now , I will choose a few people to name one of their favorite colors , Oreglia the Queen stated to the town.

"Regulus you are first go ahead and choose your favorite color," announced Oreglia.

"Why thank you Mrs. Queen I want the bright and dark color and shall name it red," Regulus said.

And then went Blushus and he named his color Blue. After that, was Oreglia then Yelladite with Orange and Yellow. Following them was Greemter, Pinky, and Purela, Green, Pink, and Purple.

"Come on everybody let's unpack our stuff and play in the Green grass," Greemter said to everybody.

Everybody stayed and enjoyed the colors as they were stretching all over the town.

And everybody was happy and never stopped having fun..

Rainfall

By Grant Samuelson  
In a small and unprivallged village where there seemed to be no hope, and everything was there had one foot in its grave, there lived a young man named liquid. He was small and thin but he was still very strong.

He had a younger brother named Nolan, who was very young at an age of three. Nolan always seemed to be very thirsty all the time. His throat was unusually dry and he repeatedly complained about it being hard to breathe. He spread so many tears that they could fill up a whole lake. His green eyes would fill with tears and he would cry, "Water," at all hours of the day. Sometimes liquid could almost smell his tears.

Unfortunately, for the brothers there was a huge drought going on and it had been going on for ten years. But now this seemed to be the worst part of it. Liquid was always having to run to the shallow lacking water stream just two hundred yards from their stream was cold and refreshing and liquid would take back the water to his brother Nolan and that had been working out for the last three years until it didn't.

One day, when liquid went to fetch his brother some water, he found that the stream was barely dry and unfilled so he decided to travel further downstream. In the lake there was usually a ton of water, but he found it bare with no water there, so he began his journey to find water for his brother.  
But for six whole years, he traveled around the Greece looking for fresh water, but when he came back to his small village, he found his brother dead he had died of dehydration and liquid became very depressed. Because of his brother's death, he felt like he was the only thing in the world that he had and know he lost. His brother was as dead as a door nail.

Liquid became very depressed and started not to eat or drink, he felt so lonely, he just felt empty. Without his brother, the one thing that always kept him going wanting to wake up in the morning, really wanting him to live was gone.

So on days past, then months, and then years. Liquid, no matter what he tried to do, he always thought about his thirsty, dehydrated, dead, little brother.

Liquid became very sick, he was dehydrated like his brother, but he also was also sick because of a deadly disease called smallpox.

One day, he could not stand it any more he felt like he had nothing else to live for and so he took some small but strong wire from the little shack that he lived in and so he headed off into the woods where he would see the final things he ever would on earth.

The liquid's body was never found, but he traveled the painful journey that all mortals travel when they die and that is the trip to the house of Hades where all mortals reside after death, it was hell.

There it was gloomy, dark, and scary for liquid.

Months had passed and the drought carried on in the mainland, but he had no idea being in this creepy droopy eerie painful underworld.

But suddenly, one day when all hope seemed lost something appeared out of the mist and it said drink from the cup and so he did what the stranger asked of him, considering he had nothing else to do but the second he swallowed the water his body began to change he had no idea what was going but when his body stopped changing he looked at himself and he felt like a god.

Then at once, the stranger spoke again and said to liquid, "how do you feel liquid"  
Liquid replied "fine."

Then the stranger spoke again," you have been summoned by the gods of Olympus to stop this horrible drought, and so I hereby declare you the god of rainfall," she spoke again. "I am the goddess Hebe now let's get out of this dreary place and end this drought."

And so the drought ended within a few days because of all the rainfall liquid created and that is how rainfall came to be what it is.

Actions Have Choices

By: Malia

A long time ago there was a ruler of all the animals in a small village, her name was Flora. Flora was a golden retriever and had a beautiful pastel colored flower crown with eyes the color of the sea. All Flora wanted to do was make sure her village had a confident, strong leader. She loved to hunt and lay around in the sunlight all day. She was content and happy.

Flora lived in an Ancient village in Indonesia, all the animals talked and could freely discuss what they wanted. It was full of busy bustling animals of all types, full of vibrant colors and lots of activities. It sounded like a city, though it wasn't a city at all. The smells were like nothing else around. Every shop was filled with food and treats for everyone, it really was amazing.

Meanwhile in her palace, Flora was deciding what to do. She had to ask her mentor,

"I don't know Charlie, I want to keep ruling but this village needs something beyond my power."

Flora sat on her bed with possession of a book under her paw. " I think this village needs Lennox..."

"Flora, you need to do what suits you best," Charlie stated with sympathy. "Do what your village needs, not what you need." Flora knew what she needed to do and decided to tell her village.

"My people, I have something you all need to hear," Flora watched as her animals murmured among themselves. "I am no longer your ruler, you need some change and something that pushes you to be better citizens every day. I am handing the torch over to Lennox, the white tiger of the community."

"This is outrageous!" shouted a lion.

"Our community needs you!" There was an up roar of shouting as Flora slowly left, she needed to prepare for her ball tomorrow.

Flora held a ball every year. This was a event you couldn't experience anywhere else. Flora was very upset and was hoping she would feel better after a night of mingling and drinking. She walked into the ballroom wearing her most valuable flowers and a stylishly groomed coat.

No one was there.

There wasn't a single soul at her ball. No one came. They were all protesting Flora leaving unacceptably. She was heartbroken.

Meanwhile, roaming around hoping to get a glimpse of this years ball, Apollo, god of music, watched as Flora slumped back to her room, giant tears slowly rolling down her cheeks. Apollo was maddened because Flora was his favorite, and zoomed straight to Zeus.

Flora went into her room and stayed there all day. Not coming out to eat or drink at all.

In Olympus, Apollo spent an hour yelling at Zeus to do something.

"Zeus this is unacceptable, Flora is my favorite and you're doing nothing!" Apollo was causing earthquakes in nearby lands.

"Fine, we will send Persephone to escort Flora to Olympus, then we will discuss the matter with her, don't worry Apollo." Zeus then sent a message to Persephone to go get Flora and bring her to Olympus.

"Flora of Indonesia, I am Persephone. I am here to escort you to Mount Olympus. The great Zeus has asked me to. If you are ready we can leave now. It is a dangerous six and a half day walk and will be very dangerous. Let us go."

"I am ready. My animals don't care for me anyway, they will not miss me," and Flora never looked back as she left.

They had only gone four hours when they heard the ground start to rumble. The ground shook and shouting was heard in the distance.

"It's okay Flora, it's probably just an earthquake, nothing to worry about." Persephone tried to calm Flora but she walked around the path trying to find the source.

"No, I hear shouting, and it's getting louder..." Flora ran out to see what it was right as a giant stampede of angry animals came straight at her.

"Flora!" Persephone tried to get her to move. The angry protesting animals toppled her over.

Once the animals were gone Persephone went to find Flora.

She found her.

She was dead.

Persephone slowly backed away from Flora. The horses in the nearby meadow heard the soft cry of the respondent Persephone. Zeus asked the Mustangs to carry her the 340 miles they had left.

"Great Zeus, we shall do this deed, as we do not wish to anger you. We will arrive by sundown on the last day." And The Mustangs slowly approach Persephone. She agreed to journey with them, shaking with fear and anger, and they started off.

We know before that Apollo was angered by anything bad happening to Flora, but he hadn't heard this yet, so Persephone was fearing the rest.

As Zeus commanded all the citizens of Ancient Indonesia to report to Mount Olympus at once, everyone was properly freaked out. Lennox round everyone up, as it was his job as new headmaster.

For days, they walked and walked and walked. Lennox made animals go find food for him, but wouldn't let anyone eat, because he was royalty. Many animals died.

Hundreds.

When they finally got there, Zeus looked down upon the ungrateful animals. Zeus tried to keep calm, but his anger was raging past the point of breaking. Zeus yelled and screamed for 3 days and 3 nights. His screams carried across the earth and struck lighting to the ground. The earth was sad and the rain carried on for three days and three nights. When he finished screaming,

Zeus had an acceptable punishment for every animal, innocent or not.

Zeus returned with a goblet filled with a mysterious golden, fizzy, papaya liquid which was color of the sun on a mild day. It fizzed and bubbled with a strange, yet delightful odor. Every animals passed it around and carefully drank one sip, as Zeus ordered. When every animal big and small had taken the liquid and carefully drank it, their vision became fuzzy and they fell over.

" When you all wake up you will only be able to make one sound. Choose wisely." And with that, he left.

Apollo slowly followed. " Sir, what have you done? What shall I do with the horses and poor, dear Persephone?"

"Apollo, I want you to put the horses in the royal stable, they shall be favored forever. And prepare a feast of my finest cheeses and wine for Persephone, she must be shaken." Apollo quickly ran to do his task. Zeus needed to punish Lennox, but how? Zeus quickly had to find him before he caused damage to his palace.

Zeus found him and stuffed him in a tiny, rough, wooden crate with no food or water for 30 days. Then was released to be eaten by the wolves.

As for Flora, she was crowned man's best friend and would be cherished as the gods are now.

And no animal could complain about it, for they could not talk.

Cloud Conundrum

By: Maggie

A long time ago in a thick wooded forest, there lived a family of three women. Peirce, the mother, had long overgrown gray hair that was once golden brown, blue grey eyes that were soft, and she was tall, her slumped back made the sense of any grace leave her, Phed, the eldest sister, had long dark brown hair, round icy blue eyes, and was tall and graceful. Par was one year younger than Phed and had short dark brown hair, oval shaped icy blue eyes, and was tall and slightly clumsy. Lastly, Glay was the youngest and ultimately the most exquisite as she had perfectly shaped intense gray eyes with gold flecks, and her gaze was soft and loving. Her soft silky golden brown hair fell at her waist in waves,and she was short, skinny, and graceful.

They lived in a large cottage, well as large as the women could manage to make it, and lead a simple life. They would grow crops and occasionally sell them at the market in the town if they needed money to buy something, but that was a long journey, almost three days and Peirce preferred not to take that long journey unless it was necessary.

Lately, Phed and Par had been complaining about their work around the house, while Glay, the disappointment of the family, did everything around the house but take the clothes inside from drying.

"I refuse to take the clothes inside," said Phed, even though there were only four dresses left. "It is hot outside and I don't want to risk getting a sunburn."

Glay rolled her eyes at this. It was a very nice day with a warm sunshine and a cool breeze, not nearly the day that anyone would get a sunburn.

"Okay, okay," said Peirce, she turned to Glay and said, "Go get the dresses, me and your sisters want to wear them."

"Of course," Glay replied. She walked outside and grabbed the dresses in an annoyed manner then handed them to her mother without a word.

Later that evening, Phed and Par began complaining.

"Mother," said Par, "I want a husband."

"Well there are plenty eligible in the town."

"No mother, I don't want those men, I want a nymph."

"If Par gets a nymph then I want one too," said Phed.

"But, all the nymphs are taken," said Peirce in an exasperated tone.

"Then maybe I will get one myself!" said Phed as she walked away with Par trailing behind her.

Glay had heard the conversation from the hallway and she knew her sisters were not planning to go to the town and look for suitors, she knew they were up to no good.

Later that night, after everyone in the house had gone to sleep Phed and Par snuck out to a deeper part of the forest to go take some nymphs for themselves.

"Are you sure that this is a good idea?" said Par.

"Not really, but we are going to do it anyway," replied Phed.

Par was afraid of what her sister would do if she defied her, so she went along with Phed's plan.

After about five minutes, the sister has reached their destination, they had found a small break from the thick trees with a small area of just luscious green grass and a the gentle sound of a river not too far from them. The sisters were amazed at what they saw, there were nymphs all across the grassy area, old, young, and most importantly couples!

"This is even better than I thought!" exclaimed Phed in a hushed tone.

"Wow" Par said unheard by her sister.

Then they began walking around the field of nymphs, deciding which woman had the man of their liking. Par found hers right away; he was muscular with shaggy brown hair and long eyelashes. She studied him intently while Phed continued her search for her dream man.

"Par," whispered Phed, "Par, get over here."

Par moved from studying the nymph and walked over to Phed. When she got there, Par could tell that Phed had found her man. He was tall and lean with dusty blonde hair.

"Now that we have our picks we have to get out of here," said Par

"No, they are coupled; we have to kill the other,"

This is the part that Par wished that they didn't have to do, and Phed didn't feel any guilt at all. Par handed her sister a knife from the kitchen and watches her take the life of an innocent nymph, then her sister hands the Knife to her.

"Your turn."

Par walked to the woman lying next to her chosen then, just how her sister had done it, she plunged the knife into the back of the woman.

The next day Peirce went to go talk to the nymphs to see if they had any eligible men to marry her daughters and when she got there she found the nymphs crowded over two women.

"What has happened here?" asked Pierce as she walked into the crowd of nymphs.

"Two women have been killed," said an elder nymph "We fear whoever did this might come and harm us again."

"We also have two uncoupled men now," spoke another "We will have to couple them again which can take a few months."

"Well I may have a solution," said Pierce "My two daughters need husbands and you have two men that need wives."

"Thank you for the offer, we will consider it but we cannot confirm anything yet." spoke the elder.

"Of course, let me know when you have an answer."

The next night the sisters and their mother go to the nymphs again but this time they had a follower. Glay had seen them exit the house and followed to see what her family was up to. She has seen them take a knife out of the kitchen, seen them almost sprint to where the nymphs were sleeping, and then most shocking of all, she saw them kill all the single women. Horrified by what her family had done she ran back to the cottage as fast as she could. As soon as she was in what her mother called a room, a broom closet, and dropped to her knees. She began confessing to the gods what her family had done, she didn't know if any of the gods had heard her, but she was hopeful.

Zeus and Poseidon had heard the confession of Glay and decided to create a safe place for the nymphs where Pierce, Phed, and Par couldn't get to them. They needed something that would continue without the need for them to do it everyday, they decided that water would travel up and create a bed in the sky, and zeus would make sure that they stay afloat.

"These clouds shall forever be a safe place for the nymphs or anyone in danger," proclaimed Zeus with his booming voice.

"Tonight, at sunset, we shall bring the nymphs to the clouds and see how well they do their job," replied Poseidon.

At sunset, Phed and Par were preparing to go execute more nymphs but little did they know that Glay's plea had been heard. They left the house right after sunset and made their way to the opening in the grass where the nymphs lay. When they reached their destination they found a surprise.

"Where did they go!" yelled Phed as she angrily grabbed her sister.

"I don't know!" Par replied.

"You didn't want to do this in the first place, you could have hidden them!"

"No, I promise you I-" but Par's plea was cut short by Phed's knife plunging into her sister's back.

Phed made her way back to the cottage without a single pinch of guilt for killing her sister, she was just thinking about what nymphs she was going to kill next. Really, she had forgotten about getting a nymph as her husband, she had been caught up in the idea of killing that she forgot about the purpose of it.

When she returned to the cottage, she found her mother in the kitchen.

"Mother?" Phed asked "what are you doing?"

"Nothing of your concern dear," replied Pierce "Where is your sister?"

Phed hadn't thought about what she was going to say to her family, this had never crossed her mind. Peirce saw the hesitation and was shocked and finally the smell of blood hit her nostrils.

"She was your sister!" exclaimed Pierce.

"I had no choice!"

"You always have a choice! And that choice shouldn't have been a challenging choice!" Pierce said as she grabbed the knife out of Phed's soft hands.

"All the nymphs were gone, I needed to kill her, she took them away them from me!"

"I can't believe you; I don't want to see you!"

Glay had heard the whole conversation and hoped that at least one of the gods had heard part of it, she wish she could put her family in place.

Up at mount Olympus the gods were in a quarrel, they were deciding the fate of Pierce's family.

"They should be sent to the underworld!" said Poseidon.

"They should be killed and their souls sent to Tartarus!" exclaimed Zeus.

"They shall be punished for deeds, a punishment of my choice," said Hera calmly, breaking the argument between the gods.

"Hebe," Hera called "Hebe!"

"Yes Hera."

"I need a favor."

Back in the little cottage in the woods Peirce was mourning over the lose of one of her beautiful daughters, and deciding what to do with Phed.

"Mother!" Phed called "Mother!"

"What do you want from me Phed!" called Peirce with her voice flooded with sorrow.

"I would like to apologize," Phed said as she walked into the kitchen with tears in her eyes "I do not know what I was thinking when I took her life I-" Phed stuttered as she choked on a sob "I miss her and I regret my actions and if I could have one thing in my life, I would bring my dear sister Par back."

"Thank you my dear," replied Peirce "Thank you for telling me."

Of course after their little conversation was over Phed felt no guilt, she had faked her way into her mother's heart, and she knew what casualty was going to be her next.

One day weeks after Par's death a young women came to the small cottage, she knocked on the door and in about 15 seconds, it opened.

"Oh," Peirce said as she opened the door, "I am sorry we don't normally have visitors, how can I help you?"

"I seem to be lost I was coming back from the town and thought that this was a shortcut but, I lost my way," replied the woman.

"Well, it is almost sunset; why don't you stay here for the night, we will send you off tomorrow with directions to make it to your home safely."

"Thank you so much."

Pierce let the woman in and made her tea and sat down with her at the small round wooden table in the kitchen.

"What is your name?" asked Peirce.

"Helen," replied the woman, even though her name was not Helen it was in fact she was Hebe helping Hera decide the fate of the family that was harmed so many.

"What happens to be your name?" asked Hebe.

"I am Peirce, and I have three er, two daughters named Phed and Pa- Glay, Phed and Glay."

"Lovely" replied the woman "Can I meet them?"

"Yes, of course. Girls come out here we have a visitor" Glay appeared almost immediately and curtsied to the visitor, Phed appeared about a minute after Glay and said a polite hello to the visitor and stood next to Glay.

"Girls this is Helen she will be staying the night here" said Peirce then turned to Glay and said "Glay, please start on dinner would you?"

"Of course," replied Glay.

"Wait" objected Hebe "I would like to talk to girl."

"Of course, we will have her make dinner soon after."

"Well, I was going to have a long talk with her, so I don't think that you would mind making dinner for your house guest."

Pierce was suddenly obedient to the somehow knowing that this stranger was important, so she decided not to upset the woman.

"Of course, I wouldn't mind at all"

Hebe then led Glay into her bedroom and sat in the small wooden chair beside the bed made for a child.

"Your family does not seem to care for you" said Hebe

"Not really, they find me undesirable" replied Glay

"I have heard that your family has done some unforgivable deeds"

"I have only prayed that information to the gods" and at that moment she realized that the visitor was not a lost stranger but none other than one of the great gods from Mount Olympus, she kneeled beneath the woman as she changed form into her beautiful self.

"I am Hebe."

"I am at the ready to serve you."

"Stand up" Glay slowly rose from her knee and looked the goddess in the eye, her gaze was like melting chocolate and even from only looking at her eyes she could tell that the goddess was stunning but she never moved her gaze from the goddess' eyes.

"We have decided the fate of your family."

"Whatever it has been decided I am okay with."

"Your sister, Phed, will be sent to Tartarus and your mother will serve me and my fellow gods on Mount Olympus."

"What shall I do to serve?"

"You shall become keeper of the clouds."

"Clouds?" Glay asked.

"I suspect you know that the nymphs had no longer been in the forest."

"Yes, I know that."

"Zeus and Poseidon had come up with the idea of clouds, to keep the nymphs safe from not only your family but others and we need someone to make sure they stay safe so the gods had appointed you the gatekeeper."

"I am honored," Glay said as she bowed her head.

They walked out of Glay's room and Hebe, still in her full glory, walked into the kitchen and followed through with the punishments. Phed has sent to Tartarus and Peirce went to serve the gods. Glay was made goddess of the clouds by Hebe and to this day is still keeping the nymphs and their safe haven secure.

The Old Man that Turned Into a God that Turns Into an Eagle

By Squidward tentacles

One day there was an old man named Aetos Dios with long gray hair and brown eyes.

Aetos Dios said that he wanted to be younger, so he could still protect the village from the enemies which would steal the people's stuff at night when they were sleeping in their wooden beds.

One morning, one of the younger men appeared in the room asked, "what did you like to do?"

Aetos Dios said," I liked to play with the village kids outside, and smell the bread cooking, like I could taste it, but now I can't because I have to stay in bed all day long."

Aetos lived in a run down village that sounds really quiet and smelled like dust or dirt.

All of a sudden, the old man said, "it is a nice day outside, I think I am going to get up and look outside."

The people there were very scared because Aetos could fall or twist his ankle.

Anxiously, Aetos had thought that he had the strength to get up and he took one step and just froze.

The people were frightened on why he had just stopped, they said, "sir are you ok?

Aetos said, "I don't know, it's like there was a force field right there that would not let him get out of the room. But you guys can get out of the room?"

Aetos was really sad because he could not get out of the room. Aetos said, "I wish I was younger and go outside and see the world."

Aetos had thoughts on what it would be like to be outside again.

All of the sudden, he could see a tiny bit of light that shined through the door.

Suddenly Aetos felt a little happy because he could see a little bit of light. Then he said, "everyone shh, do you hear that?" Now Aetos was really happy because he could hear birds singing. Aetos said, "Only if I could see the birds.""I don't feel good," he added as he shut his eyes."

The people there knew it was his time, but they did not want him to go, because he would look out for the people and protect them from danger.

None of the people knew that there were spies near by, and the spies now knew that Aetos was dead, so they went back to their palace and told their king that Aetos had died. The king said to the spies,"get the army ready for an attack tonight."

The spies said, "yes sir."

Aetos had not died yet and he said, "go get your army ready just in case the enemies are coming, you have to be ready for everything."

The people there were really scared but they did it anyway.

Aetos said, "I will always be here for you, in the clouds."

Aetos felt really happy that the people listened to him, because he turned into an eagle and he watched the battle, where it was really red and a lot of people dead on the ground.

Aetos turned into a God, then he turned into a giant eagle that tells whether people will go to heaven or the underworld.

When Aetos was watching the battle, and saw something different about the people that were fighting, they were trying really hard.

Aetos thought, "Am I dreaming or am I really seeing this?"

Exceptionally, the people from the village won the battle and were really happy. Then, after the battle, a lot of people were praying about Aetos and thanking him for the help, even though he had not helped them. They did it by themselves.

Superhumans...?

By Shae Kramer

Before the year 2000, people imagined superhumans, or heroes, and dreamed about having people in this world that could really be like that. On a night filled with noise, when everyone was having a great Saturday, their dreams came true, even though it was quit how they imagined . Carly Farthen, an orphan with short, dirty blonde hair, hazel eyes, and two friends, would be that hero at 14 years old.

At the orphanage, on a muddy and gloomy street, all that was heard was the faint echo of honking cars and faint laughs and screams.

In Toronto, Hebe was watching from above, and took pity on all the young orphans that populated the city. At that moment, she was watching Carly and her two friends, Red and Jake, and then and there, she decided that those three deserved a better chance.

Hebe asked Zeus, the god of all gods, if she could help those three, by turning them into gods and a goddess.

"Father?" she questioned, "I'm about to help some orphans, because I take pity on them right now. There will be two more Gods and one more Goddess."

"Show me," he declared rigorously.

Hebe stated the 3 names and why she wanted to help, but Zeus wasn't sold.

"I can't accept the fact that you're going to turn orphans that haven't benefitted the world at all into the most superior people in the universe."

"But they're innocent and-"

"I understand that, but just leave them be, their lives are perfectly fine."

Hebe told herself she needed to accept the fact that she couldn't help everyone. But she had this urge.... She told herself over and over the punishments that Zeus would inflict on her, but her mind kept wandering to those three, innocent, young, orphans.

Finally, she decided that she would call these people 'superheroes'. After a long time debating with herself, she decided that it was time that she pushed over the limits, and made three humans into things she hoped could do good for the world.

Hebe went back to her watching place, and looked for the future supernaturals.

"And... there they are!", said Hebe, spotting Carly and her friends in a matter of seconds.

"I need to... disguise myself? Or do I just go in as a goddess?" she questioned herself, wrinkling her nose at the musty smell of the street.

Coming to the conclusion that a disguise would be necessary, she transformed herself into a young adult, with short black hair and green eyes.

"Here I go, insulting Zeus," she said as she walked onto the surface of an alleyway in Toronto, "Wish me luck."

After walking around the city for a total of four minutes, she tracked down the future superheroes, and observed them until they saw her and stood still, petrified.

"Hello?"

"Who are you?"

"Why are you here?"

Questions repeatability got thrown Hebes way, with no sign of stopping.

"What do you want?"

"Are you interested in adopting a 13 year old today?"

"If not-"

"No thank you, but you have to come with me quickly please," Hebe said, cutting them off, and causing a silence that echoed off the walls.

"And why would you ever expect us to do that?" Red stated boldly.

"Do you want to be a god?"

"Uh-"

"Nevermind, you clearly aren't good enough for all the tasks."

Hebe walked away, into a small unoccupied apartment building, and the 3 children followed, not even knowing the danger that was coming their way in the near future.

The next day, there was three unfamiliar immortals, known as superheroes. Carly Farthen, Red Marten, and Jake Helio were still humans, but superior to everyone else.

"Okay, first lesson, never let anyone innocent die. Let the bad guy escape if it means someone else that doesn't have to die being saved," Hebe said strictly.

"Sure, that's fine," Jake said, "When can we leave and save the world though?"

"When we're done here."

"Boring," mouthed Red to Jake.

"Guys, come on, this is kind of serious, if we let anyone die, we're going to be hated worldwide," Carly said, concerned.

"True," Hebe shouted, clearly annoyed.

Jake had had enough, they walked out, back to the orphanage, not caring what people would think. They thought everyone would love them, boy were they wrong.

The next day, there was chaos in the streets, riots started, and people started knocking on the doors of the orphanage.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN US? COME OUT AND SEE!" they chanted.

Slowly, orphans filed out the doors, unaware and frightened of what was going on. Jake happened to be the only one of the superhumans living in the orphanage at the time, and froze, paralyzed that this might be his last day. His best chance would be an escape, so he got on hands and knees, and crawled alongside the other's, heart beating in his chest, as if it wanted to escape.

"Ah. Who's this?" said someone in the crowd, and picked up Jake by his shirt, "Are you the one?"

"Staying silent, huh?" said another.

"Kill him. Right now. He's a danger to society."

The last words Jake said before his friends realized he was goner, was a pathetic, "sorry."

"He deserved it," said Hebe, as the friends watched, open-mouthed, and Carly was tearing up.

"Wha-t?!" said Carly through tears.

"Why- why didn't you save him! You're a godess, what the heck!" Red screamed.

"If he had just listened to me, he might have lived. Poor him," Hebe said sarcastically.

Twenty-four long hours later, the riot had lost size, and people were starting to give up and go home. It wasn't long before Hebe started feeling bad for the young "superhumans", and decided to attempt to comfort them in any possible was she could.

"The riots have calmed down now. They might still be looking for you 2, but I guess you guys will be fine if you stay here, unlike what your friend did."

"Wow, thanks so much for bringing it up again."

"Your welcome, Red."

"Guys come look at this! Hurry!"

Rushing over to the TV, with the click of a button, the news was on.

"There's a murderer that's going around and hurting or killing people," Carly said, imitating the reporter's voice.

"I guess it's time," Hebe said.

"Time for what?" Red and Carly said at the same time.

"For you to go and prove yourselves worthy," Hebe started, but they were already out the door.

Red and Carly caught the murderer, tied his hands behind his back, and took his weapons, before they realized that everyone was watching in awe.

Meanwhile, Zeus, in the form of an old man, came up behind Hebe and whispered, "I'm disappointed, but I'm going to try not to punish you severely," even though Hebe didn't hear a word, for everyone was excited that the killing would be stopped in its tracks.

"We did it, and they love us!" said Red enthusiastically.

"The only thing that matters is that we probably saved a life, Red."

"True," he replied, screaming over the wave of noise known as a crowd.

They had a feast at the end, for Jake and his sacrifice, and ate the most delicious food that someone could offer.

And that's how your favorite superheroes came to be who they are now. You know, Captain America, Batman, Superman, etc., though they're not always believed in. They came from that one turn of events, and even though Hebe is now making less and less superhumans, they will continue to be role-models and inspirations for people all over the world, and the blue moon, once a year, is a gift from Hebe to Jake.

Helios Redemption

By Devin Lester

Helios was a titan, he was tall and stunning, but he was no use to the High Council. He only wanted to be useful to his fellow gods, and every time he tried to help he was punished. The pain of being rejected was all he felt for most of his days.

Truly, Helios lived on Mount Olympus, It was so beautiful more beautiful than Aphrodite and it smelled like fresh roses. He lived on the edge of Mount Olympus. He only dreamed of being on the high council of all the great gods and goddesses.

Meanwhile, during a meeting with the council, they were discussing how to start a civilization.

"They will all freeze on Earth!" Zeus yelled.

"Then what do you propose we do?" Athena complained, "we have no light source."

"There's one person," Zeus said, "Helios."

Helios was just walking around Mount Olympus till he got a message from Hermes,

"Sorry to bother you, this a message from the Gods it's very important, I suggest you read it now," said Herme,s in a serious tone.

Helios opened the letter it said, "come to the council tomorrow right when you awake."

"This better not be a joke." moaned Helios. But Helios believed the Gods so he stormed to bed.

The next day he bolted out of his bed and ran like a gazelle to the high council once he arrived all the gods were arguing whether he was capable to do this job until.

"Oh, we did not see you there." Zeus said to break the conversation amongst the gods.

"Why did you summon me?" Helios said, "did you summon me so you can pick on me and punish me."

"No!" Zeus shouted, "Helios we need you."

"And what for." replied Helios.

"We need you to give Earth light." Athena said.

Helios was thinking for a long time then he decided that he would do it at a price. Helios finally

spoke, "I will help you but in three conditions." Helios said.

"NO!" Zeus yelled at the top of his lungs, "get out of my sight."

Helios did not care for the gods anymore. It would now be very hard to get him to help the Gods. Up in the High Council, Zeus was furious so he summoned the goddess of revenge, Nemesis, and she came as fast as she could.

" I want revenge on Helios for refusing my orders."

"You have my word all mighty Zeus." Nemesis answered.

Helios was wandering about on Mount Olympus. Nemesis grabbed a arrow and poisoned the long arrow, she placed the arrow on a small bow then pulled back and released. Helios did not realize it until further on that day because he tried to use his powers, but they were gone so he was worthless in everything, he was just a mortal.

Athena did not approve of what Zeus did to Helios, so she wanted to help Helios. So she looked for Hebe. Athena took a glimpse of her surroundings then she saw Hebe in a cave, creating a God. Athena called to Hebe for help.

"Hebe!" Athena cried out.

"What is it, Athena?" Hebe said.

"I need you," Athena, "will you give back Helios's powers."

"No!" Hebe shouted, "I can't go against my father."

So, Athena left and went out of sight from Hebe then she turned invisible and decided to go back and steal the cup. When she did, she went to Helios only to find him dead so she spoke to Hades to bring him back. Hades agreed to release his soul if Athena feasted with him and all she had to do was one thing, so she did and it was a cranberry it tasted like underworld itself. Once Helios's sole was released he was given his powers back by Athena. Once Helios awoke, he was furious, so he ran up to Mount Olympus.

"Where are you, Zeus!" Helios demanded, "I've come here to punish you this time."

"Then let's fight," Helios replied.

"I won't fail to succeed like my fellow titans," Helios finished.

"We'll see about that," Zeus said with a grin.

Zeus had the first strike on Helios, then Helios took the fight in the air, punch after punch no one had the upper hand. Until helios beamed him with the power of the sun.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," Zeus shouted.

"You win," Zeus said.

"I will help you now I will create the sun, goodbye Zeus," Helios said then he vanished in the whistling wind.

Journey to the Center of the Earth

By Ava

A long time ago, dinosaurs, mammoths, saber tooth tigers and dodo birds became extinct, but where did they go? Did they just rot on the surface of the Earth? No, these extinct animals were brought to the center of the Earth to live another life full of fun parties.

One day, Dobby, King of the Extinct, went up to the surface of Earth to gather some of the last species of dinosaurs. Only this time, he forgot a very needed object, his key.

"Oh no! How will I ever get back to Winky and my home?" Dobby squealed.

Dobby tried his best to contact the Queen, Winky, but because of the soundproof gate, he failed.

Dobby set up a small campground, made of sticks and a leafy bed, and the mourning King attempted to think of a plan to get back when suddenly, a t-rex reached down and grabbed him.

"AAAAAAH!!!!"

His scream echoed through the land as he was carried away to an unknown forest.

Dobby woke with a start the next day as Pterodactyls screeched in the wind. He got up and walked around after his eyes adjusted to the bright sun, and found out he was in a dinosaur nest. Although Dobby might have been in a lot of trouble, he had an idea.

Dobby had a plan that was as stupid as scuba diving without oxygen. His plan was to recruit a bunch of animals to bust down the gate. If this idea worked, he would have so many more extinct animals in his home, and he would be safe!

Dobby began to ask animals for their help. So far, 7 species had agreed. By the end of the week, over 40 species of endangered animals and dinosaurs would go on with Dobby's plan.

They started walking to the gate to the Center of the Earth. Occasionally, they needed to stop for food and water because the animals started to complain, and Dobby couldn't have them quit on him. The food and water was always refreshing after a long period of walking.

After about two weeks, the herd comprehensively arrived at the gate. Tired, hungry and thirsty, the group needed a day of rest. Dobby was hesitant at first, but finally agreed to rest.

Winky was pacing back and forth in her room while breathing very heavily. She had not eaten in two weeks, even though the food prepared smelled amazing, and she had gotten very little sleep.

Dobby woke all the animals and assembled them in a line with tall animals in the back, short animals in the front.

"Ok, on three, pound on the gate as hard as you possibly can!" Dobby announced reluctantly.

"ONE, TWO, THREE!"

The crashes and bangs from the animals were as loud as a volcano erupting. The Argentinosaurus, with its long neck and big feet, could reach higher areas on the gate while the short Theropod could weaken the bottom of the giant gate.

Another seven days passed, and some of Dobby's group gave up and left, leaving him hopeless. But the remaining species hadn't given up. Each day, they continued to hammer on the gate.

One day, a small hole smashed through the door. Now Dobby had hope.

"Hurry! Let's get some sticks, claws and beaks to make this hole bigger!" Instructed Dobby.

So, the animals gathered sticks and the Pterodactyls with their huge beaks came together to gnaw on the hole. The tiny hole was gradually getting bigger and bigger to where the Pterodactyls had to fly to reach the edges.

Finally, the walls gave away and the gate crumbled before their eyes to show the gorgeous cave of the Center of the Earth. Dobby signaled for the endangered animals to follow him. They walked through the long corridors of rock while Dobby planned a party in his mind.

"Welcome to the Land of Extinct!" Dobby expressed.

When Winky saw Dobby, she burst into tears and ran over to hug him.

"I was so worried about you!" Winky complained.

"I forgot my key and had to find a way back. We are going to need another door by the way." Dobby explained.

It was time to party! The party they held had lights, balloons, disco balls, music and LOTS of extinct animals. This was the life to live.

How Dragons Were Created

By Ichiro Yamamoto

Long ago, in Wyrmroost lived two wizards.

One wizard was named Charolais. Charolas was average height, strong body, yet slender, short blond hair, and with ice colored eyes. He most desired to be the most powerful person in the world.

The other wizard was named Bracken who was tall, also strong body, yet slender, short dark brown hair, and green eyes like grass. He wanted the world to be peaceful, but he also wanted to be the ruler.

Charolais had a stone castle that was bright throughout the day, but at night it was dark and spooky. He also had a dungeon called the hall of dread that held horrible magic creatures.

Bracken's stone castle was nice and comfortable even at night it was well lit. He also had a place called the magic dungeon which held bad magical creatures that should not have been created.

Wyrmroost was a beautiful place with streams, ponds, lakes, and mystical creatures, but they did not have unicorns or dragons.

One day, Charolais was reading in one of his spell books. In the text, it offered the the steps on how to make dragons, but the very last step said you had to have another wizard because one wizard did not have enough power. So, Charolas thought of only one person, Bracken. But Bracken was also reading a spellbook and it show him how to make a unicorn.

On a crisp early morning Charolais headed to Bracken stone castle.

"Bracke," yelled Charolais.

"What do you want?" said Bracken in an impatient tone.

"I need your help," replied Charolais.

"What for?" said Bracken.

"I need to combine my magic with yours to make a dragon," replied Charolais.

"Mmm said Bracken. Maybe I want to make something else?"

"Like what?" said Charolais.

"Oh, maybe a unicorn," replied Bracken.

"What! Are you nuts?" yelled Charolais .

"No. replied Bracken in a calm voice. I think unicorns are better."

"Well they are not," yelled Charolais.

"Well if you don't help me make a unicorn I won't help you make a dragon," threaten Bracken.

Charolais was so enraged that Bracken did not want to help him and on top of that Bracken wanted to make a useless unicorn that would just waste some of his magic. So, Charolais spun on his heels and stomped out of the hall. When he was outside, he came up with a clever idea.

It was pitch black outside like a curtain of night when Charolais snuck out into the cold crisp air. He made his way towards Brackens castle and started to climb the smooth hard rock and into Bracken's bed chamber. When he got into the room, he found Bracken sound asleep his body was rising and falling steadily. He walked over very carefully but the hardwood floor creaked under his weight. Suddenly Bracken was on his feet like a lightning bolt. Charolais froze.

"What are you doing?" said Bracken with surprised.

"I'm oh..." Charolais Was frozen with shock I could not speak.

"Well?" said Bracken impatiently.

Recovering from his shock Charolais said "I was here to ask you a question."

Looking uncertain Bracken said, "what is it?"

"Can I borrow your book on how to make a unicorn?" I said.

"What for?" said Bracken .

"I want to help you make a unicorn but I need to see how much power I need to put into it and what type of spells it needs," I replied uncertainly.

"Oh. okay give me a second." he said as he tiptoed over to a shelf and picked up a large dusty book.

Then he said, "take care of this and protect it with your life."

"All right," I said and with that I walked out of his room and down the bright stairwell.

The next morning, Bracken woke up with a start and climbed out of his bed. When his bare feet touch the cold wood floor, he juked them right up. He looked around his room to find his book missing when he realized that Charolais came in the middle of the night and asked if he could take it. But for some reason I still felt suspicious on how he had come in his room in the middle of the night and asked for the book. Then I realized he said he was going to help me make a unicorn. At that I jumped out of my bad and got dressed into a black toga and ran down my stairs and to Charles's castle. When I got there, I found him in his great hall eating a huge breakfast that smelled delicious. As I ran to him, he offered me a seat and then gave me a pancakes and sausages which was a absolutely delicious

Then, Charolais said, "what can I do for you?"

"I came here to help you make the unicorn," I replied.

"Oh yes I forgot about that," he said.

"Well then since I reminded you, I think we should get to work then after you're done eating," I said.

"Well said Charolais there is a slight problem."

"What is it?" I said .

"Well I can't find the book but I put in the most protected spot in my whole castle," he said a little uneasy.

"What I yelled are you crazy or something?" that book was the only book I know that can make a unicorn.

"Well since I can not find it I guess we can make a dragon," said Charolais.

"I will not help you," said Bracken.

"I will do anything," pleaded Charolais.

"Okay here is my proposal. I will help you if you can bet me in a battle, but if I win you help me make a unicorn," I said.

"Very well," said Charolais.

It has been five days since Charolais lost the book of "Magic Creature Spell Book" and Bracken was getting ready to battle Charolais to see what creature they were going to make a unicorn or a dragon. Bracken was dressed in a jet black robe and his hair was combed. He was standing in a arna facing Charolais who was dressed in a blue robe with his hair combed as well.

Then Charolais yelled "let the battle begin."

With that, Charolais flashed a bright light right at Bracken. But Bracken flashed his own bright magic of his own at Charolais, that collided with Charolais magic. As the battle went on, Bracken and Charolais started to tire and they became clumsy with their magic. All of a sudden, Bracken stumbled and fell onto the hard stone ground. Bracken groaned with pain and attempted to get up but he just fell again.

Charolais walked over and said, "will you surrender or do I have to kill you you?"

With great effort Bracken replied, "I will never surrender to you."

"So be it," he said and with that he mumbled a word and Bracken went still.

It had been ten days since Charolais won the battle and killed Bracken. Charolais had stripped all the power from Bracken before he killed him. Now since he had all the power he needed Charolais started to chant and then all of a sudden there was a blinding light, Charolais covered his eyes with his hands. When the light was gone, Charolais put down his hands to see a huge dragon. The dragon was jet black, huge black claws, huge white teeth, its eyes were a the color of gold, it had huge scales on smooth thick armor for skin, and its tail had a pointy end.

Charolais said, "oh my..."

Charolais said, "is it okay if I call you Alexander the dragon?"

In a low voice it said, "I like Alexand the dragon."

"Great." said Charolais like an excited kid.

"Do you want to go outside to what you can do?" said Charolais.

"Sure," said Alexander.

Fifteen days have passed since Charolais made a dragon named Alexander the dragon or Alexander. Alexander was able to fly 300 mile per hour and he could breathe fire. Outside was Charolais who was teaching Alexander how to turn into a human form.

"Come on," said Charolais.

"I can't get enough power to become a human," said Alexander frustrated.

"Well channel your power with your mind and then imagine yourself as a human," said Charolais.

With that, there was a bright flash and there stood a human. The human was a he, he had short brown hair, he was tall, slender, and brown eyes.

"Well, I have to say I am impressed on how good you look for your first try," said Charolais.

"I am do like this form," said Alexander.

"All right," said Charolais."

Charolais found out that when a dragon is in human form that he or she are wizards or witches. He now knew that if Alexander found out he would kill him to become the most powerful person in the world.

How the Chariot was Made

By Zgorthnor Ziedins

A long time ago in ancient Greece atop Mount Olympus, the gods sat as Helios pleaded his case.With the sun atop his head like a glowing wreath and golden robes billowing in the wind, he spoke.

"The mortals want me to travel across the sky faster, but it is impossible, for I am on foot and cannot move fast enough!" said Helios, his voice booming in the empty hall, clenching his fists in anger, turning the amber skin on his knuckles white and ambulating across the floor of the sanctuary. "I need a faster way to move across the sky!"

Zeus, perceiving Helios' anger, prorated up in fear that there would be a fight. "If that is what the mortals need then it is what they shall get. I will parley the two best inventors in all of Greece, Charioutus and Saddlus, to make a way to transport you across the sky."

Zeus then sent Athena down from the mountain on which they sat, to find Charioutus and Saddlus.

When Athena found the young men, she told them of their deed and gave them the strongest metals, brightest golds, silkiest silks and the best polished wood. This encouraged them to build whatever they could imagine.

For weeks and weeks, the two young inventors worked and worked, thinking of something new and then building it the following day. Never sleeping or eating, Charioutus and Saddlus worked day and night.

As the weeks blended together and the two inventors lost track of time, Helios was getting more and more impatient.

"Where is my transportation!" shouted Helios, seething with anger.

"Calm down Helios," said Dionysus smoothly, although he was worried Helios would come to blows, "Have some of our delicious wine."

"I don't want your WINE!" yelled Helios, backhanding the wine and sending it flying across the temple, where it shattered with a cacophonous crash on one of the far pillars, "I want transportation!"

As the days wore on, Charioutus and Saddlus kept inventing and improving. However after almost a year Charioutus had not come up with and idea. With his hands clenched and his muscles rippling, he slammed his fists against the table in front of him in frustration.

Then looking out the window at the Greek men in the fields an idea came to him. He would build a chair with wheels, pulled by horses.

Meanwhile, Saddlus was having the same problem, he could not think of a way of transportation fit for a god. Then he saw the horses, and the Greek soldiers riding them, without any form of seat, and soon came up with an idea. He would build a chair that sits on a horse, so you could subsequently ride a horse comfortably.

Helios, being more impatient than ever, sent Athena down to check each inventors progress.

Even as Athena came down from her seat on Mount Olympus, the inventors started drawing and erasing and ripping up the paper until they were essentially buried in shredded paper.

Then Athena saw their vigor and sent word to Helios that they were making tremendous progress.

The inventors began gathering materials. The found the strongest leathers, the softest silks, the most glittery gold, and the best bull-whips.

Charioutus worked and worked, fitting the wheels carving the boards and the framework of his elegant vehicle.

Saddlus, not far behind in the making of his saddle and reins, worked and worked sewing and inlaying and drying the leather.

Then after two more agonizing, sleepless weeks, the inventors finished their crafts. Each craft was nearly complete and extremely ostentatious.

The chariot, as Charioutus called it, was a beautiful craft, inlayed with golds that sparkled in the sun, reds and yellows that glowed, its two golden wheels, and the seats that were made of the finest silks, so that Helios felt as if he was sitting on air.

But then there was the saddle. It was made of leather and had comfortable footrests so that you could sit on it and take it easy, and there was silk so that you felt as if you were sitting on air and riding on the wind.

Helios and the other gods were impressed although some did not show it.

Then came the moment, "Helios, the time has come for you to test these elegant crafts." said Zeus, looking back and forth between the two inventors, still wondering which had a better chance.

Helios sat on the saddle clearly enjoying it, and although they did not show it the inventors were on edge, and still wondering what would happen to the loser in this contest of crafts.

Helios rode a sun-horse he had created himself across the pavilion, the sun on his head glowing brightly, his golden robes flowing in the wind he came back, clearly enjoying the ride.

After riding the saddle and enjoying it, Charioutus was afraid that his chariot would lose. But as soon as Helios sat on the cushioned seat of the elegant chariot his face glowed even brighter and taking the golden bullwhip, he rode his sun chariot across the sky.

The other gods envying Helios' chariot, begged for one for themselves. After several years, each god had their own customized chariot, Zeus with a whip of lightning, Poseidon pulled by seahorses, Athena with a marble and gold frame, and Hera with wheels of gold.

How Vegetables Were Made

By Makena

Everyone tells different stories about how vegetables were made, but here is the real way. One sunny morning out by a pond, a very clear, blue, and, pretty pond. Most ponds have green water and are so smelly it make you want to throw up, but this water was clean. There was a filter that went into the pond so the water could stay clean. There were lots of kids playing, people talking, dogs running, and kids jumping into the pond. Later in the day, it started raining so everyone went inside.

After everyone was gone, something strange started to happen. Something started coming out of the pond. It was green and had long, spiky hair that stood out from everything else. It had something that looked like little nobs. Then,more of them came, spreading out of the pond. There were lots and lots of them; all green, yellow, orange, red and all different shapes and sizes. Whenever people were around, the things in the pond stopped growing, but the people knew that there was something growing in the pond , but they didn't know what it was.hey tried to get in the pond, but when they did,everything just came together so they couldn't see anything.

They needed to figure out what it was, but they had no way to, so they decided to just sit and wait to see if anything would. After one hour still, nothing had happened. This was a weird thing to do, but one of the parents went out by the pond and sang different songs to the things in the pond to see if they would come out and grow some more.

After 45 minutes, they had still not come out, so she went back inside. Everyone stayed inside for the rest of the day but the parents kept a close eye on the pond. Whenever anyone looked, they stopped but when no one looked then they would grow. So they stopped looking for the rest of the night.

One of the families had cameras so they could see around the outside of their house. That was how they were seeing if anything was happening, and they found it was it was GROWING; maybe a little too much. It was growing really fast.

The next day, it was another sunny day, so everyone decided that it would be ok to play outside by the pond, but they didn't look outside before they ran to play .When the parents saw what had happened, everyone started screaming.

"What happened, a mother screamed, it's going to eat our children!"

"Help, they screamed."

"The parents were very scared."

A monster was climbing out of the pond and everyone ran back away from the pond.

One woman with long green hair, green eyes and a green body came out from behind everyone. She was very pretty. Even though she was all green, she went up to the monster and grabbed it by the head and pulled with all of her might. It's head popped off. She walked away with this monster's head in her hands.

Everyone had their eyes as wide as an owl and their gaws dropped to the ground .

There were no more creepy monsters or anything coming out of the pond. All the parents got together and were whispering about what had just happened, but the kids had no idea of what had just happened, so they were playing like they had always done. Nothing was different for them. It was still a sunny day, and they were outside, so no big deal for them, but on the other hand the parents still had their gaws down to their ankles.

They figured out that you could eat that monster that was just in the water. They weren't quite sure if they wanted to eat it but they all tried it. They did research, and they found that eating it is actually really good for you. When they went to the store, it was by the fruits. They all bought it and put it in almost all of their dinners and lunches not so much their breakfast.

One day, they put it in the blender with fruit and some juice it turned into a green smoothie. It was so good that they had one for breakfast almost everyday. Everyone started calling it a vegetable.

Now there this thing called a vegetable that people put in a lot of their meals, and it is really good for you to eat, but a lot of kids don't like it because most of the vegetables are green. Most kid's brains think, " it is green so I am not going to eat it," and a lot of parents get frustrated because kids won't eat their veggies. They want their kids to be healthy, and maybe someday we can come up with a way to have it still be a veggie but have it be a different color so kids will eat it and be healthy.

Why There Are Butterflies In The Sky

By Scarlett

A long time ago in the middle of the sea on a secluded island, there lived two girls named Amelia and Jane. Amelia had soft, golden hair and bright green eyes and was generally outgoing and adventurous while Jane had dark brown hair, almost black but not quite, and calm, blue eyes just like the ocean.

This hidden island was covered in thriving trees and magical beaches. These girls were Poseidon's children, the god of the seas.

The thing these girls enjoyed doing most was playing with the little caterpillars and hoping they would turn to butterflies.

Instantly, a clouds formed over the gorgeous hills. Hail came thrashing down onto the girls and although the held on to each other tightly, it was not tight enough. A giant tree broke loose from its roots and almost fell onto Amelia and Jane. Even though the tree caused no harm, it separated the girls. A giant wave came up the sandy beach and swept Amelia off of her feet and into the chilling, salty sea.

Abruptly, the waves calmed and the clouds disappeared.

Jane was torn. Her heart sank deep into her ribs. A tiny tear slowly trickled down her cheek, followed by a river of salty tears. She couldn't believe what just happened.

Amelia was Jane's sister, as well as her best friend. But now, Amelia was gone.

In the middle of the turquoise ocean, Amelia clutched onto a piece of driftwood, while her face being the only thing out of the water. Amelia didn't even know what hit her, but she was scared and hungry. She had been floating on the water for a day and was praying for help. Because her father was Poseidon, she had no chance of anything or anyone hurting her in the wild sea.

Unexpectedly, Amelia felt a suction. She was soon being dragged through the deep sea in an air bubble. Although it was cool to see the underwater life, Amelia was scared out of her little beach dress.

Soon, Amelia was entering the underworld, the house of Hades. She first saw Persephone, queen of the underworld, who help her out of the traveling device. Amelia wore a puzzled face.

"Who are you?" she muttered quietly. "I thought..."

"Do not worry, young child. You are in the underworld, but no harm will come to you, that's a promise." Persephone soothed the young girl and soon, Amelia felt like it was home.

Every day for months and months, Amelia hoped to find her way back up to the beach to find her loving father and sister waiting.

Although Amelia wasn't positive, Jane felt the exact same way. After all, Jane didn't know that Amelia was still alive, but she somehow felt her presence all of the time.

While Amelia was gone, Jane would sit under a tall palm tree with a great view of the sea, and think. She would stay there all day. Poseidon wouldn't bother disrupting her because of her deep sorrow also.

Amelia was starving, thirsty, and cold all of the days she spent in the underworld. One day around lunchtime, she just wanted to eat. She curved around the bodies that laid still on the ground, zig-zagged through the rivers of blood, and finally made it to the kitchen of the underworld.

The fabulous room was filled with thousands of baked goods, fruits, drinks, desserts, and a chocolate fountain. Amelia gazed into the kitchen as her mouth drooled from hunger.

As she put together a giant sandwich, a magical nymph ran into the room and quickly told Amelia not to eat the food.

"Do not eat that sandwich! Or you will never see you family again!" screamed the nymph. She was wearing a gorgeous gown and golden sandals. Her hair was long and dark, with flowers sprinkled on top. From a distance, anyone could see her eyes, the brightest blue on the phase of the earth.

"Why? I am very hungry!"

"Quickly, I will answer your question later, we must not get anxious. You can eat when we get to the surface of the earth," whispered the nymph, who was well known as Tiffany.

Amelia and Tiffany sprinted through the undergrounds in search for an exit.

"Where are we going?" Amelia asked.

"Back to your family, where you belong, and, by the way, you have too many questions!" Tiffany replied. It took them two days to find the exit, but when they did, celebration was in the air.

They soared through the crust of the earth and soon, saw the broad daylight before them. Briskly, farther and farther away from the underworld the wind took them, but closer and closer to Amelia's family.

As they passed Mount Olympus, Zeus, Athena, and Hermes waved and cheered as the young girl and lady flew by. Zeus commanded the forces of nature not interfere because he wanted Amelia to get home without a scratch. The sky cleared and the rays of the sun paved the path toward the sunny, calm beach where Amelia spent her days before the storm.

"You...are...almost..." Tiffany lost her breath. Her lungs and soul glided right out of her, as if they had grown their own wings alike the Tiffany's.

Amelia was horrified! As the sweet nymph fell to the grass just miles away from the island, Amelia cried mixed tears of sadness and joy. Amelia couldn't had been more thankful for Tiffany's actions to get her home urgently.

Immediately after, Amelia was positive that Tiffany was dead, sparkles started to encircle Amelia. Soon enough, she wasn't on the ground anymore, but in the air. Now, Amelia was the happiest and most excited person alive.

After an hour, she taught herself how to move in the air. Then, she was already halfway home, in fact, she could see her beloved island! Amelia was moving fast and was so eager to see her family again.

She was on her land. Her heart racing. Then, she saw Jane.

"Amelia? Is that you?" Jane exclaimed.

"Yes, yes it is! Jane, I have missed you so very much!"

"Wait," Jane gasped, "you can fly?" Because of this question, Amelia was even more thrilled to be home. Shortly, Jane new all about her sister's unplanned trip.

That night, as the two sisters lay beneath the light of the stars, They noticed little colorful dots flying around. Jane and Amelia found out that the dots were the caterpillars that the girls have always dreamt of seeing!

Following that, Poseidon showed up the embraced Amelia in his arms. "I'm glad you're okay," he murmured. He also told the girls that Tiffany's spirit made the butterflies fly.

The sisters were thrilled, and from that day on, they played with the airborne critters every day. Amelia and Jane never left each other's sight.

Rainbow Dinosaur

By Colby G.

Once, long ago in Ancient Greece, Apollo was watching, a.k.a stalking, his most cherished mortal, Rainbow Dinosaur.

Rainbow Dinosaur had brown hair and dark blue eyes like the sea. He was almost completely normal except for his abnormal desire for adventure. While most people wanted to sit around all day on their couches, Rainbow Hated staying in one place doing the same thing for more than a minute. This totally made him love his job where he sat around all day selling weavings his dad and mom had made.

The town in Ancient Greece where Rainbow lived was loud during the day but was decently quiet at night. Today, the wind was howling particularly emphatically.

One day, another problem arose on Mount Olympus. King Midas, that guy with the golden touch and all, decided that he should climb Mount Olympus and turn all the gods to gold so he could rule as the supreme god. This was not only bad because he would take over the gods but also because he would never stop the Titans from taking control of the world!

Apollo quickly realized that Rainbow was perfect for the job of stopping King Midas because he longed for adventure and when he finished he could have all of King Midas's gold so he would never have to work again. Apollo knew though that he would need some more bribing than that. So, Apollo decided to give him the power to make the light arrange in a beautiful array of colors if he finished.

So, he went to Rainbow at night. Apollo said, "Psst hey. Rainbow, I am Apollo.You have been chosen to go on this quest to stop King Midas from turning us gods to gold."

Rainbow replied, "Won't my parents be worried?"

"No, because if you complete your task you will get all of King Midas's gold so you and your parents will never have to work again," Apolo mentioned, "Also I will grant you the power to make the light change into a beautiful array of colors, but only when it is raining."

"Ok I will go," Rainbow said and then paused for a second to think, "Also, can I have a weapon?"

Apollo said, "Sure dude, I will give you a magical sword that is made of fire." Rainbow started on his way towards Mount Olympus. His plan was to surprise attack King Midas from behind. When he got there there was no sign of him yet. The air smelled crisp though like it was about to rain.

King Midas was ready for someone to jump out and instantly attack him because he was trying to destroy the gods after all. And so when he got to the place Rainbow was waiting, he noticed him. He acted like he did not notice but when Rainbow jumped out King Midas instantly turned him to gold.

Rainbow was heartbroken. He had failed and the gods would get turned to gold.

Then all of a sudden, it started to rain, and as it hit Rainbow he remembered how water turned things King Midas turned to gold back to their original state. This turned Rainbow back to a human. He was now furious to and ready to destroy Midas.

Rainbow knew he would have to hurry. Luckily, King Midas did not realize rain turned things back to their original state. Rainbow ran a whole mile before he saw Midas.

He snuck behind him and got ready to strike. Rainbow light his flame sword but Midas noticed once again! He was surprised though and was not ready. Rainbow stabbed his sword straight into the King'sheart. You could hear the sword sizzle like a hot knife through butter as it went into Midas.

King Midas exclaimed, "Why!"

Rainbow blatantly replied, "It was not fun to be gold."

Then Midas succumbed. Rainbow had defeated him and the wonderful gods would not end up as gold. Rainbow was so happy.

Apollo came down and gave him the power to make light bend when it was raining. Rainbow could taste the victory

Apollo exclaimed while jumping for joy, "I knew you were perfect! He didn't even start climbing, and you have already defeated him."

Rainbow replied, "Thanks, I needed the adventure."

Apollo spoke, "When you bend light or create a rainbow, you can only do it when it is raining. If you do it other times, Zeus will zap you with lightning. "

Also, he gave him a ride to Midas's home and a magical bag which instantly filled with all of his gold. Then Apollo sent him home.

When Rainbow got home, he ran to greet his parents with his riches.

His mom and dad embraced him in a hug and proclaimed, "How did you get all of these riches!?"

Rainbow replied, "I went on a quest for the gods and was rewarded with these riches and the power to make a rainbow when it is raining."

His parents shouted with a smile, "We will never have to work again!"

Ever since then, when it rains, Rainbow makes the light arrange in a beautiful array of colors, the rainbow.

Creating the Supernatural

By April Capper

The stream trickled outside my meager house in the woods. Weaving through the trees, the wind was as small as a whisper. The lush woods were quiet and motionless as ever. The song of birds outside was music to my ears. The air smelled slightly of mildew, but I was used to it.

I was reading a book and outside my neighbor, Demeter, was humming a lovely song as she gardened. Really, she was the only person around for at least three miles from my little shack I call home.

I decided to go outside and wade in the stream. It was as cold as ice and as refreshing as a nice nap. I always take a nice walk, toiling in the stream.

Every day it's the same thing, go for a walk, read a book, listen to Demeter sing her lovely song. It can get really boring, but that's okay, I'm used to it.

"Hey Hebe!" Demeter called from across the stream.

"Hey Demeter!" I reply, thinking how could she be so cheery on just another boring day? "What do you need?"

"Oh, nothing. Have a good day!"

I blankly smiled over at her and went back inside to my cozy spot on the couch. I got the blazing fire going, so the cool, crisp spring air wouldn't make me too cold to read.

While I was reading a voice called out to me, "Help the people. Give them someone to follow!" it shouted. I thought it was just my imagination, so I kept reading, ignoring the voice.

"Hebe! Hebe!" it called, "help the people."

Well, there's no hurt in calling back, I thought, that way I'll know that it's just in my head.

"How can I help the people?" I called just as I plunged into blackness as great as night.

I woke up with a start. A start I had never experienced before. I was still a little bit foggy on what had just happened when I heard the voice again.

"Hebe, when you are older you must create the people of Athens gods and goddesses to follow," it said in an echo. "Remember this!" What does he mean when I am older? I'm already 22. I looked down and realized that I was a child again.

"Wait!" I shouted to the voice. "Do I have to relive my entire life?" Just as I said that, I plunged back into the obscure darkness.

"Hey hey!" said a familiar voice. "Hey! Are you alive? Hebe! Hebe!"

"What?" I muttered, still a little hazy from that weird dream or whatever that was.

"Oh! Thank the skies you are alive!" said Demeter. Was that real, I pondered. Did I seriously become a child again to get instructions from a random voice?

"What just happened?" I ask finally getting the strength to open my eyes.

"Oh. Well... I'm not exactly sure, but you called out saying, 'How can I help the people?' and I thought you were talking to me so..." she drifted off. "Anyway, when I got here to answer your question, you were spacing out and cried out 'Do I have to relive my entire life?' and then you fainted." So the voice was real.

"I have to go," I hurriedly said.

"Where?"

"Somewhere. I don't know... yet"

I rushed out of my house and into the dark, vast woods.

"I see that you can follow directions," said the voice

"What do I need to do?" I stammered, unsure of myself.

"Go to the tree on the far southern end of this forest and cut the tree down" I headed south, trying to figure out why I had to cut a tree down. What could I possibly do with an entire tree? I decided to deliberate on the matter later. For now, I had to go find the legitimate tree.

An hour later, I finally got to the southernmost part of the forest. "Hey!" I called out. "Random voice? Are you there?" my shouts echoed through the forest.

"Just cut down the tree you see right in front of you and go back home. I will tell you the rest later," the deep, booming voice called out. I picked up an abandoned pickaxe I found lying on the ground and got to chopping.

With the help of what I'm guessing was a ghost, I carried the tree all the way back to my house.

Once I got there, the voice called out, "Now using the tools I will send your way, make three pieces of parchment."

The so called "tools" he left me was my brain and my hands. Somehow, I figured out how to make three pieces of parchment in just three minutes. Now my house smelled like a little kid's arts and crafts store.

"Very good! Now fold the parchment into little swans and send them down the river," it called out. What? Turn them into swans and send them down the river?

"And I need to do that, why?" I called back. This time he didn't answer me. Again, magically my hands did all the work for me and I didn't even have to think about it.

Soon enough, the little parchment swans were in the water drifting away. "Now go into the closest town that the stream runs through, and you will find that the swans are just arriving. Then open them up and there will be instructions. Then you must open the parchment and read what ingredients you must get" it said quieter than it had been before.

After following the stream for four miles to the nearest town, I find that the little swans are just floating by, just like the voice said. I open all three up and, sure enough, there were instructions as to what I needed to do.

Reading the parchment, I went back into the forest and gather all types of flower, plant, and animal related objects and bring them back to my cozy cottage. The last piece of parchment had how to mix and add them together. I gathered a black pot, put water from the stream in it, and put the pot over the crackling fire. After a couple minutes, I added in all of the ingredients, but something was still not right.

"Now add the last ingredient," the voice echoed about my house.

"Wait! You never sent me what the last ingredient was!" I squawked after it, my voice hoarse from all of the walking and running about today. He didn't answer, so I went outside to think.

After wandering around for awhile, I decided to go back inside.

When I entered my house, I realized that something was off. I couldn't figure out what it was.

Then, it happened. I saw it. Sprawled all over my smooth walls. Buttercup, buttercup, buttercup, it read. Buttercup was a flower! I had to go and find a buttercup.

Outside, I found Demeter gardening and humming her delightful song.

"Demeter! Demeter!" I whooped out to her. "Demeter!" I repeated suddenly out of breath. "Do you know where I could find a buttercup flower?"

" Oh yes! There is a lovely field of them just a few minutes walking down the stream," she exclaimed in a calm voice.

"Ok! Thanks!" I shouted as I took off running. I ran for a couple minutes and, right there before me, there was a huge field of fluffy-looking buttercups.

I gathered up quite a bit before running back to my house in the woods and quickly consulted the random voice to check what I needed to do with the buttercups. I added the buttercups in leaf by leaf, petal by petal, and stem by stem, into my rancid, boiling concoction.

It was time to test it out. I followed the voice's instructions by going into town and about all of Greece to find 13 people who were to become gods and goddesses. He told me to get a leader, a queen, a goddess of hunt, a goddess of battle and wisdom, a lord of the underworld, a goddess of hearth and home, a god of war, a god of the seas and oceans, a god of fire and the forge, a messenger god, a goddess of love and beauty, a god of light and truth, and, finally, a goddess of agriculture.

For these I picked Zeus, the leader, Hera,the queen, Artemis, goddess of the moon and hunt, Athena, goddess of battle and wisdom, Hades, lord of the underworld, Hestia, goddess of hearth and home, Ares, god of war, Poseidon, god of the seas and oceans, Hephaestus, god of fire and the forge, Aphrodite, goddess of love and wisdom, Hermes, messenger god, Apollo, god of light and truth, and Demeter, for the goddess of agriculture. I chose all of these people because they have the right qualities to be the god or goddess they were assigned to.

I gathered all the people at my house and explain to them what will happen. They all hastily agreed to my plan. I gave them each a golden cup full of my mixture, and they drank it all promptly. As soon as this happened, the whole house shook. I went to look out the window, and we were floating! The whole house. Just floating. Soon, we were very high. We landed on beautiful, pristine, white cloud. "Now this is where you will live. Up above on a cloud called Mount Olympus," said the voice. "All of you have become gods and goddesses. Except for one of you. "Hebe," it boomed.

"Y-yes," I answered, a little scared of what will happen.

"You will be the cupbearer of the gods. You have the power to make anyone immortal. And that little stream of yours shall be turned into the greatest river of all. The River Styx. Anyone who bathes in that stream will become physically invincible."

"Wait a minute. Who even are you?" I asked the random voice.

"Oh," saida very high pitched voice. "I am a leprechaun."

"Um...why is your voice suddenly high pitched?"

"Oh," the deepness returning to his voice, "I can change my voice to be any pitch, but that high one is my normal one." Suddenly, the leprechaun jumped down from my shoulder. He was very small, as small as a baby rat. He was wearing green from head to toe.

"What is your name?" Demeter asked. It is just then that I realized that all of the gods were still standing here, not realizing how I knew that there was a leprechaun on my shoulder. Although, I didn't really recognize it either.

"Oh, my name is..." he paused.

"Wow! That is one high voice!" Hera commented after he went back his so called "normal" voice.

"Come on, tell us," Demeter said, voice sweet as candy.

"It's...um...i-it's... Fuzzy," he says, his face growing red.

"Awwww!" all the gods and goddesses chorus together.

Now all the people will always have someone to lead them, thanks to me. So far, all the gods and goddesses are getting along. Fuzzy is my personal adviser. All is well, and I finally got the adventure of a lifetime. The one that I was seeking all along.

THE END!

Origin of Self Confidence and Beauty

By Dani

In the city of Palos, there was a small village called Anatevka. The village always had the smell of dry leaves that crackled and fresh apple pie. It was an average day in Anatevka, and the sun was shining and people were busy doing chores. Down in a little brick house by the creek, a girl named June was getting water from the well. June grabbed the rope and leaned over the to put the bucket in.

When June leaned over to get the bucket she saw her reflection. June looked at herself and sighed. As June walked back to her house, she cried. " Oh my sweet daughter, why are you crying," asked her mother.

June answered, " I don't feel beautiful and I don't have any confidence in myself," she said with big sobs in between.

As her family ate chicken soup, she just played with the soup. Day after day June felt sad and depressed.

That night as June slept, on Mt Olympus Apollo, the archer god, and Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, had watched June day after day be depressed and sad.

" I want to help her," said Aphrodite.

"I don't know this is very risky to talk to humans," said Apollo.

"I know, but this girl clearly needs some help finding herself confidence and her beauty," stated Aphrodite.

"Ok we can go tomorrow. Right now, we need to prepare for the day ahead of us," said Apollo.

That night, June had a dream that the gods were talking and two of them were going to come down to the earth and see her. That morning when she woke up was like any ordinary morning.

June was usually the first one up but this time her parents and grandparents were up before her.

"Mom whats going on? " asked June.

" June go inside and bring the animals to the basement.

There is a big storm coming so we must be ready for what's coming," yelled Mom.

June immediately grabbed the animals and went in the basement. June watched out the window the storm was getting worse so her family had to go in the barn. June watched as lighting struck and then a tornado. In a minute after the tornado cleared up June thought she saw two glowing figures ,brighter than the sun ,standing in the courtyard. She rubbed her eyes. She looked out the window and nearly dropped the pig she was holding. Standing right outside the window was Aphrodite and Apollo. They were seven feet tall.

Aphrodite was wearing a pink dress made out of silk. And Apollo was holding a bow and arrow. Slowly she went out to greet them.

"Hiiii." June said in a shaky voice. "Don't be scared we are here to help you," spoke elegant Aphrodite.

"What do I need help with?" asked June.

"You need help finding confidence and beauty in yourself," stated Apollo.

"So tell us why you don't have any confidence and beauty in yourself ," asked Aphrodite

"Well when I looked at myself in the reflection I did not think I was pretty, so I became depressed and sad," stated June

"Can I tell you as story June?" commented Apollo."Sure," said June

.

"When my father said I was going to be the first acher god I was excited so I got practicing write away. When I first started I wasn't very good so I got made and threw my bow on the ground and went to my room, then my mother came in a told me just to have confidence and myself and I would would be a great archer. "This is what I live by everyday," said Apollo.

"Thanks that is really helpful," noted June.

"Can I tell you something June?" asked Aphrodite.

"Sure,'' stated June.

"Even though I am the goddess of beauty, there are some days where I don't feel beautiful," commented Aphrodite.

"No way , but you're the goddess of beauty you're the most beautiful person in the world," commented June.

"You would think so," answered Aphrodite.

"On the days, I am feeling down I tell myself if I think I am beautiful, I am this is something that might help feel better about you self," expressed Aphrodite.

"Thanks." said June as she walked over to give Aphrodite a hug with the sun shining brightly on her back..

So after that, it was time for Apollo and Aphrodite to go."Thank you Apollo for helping me find my confidence," said June.

"You're welcome, I am just glad I could help," stated Apollo as he hugged June.

"Same to you Aphrodite thanks for helping me find beauty in myself," stated June.

"You're welcome," said Aphrodite as she gave June a hug.

In the end, June never worried about beauty and self confidence again.

How the Lion Got It's Claws

By: Riley Flabbergast

Once upon a time, there lived a little lion named Arnold. He was a gold/brown color, and he loved to be with his dad who was as powerful as a Greek god. He wanted to be just like him. Arnold was a very happy lion, he was a very fast runner, and he loved to jump and just goof around. Arnold played so much that sometimes he would get in trouble, His dad then thought about teaching Arnold how to be a good leader.

He and his pack lived in a very hot desert in Africa. The land had lots of watering holes, and lots of different kinds of animals, for example, grazing giraffes, zebras, and monkeys. The desert always felt hot and dry. Arnold loved it there he was friends with almost everyone.

One day, Arnold's dad decided to show Arnold all the old hideouts and places not to approach, so Arnold of course followed "where are we going?"

Arnold's dad looked at him with fright and scarceness, "we are going to the tunnel." Arnold was very afraid.

When Arnold and his dad went to the tunnel, Arnold thought, "This doesn't look like a tunnel it looks a lot like a ditch."

After that, his dad went into the ditch and laid in the hot sun, peacefully he laid in silence. Arnold joined. Then suddenly, the ground started to rumble, Arnold and his dad together jumped to their paws then saw a huge herd of elk running toward them. They had nowhere to go, then his dad picked him up and tossed him on a huge boulder.

Trembling in fear, Arnold's dad laid down sadly and was trampled and murdered by all the elk. Arnold was heartbroken. He didn't know what to do so he went and laid by his dad in sorrow.

Then, as the sun went down, Arnold went back to his cave and said to his sister "Dad is... is... dead."

He bawled his eyes out. That next morning, he set out to the top of the lions rock, and he spoke.

"Sadly, my dad and leader of this pack has passed away, there were too many elk that they all trampled him, so I will become your new leader."

Everyone angrily booed they did not want a little kid to lead their pack. They all were mad and angry that a small, pitiful kid like himself could even try to rule. They thought they could pick a new leader so they decided to plot against him.

Right after, Clovers pack (Their enemy) came over to the pride lands and said,

After Arnold had laid down, he started to wonder if he could never find a place to stay. He started to doubt himself. Then suddenly, he heard a sort twinkling noise, Arnold looked up and saw a face made from the stares.

He asked her, "who are you, and what is your name?"

She replied back to him, "I am the goddess of stars, my name is starlight and have come to give you an offer."

Arnold, the intelligent lion, was very intrigued, "what is your offer?"

She replied, "I will kindly offer your whole pack a place to stay with lots of pray, and I will also give all your subjects claws so that they can survive and hunt, you just have to travel far and wide, and defeat a couple monsters."

He was puzzled by what the monsters were going to do to him but he was determined to earn the trust of his pack even if he doesn't win.

So he said, "I will go and defeat the monsters, but what do if I delete the monsters.

She replied, "you shall go to the top of mount Clara and find that I will be sitting there."

Falling Action: took off. Two days have passed and he just approached a watering hole. He was very thirsty, so he looked in the water and this big world pool showed up and sucked Arnold in. He was very afraid. He didn't know what to do.

So he screamed and yelped, "Help!"

No one answered, and there was silence. He took his paw and pushed at the bottom of the pool. And suddenly, he leaped to his feet and was free. He was so happy and decided to catch an elk so that he could celebrate his freedom. So, Arnold went out to look for an scrumptious elk. He finally saw an elk so he crept up slowly, and carefully, then he leaped to his feet and pounced on the elk and it turned into a nine headed ugly beluga whale.

Arnold jumped and ran as fast as he could the monster was too fast, he knew he couldn't outrun him, so he decided to outsmart him. Arnold sprinted to the bay next to the drop off and caught some fish for the beluga whale.

The beluga whale ran swiftly after him, for the delicious fish. Arnold stopped running and the beluga whale stopped running. The beluga whale oh so desperately wanted the fish. So, Arnold told him. "I will give you these fish if you go into the bay and never bother anyone, except the fish.

At last, Arnold had defeated the monsters, and had earned his claws. His whole packed received their claws and his whole pack earned respect for Arnold.

How Many Months in a Year?

By: Jimmy Johnson

Once upon a time, about as high above as you can go, much higher than the clouds, there were 15 fearless gods. There was Apollo, Zeus, Hebe, Hermes, Poseidon, Jocasta, Juno, Leda, Leto, Asteria, Camilla, Ceres, Olwen, Medea, Rhiannon.

Zeus, the god of lightning and in charge of all other gods, held a lightning bolt as bright as the sun. The hair on top of his head always looked the same and his blue eyes looked as deep as the ocean.

Apollo, the god of light and an archer, was not worried about anything other than himself.

Hebe was always quiet and held the glass of immortalism. She always just wanted to just get involved in events.

Poseidon, who talked just for the fun of it, was always over-confident and thought a lot of himself. But, whenever he talked in front of a large crowd, he came even more cocky and began to act as he was the only one who mattered.

Hermes, who did not like Apollo, always got angered when he talked in front of large quantities of people. All of of the 15 gods were quiet for the most part except for Poseidon.

Zeus, the leader of all gods, was eating a breakfast of 6 tasty eggs, three pieces of bacon, and a side of heavy smelling maple syrup that made his kitchen have the delicate aroma of a maple tree. In his mansion of a house and wondered what he had for lunch a year ago. He needed someway to express what he had for lunch last part of the year. He went to the all the other existing gods and brainstormed ideas. Ares, the very unique war god, came up with an idea to have a part of the year for every god. But, 15 parts of a year was too much and was not an even number. Zeus definitely wanted an even number.

Poseidon, the god who talks way too much and is very boisterous and obnoxious, decided to come up with a list of the gods who shouldn't have a portion of the year represented by them.

"The list I've put together on this fine night for y'all," Poseidon explained to the gods.

Hebe only wanted everybody to know what it was about, so she told the invited gods.

Apollo, who is an exquisite archer, wanted to get his vengeance because he wasn't on Poseidon's list of gods. This fine gentleman now had a plan.

Apollo collected the all the gods together for a meeting and a presentation of his list of gods who should have a spot as a part of the year.

"Thank ya'll for coming to this meeting," Apollo announced through the black speake. Apollo stood up, and gave his speech in front of all the gods. Right when he introduced the characters contained on the list. He stood up, strung his bow, and started to aim. He hit Aphrodite and Hades. Poseidon, the loudmouth and jerk as he was, was the first one to get an injury that would cause everlasting pain.

After all this ruckus, there turned out to be only be 12 gods remaining, who still wanted to be part of the year. Zeus, the decider of all the parts of the year, wanted only 10 gods for the parts of the year. Apollo set up a meeting privately with Zeus. Zeus wanted two more gods to back out because of the wrath of Apollo's arrow. But who? Athena? Or Hestia? Zeus wanted to get rid of Hades and Hestia. Apollo, with his bow and arrows, left out to try to cripple Hestia and Hades. He was on the hunt to bruise the other gods. Except, Hades and Hestia knew he was going to come after them, so they hid where he would never find them. In a huge, red barn with swinging french doors about 100 feet tall, and full of livestock.

Apollo had no idea where they was hiding, so he looked all throughout the town. In the church. At the neighborhood garden. At their house. But, there is where he found something very suspicious. There was a note of where they were hiding. They were in the barn off of "Hide and Seak street." Coincidentally, Apollo showed up there with his bow strung and ready to fire a large series of arrows toward them. But, when he saw them, he shot and a lamb stepped right in the way. They somehow managed to sneak out the backdoor and escape.

Once Zeus heard the bad news, he realized that there was no need to kill anymore gods to be represented by a month. Twelve matched the description he wanted perfectly. It was even. It was less than 15. And, everybody would be happy about the result of being represented by a month in the year.

"Although we may have not had the result we were all expecting," Zeus continued while standing on the two foot podium in front of the remaining gods, "I am proud to announce that all of the twelve remaining gods will now be represented by a month of the year!"

France

By: Lily Trescot

There once was a time when there was a land, and it was soon to be named but there was some trouble brewing in the village as it was still without a name to be called , and there were two people who thought that they should be the city's name. It was soon to be named something different than Athena and Aphrodite had imagined.

Many people of the in the town wanted the town to be named after them but the two who wanted it the most were both goddesses that were searching for something and they both wanted to walk around the town with their golden crowns held high and having the They believed that they were the best in the land that they both lived in.

Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty wanted the city to be named Aphrodites and she believed that there was great hope for her to win the crown and the name of the town. The beautiful young woman enjoyed braiding her hair and looking into the mirror at herself. She had long blonde hair and green eyes that shined as bright as the dew on the grass in the morning. The city was in doubt that either of them would be able to take on the challenge of having this big of a job in the village of soon to be named.

Then there was Athena, goddess of battle and wisdom and she also believed that she should be the one to have the town be named after and hs thought that she could be a fearless and protective leader to the town of nameless. Athena thought that she would be the best leader and she would name the city Athens and she knew that if she ruled everything would be perfect. The town had a meeting and they declared that there would be a battle of the goddess and whoever won the challenge would be the name of the city. Athena loved helping people and she felt like as I said, very proud of herself and she thought that she was perfect.

Then everyone was perfect . Athena was a hard person to make amends with so she always had on her protective suit of armor and she set out on the land to find a battle to conquer.

There was to be a battle of the goddesses and then the winner would be the name of the village and when the village was named the loser had the choice to stay in the town or to leave the town for good.

The next day a young man moved to town and his name was Francis. He strolled leisurely through the town with his head held high and a smile across his face. Everyone thought he was crazy, no one was very happy about the new town being named but they knew that he was new in town and he needed some attention. The whole town pitched in and bought him welcome gift with fruits and treats for him to get used to the town he would be living in. He was the sweetest boy and then he met Aphrodite and she had a few things to say to hi.

"Hello young man what is your name and are you here to sneak my crown?" Yelled Aphrodite. He just smiled and he walked off with a grin on his face and started to dance around the town square with his new friends that he had just made that day.

Aphrodite had a plan to destroy that new boy in town and she planned to do it immediately. She planned a town meeting and she invited everyone but the Francis. She decided to make a spell to make him fall in love with the first person he saw the next day and her plan came into action and she made the town promise not to say a word or they would be put to death.

The night the plan was to come into action and she came to his door with the fruit basket that he had gotten for her and she gave it back to him with a few new gifts inside and she told him that they were homemade with love. He took them and said thank you, and she told him politely, " Eat the banana nut bread first it ta stes delicious!" she said with a smile.

He smiled and he ate it with pleasure and then he made a face at her and he told her that he thought that it didn't really taste like banana nut bread and she told him that she new and she cursed him with these words.

"Go tomorow with the thought of love for I shall win and you shall get married with a dozen doves" She yelled as Francis fell asleep . This curse was going to make him fall in love with the first person that he made exact eye contact with him and he would soon fall in love with this person.

The next day she got up waiting for the big battle day to come and she figured out that she had given the wrong bread for Francis to eat and so she had to go back that night to wipe his memory of her giving him the basket and she would give him the correct bread and he would leave her alone for good and not try to steal her crown and the name of the village. She went to his house that night and he did the same thing he had done the night before and she had done the same spell and he fell asleep right on the couch of his living room. Her time had come... so she thought. Aphrodite was one of the most beautiful people in the land but she had a sense to be witty and sly. Since she had planned and gone through with this scheme of hers, she didn't know what the consequences might be when and if someone caught her.

The next day had come for Aphrodite to be the queen of the village and have the town be named after her and she would be the ruler and Francis would have to move away from the town and he would never come back. She also wanted the feeling of looking over her town with a smile on her face and knowing that the city was hers.

The time of the battle was at noon. Aphrodite curled her hair and was of course, fashionably late to the battle of the goddess. She got to her corner and the loud noise was almost going to start the fight when she looked over the horizon to see Francis walking their way.

Francis was walking over to watch the battle of the goddess and he saw Athena and he knew that she was the one for him, the spell had worked and he was then in love with her. Athena was walking over to the battle and she had instantly fallen in love with him as well so she decided to drop out of the battle and make sure that Francis would get to be the name of the town and that he would get to rule the land with Athena by his side and so he decided to call the town France. Aphrodite was flamed with fury when she found out this awful news and she had realized that her plan had totally backfired.

The week after the whole fiasco had happened it was time for Aphrodite to decide if she wanted to stay in the town of France or she could pack her bags and go live with her family and do whatever she wished to do. Francis and his village kept growing and he figured out that a town like this could be one of the best in the world and so he thought maybe we could put a tower over in that area and I might just name her Eiffel. He also had realized something else and that was that he would be in charge of everything and he figured if he was then he could he could make some big changes in the city of France and he would make the town bigger and brighter and he might even decide to make the tower.... glow! He knew he could do it.

The day had come, and he said that the town would be pleased with every decision he had because he would make sure that everyone would get a say in everything and he stuck to that throughout his time. He had planned for the tower to start being built immediately and he knew that if he could have this done soon, new people would flow into the town and maybe he would make a new town and he would place the tower there.

What a week it had been waiting for the time to come that Aphrodite had to decide if she was going to stay in France or go and live where she had come from and so she had arrived late once again and she noticed how much she would miss the place she had grown up in and so she still went with the option to move back to the place she had come from (mount Olympus) and live with the gods for the rest of her life. The aroma of victory had come over the city of France.

Aphrodite had left the village three days after the decision was made and then the town decided to live in harmony and then the town found out that Athena and Francis were pregnant and they would have their baby soon and when they did they were on the verge of finding a name for the new city for the Eiffel Tower and they saw their baby girl and they called her Paris. Since Aphrodite had moved away everyone was now happy in the land and when they found out that Aphrodite was the one who cursed Francis they thought that it would have to wear off sooner or later and it did but it didn't change anything between the two of them. He was still in love with her and she was always in love with him. Athena and him had their baby and they grew to have a beautiful family that would lead on the family name and they would all become city names and they would all get their chance in the sun.

Everyone was happy that the village was named and a new leader was on the way, Athena became queen of the town called France and Francis was then on the king. The time had come and they would rule the village for as long a they lived and they would help this city grow and maybe it would just explode with people. The city did and as it grew the desire of the cookies went around the town because Francis decided to give out baskets of baked goods once every week because it reminded him that he had beaten Aphrodite.

Francis saw someone coming into town the next day. '' Hello, welcome to France." Exclaimed Francis with a grin.Then was the time that that town started to blossom every step of the way. He had people by his side to help and Aphrodite out of his kingdom forever. The town was as peaceful as the birds in the trees in the morning,"and everyone was happy," and they enjoyed their days in France.

Mocking Mira

By Kierra

In a forest long, long ago, so long ago that no one had even heard of it, there was a girl named Mira. Mira was a poor girl her mother had died in a fire, her dad, sister, and brother were all murdered, but she was able to hide and not be seen. She had to watch her family die right in front of her at the age of three and had to smell the blood and flesh. Mira was never raised correctly for she lived in a cabin inside the forest, Mira was not very pretty. She had tangled, long platinum-blond hair, with pale skin, and two dark green eyes.

Little did Mira know that Hera kept her alive for 13 years after Mira's family died. Of course, Hera could not come to raise Mira, but she gave her all the essentials for life, including food, water, shelter, and a nice warm blanket. Though Hera was not the only goddess trying to help this young girl, Aphrodite was also involved but no matter how many times Aphrodite tried to make Mira look less ugly, her face would still stay the same. One time, Aphrodite even dipped Mira's head inside a bowl of god's wine, hoping maybe she would become prettier.

But one fateful day, the goddess Hera came down into the forest to see Mira, but Mira was not so respectful to Hera. Mira started to mimic her but finally Her/a started to get angry. "Young Mira you should know better then to be teasing a goddess now I expect you to apologize," Hera stated.

"I'm sorry," Mira whispered while looking down at the ground.

Later that day in the forest, Mira met a strange man who she had never met before. He had a long gray beard, dark brown eyes, a weak body so he carried a cane, and a black cloak with a hood that covered his face so all you could see was his lips.

"You! There, what is your name?" Mira said slowly walking towards him.

"Don't worry about what my name is. We have met before in your earlier life. Now listen here Mira you are very special so I want you to not listen to anyone even the great gods and goddesses tell you to do something, but don't tell anyone about this little talk we have had!" the stranger disappeared without saying another word, and in his place a small, silver, leaf lay.

Due to what the strange man in the forest said, Mira didn't respect anyone who came near her. Then, the day that it was time for Hera to come and visit Mira she was being especially rude. "Hello Mira, how have you been today?" Hera asked.

"Sup. I am just chillin!" Mira says.

"Is that any way to treat a goddess such as me," Hera states,"I thought we have been over this before!"

" I thought we have been over this before!" Mira says mockingly.

"So that's how you wanna behave, so be it!" Hera yells as she slowly moves toward Mira with her eyes glared. As Hera stated this Mira moved her hand like they were Athena's lips. " Goodbye!" Mira barked at Hera. " If you like mocking and copying people so much than it should be your lifetime job!" Hera shouted while moving closer with her hand in the air as if she were going to slap Mira. But at the last moment Hera waved her hand at Mira and all that was seen in Mira's place was a little ball floating. Hera held the ball in her hand and took it up to Mount Olympus.

Once she arrived, Hera went to Hephaestus and asked him to make her a hard piece of metal that was shiny on one end, and had a gold trimming that made it able to stand easily. Hours had passed and finally it was finished.

Hera now waved her hand at the shiny side of the glass and a swirling portal was seen.

She now threw the ball and it turned back into Mira. "Hey that hurt!" roared Mira.

"Great, now I want you to walk thru this, "portal". Okay?" Hera ordered while pointing to the piece of glass.

" You weren't even listening to me were you?" Mira questioned.

"Sorry what did you say I wasn't listening." confessed Hera.

" Fine I'll go in the portal," Mira agreed while walking towards it. Mira stepped in, and Hera quickly closed the portal with Mira inside. "Hey let me out there is nothing great in here it's just a tiny, white room." Mira bickered while pounding on the glass from the inside. Hera made a gesture and immediately Mira was no longer able to be heard or be seen from the outside of the glass. Now, Hera stepped in front of the glass and saw her own reflection. She started clapping and jumping up and down like a homeless person who had just won the lottery.

Hera was so pleased with her creation she disguised herself as an old woman and showed the people of earth her Mira. But she didn't stop there she made more but didn't have to trap other people, all she had to do was make the piece of glass because Mira was able to travel and duplicate herself that so she could be in millions of pieces of glass at the same time.

As the years got older and Mira's became more popular and eventually people stopped calling them Mira's and started to call them mirrors. So the next time you look into a mirror thank Mira and the goddess Hera for creating something that you can see yourself in.

\

The Great Race

By Barry Bobson

It was a normal summer day in Athens,Greece. There was a foot race going on in the city grounds. The crowds gathered to see the famed runner Achilleos in action. No one in the land of Greece could best him. People heard of his skill far and wide and some went as far as to say he was faster than Attis, the god of speed Achilleos was a handsome young man, with almond dark hair and deep blue eyes. He lived in a massive mansion with a pool and a running track. One fateful day, Attis looked upon Achilleos and wondered, "Could This mortal be faster than me?"

Attis went to Ethan who was the god of transformation and was a wizard . Attis asked Chronos if he could change him into an old man. Ethan was kind man, so he told Attis, " I'll do it." However, Attis did a sin that he would forever want to take back. With one blinding swipe of his hand, he stole the staff of renewal. It had the power to change anybody into anything. He disdainfully looked at Ethan and said, " You pathetic excuse of a man. This staff is mine know!" Ethan grew furious and vowed to get revenge.

Attis changed himself into an old man and spectated one of Achilleos' races. After his victory, Attis approached Achilleos. He told Achilleos, " You are a man of great speed. But don't get cocky for even though you are fast you will never beat the gods"Achilleos shrugged off the remark and said, " no man on Greece can best me, so how will the gods. I will gladly challenge even Attis, the god of speed." Attis morphed back into himself and yelled furiously " Well here is your challenge!". \

The two men went immediately to the track to race.

The news of the challenge spread quickly and almost everyone in athens flocked down to the stadium to watch the great race. The air smelt crisp and airy.Chronos was still angry and wanted to help achilleos in every way possible to humiliate Attis. Achilios was the favorite of many gods such as Zeus and Athena. Chronos consulted them and they both said, " sure, I'd love to see that jerk, Attis, humbled"

Surprisingly, race started, and Achilleos jumped to an early lead. Even Attis had to marvel at the speed of his competitor. He quickly flashed his hand fervently and fired a stunning spell at achilleos. Zeus swiftly knocked it off course. They were now nearing the finish when suddenly Achilleos tripped on a rock. He saw Attis pass him and cried out, " You beat me, but you had to play cheap to do it." Athena lifted Achilleos on his feet and he began to run.

Just 300 feet from the finish they were neck to neck. Achilleos was not about to lose, so he ran as fast as his tired lungs could carry him. They reached the finish line.

About a month later, while Achilleos gloated about his victory, Attis sat on Mount Olympus fuming with rage. He constantly pleaded to Zeus that he be allowed to take revenge on Achilleos. However, every time he asked Zeus replied with a sigh, " No. It is not my fault that you challenged him and lost. If you try to get revenge, you will be stripped of godhood." Attis waited and waited but, could not hold it in any longer. He marched to Achilleos' house and touched him with the staff of renewal. There was a blinding light and a horrifying scream.

Attis had changed Achilleos' arrogance into guilt; guilt that no mortal could bear. The next day, Achilleos consumed a whole goblet of poison, killing him from the inside and burning his intestines.Attis could not believe the sin he had just committed. He bent over Achilleos and turned him into a speedy member of the cat family with black spots and sharp teeth. This type of animal, the cheetah, would forever run.

Meanwhile, Zeus was angry that Attis had disobeyed him. He stripped Attis of his godhood and Attis forever roamed the earth as an old beggar.

Let this be a warning to whoever reads this. If someone beats you in a contest be a gracious loser and accept defeat.

Joe, Bob, and the Over Descriptive, Incredible, Long and Boring Title to the Best, Most Awesome Myth/Story in the History of the Modern World.

By: Jackson

In a land where all people were immortal, a fine land where fruit-bearing plants grew plentifully, and animals roamed freely, there were two people, named Joe and Bob.

Joe was very short, fat, and smart, with blonde hair and blue eyes, while Bob was tall and strong, but not very smart, with black hair and red eyes. They both worshipped the king god, Zeus, who would always sit in Olympus watching Joe and Bob, and all the other humans.

One day, Joe and Bob were making their daily chicken sacrifices, when Joe started thinking out loud. "Since we're immortal, couldn't we be worshipped by whatever gods we wanted?" "Ya Joe!" shouted Bob," that sounds like a great idea!"

The next day, Joe handed out thick, long, and very descriptive flyers on the best ways to worship the new gods, Joe and Bob, while Bob was attempting to build two Joe and Bob shaped temples, but Bob isn't very smart, so there was a high chance that the temples would collapse.

A day later, Joe and Bob were sitting, with other humans making sacrifices to them, when an old soothsayer came into Joe's temple and began to speak in an old, raspy voice,"there is a prophecy that was spoken by Zeus when he was only a few thousand years old. It goes something like this. When the moon is hit by an asteroid for the trillionth time, the most arrogant and stupid of the humans will make themselves gods, and either destroy all gods, or be destroyed themselves." Joe called for his guards, who threw the old man out, onto the street.

After the old man was gone, Joe began to wonder, was it worth the risk to attempt to destroy all other gods? Joe conferred his idea with Bob, argued on what to do, but they agreed on one thing, and they exited their temples and shouted, "THEGODSMUSTBEDESTROYED!"

Up on mount Olympus, the highest civilization in the universe, the gods realized the seriousness of the problem. There were many solutions to this problem, but when the gods voted, the choice chosen was unanimous. They all agreed that Joe and Bob must die.

The gods, along with Joe and Bob met at the foot of mount Olympus to battle. Zeus was the first to strike. When Joe wasn't looking, Zeus struck him and he was turned into a pile of ashes. Bob saw this happen and yelled the smartest thing he could think of, which just happened to be,"IMMA KIL U!" But when Bob charged the gods, they just blasted him into a pile of ashes too.

After this horrible dilemma, the gods, back on Olympus, decided that humans had too much power as immortals, and decided that all humans must stay mortal forever, and with a loud BOOM!, and a clap of thunder, all humans were mortal.

But the gods still had two problems remaining, one being the amount of humans, the other being what the humans would think when they started dying randomly. So, the gods decided to wipe the minds of all humans, and force them to make one human sacrifice to every single god and titan, once a day, for 1000 years.

The Drum

By: Dylan Tingey

In ancient, darkest Africa, there lived a young man named Makuno Detumbo who was regarded as one of the most gifted and skilled blacksmiths and wood artisans in Africa. He respected masterly Hephaestus, the Greek god of the forge and fire, and Hephaestus regarded Makuno as one of his favorite and best blacksmiths.

Hephaestus was not the only god that admired Makuno, Apollo was also interested in this young man. Apollo, the Greek god of music and light, watched Makuno worship the gods every day in the morning and at night, Makuno also often made and offered sculptures, armor, and weapons for the gods. Only Apollo knew that Makuno had a passion for music. He had made many instruments using his metal and wood skills. He had hid this from his friends and family because he was nervous that they would think less of him.

Just like his fellow villagers, he was very broad in stature, it seemed as if he were built to wield large tools. Since he spent most of his time forging and working, he almost always reeked of smoke and sweat. Although he could have easily wielded a 20 pound hammer, he was a man of few words that let his deeds speak for themselves. He was very humble, this trait came from him living in a small village called Simunye. Simunye resided on the southeast coast of Lake Victoria. The village had an extensive town square where most of the people had spent their time. The air was always filled with the stench of cattle or the meat from the cattle. You could taste ash in the air. Makuno had hated the smell of cattle.

Makuno had ebony skin which could be comparable to the ebony wood he used in his creations. Unlike his family, his eyes were piercing, yet were a soothing baby blue. He had a strong chin and nose, and he was the only person in his village who chose to have his dark hair cut very short, almost to the scalp. Makuno was not only considerate to the gods, he respected other townspeople as if they were his own family. Many young women would have gladly married him not only for his looks, but for his respectful manner that he always exhibited.

He had lived on his own in a modest hut which was next to his outdoor forge. His forge consisted of a large fire pit for heating up the metal and a large metal anvil for sculpting. His favorite and most prized tool was his 20 pound hammer for which he made his best masterpieces.

Many of the villagers and children had often observed Makuno as he worked on his job of forging weapons and armor for the village warriors. Makuno knew he wanted to leave one day and go to Greece to make sculptures and instruments. But he knew it was a hopeless ambition. What he didn't know was that the gods had been watching over him.

A couple of years had passed when Apollo decided to visit Africa, specifically Simunye. As Apollo flew from over the sea and land he saw that the people were not worshipping. He was as curious as he was enraged that they did not worship the gods as they should. Apollo knew he had to fix it and found himself in the village of Jericho. He flew down in the village square in front of the village people.

The people were as frightened as they were confused and fell to the ground.

Apollo forcefully asked the question," Why are you not worshipping myself and the other gods?!"

An elderly woman wearing a traditional dress finally stepped forward and yelled, "You and the gods have forgotten us! You have not protected us, you have not blessed us, and you have treated us as wild beasts!"

Apollo was insulted by the outburst of the woman, he was surprised that the women would say such a thing in the presence of a god. He also secretly respected the woman for standing up to a god. Apollo being the selfish and short-tempered god he was, he flew off leaving a crater where he was standing and knocking the people of the village back twenty feet. Now Apollo wasn't angry any longer, he was infuriated.

"What are they doing not worshipping?!?" Apollo spouted off to himself repeating his earlier question. He immediately went down to the village of Simunye, his intended location, to Makuno, who he had not yet met, who he supposed he could trust with the subject.

By this time Makuno had developed a beard in resemblance to Hephaestus' in his honor. The beard Makuno was growing clearly made him look like a man and a blacksmith. Apollo found him at his forge with some of the villagers. Makuno had finally gotten used to the fact that the villagers had been watching him.

When Makuno saw the deity, he immediately fell to his knees followed by the rest of the villagers. Makuno's mind raced with reasons why he could possibly be here at his forge.

"Leave us!" Apollo had demanded the villagers. The villagers fled to their homes. One of the villagers had tripped on a tool on the ground, but quickly got up and sprinted away. Apollo shook his head and said, "Mortals. So clumsy."

Makuno ignored the insult and his deep gruff voice sputtered," Apollo, why are you here? What have I done wrong?"

"You have not done anything worth my wrath. I have come to you to ask you what has happened to your people, and why they do not worship," Apollo had stated concealing his anger while his white robe flew in the wind.

Makuno hesitated, "They believe that you- the other gods-have forgotten about us and so they think that the gods don't deserve their offerings." Apollo just blinked at him. Apollo hadn't expected Makuno to tell him the truth. Even Makuno was surprised that he had told a god a truth like that.

Makuno was relieved when Apollo started to talk, it relieved the tension of the situation.

"You remain faithful to me and the gods then?" Apollo questioned anxiously. He already knew the answer.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Makuno didn't have to lie, he always worshiped the gods, morning and evening, just like he was supposed to.

Apollo was satisfied with Makuno's response. Apollo thanked Makuno for his services, then flew off leaving Makuno still amazed. Apollo had decided to go back to Mount Olympus to find help to figure out how to solve the problem with the villagers.

Once Apollo arrived to Olympus he called for Zeus, the god of lightning and the heavens, Hephaestus, and Poseidon, the god of the oceans and earth. Once all of them met in the Great Hall, the discussion began.

Zeus was just woken from a nap, and he was very irritated, "What you called us here for better be important."

"I have a sword I have to get to Ares!" Hephaestus added. Poseidon didn't say anything.

Apollo remained level-headed, "Why I have called you great gods here is because I have visited Africa," they waited in anticipation, "the people do not worship us anymore, they think we have forgotten them."

This suddenly got Zeus' attention, and he was offended, "What?!? Why have you not fixed this?" When Poseidon came, he had looked bored, yet at that moment, he was very intrigued with the situation, almost amused.

"I was hoping I could have counsel with all of you to find an easy solution," Apollo said hoping they would help. "Poseidon," Poseidon looked over towards Apollo, "I have summoned you here because I want you to shake the Earth when it is time for the people to worship."

"Wouldn't that put an impression on the people that we are punishing them?" Hephaestus inquired, he was very logical.

"Well, aren't we? They are not worshipping us!" Apollo asked, there was annoyance evident in his voice.

"They are not the ones to blame, we are. We have only neglected them," Zeus said, this remark surprised all of the gods present. Apollo was still annoyed.

"What if the people had a competition to create and make an instrument or sound-maker to imitate Poseidon's earthshaking, that way the people will know when they have worship," Hephaestus stunned them as he ended his suggestion.

"Well, I guess that ends the problem and this conversation. Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to resume my nap," Zeus said as he got up and walked out of the chamber. And with that, Apollo left for Africa.

Apollo had gathered the people of Simunye and representatives from other villages in Africa. In the town square of Simunye, the people looked anxious to hear what this great god had gathered them for.

Apollo appeared before them in ceremonial clothing. He wore a white robe with gold trim. He had a turquoise medallion around his neck, and his long blonde hair was neatly tied up into a bun. The people looked at him in amazement. He started to speak.

"Because of your insolence and arrogance towards the gods..." Apollo paused to cause more tension and anxiousness, "It seems as though we must have a competition."

The people were more confused than they were nervous, they hadn't expected the god to say that a competition was in order.

"You have chosen to not worship the gods the time you are supposed to, so we will have a competition to create an instrument or other sound-producing device that can imitate the great Poseidon's earthshaking so you may know when to make offerings or pray to the gods and myself." Apollo was looking very proud as if he was the god who came up with the idea.

"How long will we have to make our creations?" an older man asked, he looked very excited.

Apollo thought for a moment then he answered, "You mortals will have three days to complete the task." The crowd was both excited and worried, they did not believe that they could build something to imitate Poseidon's earthshaking in three days. But they acknowledged and welcomed the challenge anyway.

As Apollo went on his way to Olympus the people started talking and going to their workplaces and homes to begin their creations to imitate the earthshaking of Poseidon.

By the time the day had gone by, all of Africa had known of this competition, and young and old, rich and poor, started to join into the competition. But there was one person who didn't think of this as just another competition, he thought that this could be an opportunity to change his life. That person was Makuno Detumbo.

Makuno had been inspired by the Thud! Thud! and the Clang! Clang! of his mighty hammer when swung onto the hot metal, he noticed that it sounded like earthshaking and thunder. It got him thinking, if he could create a object that he could pound on with his hammer, he could make it sound like earthshaking. He got to work.

He slaved every day. Makuno, using his wood artisan skills, made a cylindrical barrel, with the middle bulging out a little, it was about four feet tall. The barrel did not have a top, Makuno meant to do this. He had a piece of thin animal skin that he draped over the top of the barrel, he kept it down by securing it with nails. He forged some nails, rivets, and trim with the Damascus, a piece of steel that is made to have wavy patterns, and hammered on the trim, nails, and rivets every six inches horizontally from the top to the bottom. Makuno built wooden mallets reinforced with Damascus rivets to pound on the barrel. It was a true work of art what this large and intimidating man created.

Three days passed from the time Apollo had told the people about the competition. It was time to showcase the creations to Apollo. Every inventor, dreamer, and artisan that lived in Africa arrived to the village square with their creations. Makuno had carried the barrel and the two mallets on his back all the way to the square, so he hurriedly put down his creation to relieve himself of the weight. As Makuno caught his breath he looked around and saw just how many people had gathered, there were hundreds.

"Wish me luck Hephaestus," Makuno told himself, to calm down even though it didn't help.

As Apollo appeared he started to speak," Let me remind you why we are having this competition. You all have stopped worshipping the gods, which means you had to create something to imitate the earthshaking of Poseidon so you would know when to worship. All right, you may begin."

Apollo took his throne which the people had created, it was layered with the rarest jewels and gems. The creators started to make a line to wait for their turn. As the inventors started to show Apollo what they had created, Makuno was feeling nervous.

As the day wore on Apollo still hadn't deemed a winner, he seemed bored as he sat on the glorious throne. He waved off three-fourths of the contestants.

It was Makuno's turn. As he stepped in front of Apollo, he started to feel sick. Though he had practiced his instrument many times at his home, he didn't prepare for the audience he was performing in front of. Makuno took a deep breath, he steadfastly held his mallets. He had started to play. Makuno hit the barrel with perfect rhythm and beat. Makuno had pounded the side of the barrel while simultaneously hitting the animal skin which reverberated the inside of the barrel making the sound echo and sound even more like earthshaking. His hands moving in a blur from switching from the side of the barrel to the animal skin on top. Apollo looked up in interest as he saw Makuno play. It seemed to Apollo that the instrument had a connection to Makuno and vice versa. All of the village people and contestants were mesmerized at the display. Makuno's secret passion for music was finally shown to the people that day.

Makuno finished playing his instrument, he was out of breath and sweating. Apollo was speechless, so were his friends and family. Everyone just stood watching for a couple minutes. Makuno was worried they didn't like the music.

When Apollo was able to speak, he barely got the words out, "What-What do you call it, the thing you just played?"

"I call it a drum" Makuno said proudly.

Apollo stood and looked at Makuno, "Well, Makuno, you and your drum," he paused, "have just won this competition." No one had said anything for a second, then the silence was broken by an uproar of cheers. Even those who had been rejected or didn't get a chance to try ran up to Makuno and congratulated him. Makuno was smiling from ear to ear. He had looked over at Apollo who just nodded. The people had put Makuno on their shoulders, although they had trouble getting him up there. The rest of the day was filled with celebration. The center of it all was Makuno, he was uncomfortable at first, but got used to it. He enjoyed himself. He hadn't seen Apollo since he had told him he had won. He wondered if he went back to Olympus.

As the celebrations were coming to an end, Apollo had appeared before Makuno. Everyone was waiting for what the god would tell Makuno. The tension was palpable.

Apollo opened his mouth and spoke, his voice was soft, "Makuno Detumbo, it is the will of the gods of Mount Olympus to bestow the title and authority on you of Chief of Worship," Cheers came from the people.

Makuno waited until they were done, "What exactly is my responsibility?"

"You will play your drum when it is the desired time to worship, that will most always be in the morning and at night," Apollo replied. Makuno was honored. He never thought that he would have such a responsibility.

Years had passed and Makuno was one of the most important people in Africa. He was highly regarded by the gods and given many riches and goods. Yet he chose to stay in his home of Simunye. There, he met a beautiful young women named, Daya. They married and had children and lived cheerfully for the rest of their lives.

Even today, you can hear his majestic drumming resounding from the African plains, jungles, and deserts. Drums have changed form and sound, yet they are all based off of the masterpiece that Makuno Detumbo made in his little forge and home.

The Origin of Colors

By: Viviana Torrejon

Down memory lane, a long time ago, there was a happy city called Goldmeadow. In this city, there lived a happy creature named Colorful Cal. Cal was made of cotton candy that was as delicious as a lifetime supply of candy, and he resembled the shape of a cloud. Cal was all of the colors of the rainbow, and he smelled like strawberries. Colorful Cal also had bright blue eyes and a shiny white smile.

Colorful Cal lived in a beautiful little cottage with butterflies swarming all around it and a small little river overflowing with fish that were as pretty as diamonds and other creatures. His house was also surrounded by big beautiful trees that made it seem like Cal was living in a garden. Cal's front yard was brimming to the top with flowers galore. Such as daisies, daffodils, lilies, roses, sunflowers and much more.

Cal possessed many friends who, even though they weren't as colorful as him, they were still pretty friendly creatures.

There was Maroon Max who smelled like cinnamon and looked like a big puffy flower and had a big taste in nature and felt like a fuzzy teddy bear.

Mahogany Mahoney, who looked like a big piece of candy corn, whose voice sounded like a fish who could talk and smelled like nutmeg with a giant taste in jazz music, and felt like a smooth diamond.

Tan Teddy, a nice young creature who looked like a big teddy bear, sounded like a musical talker, and smelled like pomegranate with a fun taste in inventing and felt like a fluffy cloud.

Beige Bailey, who looked like a big flower and whose voice sounded like a fairy tale and who smelled like a citrus perfume and had a creative taste in drawing and felt like a squishy stress ball. They were all cheerful and fun to be around just like Cal was.

They would all cruise over to Cal's beautiful home and play games, eat delicious snacks such as fresh pastrami sandwiches bright salads, freshly squeezed lemonade, freshly baked cookies, homemade bread and much more out on the porch. They would swim around in the river until dark and share stories by the warm fire once they were finished. Colorful Cal and his friends had the perfect life that was as perfect as a summer day on the beach until the day that everything they had was lost.

Thump, thump, thump, thump. Cal woke up to the sound of enormous thumps outside of his door. Cal jumped up from the bed and sprinted outside as fast as a cheetah for his morning stroll.

There before his eyes stood Bruce Black. Bruce Black was the meanest, the loudest, the ugliest villain that Goldmeadow had ever known. "Run! Run for your lives!" said Cal. But no one heard him. Everybody in Goldmeadow was still asleep like rocks and Colorful Cal didn't know what to do. Cal kept yelling and yelling, but still, no one heard him. Bruce Black was known for taking all creatures' colors. Colorful Cal was so scared Bruce Black would take away his colors. "Wake up! Wake up!" yelled Cal. Cal tried so hard to wake everybody up until it happened.

It happened so fast that Cal didn't even know what was happening at first. But then Cal realized. Cal detected that every bit of color, every tree, every flower, even the river that was next to Cal's cottage had all turned black like ash. Cal looked at his hand and it was black. All of the color was gone.

Bruce Black was a villain. A villain that was big, black, and scary. He had two long tentacles that stretched out of him and they both ended with a big sharp claw that was very dangerous and could probably murder anyone in a matter of seconds. He was a shadowy wispy figure that had a voice like Darth Vader and was full of anger and sadness. He smelled of smoke and his only desire was to take the color away from people.

Meanwhile, Cal and his friends gathered together in Cal's black cottage and tried to think about what they would do. They were as miserable as someone who was abandoned on an island and they were sad and terrified of what lay ahead. " What should we do?" Cal asked. Silence.

"Is there anything we can do?" asked Tan Teddy.

"Probably not," Beige Bailey replied.

And with that, everyone started to cry. Everyone cried and cried. Cal cried uncontrollably, Maroon Max wept softly in the corner, Mahogany Mahoney sobbed on top of Max, Tan Teddy bawled sadly and Beige Bailey let all of her tears run like a waterfall.

"I'm so scared that Bruce is going to do something even worse," said Teddy while bawling. "I'm as scared as you," said Max.

"We can't just sit here and do nothing," said Cal.

"I know what we should do!" Beige Bailey exclaimed.

"What! What should we do?" asked Mahogany Mahoney.

"Cal should battle Bruce!" Beige Bailey exclaimed.

"I don't think so," said Cal. "But why not? said Maroon Max.

"I don't think I could do it," said Cal.

"Why not?" said Beige Bailey.

"I still don't know," Cal said.

"Pleeeeeease," said everybody, but Cal.

Cal stood there and thought about it for a few seconds. What if he failed? What would happen if Bruce Black didn't want to battle? How would he respond to his friends if he lost? But he decided to do it because having color was much better than staying black for the rest of his life.

"Ok fine, I'll do it," said Cal. "Hooray!" everybody cheered. So the fight began.  
Cal strapped on his boots, pulled on his armor and the battle was about to start.

Meanwhile, Bruce Black was putting on his armor and sharpening his claws on a stone. Bruce was also making sure that he had extra swords that were fully sharpened.

Cal was trying to overcome the fear that had built up inside of him. He knew that Bruce had accepted his invitation to battle him. Cal was hoping that once the battle started he would be able to make a deal with Bruce that if he won,

Bruce would have to give everybody their color back. But the thing that frightened Cal the most was that if Cal lost... Bruce would be able to keep everybody and everything black forever. Cal was sure that this deal was the only way that Bruce who was as stubborn as a mule would fight.

Bruce was wondering about why Cal would ask him to battle even though Bruce was sure that he would truly crush Cal. Bruce decided that anything that Cal tried to talk him into, he would just respond with a maybe so that if he did lose, then he would not have to follow whatever Cal told him.

Then it was time. It was time for the battle to begin. Cal stood at the edge of the field where he and Bruce Black were going to battle each other.

Bruce stood on the other side of the fighters field and prepared for his battle with Colorful Cal. Bruce was almost 100% certain that he was going to win the gory battle and that Cal would be crushed that he had no color.

Cal and Bruce marched slowly toward the center of the field. When they arrived, Cal decided to propose his idea that if he won, then Bruce would have to turn everybody back to their original color. And if Cal lost, then everything would stay black as black licorice. Forever.

Cal and Bruce combatted each other for hours. Until finally, Cal had Bruce pinned to the ground. Bruce was thinking about how surprised he was that Cal had the skills to pin him to the ground.

"Okay, okay," Bruce replied. Did he dare say it? He dared. "Okay fine, you win," Bruce said.

"Hooray!" Cal answered.

The only reason that Bruce admitted that he had lost was that he wasn't for sure in agreement with the idea that he would give everybody their color back because he said maybe.

Cal was so excited that he didn't even bother to ask Bruce about the deal. Cal sped back to his wonderful little cottage which was where all of his friends were waiting for him. Cal was happy that he won the battle and he was even more excited to share the news with his friends.

"Did you win?" asked all of his friends in unison. "I did," said Cal.

"Do we get our colors back?" asked Mahoney.

"Oh man," Cal said. "I completely forgot!"

"You forgot what?" asked Tan Teddy.

"I forgot to remind Bruce Black to change our colors back," Cal said.

"Well go hurry and ask him before he leaves!" said Maroon Max.

"Okay, okay!" said Cal. So Cal ran through all of the black leaves and flowers around his house and then he finally arrived at the field where Bruce Black was still waiting.

Cal tried slowly to approach Bruce Black without startling him and carefully laid his hand on Bruce's shoulder.

"What!" Bruce yelled.

"I just wanted to ask a question," said Cal.

"Fine, then get it over with," said Bruce Black.

"Could you please give us our colors back?" asked Cal.

Then something strange happened. Something that was as strange as a fish living on land that Cal definitely did not expect. Bruce started to cry. Bruce cried so hard and so loud that Cal just stood there wondering what to do.

"What's the matter?" Cal asked.

"I don't have color," said Bruce.

"Oh, I see why you're sad now," said Cal.

"I will give you back your color, though," Bruce replied.

"Yipee!" said Cal.

"I just thought that if I took your color, then I would turn colorful too," Bruce replied sadly. And with that Bruce fell asleep on the fresh, cool grass where he had been sitting.

Cal pushed and shoved Bruce until he finally woke up. Cal told him that if he gave the people of Goldmeadow their color back then he would allow Bruce to have some of his color and Bruce wouldn't have to be evil and miserable. It was a win- win scenario.

Bruce happily agreed to this idea and decided that he would happily go and change everybody's color back to normal. Within seconds the town of Goldmeadow was beautifully filled with color and everybody jumped up with joy.

Maroon Max was an even brighter Maroon that looked as beautiful as a tulip than he had been before and he even had little polka dots of silver, gold, yellow, green and purple sprinkled all over him.

Mahogany Mahoney was an, even more, poppy and exciting mahogany color than she had been before and she even had turquoise, pink, and even purple stripes on her body.

Beige Bailey had a more happy color of beige rather than the bland one she had before and she had little swirls of turquoise, pink, green and blue spread all around her skin.

Tan Teddy had a more rugged and stylish tan than he had before and he had fashionable swift red and yellow marks all over his body.

Cal had the best change of all though, because he had much brighter rainbow colors and they all popped and showed interest and excitement.

So all of the citizens of Goldmeadow and Cal got together and gave a small bit of their color to Cal who then placed all of the colors in a small golden tin that shone as bright as the sun which he would soon award to Bruce Black.

Cal strolled over to the field where Bruce was sitting and awarded him with the color that he had so proudly collected. Bruce slowly reached out his hand and took hold of the golden tin that awaited the color that would soon be his own.

Bruce opened the smooth golden container and allowed the color to flood his body and soon he was an astonishing yellow, red and blue that dazzled the sight of everybody in Goldmeadow. Bruce who was not so black anymore decided to change his name to Bruce Bright, who would now restore places of bland and non interesting color that surrounded him.

Bruce declared that day that he would never take anybody's color away ever again and that he would do the complete opposite and help anybody that was low on color and color would always flood the world.

Cal had one last thing to say, "Color has now officially been invented!" he said. This is how color was invented.

Death Through Eyes

By: Stars Shine Bright

A few miles north from a town overcome with starvation, lived a girl of fifteen. Her name was Andy, and she lived deep within a cave. She had fiery red curly hair and elegant eyes that were the color of a dark almond. Most of the time, she wore black clothes; perfect for blending in although once in awhile she would wear white. Andy was tan which was very odd for "people" where she came from, and her most prized possessions were her two rings that were engraved with the names Hades and Persephone. She loved them very much because the names on that ring were her mother's and father's. These were the only two people she truly loved, or at least that's what she thought.

***

Andy lived in a small cave; it was perfectly round, quiet, open, and echoed everything she said. The echos were always very helpful when trying to scare people away. She had a small fireplace which always smelled like food. The air was always fresh.There were stairs that led down to the underworld.Andy loved visiting her parents. But she only saw her mother a least once a month. She also had a beautiful bed with roses printed on it from her mother and a pile of books in a "corner" of the cave.

There was one thing Andy loved doing the most; pranking/tricking people to do as she pleased and going to the village about three miles south from where she lived.

On the 6th of March, she went to the little town to see if any changes were happening. First I'll check on the grand opening, she thought, then should I go visit dad... Ya. Might as well.

When she got to the town, everyone was very talkative, while she checked on the grand opening, but Andy saw something peculiar. She was staring at two very, very, young handsome men looking about a year older than her. Then they stared right back at her. She turned around quickly and thought, am I in love? Both boys also thought, am I in love? One was named Eddie, one James, both seeking for a mate. Eddie had short blond hair, he was tall, sixteen years old and wore the most dirty clothes you would ever see. James had fluffy brown hair eyes like the color of seaweed, and some nice "proper" clothes, also sixteen. They were exact opposites.

"Hey, who are you? What are you doing here?" Said Eddie. James stood there, quiet and starting at Andy. Why would a girl care about a man's work? Thought James.

Andy thought for a moment about what to say, "Um... I was just checking... I mean I was just leaving," she said uncertainly. She started walking away, but James stopped her.

"What's your name?" He asked uncertainly.

She blushed, "An-Andy."

Then, she got out of his grip, put her hood on, and walked away.

"Man, what a girl," Eddie sarcastically said.

"She's pretty though"

"Ya, no kidding!"

"Well, the only question is, who is going to have her? Me or you? You or me?"

"No doubt she'll pick me!" Eddie said looking challenged.

"We'll see about that," James shot back as if he looked challenged by Eddie.

I'm totally cheating! If there's a way to cheat. Thought both boys at once.

Andy was walking home when she thought, am I really in love? She waited for her brain to answer. Nope, still nothing... Wait! There is something! Oh, actually no. She felt disappointed.

She got home after about ten more minutes and thought. She kept on thinking until she decided she was going to go talk to the boys.

The boys were still looking at each other, challenged, until they saw Andy again.

"Look who's back!" Said Eddie excitedly. Okay, now it's time for me to cheat! He thought. Eddie was feeling so ready to win the girl of his dreams. So was James. Talk to her! If you talk to her then you win her! He thought, trying to persuade himself.

"Hi, again," Andy felt herself getting nervous, "I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Andy. Who are you two?"

"I'm James," James decided it was the right time to talk, "And that's Eddie. Yesterday you were at the work site, why?" Eddie shot him a look that showed he wanted to talk.

"Well, this town gets boring after a while so I guess I'm waiting for something exciting to happen. When you're this board, you will do anything to have something new happen."

"That makes sense," both boys said at the same time. They glared at each other.

"When did you guys get here?" Andy asked anxious.

"I got here two days ago, around eleven in the morning," Eddie smiled.

"I got here yesterday, around... nine in the morning, I think," said James.

"Hey, do you want to walk to the tuna shop? I heard they have great seafood there," Eddie asked. Our first date! he thought, it's my time to shine.

They left and James just stood there amazed by what just happened. He didn't know what he was doing wrong. He still couldn't move. He just lost the girl of his dreams... Wait! I still got a chance! Andy just met the guy, she'll never fall for him that easily, right? Or will she? Nah. I just have to up my game. Flowers? Yes. Jewelry? No, can't afford it. A nice dinner? Yes, totally yes. He thought the rest through for one minute, yet he saw something peculiar; a ring. And this ring said Persephone on it.

The dinner Andy was at was delightful. It almost seemed like Eddie planned this whole thing for her, like he knew she was coming. After the dinner of shrimp (which almost tasted like it was burnt toast), Eddie thought he won this beautiful girl, but no. Eddie bid his "love" a goodbye and went home.

When walking home, Andy bumped into James.

"After you left a saw this on the ground. Is it yours?" James asked.

"Oh my gosh! Yes! Thanks! Um... I really need to go home. Don't want dad to freak out," she started walking away, "Thanks again!"

When Andy was gone, James did a victory dance, as if he won this lovely teenager.

Andy got home and lied in bed, happy someone other than Hades and Persephone loved her. Just who was her real love? She prayed to Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty and love.

Aphrodite, my aunt, please hear this and help me. I am in love! I know, crazy! The only thing is, I don't know who I should be with. Dad won't help because um... you know why, and mom won't help because love is hard for her to explain. Please just help me choose.

Aphrodite heard her prayer and instead of putting misery of choosing on Andy, she made the boys fall in love with another beautiful girl named Marie. She shouldn't have done that, really shouldn't have.

After no sign of being answered, Andy decided to sleep on her decision.

The next morning, the boys were up early, waiting for "their" lovey girl to return and choose who would be hers. Eddie kept on rehearsing what he would say if Marie chose him and James was just thinking, please choose me, please choose me! Oh Aphrodite, please let her choose me!

He found some beautiful roses that felt like dandelion fluff and smelled like a crisp cinnamon log.

Marie walked by them; she smiled at Eddie and winked at James. She had her hair down in curls and a dress representing peace. The boys went red in front of their new love.

Andy was walking to the town to get a loaf of bread when all of a sudden she saw the boys. James waved. She waved back but then realized he wasn't looking at her; he was looking at another girl with lovely brunette curls. She was about to call Eddie's name as in her prayer helped but saw he was also looking at the young women with curls.

Andy was running to the "temple" where the stone version of Aphrodite was. She through her watermelon seeds on the statue and Aphrodite appeared.

"Andy! My lovely niece, what a surp-" The goddess started.

"Don't you my lovely niece me! You didn't help! The boys won't even talk to me now! They found someone else," She started to cry.

"Andy, I did help you. I just don't see-"

"What!? What do I not see?" She said, choking back the crack in her voice.

"Fine. You won't listen, I won't tell you!" and she became stone again.

She didn't help me! The boys left me, and dad and mom can't help! Andy thought. Then she felt something no has ever felt before; but the feeling had no word to it. It was the opposite of love and happiness. She felt rage, depression, vengeful, hate, grief. The boys were traitors. Then, she had an idea; "Oh dad! I need your help," she sweetfully said, feeling faithfull.

***

Hades was just have lunch when his daughter called. That's her "sweet" voice; something is definitely wrong. He was still in his pajamas and didn't want to change. He then finally combed his hair, put on his clothes made out of the finest cloth in the world (his gift from Persephone) and with a "poof" a black powder, he made it to his daughter after about ten minutes.

Andy was tapping her foot like a rabbit until she saw her dad. "Dad, you know how to get revenge on people right?"

"Yes, I'm an expert. There is no bette... Wait. Why?" Hades gave her the look of "tell the truth, or you're grounded."

"Oh, there are just these two boys who are now traitors to me," she said politely.

"Hmmm... very well. You may have this basilisk spirit in you and get revenge," he lifted his hand and a snake spirit came out and went into Andy.

"Cool! How do you activate the eyes?" she said looking eager to use her power after reading Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling.

"Just close your eyes and say "summon."

"Okay," Andy hugged her father, "thanks for everything."

***

The boys were following Marie until Andy called James' name. He went over to her thinking, what does she want? I already found another girl. Can't she just let me be!

"Hey, can we talk for just talk for a moment? I've been meaning to ask you something," Andy asked.

"Sure," James mumbled, "What do you want to talk about?"

"One second, let's go to your house first." Five minutes later they were in the house. Andy looked around, quickly at the dirty so called "house."

"James, are we friends?" Andy asked.

"Um... yes," he said uncertainly.

"Are you sure"

"Yes, I am sure"

"Good. Do you love me? Like actually, truly, love me?"

James went silent.

"That's what I thought," she mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing!" She closed her eyes and eagerly said summon, "Hey, look into my eyes, I need to tell you something, it's important."

James looked and took a deep breath. It was his last one after hearing Andy saying, "I'm the daughter of Hades." Andy put him on the bed in his house. One down, one more to go. Thank you spirit, why have I never thought of this before?

It was around noon when Andy found Eddie and went to his house.

"Eddie, do you love me? Like love me enough to be married to me?" She silently said. Eddie looked at her thoughtfully, "I love you! Only as a friend of course."

She closed her eyes and said summon, only this time her eyes didn't change; the basilisk spirit appeared out of her and waited for her command to kill.

"Eddie, I'm the daughter of Hades and Persephone, and you really shouldn't have ever left me for another girl. I bestow you a good bye now," and she nodded to the basilisk while Eddie was in shock. He then took his last breath and closed his eyes.

***

Andy went outside and went to the work area where she was waiting for the opening to finish but saw someone on her way. She looked at him and he looked at her, they already knew how this was going to end. They knew this because this was Andy's version of the boy of her dreams, and the boy, Eric, knew because Andy was the girl of his dreams.

Young love! Aphrodite thought. She then heard Andy and Eric thank her; she knew her son and Hades daughter would be very happy together, maybe even they'd marry.

Hades was watching his daughter when Persephone came to see Andy be happy. He thought, the feeling Andy had earlier, what should it be called. The village won't know because they never experienced the feeling before. He kept on thinking what was the opposite of love, but their was no word to describe the horrible feeling. But then it came to him; what if I spell love backwards? It would be E-V-O-L. Evol? Evol! He told Persephone and she said the spelling was odd, so Hades changed the O to an I. Evil, what a perfect word! He smiled and watched his daughter walk away with Eric, into his house.

"They're going to be so happy together!" He said. Persephone agreed.

And that's was happened in this young town where love is revealed during hard times.

THE END!

Ares

By: Aidan

Long ago, in the ancient city of Athens, there was a person named Ares. He was a humble young man in his early twenties. Ares was very smart and was so smart that he was given an award for getting all A+'s on all assignments and tests. He really loved his life with his school, Athens and most of all his family.

Ares' family meant the most to him. He had a sister named Bertha that he loved to play with. He had nice parents that he helped with the chores. When his parents went to give him allowance, he refused and said he did not need it. He thought he was lucky enough to have food, water, and a roof over his head.

At the time, Athens was such a kind city that the other cities helped wanted to help them build up their city by building statues, houses and temples. Athens was the main centerpoint in Greece. Everyone went there for food and friends and some ended up staying there. This made the goddess Athena very happy because she had won the land in a contest Poseidon. She watched the Olive Tree that was in the center of the city that she had given Athens so long ago.

In another part of the world, Greece was not as happy as Athens. In the northern part of Greece, lived a giant. While most giants are usually dumb, this particular giant had a very high IQ. The giant's name was Dave. Even though he smelled like rotten fish, he had big ideas, and deadly ones at that. He wanted to control Greece and get all the wealth and power. He already had an army of well trained followers, but he needed a plan.

He thought for many days but then it hit him. He would attack Athens. He thought that since Athens is is the main point of Greece, if that fell, Greece would too. So, he prepared his soldiers and set them off to Athens.

Later that day, the Athenians and Athena were unaware that something bad was about to happen. Everything was going smoothly. Ares was helping people, he was doing chores, he caught a fluffy cat that fell out of a tree and gave it back to it's owner.

But then he heard something. It made him have a chill down his spine like everything was going to go wrong. Ares turned around to see one of the city guards running down the street. He had bruises all around his arms, a bloody nose, a black eye and a arrow in one leg.

"They are coming!" yelled the guard, "Dave and his warriors broke down the wall and are coming here!"

Everyone was screaming! It was complete pandemonium!

Suddenly, Ares realised his family lived on the outskirts of Athens. He needed to get them but he was in the center of the city.

Athena liked Ares very much and knew his struggle. She gave him amazing speed so he could get to his family. With his newly found power, Ares sprinted to his house and ran inside the door and found his family in the kitchen eating lunch.

"We need to get out of the city now," exclaimed Ares, "Dave and his men are coming to destroy Athens!"

At hearing this news, Ares' family started packing food and water for the journey. It was a frantic situation with only a few minutes to spare. When all the sudden, they heard a rumbling. They looked outside the window and saw Dave destroying houses and chucking people into the ruble.

Without warning, Dave took the upper level of the house down with a single blow of his club.

Ares watched in horror as the smelly giant dismantled the house. Ares tried to hide his family under the rubble, but it was too late. Dave picked up Ares' family. First, he ate Ares's dad. Second he threw Ares' mom into the neighbors' house with deadly force, and finally, he threw Bertha into the lake and Dave's army drowned her. Ares wanted to avenge them but he had no weapon.

Ares watched in despair as the Giant killed his family. Ares waited for the giant to pick him up too but it never happened. Then he heard Athena.

"Go to the forest where you made your treehouse," Athena said softly, "I have made you invisible for the next hour. I know you want to avenge your family, but if you do it now you won't survive. Now, go."

Ares sprinted quickly to the forest. He had been here many times before when he had free time. When he was there, he built a treehouse out of the dead trees and sticks on the ground. Ares went up to his treehouse and he remembered it like it was the day he finished it.

The treehouse was connected to many trees and made of mostly oak, but there was some spruce in some rooms. On the outside, it was painted red but on the inside it was painted white. The house had a living room with bookshelves, couches, a sofa and a little coffee table for drinks. It had a dining room with a table and four chairs around it and a master bedroom with a king sized bed, a closet (big enough for three people inside it) and small tables by the bed. It had two other rooms with queen sized bed and a closet in them. In the livingroom, there was a ladder that he could climb to get above tree level and lookout across the forest with it. There was a shed below the tree house that stored all the food and another that stored the weapons and armor. Right next to the food shed, there was a little campfire area to cook food.

Ares climbed the ladder up to the the living room and sat on the sofa and cried. He wished he could have done something for his family, but all he could do was watch. He sat alone crying for many hours, but then he heard a rumbling noise.

He went up to his lookout and saw Dave and his army leaving Athens swiftly and was going back up north. Ares turned his head and saw that most of the city had been destroyed. All that was left was the temple and some houses. Then he saw some people getting out of the temple the ones he had helped over the years.

He went down to his living room and got a glass of water. While he was drinking an idea hit him. He was going to get all of the survivors who he helped, give them armor and a weapon and Ares would leed an army to go and get Dave. He did not need to train them because every Athenian is required three years of military school.

He went to his weapon shack and picked up a flare shooter. He ran to his lookout and fired it in the air. All of the survivors looked that direction and started walking to the treehouse. In about a half an hour or so, all of the survivors were at the front of the doorstep.

Ares went down to them. There were more people than he thought which was good, more people to fight. He explained the plan to everyone. Everyone thought that it was good plan and wanted to join. Everyone except for Phineas, then he walked back to the city mumbling about how it was a waste of time coming there.

Ares gave everyone a breastplate, a helmet, leggings and a shield. The armor was as hard as a rock. He let the people choose a weapon of their choice. Most people chose a sword or mace, but some people chose knifes and spears.

Ares lead them up north to where Dave lived and ruled. It was a long journey with little water and food. They managed to survive on what little resources they had. Thankfully one day, they came across a river and some deer so they had plenty of resources for the final week.

Finally, on May 8, they reached the outskirts of Dave's camp at night and started to plot.

"I say we go in and charge and destroy them," Ron suggested.

"But I think we should come up with a plan that'll catch Dave totally off guard," argued Trevor.

"You guys are both wrong," exclaimed Harry, "we should wait till it all blows over."

Ares took in each idea of each person and thought for a while. He considered each idea (except for Harry's). Then he thought he should combine all the ideas together to make one awesome plan. He told everyone about what he just thought.

Ares got out a piece of paper and laid out a plan. He had some people block the exits, people come with him, people raid the huts, and some to guard all of the alert systems.

Everyone went into the camp and went to their stations. As Ares went past he could here nothing of his soldiers. The only thing he did hear was Dave's army slowly dieing off.

Ares walked passed a lot of huts till he found Dave's hut he went inside and grabbed his sword. Then, all of the sudden, Dave had him in the palm of his hand. Dave was as big as a hill and more. Ares called for help and two people came inside. They threw spears at Dave but Dave deflected them and grabbed Bob and Jo and chucked them out of his hut.

Ares tried to grab his sword but he could not. Athena saw his struggling and gave him super strength. Ares broke free of Dave's grip and landed on the ground. He grabbed a spear and plunged it into Dave's heart.

He went outside and yelled that Dave was dead and all of Ares' men yelled back that Dave's army was dead. There was a loud cheer and everyone was filled with joy. They marched out of the city knowing Greece was again the most peaceful place in the world. They marched back to Athens and started rebuilding the city from Dave's destruction.

While Ares was rebuilding the city he heard a noise behind him. He turned around and saw Athena in all her glory. Standing right next to her he saw Hebe, the cupbearer of the gods.

"You have shown great bravery and strength on the battlefield Ares," told Athena, "great Zeus has given me permission to allow you to become a god if you want and if you become a god you'll become the god of war."

Ares was astonished at this news. Very few mortals have ever drank from Hebe's cup and became a god/. Ares thought and decided to do it. So Ares drank from Hebe's cup. The water tasted like honey and niceness. He felt weird but when he opened his eyes, he was on Mt. Olympus.

It was a magnificent place full of magnanimous building and powerful gods. He felt a fittle lugubrious at first, but then he felt at home. He wanted to talk to the gods and and find a place to live on Mt. Olympus but he looked down off the mountain and saw Athens.

Everyone down there was still struggling to recreate Athens so Ares used his powers and rebuilt Athens as good as knew. Ares heard cheering and with that, Ares gave a gift to Athens and said that they will never be harmed or touched by any evil outside force. So Athens and Ares lived a happy, peaceful life.

Origin of the Stars

Simon

It was a night in the thin, crisp air of the exosphere, directly above what would be Rome, when Stelinteri, a new god (of stars and the afterlife) was beginning to understand how to do his job. He was sitting in his birch chair his mother made him as a kid and the sturdy, frictionless wood had been glazed over with a shimmering crimson hue. Although the wood creaked, he could tell it was almost identically sturdy to when he had used so often to read stories as a little kid with his beloved mother.

He was to decide whether someone should go to heaven or the other way. He judged this by looking into their souls and watching a sped-up movie of their life that lasted about 10 minutes (more or less).

In the exosphere, it was quiet, except for the occasional satellite that came by, and the only things that were visible in space were the distant sparkles of planets in the deep abyss of space. The air was crisp and thin, almost the exact smell of when he climbed Pikes Peak.

After hundreds of years of doing his job, Stelinteri got bored and realized he was staring off into space thinking about his life back at home in Pangea before. He decided to visit Earth and see if he could find anything fun to do or anyone fun to keep him company.

Once Stelinteri got to very aromatic Earth he immediately started getting used to customs of both animals and humans he disguised himself as a beggar to stay with humans, he had morphed into animals and learned how to hunt. While learning the customs and staying with the humans, the humans started to teach the athletic man how to hunt, fish, trap, and swim.

His favorite of the four was fishing. He was fishing off the south west coast of Pangea when he saw a very alluring woman fishing a few miles away.

He decided to swim over there, swimming at about 1,000 miles an hour, and got there in a few seconds he called for help, being the attention craving god he is, and she asked how he had got there.

I was shipwrecked back about half a mile that way and saw this boat and a fair maiden across the sea." he said as he grabbed his leg and groaned in fake pain. I just decided to hop in the water, hope she was nice, and here I am. I'm Aquario."

"Awe! You poor thing! Here hop in. I have some fresh fish and crackers in here and a dry towel if you need. Im Auriol by the way." she said as she pulled out her provisions from her boat and pulled back her dirty blonde hair behind her stunning model-like face. "Thank you so much," he exclaimed in secretive joy.

They spent the day fishing, and talking about her life, talking about her hobbies and drinking wine. After spending a week with her at her house, Stelinteri told her he was a god.

"Wow, so what are you the god of?" she inquired in shock. "Well, I've only been a god for a few hundred years or so, but I'm the god of stars and and the afterlife, and I don't even know if stars exist or what they are. My god name is Stelinteri, but I prefer Aquario."

Those few words started a relationship that would last an eternity. On the last day of visiting Earth, Stelinteri said "Hey, don't worry. I'll come back to visit as soon as I can."

One of the fine young men Stelinteri had met on Earth had caught the flu and died, and had been sent to him, where all he was thinking about was Auriol. He sent this man, named Andreas to Zeus to ask for Hebe's potion to turn Auriol into a goddess.

Zeus said no. "There is no point to turn a mortal, who doesn't have much potential to be a god, into a goddess because of young love.''

Stelinteri sent Andreas to heaven and appeared at Mount Olympus himself.

"Zeus!" Stelinteri yelled in a fiery temper. "Why is the exact reason for your reasoning?"

"If you would like to talk to me like that, punishment will come your way." Zeus retaliated back.

"What could you do to me you old man?" said Stelinteri. "I'm already the most lonely and useless god!"

"I see. You deserve punishment and it's coming your way," Zeus revolted

Stelinteri visited Auriol one last time. Auriol had become extremely sick, and her doctor had told her she only had 36 more hours to live. She was depressed and feeble, barely wielding the power to cry.

Stelinteri stayed with her the whole 36 hours.

On August 18th, she lay still not responding to Stelinteri, not opening her eyes, and having no pulse.

Stelinteri took her body and left it on her favorite place on the beach, wrapped in the finest silk in the world.

He left the beach and traveled to Mount Olympus where he begged Zeus to give back the one and only love of his life. Zeus had thought about it for days, even bringing in the royal council to decide if he should revive her. He decided to at least preserve her body until he made his decision.

At last, on August 25, Zeus decided not only to revive her, but to give her the potion of Hebe in the Goblet of Patera, but under her consult. Zeus traveled down to Pangea where Auriol's body had been preserved and placed a note by her side with the goblet.

The note read: "Auriol, you have been revived by the gods and are invited to become one. This goblet has the potion of Hebe, with the aptitude of giving great powers no mortal has ever wielded. By drinking this potion you become one of us, permanently. You are also able to spend the rest of eternity with Stelinteri. By drinking this you agree to these terms."

Auriol woke feeling refreshed and better after having what seemed like the longest dream ever. She read the note and blushed at the note after reading "spend the rest of eternity with Stelinteri..." She happily washed down the contents of the goblet and was overjoyed she had the privilege to be immortal with her love.

And so the day Auriol swallowed the sweet nectar of the potion, Stelinteri knew she was the one. The happy couple started planning as soon as the engagement and only 1 month later they were married on the same beach Auriol had been revived, the same beach where the two met, and now the same beach they had been married on.

And so Stelinteri learned his lesson, never take love for granted. And now every soul sent to Stelinteri who had love but lost it to death, was sent into space to burn until they stopped grieving for their lover.

Cups of Migale

By Ryan Chen

'Twas was a cruel, horrid time. The once thriving desert people of Calicempolis were at the mercy of the great god of all water, Poseidon.

Meanwhile, as the council was discussing what to do, James and his best friend, Stella, were training for the next Tournament of Warriors. It was a big deal since the winners of it would win 100,000 pecunias which were the ancient currency they used.

James had scruffy brown hair, and had a great sense of comedy. He also was 4' 10'', twelve years old, and wore a light jacket and sweats. Everyone knew this because his comedy would get him in trouble with both the police and the papers.

Stella, on the other hand, was a mysterious girl that barely any people knew at all. James was the only one who knew all about her, but she made it a point to keep him from revealing anything. She was a thin, seemingly harmless ginger girl who wore a dark purple cloak and her hair in a long ponytail. That's about all people knew about her.

After the new year in spring, they were having a drought, and Poseidon was feeling lazy. He had put a river near the village, but it was across the border from Calicempolis' rival village, Aemula.

The Aemulans didn't care much at all for the Calicempians because they had once fought a war that the Calicempians won.

Since there was no way they could cross into the other territory, the Council had decided that the two young adventurers, James and Stella, would win the tournament and get the money to buy water and save their village. Guessing the plans being made, James and Stella continued training even harder.

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared, followed by a wondrous rumble. Zeus had materialized in James' backyard!

"You two need not win the tournament. You can simply climb the Sacred Mountain," he boomed. Zeus, just as quickly as he appeared, dissipated into thin air.

The Sacred Mountain, known by all soothsayers and priests alike, was the largest thing known to man. It was said to have evil monsters guarding whatever greatness lay at the top. And so it began.

Stella, in total control of the situation, told James, "Cool, le's go!" James on the hand was absolutely flummoxed.

"Uhhh...d-did Zeus j-just appear in my backyard!?" mumbled James in absolute disbelief.

"Of course, who else could it be?"

"Excuse me, but the freaking king of the gods just appeared in my backyard! That's just a normal thing. We have tea every other weekend, no biggie."

The next morning, the two set off on their journey up the Sacred Mountain. After the first mile or so of rocky forests and odd dips in the path, James and Stella met their first challenge. A riddle of sorts.

There was a small pine table with a small slip of paper on it that stated A hundred feet in the air with it's back on the ground. What is it? In front of the note was a small, roman-looking pedestal with a clear cover on it like something was to be put on it. The two just tried to walk around it, but some out worldly force stopped them. It was like a force field!

James looked at Stella with a distasteful look. Stella however, remained cool. She took it with a mental approach, something that wasn't James forte. After a few minutes of Stella trying to put random things on the pedestal, James got bored and started playing with bugs. Something he also happened to do as a toddler.

Finally, Stella scolded him, "Oh my gosh, why won't you help me? And stop playing with the stupid bugs! You're twelve, act like it."

"Okay...mom..."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!?" shrieked Stella as she stomped over to him in a blazing fury.

"Ahhh! Fine, I'll help...Put a-"

"A what?" snapped Stella.

"Just lemme finish! Put a bug on it." James blatantly replied, totally poker faced.

"How would that help? This is a riddle of the gods! A bug couldn't be the answer"

James didn't answer. Instead, he picked up a small striped centipede and moved slowly toward the pedestal, brushed the previous things off, put the centipede on the pedestal and closed the lid. He then turned to face Stella and smiled.

Stella rushed to the pedestal with a stick to whack off the creature, but James stopped her. He was about to explain why when suddenly, the whole pedestal burst into flames! James jumped. Stella screamed. A pulse of blue appeared in front of them. Then, it dissolved into the earth.

Ummm...what just happen-

"Yo, Stella," yelled James, "did I hear you scream?"

"You most certainly did not," snapped Stella, "but also, why did that work?"

"A centipede has 100 feet. You didn't notice that I flip it over. That makes its back to the ground with a hundred feet in the air," explained James. He continued, "See, I'm not too stupid."

"Don't push it," returned Stella with a laugh.

So James and Stella continued on their trek only to meet an odd little furry creature blocking their path. It was a short and ball shaped with a small head like a weasel. Stella thought it had a bad scent, but James told her, "Come on you whine about everything. My umm natural flatulence is worse than this." He then proceeded to...loudly excrete his unwanted gas.

"Eeeeww!" Stella playfully slapped him in the back.

"Actually, I wanna keep him. Please? He's sort of cute!"

"Fine."

James took the little creature and named him Migale. When James tried to pet him, Migale scurried up his arm, and into James' backpack. James had a confused look, but went with it.

The next obstacle was a large gate that James had to use a spell on to get it to open.

"Holy cow, did you just...you just cast a spell!" muttered Stella, in disbelief.

"Well, yeah, I do training other than with you, you know."

The young warriors traveled on into a garden-like fenced off area with lots of trees, but were startled when they heard a roar! James and Stella nodded to each other. They quickly got back to back and waited.

A branch suddenly snapped and the duo looked quickly in that direction. James said, "That was cliche." He then stepped forward and tripped...

"You are so stupid,"

Suddenly, there was a huge growl. A crazy manticore jumped out from behind a tree! James took out his staff. Stella did the same with her sword. James used his staff and whacked at the great beast. Stella slashed at its head.

Stella screamed, "Use your staff for magic, not a baseball bat, you bonehead!"

In response, the manticore burst into flames, and James stepped back calmly with a smirk. As the manticore leaped up eight feet in the air with a howl, James and Stella ran out of the garden.

Suddenly, they heard a shriek. Migale was in the clutches of the manticore! He was being stretched out like a piece of rubber! The duo ran toward the small creature as he became longer and longer. James quickly pointed his staff at his small friend and said, "Aloha! Wait um... Alocasempris!" Abruptly, Migale stopped and changed his expression to a relaxed look. He started closing his eyes and slept like he was just having a massage.

Stella rolled her eyes at his genius and slammed the butt of her sword into the manticore's jaw knocking it out.

The, now stretched out, Migale slept peacefully as James scooped him up from the ground, and placed him in his backpack curled up.

"Hey Stella, I sorta like him this way. He's cuter." said James.

"Yeah..." Stella replied as she looked off into the distance. James caught up with Stella as she walked ahead. He noticed Stella and turned to see what she was looking at.

It was a great palace with huge marble pillars and a great dome atop of it. The fountains outside of it were glimmering in the sun, and the amazing trees' branches were overlooking it. Statues of the gods could be seen standing colossally, superior to all mortal beings.

"Wow...It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen..." mumbled James.

The golden gateway creaked as a human figure made its way slowly out of the entrance. It was a girl looking to be in her teens wearing a beautiful light blue dress that went down to her ankles. She approached the duo and as she came near, Migale awoke from his slumber. He climbed onto James shoulder and gazed at the girl. He seemed to nod to her and calmly leaped to the floor.

"I am Hebe, cupbearer of the gods and goddess of youth. You need not speak, for I have seen what your village is going through. Come with me, and we will see Hephaestus. He will provide you with a solution.

So they walked on, across a beautiful pathway lined with gold. Each marble brick was elegantly cut with a swirling floral pattern that slowly moved. Adjacent to the path, amazing trees of all types were planted in an endless line.

Eventually, the group arrived. They were at Hephaestus' forge, tensed up in anticipation. It was a cozy building with large curtains of old Greek symbols.

James stated, "This is Hephaestus' hut? Cool."

Stella scowled and replied, "Of course! What else would it be?"

Abruptly, the curtains shifted as Hephaestus stepped out with a mumble. He growled, "I am Hephaestus, god of fire and metalsmithing. What is your wish, cupbearer?"

Hebe stepped forward gently and said, "These adventurers have climbed the Sacred Mountain because their people are suffering from a drought. They require something to quench their thirst."

Hephaestus let the group into his forge and showed them around. Streams of lava fell from great cannikin, and a machine hammered some sort of animal figure into shape. Smoke swirled in the air. The blacksmith god said, "I will create you a device that will help your people. Please leave for some hours and come back to claim your device.

James and Stella treaded out of the forge, but Hebe stayed inside. As the gods talked quietly, the duo set up camp. As it was night, James took out the tent and Stella took out the sleeping bags from their backpacks.

The next morning, a horn sounded, and the two awoke. Hephaestus came out from his forge with an intricate goblet that radiated a golden aura. He spoke, "This will help. Simply tell me a word, then, when you speak it, the goblet will fill with a limitless amount of water."

"Calicem," James said. "I feel like we should name it after our village."

"It shall be as you wish." replied Hephaestus.

Stella stepped forward to take the cup with a word of thanks. She was about to say the word when Hebe stopped her. "Wait...first take a drink of this," Hebe took out a small cup of her own, poured a golden liquid into the goblet, and continued, "Drinking this shall turn you immortal. Please give your small furry friend some as well. You will be gods! I will take you in to live with me or if you desire, you may stay with your people."

Stella graciously replied, "Thank you, humble goddess. Please allow us to discuss this amazing opportunity for a moment. Stella and James took some steps away and bent their heads close. The whispered some inaudible words and came back with a smile. James said, "We have decided to stay with our village. We think it would be wise to stay in case they need our help."

Hebe nodded as they took a sip. After he had some, James gave Migale some. It tasted like home to them. There was something new about them. They gave a feel of power to those around them.

"I feel...stronger...and more...in control?" said James with an odd look. Hebe responded, "Yes, it is a normal feeling for new gods like you."

Stella and James once again thanked both deities and set off on their way back home. However, when they took some steps away, Hephaestus told them, "Wait, wait, wait...You're not gonna walk back! I can send you through the winds! It's odd, but much faster than walking."

With a wave of his hand, Hephaestus turned James, Stella, and Migale into air! It was unlike anything James had ever felt. He said, or rather, thought, "Hey Stella, can you hear me?"

Stella replied, "Yep, this is how the wind gods chat. Pretty cool, huh?"

The group whisked into the air and suddenly...were back at Calicempolis! They were atop the town's empty central well. Standing beneath them was the mayor with his mouth agape, eyes wider than ever before. James said, "Hello, mayor! Could you please lift your jaw up from the floor and tell us where our home is? Thanks."

"Y-y-you g-guys just appeared! From nowhere! Are y-you ghosts? You are...glowing!"

"We just became gods," the young warriors replied together with a smile. "Oh, also we got infinite water!"

Stella took the goblet from her backpack and whispered the word, Calicem. With a small vibration, the goblet started filling itself. Stella poured the liquid into the well, but when it should have run out, water just kept coming and coming! When she turned the cup all the way upside down, the water gushed out in a surge of drinkable wonder.

Stella turned the cup slowly back to its upright position and the water slowed to a stop. "Drink up my friends!" said Stella. The other villagers started creating cups to match the one Stella had. Since this was a new concept to humans, they were crude at first, but got more and more beautiful with time.

As James, Stella, and Migale got off the well and made their way home, James said, "Stella you sure were formal back then."

"Oh, shut up! It's called respect."

Migale curled up in the original goblet and was announced guardian of the cups. After that, James told Stella to walk off into the sunset, with their new godly powers because well, it's cliche!

The Sun's Creation

By: Will Duncan

Once upon a time, there lived Pablo and Jessica. Pablo was a tall, muscular man with soft brown hair and eyes like the ocean, and he smelled like the fresh ocean spray. Jessica was small as a mouse, but still beautiful with long strands of blond hair and had dark gray eyes. Pablo thought Jessica was the most captivating. woman in existence. But there was one problem. He was too scared to tell her. One day, Zeus noticed that Pablo was gloomy and disheartened because he couldn't build enough courage to talk to Jessica. His head drooped and he dragged his feet as he walked over to his bed. After seeing this, Zeus went to Aphrodite and asked a favor of her to help cheer Pablo up. At the same time, Poseidon had overheard their conversation and realized that was Pablo who he was not fond of. He needed to ruin this for Pablo. Aphrodite was going to try to give Pablo courage to go talk to Jessica.

"All I need to do know is make Pablo scare Jessica when he goes and talks to her," Poseidon said aloud to himself. His plan was going to work.

The next day, Aphrodite went to talk to Pablo as a ghost in the winds. She ventured down from Mount Olympus to go talk to Pablo. When she got to his cottage, she started whispering things to Pablo that would give him courage.

"Be brave," Aphrodite whispered from the shadows, "go tell her and don't let anyone stop you."

Pablo heard these whispers and decided to go talk to Jessica the next morning.

The next day, Pablo was ready. In the late morning, he set off to go talk to Jessica. She was chopping up a nice salad when he arrived there.

"Hey," Pablo said.

"Hello," Jessica replied, "what are you doing here?"

"I've been needing to tell you something that I want to get off my chest," Pablo exclaimed.

"Okay what is it?" Jessica asked curiously.

"I really like you," Pablo told her. And that's when everything went wrong.

Everything went wrong when Poseidon did what he said he would do. He started to turn Pablo into hideous creatures.

"What is this wizardry?" said the frightened Jessica. Then she turned around and ran as fast as she could.

"My plan worked," said the mischievous Poseidon. He was overjoyed. Pablo didn't know what was happening so he ran after Jessica.

"What's wrong Jessica," yelled Pablo, "what did I do?" Jessica kept on running and Pablo kept on chasing. Zeus was furious and confused as he looked down from above on Mount. Olympus. Then he realized, one of the gods must have interfered. He kept looking and looking but he didn't find anything. Then, there was a switch in his brain that flipped. He realized that he hadn't seen Poseidon for a while and was suspicious so he went to go find him. When Zeus finally found Poseidon he confronted him.

"Did you interfere with the mortal named Pablo," Zeus boomed. Poseidon was in fear so he admitted to Zeus he had done it and promised he wouldn't do it again.

"Good," Zeus said. Even though Poseidon promised not to do it again he still kept on embarrassing Pablo.

Meanwhile, down on Earth, Pablo still kept chasing Jessica because he didn't know what was going on. Jessica kept screaming. Pablo kept chasing.

"What's wrong," Pablo repeated. Jessica just kept on screaming. They eventually ran into a cave that started to go down. And it went down. And down. And down. Pablo eventually started to sweat. It was getting hot. Really hot. They realized the cave was still going down. To the center of the Earth. Jessica was still scared because Pablo was still turning into things. Then it stopped. They both stopped. They realized it was unbearably hot and started to melt. They were trying to get away from the sizzling heat and pressure but it was just too much. They died that day together down in the deep dark depths of the cave.

They had been good during their life on Earth so they went to heaven together. But they were still very hot. The person at the top who accepted the people into heaven, blew them away because they were too hot and would melt everyone and everything. Pablo and Jessica flew off into opposite directions and just floated in the sky for a long time. Years later they both saw a hot ball of something coming their way. That's when they realized it was the person each other died with. They were still very hot though.

Then they hit together and started to expand in the sky. But they eventually got too big and got shot out into the never ending space. The ball still kept growing for a while to make a big ball of heat which we now call the sun, that keeps us warm and keeps people and animals and plants living.

There was a story though about how the sun was made and it was passed down for many generations. Each family would alter the story a little bit though as they passed it down. The true story would always be the same though. It was how Pablo could tell Jessica he liked her but then when he did, the gods interfered. They chased each other to the center of the Earth, burned and then went into the sky and formed the sun. The stories that were passed down would never be told as the true story again, but the gods will always remember that day. And remember the true story of why Pablo and Jessica are the reason we have the sun today.

People eventually started to learn a lesson. And they realized that it was an important lesson. You need to be open and tell someone something even if your scared. You need to come clean and tell that person no matter what interferes with you, like when Poseidon interfered with Pablo, but he still tried to tell Jessica what he needed to. And if someone is interfering with you trying to tell someone something, just tell that person what is going on and nothing will happen to you like what happened to Pablo and Jessica.

Why a Flamingo Stands on One Leg  
By Julianna

It was a run-of-the-mill day in Flamingo, with people bustling about their daily lives. There were girls at the well and boys playing games in the streets, and the air smelled of smoke from the bread baking in the ovens. It was a classic ancient Greek town, with the gleaming, white pillars in front of the meeting pavilion, and the street vendors trying to sell you all kinds of things. Jaunice was usually one of the many girls in the long line to get water, but today she was on the beach thinking about the news her mom had told her.

After the many years that they had grieved for her father who had been lost at sea, her mother was going to marry the local blacksmith. He was a poor man, not because his work wasn't good, but because the townspeople couldn't pay enough for him to earn a living. Jaunice had long, luxurious blond hair, and green eyes that sparkled like emeralds, and she knew that one day, she would probably marry a wealthy man, and could provide her family with all the might need or want.

Suddenly, as she was gazing across the cobalt blue ocean, she saw the sail of a ship. She waited impatiently for the flag to appear, her heart thumping against her rib cage with anticipation and dread. When it did, she was shocked out of her skin. It was the dreaded Aracians. Were they coming to attack the peaceful seaside town of Flamingo, or were they going around the island to attack the large, crowded city of Nikaia? Either way, she thought, she should go back and warn the townspeople. She doubted it would be a danger.

She mounted her patiently waiting horse, Keisha.

Maybe once she was finished delivering her important news, she would go wander and look at the many statues of Flamingos, each with their own touch decided on by the family, and read the plaque dedicated especially to her father. Her mother had decided on an ocean ship to be painted on his. Her father had died a hero at sea, so it was only fitting that his flamingo should have a ship on it. The statues of flamingos were there to recognize the town's heroes.

She was nearly back to town when out sprang a party of Aracians. She knew that they were from Aracia because of the three stripes of the Aracian coat-of-arms, the top half being red, and the bottom white, and a blue stripe down the middle on their shields.

Her horse, sensing her urgency, sped up. Thank goodness they're on foot, she thought, and that I'm on the fastest horse in town. She eased Keisha out of a full-fledged gallop and into a steady canter.

That was the mistake that resulted in her death.

The spears of the Aracians caught up to her, prickling her and her horse's body like spines on a cactus. She began to taste blood in her mouth. Must... tell... towns... people, she thought. Her pursuers had given up the chase, wrongly thinking she was on her was to Nikaia, and not to Flamingo. As she staggered into her beloved town, she cried out to the assembled citizens, "The...... Arabians......are......coming," and with her news delivered, she breathed her last. The final thing she saw was her mother's weeping face, and along with it, she heard the deep sobs of sorrow.

The next day, there was an emergency meeting called and a speedy messenger was immediately dispatched to go and alert the Nikains of the approaching danger and to request troops to aid them in the inevitable battle to come.

A week later, the battle over and won, the townspeople erected the many statues that the heroes who had died in battle deserved. Jaunice's mother and soon-to-be husband decided on a gold plating for her flamingo with the words "a true hero" engraved on it.

.........

Out in the surrounding countryside, Drefan, whose name literally meant trouble, was slinking like a snake through the dense undergrowth. He had heard a rumor of a shining statue of gold in the nearby town of Flamingo. Although he knew he could never take the whole statue unnoticed, he thought he could get away with one leg.

Meanwhile, there was both great sorrow, and great happiness in Flamingo. The sorrow was because of the heavy losses that they had sustained, and the happiness was due to the great victory over the Aracians.

Drefan waited for hours. As a bandit, he was used to it, but it still made his muscles stiff. He made as if to get up and stretch but then thought better of it. The sentries were alert, but he knew from experience that they would grow sleepy, and then begin to droop until they eventually would fall asleep.

Three hours later, at 3:10 am, when Drefan was sure the guards were asleep, he began to make his way carefully up the path to the statue garden. Counting on the natural sounds of the bushes in the wind to help him, he took out his razor-sharp knife and began to saw, as surreptitiously as he could, through the left leg of the statue. He was pleased with his work, but he was very disappointed that it wasn't made of solid gold, but it was too late to turn back. Carefully, he made his way back to the forest.

The next morning, when the theft was discovered, the townspeople made so much noise, Athena heard it, on far away Mount Olympus. She came to see what the noise was, and she was very angry. Her anger was terrible to behold. She disguised herself as a beggar and went to see what was the matter.

"What is all the noise for?" she questioned anxiously.

A nearby servant was the one to answer.

"One of the legs was stolen from Jaunice's flamingo," the woman answered timidly.

When Athena heard this, she was as furious as a lion. She decided she would turn the one-legged statue into a real, live bird. This bird, she decided would chase down the robber until it got back its leg.

Later that night, when there were only the sentries on duty in the garden, she changed herself back into her true form, as a goddess. She walked to the garden and was stopped by the sentries, who were very alert.

"Halt. Who goes there?" one cried out.

"It is I, Athena," she replied.

"Show yourself"

She moved out of the shadows, and into the light. The sentries could see her very clearly, and they knew that it was her, for, in her goddess form, she was over fifteen feet tall.

Quickly, the sentries opened the gate for her.

She walked over to the one-legged statue and touched it with her finger. As she did so, a streak of pink crept along the bird's feathers, spreading outward like water on a towel. Soon the bird was taking off.

The next day, Drefan saw a huge, pink bird flapping toward his storage wagon, and then it landed, grabbed something, and flew off before Drefan could even register what had happened.

The bird landed, and instantaneously, Athena appeared before it. She took the leg between her fingers, and, though it was broken in two pieces, attached it to the bird's body. To this day, the bird's ancestors always keep their left legs tucked under themselves.

Name: Ethan Michael

Teacher's Name: Mrs. Bean

English Period:5/6

Date: 3/6/17

Ethan's Adventure

It was a fine day in West Hartford, Connecticut. There was not much do in West Hartford, but Ethan always tried to make today, a great day. He was a tiny boy for his age and always got made fun of because of his height. Ethan's most favorite thing to do in Connecticut was to walk down this windy, twisty, turny path that seemed to him like it never ended.

Later in the day after school ended, Ethan decided to go out and walk on the path. It was his favorite time of day because it was the only time he was alone by himself.

Ethan never really had the chance to meet his dad because he disappeared when he was young, and his mom always worked extra hours to try to support her family.

Whenever Ethan went on his walk, his mom always made him bring a sack lunch.

About a mile in his walk, he came across a tree that he had never seen before. He went to go examine it but then all of a sudden a man dropped out of the top of the tree and landed right next to him. He was a very tall man, flimsy boots, raggedy clothes and smelled like he hadn't showered in a year.

"Hey" the man said with an excited tone.

"I'm doing ok what about you," said ethan in an intimidated tone.

"What's your name?" said ethan in a determined tone.

"I am Vedant Sharma known as the traveling tradesman".

"Ill tell you what" said Vedant, "I will trade you this magic rock that will allow you to travel into anyone of your lego sets if you trade me your sack lunch." They exchanged each other's possessions and they were both satisfied with their trade.

Ethan Immediately started to run back down the path and back to his house to see if the rock actually worked.

"Wait," said Vedant eagerly glad that he caught his attention, "the only way that you can get out and in your lego set is to find a precious diamond to activate the rock again."

Ethan nodded and ran as quickly as he could back to his house. He knew the perfect lego set.

He soon arrived at his house and ran up stairs to his room. He took the lego set "Temple of the Diamond" out of his closet and set it on the floor. He set the rock on the lego set and nothing happened. He took it off and tried it again but nothing happened. He tried to remember what the traveling tradesman had said but nothing came to his mind.

"Ohhh I remember now" Ethan said in an enthusiastic tone.

Ethan ran to his mom's room and looked in her jewelry drawer and found a diamond necklace. He set the rock on the lego set and then the diamond necklace and there was a bright green glow. Ethan Hopped in and moments later he had arrived in his lego set.

"Woah," Ethan said not imagining it to be this cool.

Ethan had pictured it to be all legos surrounding him, but it was real! He was on a dock near the ocean and he knew just where he was "The Gods Sea." He grabbed a small boat that was near the dock and took off wanting to get away as fast as possible. It was a bright red speed boat that he had remembered putting together when he was 8. He was about halfway to the temple when Poseidon stopped him in his path. Poseidon struck his trident in the sea making him seem like he was mad. Poseidon saw something shining in his back pocket and wondered what it was.

"What is that in your back pocket," Poseidon said curiously.

"Its my moms diamond necklace," Ethan said stuttering a few times because of how frightened he was.

"I have never seen such a beautiful thing in my life," Poseidon said.

"Ill tell you what," Poseidon said. "I will give you a safe journey to the temple if you trade me that diamond necklace," Poseidon said eagerly wanting that necklace.

Ethan started to wonder and thought that if he gave him the diamond his mom would be upset, and how would he get back into his normal world. If he traded him he would have to get the top of the temple which has a countless amount of traps and recover the diamond.

"Alright, I guess so," Ethan said very clearly, "but as long as you take me to the temple first."

Poseidon quickly agreed and knew that he could trust Ethan. Ethan and Poseidon were at the temple in a matter of minutes and Poseidon held out his hand wanting the diamond necklace. Ethan handed over the necklace and Poseidon immediately grabbed and swam away back into The Gods Sea." Ethan made his way to the temple wondering if he would make It out alive and go back to his mom." He now started to think about how to get around the temple without getting trapped or killed. He reached the front and saw a younger fellow standing at the front looking petrified.

"Hello" Ethan said in a confused tone wondering why there was a human in his lego set.

"Hey," said Simon in a very scared tone.

Ethan remembered now that he said his name. Simon was the person who would recover the diamond. Now it was a competition to get the diamond. Without saying a word, Ethan ran up the first set of stairs quickly and then simon soon followed. Ethan knew this maze like the back of his hand. Ethan took a sharp left knowing that it was the safest place to go. It seemed to Simon that he and Ethan had onced lived here before because it looked like he knew where he was going. Simon took a right. Ethan was twisting turning around various objects such as spears, knives, nets crashing down. He had noticed that Simon wasn't following him so he must've gone right. At that moment, Ethan knew he was dead. If you go right the first tile, you step on you fall to neverending darkness.

Ethan had finally reached the second floor which in his opinion was the hardest floor. Suddenly, he saw an object running and it was Simon, but running up the flight of stairs to the third floor! Ethan really needed to hurry if he wanted to get the diamond to go back to his home. Ethan remembered from reading the cover of his lego set in "red not dead", and "in blue you're glue". There were very few red tiles, some tan tiles that disappeared right when you stepped on them and various amount of blue tiles. He knew this was his time to go. His first step was onto a tan tile and quickly transitioned to another and then another. He reached a red tile and took a break but then quickly got up and started to move.

He reached another tile and noticed that there was a skeleton on a blue tile and figured that they had been stuck there forever. He reached the end of the massive maze, but now the 3rd and last floor. He slowly crept up the stairs towards the third floor. He noticed that Simon was trying to fight off the giant minotaurs. Ethan remembered from the lego set that there was a secret passageway to the diamond that was on the third floor. He snuck around the battle trying not to be seen. He got to the underground passage and ran knowing that Simon almost was completed fighting them off. Ethan walked up and sprinted for the diamond. He quickly united the rock with the diamond and in a matter of seconds he was home.

It was exactly 9:00 pm just in time right before his mom got home.

"Woah," Ethan said, "what an adventure." He was very glad that he had brought his sack lunch on that walk or none of that would have ever happened.

The Beginning of the Universe

Adarsh Payyakkil

Once upon a time, there was nothing. Blankness, the void engulfed everything and there was just nothing. Nothing moved, and nothing lived. The blankness reigned and no light would show through the absolute midnight. But then, in this dark and cold space altered. Though it could not be seen, a small blob had willed itself into creation.

So you ask me, how would you know if the little blob was there, if you couldn't see it? Well, I'm just telling you the story. If you wanted to know how he was created, just ask him. But, he probably doesn't have an email. Or a mail box. In fact, just forget about your question. See? All better now.

Suddenly welling up from deep within the blob, came a great strength.

Don't ask me what the power was. I don't have the words for it. Or for that matter, know how great this power was, just that it was great.

By using just a minute fraction of that power, he created fire. Warmth engulfed the spongy body of the blob, and he smiled.

Before you ask me how he smiled, since he didn't have a mouth, let me tell you this; his power is so great that if he wants to do something, he can do it, even if he doesn't have the right materials. In this case, lips.

And there was light. The blob felt a kind of joy, that can only be felt by those few people. It was the joy of the little things in life.

Hmmm... I wonder what that felt like.

Then the blob floated around in the nothingness, peaceful and serene. Feeling bored, the blob changed shape into a humanlike body. Eyes grew in first, then a shapely nose came into being. Red lips popped onto his face, and he smiled, yet again, feeling extremely pleased with himself.

What was that? Oh you said that it is impossible for lips to simply pop onto one's face? Well, then, according to you this story is impossible, because if it hadn't popped, then this story would not have happened. And even though he wasn't a blob anymore, we'll still call him that.

Far away, in a world where life will never be the same as it is here, a god awoke.

But this story is called the beginning of the universe, right? Yeah, but this is another universe. So technically we're living in a multiverse. And by the way, this world had absolutely no free space at all.

His eyes flashed, blue irises sparking with power. He rose from his seat of power and and his mouth grimacing into a frown. There was another powerful being in the multiverse.

Meanwhile, the blob floated around, intrepid of the slightest attack.The fire that he had created warmed the dark coldness that surrounded him. Without thinking, he fell asleep. But, unbeknownst to him, an ancient evil would work into his world, and prey on him like a parasite. But there he slept, caring not about any threats, or danger that threatened his life. But something in his head, spoke to him.

So basically, he had the original spidey sense.

"I warn you, there is a powerful being who approaches will ill intent to you. Beware," and so saying, the little voice in his head vanished as if it was never there.

But now, the blob was awake and aware of the threat that now opposed him. And he still didn't care. He still lazed around, as if nothing, or rather no one had warned him. He was too sure of his power, too confident that he was the ultimate being.

Far away, in the other universe, the other god chuckled. He had his work cut out for him, he thought. He laughed, a slow grin spreading across his face. I'll have some fun before I go and destroy him, he thought. He flew down through the clouds, making them vanish with a small poof, and stopped, standing upright. Then he flew toward a small village, where he saw villagers going about their daily tasks and chores, like harvesting wheat. The god smiled gleefully to himself and went to work. One fireball was all it took. An entire village decimated. The god giggled, an evil glow in his eyes.

The maniacal god stood, focusing his energy. Energy crackled around him, sparking off the air. A rip appeared in front of him, electricity flowing freely from its sides. It widened revealing blank nothingness. The blob's world.

So technically the god was defying all laws of physics and nature, but hey, he's a god! So, you know?

He entered the world. A chill creeped into his bones, seeping through, making him think maybe it wasn't the greatest idea to come here. But, steeling himself he flew through the air.

Or swam. Same thing in the void.

And there he saw the blob. Anger pulsed through his body, sending ripples of power through space like waves in the ocean. Surprised that there was really a being who could rival him in power, the blob stood. His calm eyes gave nothing away, but he was actually a little scared. He set his lips into a determined frown, and slowly flew(or swam) toward his opponent. Being courteous, the blob bowed, as an acknowledgment of power, but then swung his fist up to see how his foe would react. The god didn't move. The fist struck his jaw, and his head snapped backward. Slowly he moved his head down, pushing the fist down as well. Good, thought the blob, I like a challenge.

"Why have you come to my world?" questioned the blob.

"To kill you," came the reply.

They both moved forward. Rearing back they both struck at the same time. Explosive waves spread. Our universe was being created. Fist and feet clashed, at speeds faster than light could travel.. if it was 10 times faster than it was now. Bones crunched under the pressure of each hit. Bruises formed all over their bodies. The blob hit the opposing god in the face. He returned the favor. And for years they fought, never tiring. The god's universe, which had no blank space at all, merged with the void in which the blob lived.

So it's not a multiverse anymore.

The stars formed, in an instant. Dust and pollution swirled up creating galaxies.

Yes. We live in a swirling pile of junk.

The animals were formed, the same way the blob was. Shifting and changing they were at first, unnatural like the blob, but without his power. Eventually when all the animals, and plants were created, they pleaded for the gods to stop their seemingly endless combat, for if they did, they would destroy the newly made universe. The blob agreed. He stopped and apologized for nearly destroying the world that they had just created. But the other god would not agree, and he unexpectedly punched the blob, our hero in the face, sending him sprawling to the netherworld.

"I am your king now. Your ruler, your god. You will obey me," said the malicious god.

And our god was stuck in the underworld, and is now deemed the devil.

So, what I'm saying is that the devil, should have ruled the world, but he was unfairly ruled to the underworld. Call me a heretic, but it's true.

The End

The Origin of the Chicken and Chicken Nuggets

By Kennilworthy Whisp

Chickenopolis was a quiet village in Ancient Greece with only a handful of inhabitants. Its main focus for girls and boys was archery. They valued it because of its uses in hunting and self protection. In the village, there was one main dirt road. There was one blacksmith for making bows and arrows. For no reason, the whole village smelled of chutney. When someone asked why it smelled like chutney, they just said that a traveler long ago came to the village all the way from India and brought them chutney, but that is another story.

Now, enough of that. Let's see, the main character... his name was Horace. He was 11 years of age, almost 12, had beautiful green eyes, and thick, black, unkempt hair. Unfortunately for him, he had a voice like a six year old with asthma. More than anything else in the world, including school, Horace enjoyed playing with his friends.

He had a mother named Kerry, who had beautiful green eyes which she had passed to her son and long golden hair although his father was unknown.

Now today was a special day for the family of Horace because he was turning 12, and when the children of the village turned 12, they had to take up archery. In most ways, Horace was a respectable young man except that he hated archery and anything of the sort. Horace said to his mother, "Archery is only for gormless fools. I hate it!."

Kerry gasped and started to sob so hard that she fell to her knees. She felt so horrible butsaid, "Apollo will be furious. I'm sure he heard you. He's going to inflict horrific things upon us!" Sure enough, Apollo heard Horace from way up on Mount Olympus, but he wasn't just furious, he was fuming!

Apollo decided to dispatch a dream to Horace to tell him what he had to do to repay him for what he said.

Later that night, Horace had a dream, a terrible dream; he dreamt Apollo was shouting at him and that he was trapped so he couldn't get away. The thing Apollo wanted for payment was a new food, and if it didn't come in time, he would rain arrows upon the village of Chickenopolis and would make sure everybody died. The dream was over.

Without warning, another dream flickered into image like when a television turns on and this time it wasn't Apollo speaking...it was another god! The god had black, unkempt hair and sounded like a eight year old with asthma sort of like Horace. The god said, "I am your father, Orpheus, and I know what you're thinking. Why hasn't my mother told me about my father? Well, I told her not to tell you because I knew there would come a time where you would need me," said Orpheus, "and the time is now, but first I want you to wake up tomorrow and go to my temple in the hills. Then,I want you to say to my statue, 'I need help.' That's it, and a miracle will happen."

The dream was over and Horace woke with a start. He jumped out of bed and instantly hoisted a cloak on then departed.

I've been walking for at least an hour he thought, when will I get there? And as if to answer his question, he bumped into a column and seconds later he was sprawled on the floor of the temple of Orpheus.

Horace picked himself up and walked up to the statue of Orpheus and wailed, "I need help!" Just as his father had said, Horace heard a noise that he had never heard before. It went something like this bock, bock, bock, bock, bock, begowwwwk. Then, nothing happened. With a look of disbelief, he walked back to the village and got in bed.

The next morning, he woke up to the same sound bock, bock , bock, bock, bock, begowwwwk, but instead of nothing, there was a little white bird with blotches of red on its temple. Then, he spotted a name tag that said chicken, and he figured that Orpheus, his father, had named the animal after his village.

After that, he thought, didn't Apollo want a food? And at that thought, like magic, the idea came to him of how the chicken would be cooked. He sprung out of bed and ran to the kitchen. Realizing that he forgot the chicken, he ran back to his bedroom and grabbed it.

Thirty minutes later, he finished the chicken. Well, actually, the chicken nuggets. Horace had cooked the chicken, cut it into nuggets,then dipped those in breadcrumbs, and then fried his new invention. After huffing,puffing, and sweating, he was exhausted but finally there. But he still had to deliver the new food to Apollo, so he decided to go back to the temple of Orpheus with the nuggets safely in a bowl and ask again for help with delivery.

It was, of course, the deadline day as he travelled,and when he got there, his exhaustion was renewed. Horace yelled at the statue "I need help!" and once again something happened but wasn't a noise, it was that the statue had turned into the real Orpheus. "I will bring that bowl of chicken nuggets to Mount Olympus," spoke his father. After a second or two, the bowl was gone and so was Orpheus.

Up on Mount Olympus, Apollo was stuffing himself with chicken nuggets like a pig eating its slop while he said over and over, "DIS ID DELICHOS!" with his mouth full of course. When he was finished, he spoke to Zeus, "This is the best food I have ever tasted! Will you please tell Hebe to make this mortal...uhh... Horace... into the god of chicken nuggets?"

"If they are that good then certainly!" said Zeus. So, Horace drank from the cup of Hebe and he became the god of chicken nuggets.

The Origin of Rainbows

By Giselle

A long time ago in ancient Greece, high upon Mt. Olympus, sat the goddess Iris talking to the goddesses Aphrodite and Athena. Iris sat on a plush stool with her long black hair shimmering down her back appearing to change color in the sunlight. Her long black eyelashes fluttered over her crystal blue eyes. She was in the midst of telling the other goddesses about how astonishing she was when they stood up in a rush their eyes looking anywhere but at her.

"I have a thing that I have to do," muttered Athena under her breath, "with someone." She added as she quickly sped away. Aphrodite sputtered in agreement, but secretly they only hoped to get away from Iris and her bragging.

Iris felt hurt for a moment, but then brushed it off by thinking that they were only jealous of her glamor. Instead, Iris indulged herself by soaking in the surrounding of Olympus. The tall white columns sprouting out of the ground appeared to hold up the sky. The wind rustling through the plants brought up the sweet smell and a faint taste of a dinner feast being made. Iris suddenly felt herself start to feel a raging hatred for everything as the god of war, Ares, stormed past but it soon disappeared.

As the sun started to dip below the sky, the gods sat down for dinner at a grand table. Iris sashayed in and sat in the middle of Aphrodite and Athena. They subtly scooted away from Iris as if they worried that she would start spouting facts about how stunning she was. They should've worried more.

"I'm so amazing, I have a ton of worshipers," Iris boasted loudly.

"I'm full," proclaimed Athena as she pushed away from the table, the rest of the meal passed in silence except for the clinking of forks on the plates.

The next day, Iris spent 30 minutes picking out the perfect outfit, 3 hours on her makeup, and 5 hours on her hair. She flounced into the crowded living area and immediately started commenting on what the other goddesses could do to make themselves more beautiful like her.

"If you put your hair in a bun," she suggested to Hestia, "it would show off your facial features more." Iris moved in front of Athena. "You should try curling your hair, like mine," Iris said, "and you really must lose the war helmet."

"I know," Athena said rolling her eyes, "you've told me a million times."

"But you never seem to listen- Oh! I just remembered all of my temples are the busiest now, probably because I'm so perfectly popular," Iris turned and her smile faltered. All the other goddesses had disappeared except for Athena, who loomed in raging anger over Iris.

"So, popular, are you?" roared Athena, and then she smashed her hands together and a beam of pure death shot down and killed every worshiper in every single temple dedicated to Iris. Iris wanted to do something to help. However, she knew that her powers could not outlast Athena's and that if she tried to stop her, then her hair would get ruined.

In grief, Iris fled Olympus. She wandered looking for a place to hide when she came to a cave that was perched on the side of a cliff. She hurried inside, hoping that no other gods had seen her enter. The cavern looked like no one had ever been in it Once she was inside of the cave, she heard what sounded like a small rainstorm, and then a gray and black unicorn ran right into her. The unicorn has a light blue mane and tail. The cave was dark and crowded. The air inside was stuffy, but none of the gods would ever find her here.

Many months passed and Iris stayed in the cramped cave with Rainy, the unicorn. The gods searched everywhere, but they could not find her. Athena had seen the cave but had thought that Iris would not stay there because she cared so much about her appearance. Athena was riding back to Olympus when her chariot wheel caught the light of the sun and it shot a beam of color into the cave that Iris was hiding in. Iris saw the flash of light and was suddenly reformed. She realized that she did not have to spend so much time on how she looked and instead she should make other people feel happy. Suddenly, an idea struck her like lightning. She quickly rode Rainy to Olympus and went straight to Zeus with her request.

"Zeus," said Iris calmly, her hair tangled and matted with dirt," instead of becoming the goddess of beauty like I intended I would instead like to become the goddess of rainbows and travel around the world with Rainy." Zeus was started by her request, but he let her have what she wished.

And so, Iris contently goes around the world with Rainy creating rainbows and making everyone feel happy after a time of sadness.

Mountains of Rocky

By: Alice Canonico

Once a time ago, three young animals were pretending to be gods on an unnamed mountain range as big as the whole world and as tall as Mount Olympus.

Voodoo, the pitbull, was the youngest and the only boy. His fur was the color of night with stars all over his body he loved romping ad playing with the goats all over the steep rock faces.

Paz, the two toed sloth ran, ha, sat on the brilliant mud colored alicorn,Rocky.

Rocky flew all the way through the unnamed mountain, she swore that once she had almost touched a great ball of fire in the sky.

In their cave, filled to the brim with trees and plants and a lake to make the most natural habitat a cave can have, the air was crisp ,not cold but, crisp and smelled of sweet apples.

"Paz, what are these big tall rocky piles called?"asked Voodoo.

"Mountains?"said Paz.

"What's the name of the mountains?" said Voodoo, irritated.

"That's an excellent question," said Hebe.

"Who are you?"said Voodoo.

"I'm the god Hebe, and I want you to be a part of my competition to name these mountains. You'll each bring these mountains a gift and whichever is the best will get these mountains named after them, and become a god."

"Cool," said Paz.

One week later, They gave their gifts.

"I will give the gift of the wind so the animals will always be safe from evil spirits," said Voodoo.

"I will give the gift of trees so the animals can eat, sleep, and play,"said Paz.

"Will give the gift of snow to drink, hide, and play," said Rocky.

"These are all wonderful gifts to the mountains, I can't decide,"said Hebe, "Rocky, go and fetch a human to decide for me."

Back with the human, restlessly Rocky waited to learn the name of the mountains.

"Good Rocky, human what is the best gift for this mountain, snow, trees, or wind," said Hebe.

"Oh this is very hard but I must go with..."said the human. "... I guess snow because it is filled with nutrients and water to survive and you can play in it."

"Yeah, but we all should be gods and name the mountains after me,"said Rocky.

"Excellent choice you will all be gods of the Rocky Mountains." said Hebe.

The Fox's White Tip.

By Jackson Clark

Long ago, in a field of lush and soft green grass, rich and wet soil, and a small stream, lived the all seeing owl, the fast and fuzzy rabbit, the big, black bear, and the sneaky, clever, but nice, fox.They all lived in peace together.One day the fox wanted to see if he was the sneakiest so he challenged all the animals to a contest. All you had to do was steal a purple pebble from the owl faster than your opponent and without being seen.The fox beat them all with ease.

"I need a real opponent," said the fox.

His wish was granted and Athena appeared in front of him.

"Mitey Athena what brings you here," said the fox. Well, he already knew.

"I was watching you compete and when you said you needed a real challenge I couldn't resist," said Athena.

"Well than, since you were watching you know the rules, let's start," said the fox with excitement.

A little rowboat appeared in the stream big enuff for the animals and Athena.

"I had another idea, so climb in," said Athena.

The animals were puzzled but did so.

The boat stopped at the hydras forest. It was very thick, very green, and the canopy was very high. Also it smelled of rain and the air tasted wet.They all climbed out and Athena started to explain.

"The rules are super simple.Whoever can get the hydras chalice and get out of the forest alive with the hydras chalice wins. Also, I can't shapeshift into a fox. Do you accept?" said Athena.

"Yes," said the fox.

The race started and the fox started with an early lead. He went ahead of Athena. He thought he had won. But then he remembered where he was. Then he saw the hydra. He ran right next to him. The hydra saw him and loudly roared , and then started to run after him aggressively. Then he saw Athena up ahead gliding as a flying squirrel. He ran under her and because she was gliding at head height of the hydra, the hydra bumped into her and started to chase her instead.

Then the fox saw the chalice, grabbed it and started on his way. He went back to the boat. He got to the boat with no hydra or Athena in site. The fox had won! Then Athena came out of the forest.

"I won, I won, I really won!" said the fox.

"Yes you did. But I warn you, don't get cock," said Athena.

The fox did get cocky and started to steal from everyone and one day he crossed the line the fox tried to steal something from Athena and was caught.

"I warned you not to be cocky and push your luck with stealing, so now I curse you so you will always be caught," said Athena with rage.

Then the fox had the tip of his tale turned white and now you see him all the time and he never gets away with stealing.

Head in the Clouds

By: Hailey

Once upon a time, there lived a goddess named Ronyia. She lived up in the sky on top of a bunch of white fluffy clouds, called Cloud Ville, and it overlooked a tall kingdom, the "Academy of the Performing Arts." Ronyia was a very talented ballerina with long black hair swirled into a bun and sparkling brown eyes, she had the beautiful shoes that could make her stand on her tiptoes. Ronyia also had a cat, a very spoiled cat named Lucy. Lucy had her own cloud house painted pink and covered in diamonds. Ronyia even gave Lucy her own sparkly tutu and a little pink tiara.

"Knock, Knock," someone demanded at Ronyia's cloud door.

"I'm coming! Stay, Lucy" Ronyia said, trying to throw on her bright pink robe with diamonds all over.

"Good morning, Miss Ronyia. I have some flyers for the royal ball performance here at the Academy of Performing arts, I thought you might be interested in performing?" A little frog came to ask.

"You want me to dance?!? O.M.G! That would be an honor! When is it?" Ronyia screamed, quickly grabbing a flyer out of the frogs hands.

"Your in?"

"Heck yeah! I'll be sure to have a dance rehearsed by next week."

The next day Ronyia thought of a dance, but then she realized she needed a song.

"Who is good enough to play my music?" Ronyia said while pulling out a dusty old book that smelt like it had been on that shelf for a million years. Hummingbirds?" She questioned while putting the number in her phone.

"Hello. Hummingbirds at your service, what can we sing for you?", the phone bursted.

"Oh hi, I have a dance performance coming up next week, so I need someone to play the music I need really soon, so I can be the best and win lots of money."

"Do you want us to sing for you today then?'' The bird asked.

"Yes, please. Now would be great, see you soon!'' Ronyia says in excitement while slamming down the phone and running up stairs.

Two minutes later.

"Come on in! Let's get to rehearsing, let me just lace up my pointe shoes and I'll be ready!" Ronyia sa in excitement.

"Oaky Doaky!."

"So my plan is, I'm just going to do some leaps on the clouds, maybe a few turns then land in a big finish, so the music needs to match." She demands.

While the hummingbird hums, and Ronyia dances, everybody in cloud ville started to hear the beautiful music coming from Ronyia's cloud house.

A few hours past and all of a sudden, all of Ronyia's neighbors started coming over to listen and watch.

"You guys can watch my beautiful ballet, but you have to be quiet." Ronyia says in a rude tone.

"Hey Ronyia, I think I need a break. We've been doing this over and over for the past five hours, don't your feet hurt from those shoes?" The bird says.

"No they don't, in fact practice makes perfect, so if you want some of the money I win, you better keep playing, or else I won't pay you."

In the wink of an eye, the little bird flew back to his nest and brought lot's of his other hummingbird buddies to help him play.

"Let's get back to practicing." the little bird says while giving the other birds a lesson on what to sing.

"5, 6, 7, 8."

"My ankle!"

"Ronyia, what can we get you... Some ice, cup of tea?", the birds asked.Ronyia didn't say a word, she was in such pain.

"I need ice! Now! My ankle is puffy and purple!"

As the birds grabbed Ronyia ice, "What even happened?", the bird asked.

"Those stupid shoes! Now just leave me alone," Ronyia started to cry.

Puddles of tears started to build up, and the clouds couldn't take it anymore.

Drops of water started leaking and leaking through the clouds the suddenly, the tears started to cause a storm. The wind started blowing Ronyias hair everywhere, the birds didn't have enough power to stay flying. But least of all, Ronyias magical pointe shoes drifted down the sky.

Soon the whole city underneath cloudville was flooding and the villagers were needing to escape.

"Ronyia! Stop crying! The village needs your help! There is too much tears and it will make the

villagers trapped in the water!" The birds say.

"What can I do to help?" Ronyia said kindly.

"We got to do something to help because it's all my fault." She yakked grabbing her ankle.

"The performance is tomorrow and my ankle is broken!" Ronyia sobbed.

The birds flew into Ronyias living room handing her a shiny glass of this purple bubbling liquid.

"Drink it! It's a healing potion. It will heal your ankle."

"Yes! I will be able to win the money..."

"Ronyia! Stop being so greedy!" the bird spoke.

"You interrupted me! I was going to say, when I win the money I will help the villagers stop the flooding, maybe we can make a draining system."

"Sounds good to me, I'll see you tomorrow for the music."

"My ankle feels better already! Thank you so much!" Ronyia said while shutting the front door and the birds flew out.

"I got to practice, practice, practice!"

The next day Ronyia was ready to perform. She got on her pointe shoes and her beautiful tutu.

"I can almost just taste the moment of me winning the money!" She whispered to herself while waiting backstage.

"Welcome to the stage, contestant number 36, Ronyia!"

Ronyia performed so amazing that she instantly won the money!

"Thank you so much for letting me dance for you guys. I really appreciate it," Ronyia screeched.

"You are very welcome, what do you think you are going to do with this money," the judges

asked.

"I'm going to build a river to drain out all the flooding."

"Very nice."

The very next day, Ronyia and the birds got started on buying the supplies to build the river.

"There goes a ton of money!" The bird spoke.

"I'm happy I did so!" She said with a smile as big as the world.

The village gratefully appreciated Ronyia's help. The villagers, the hummingbirds and last but not least, Ronyia lived happily ever after.

The City of Heraklion

By: Lily Douglas

One day in ancient Greece, Zeus, the king of the gods needed a god to look after a new city so he called Hermes to ask all the gods if they want to protect the city and report to back to him. Hermes asked all the gods and two wanted to rule over the city. When Hermes got back to Zeus, he said that Hercules, the strongest god,accepted.Zeus And so did Hebe, the cupbearer of the gods.

Then, Zeus called both gods and said they would both need to come up with ways to prove to him that they would protect the city. Hercules and Hebe both looked at each other in a competitive way. Hercules walked up to Zeus and said "if I rule this city I will turn it into a city that will never lose and fight battles and never surrender. And then Hebe walked up to Zeus and said "if you let Hercules rule over the city there will never be peace, but if I rule it will be a city of peace and there will be farm land and nature all over the city." Then both walked away to let Zeus decide. Zeus was puzzled, He didn't want to disappoint either of them they where both his children, he didn't know what to do. As the two were walking away they both said "I will destroy you!'And then the trouble began.

Both gods had the same plan. To try to get all the gods they could on their side.So both went around and told every god what they wanted to do with the city.

Hebe got the gods Demeter, Artemis,Persephone, Hermes, Hestia, and Apollo to agree with her. And Hercules got the gods Hades, Athena, Aphrodite, Ares, Poseidon, and Hephaestus to agree with him.The one god who refused to choose a side was was Hera.She just didn't want to choose.

As the days went on the fighting got worse and worse between to two gods, but it wasn't battle it was petty little pranks.Hercules was the first to strike. He took her cup of immortality and replaced it with a cup of death. Hebe was sent to turn someone immortal, and she went to get the cup. When she touched it, she turned into stone. When this happened all the gods that were on Hercules side realized he had gone to far. The goddess Athena saw what happened to Hebe, and went to go report it to her dad, Zeus. When Zeus heard what happened he was furious.

Zeus quickly sent hermes to find the cure to turn Hebe back into flesh. When Hermes got back they used the cure Hebe.Then Zeus summoned Hercules, Zeus had never been so frustrated.

When Hercules came, all the gods were watching outside to see what would happen. Everyone could tell that Hercules was very scared.The gods were nervous because Hercules had never looked like that before.Zeus look at Hercules in disappointment.And Zeus gave Hercules a talk about how Hebe would never do nothing like that. But he was wrong. While Hercules was getting a talking to by Zeus, she was coming up with a prank just as devious as the one Hercules pulled on her. She came up with the idea to put a cursed saddle on his prized pegasus that he rode every day. When Hercules would sit on the saddle it throws him off every time he gets on it. So after Hercules got a talking to from Zeus, he went to go for a ride on his horse. When he got on his pegasus and started riding, he was thrown off. Hercules thought it was his horse throwing him off. So he got on again, and he was thrown off again. Hercules kept on getting on his horse over and over again and he kept on getting thrown off. After a while, he started to figure out it wasn't is horse. He knew that Hebe would do something like this, and he figured out it was Hebe not his horse . Hercules wanted to make her pay for what she did, but he knew if he did that he would get into even more trouble with Zeus.

Hercules made a plan, but word got out about what Hebe did and what Hercules wanted to do, so Zeus called them both for a private talk. Zeus decided he wasn't going to let this go on, so he said that Hebe and Hercules had to spend a whole entire week together in the land they were competing for. Both gods obviously didn't agree to this, but they didn't really have a choice. So, they went down to the land that they both wanted to rule over. As they spent more time together, they started to not hate each other as much as they thought they did. This all changed when on the last night they started to talk about why they wanted to rule over the city. When they started to talk, they got into a huge argument and Zeus was watching them the whole week, and he was very disappointed.

When he saw them fighting, he didn't know what else to do. Hera, the wife of Zeus saw he was stressed and came up with a plan to bring them together again. Hera asked Cupid to shoot them both with his magical arrow. Cupid didn't want to shoot them he only shot mortals, but he had to say yes to Hera. Then when cupid was walking he saw Hercules and Hebe walking toward each other. So, he first pointed his bow at Hebe and then he shot her with his magical bow, then he shot Hercules.

When the arrows shot them both, it took awhile to have its effect. Then when they looked at each other, they fell in love. And they did everything together, but then they completely forgot about the city. Then the goddess Athena saw them together and them not yelling at each other she said, "I'm glad you guys figured something out about the city". Then they remembered they didn't do anything about the city.So they and Zeus had a talk about what to do with the city. And they decided to name it Heraklion. All the gods wondered why it was named that. Hercules and Hebe said it was because Hera brought them together, and that Hera wouldnt rule over the city that them Hercules and Hebe would rule over it together.

THE END

Onion Soup

By Clara Griffey

Every evening, at 6:30 sharp, the gods came to Mount Olympus for their dinner. This dark cloudy day made them all tired as they came in to take their seats. Afterall, they had all been watching the nine year war of Troy and Greece.

After about five minutes of sitting and waiting for their chef, Zeus, the god of all gods, was getting impatient. So, he threw his big muscley fist on the beautiful oak wood table and called for the head chef, Ladelclyse. Ladelclyse heard Zeus' big rumbling voice and came bounding in at full speed.

It was his first day on the job, and he was talking to Marcellus, a good friend of his fathers, the past head chef, Bowlaclyse. Bowlaclyse went out to fetch some water from the river that slowly trickled down Mount Olympus and never came back. But, putting that matter behind him, and now Ladelclyse had to cook for the gods. He had only been in chef school for a year and a half before he heard the terrible news. Students are only allowed to start training at age twelve, and being fourteen, the young lad didn't know that much.

"I'm sorry sir, my greatest apologies. What may I do for you?" Whimpered Ladelclyse.

Seeing this young version of Bowlaclyse suddenly made Zeus feel sorry for the young boy and felt a rush of warm love and pity for him. Seeing him so alive and happy, made Zeus feel happy.

Zeus replied with a simple, "No worries dear boy. Now go make us some of your lovely food."

Surprised, Ladelclyse felt a smile start to grow on his face. He straightened his back, put his head up high, and asked what the gods would like to eat. Athena turned to the rest of the gods, and made eye contact with all fourteen of them. It was as if she was psychic and knew what everyone wanted.

Then she looked at Ladelclyse and said, "We would like alliepa broth."

The smile on Ladelclyse's face turned askew and he slowly wrote down on his notepad.

Thousands of thoughts started going through his head. Some pointless, and others he should consider. How long will it take to make? Will I end up like my father? What kind of soup even is that? Why do I even have a notepad? I only have one thing to remember.

But he held all of that in and said, "Yes my lord, coming right up."

As he walked back to the kitchen, the thoughts started getting bigger and louder and more stressful and the worst part was, now he had to think about them. Alliepa broth. What was that? He walked past the big burning pot and around the washing tub to the cabinet of scrolls. Getting lost in the kitchen was easy and you were lucky if you could get what you needed in a timely manner. The scroll cabinet was six shelves high and eight sets of shelves. It was a beautiful dark red sandalwood and smelled of roasted chicken. He slowly opened up the dusty glass doors and began his search for alliepa broth.

About five minutes into his search, he found the recipe in a small gold-rimmed scroll with olive trees carved into it.

Alliepa broth was an ancient delicacy made of mushrooms and onions. But not just any onions, the rare pearl onion. They had mushrooms, broth and seasonings in the kitchen, but pearl onions can not be harvested in a garden, but grown in the depths of the deepest forests, so he had to go get one. But the problem was Mount Olympus was high up in the clouds and without power from the gods, it would take at least a whole day to go down to the forest and chop your way through to find a pearl union. That doesn't even include the time it would take to come back.

He couldn't tell the gods that they are not allowed to have the meal, and he couldn't ask them to help him retrieve the onion, so what would his father do? Ladelclyse sat and thought a while. Marcellus came in just then.

"Do you need help my good sir?" said Marcellus in his sweet gentle voice.

One minute later, Ladelclyse had explained the whole story to Marcellus, and his response was giving Ladelclyse a meat knife, pushing him through the kitchen and out the back door.

"What are you waiting for?" shouted Marcellus, "Go get some pearl union!"

Ladelclyse was surprised by his action, for Marcellus merely ever told anyone what to do, but the intelligent man was right. The faster he got the delicacy, the better.

"But what about the gods?" he asked. "It is going to take more than a couple minutes to get the onion, if not even days, and we can't make the gods wait that long."

"I'll handle it," said Marcellus with a cheesy grin on his face.

"Well ok then."

With that, Ladelclyse walked out the door and down great Mount Olympus. He untied one of the horses in the stalls and hopped on.

Ladelclyse was a surprisingly good horse rider, for every day he rode down the Mount Olympus with his dad because walking from their house would take a day.

So he rode past the city of Athens, past his home, past the sea cliffs and to the edge of the forest.

He hopped off the chocolate brown horse and tied him to a tree near the edge of the forest. He took a second, standing at the edge just staring in. He could hear the trees rustling in the wind. He could smell the damp nature coming from inside. He could taste the dryness if it already. Pulling his knife out of his pocket, Ladelclyse walked in.

He had never been in the forest before, and it wasn't quite as bad as he imagined it. Or so he thought. As he walked around the forest, he started to doubt himself. The trees got bigger and the light got smaller. How can he look if he can't even see?

Meanwhile, at Mount Olympus Marcellus made dinner. The only thing he really knew how to make was chicken noodle soup, so he started to make that.

Cut the chicken, feeling the slimy breasts split apart with the knife. He cut the carrots, cut the onion, cooked the chicken, in no time Marcellus had a pretty decent soup.

Spooning it into the large silver rimmed serving bowl, he brought it out to the gods.

Mouths water, they all took large spoonfuls and dumped it onto their plates. Moments later Zeus spit it out and cried,

"This isn't Alliepa Broth!"

Standing up so his seat flung across the room, he came marching over to Marcellus.

"Where is my Alliepa Broth?" Zeus screamed. He looked Marcellus in the eyes and you could see the fire start to burn up inside when-

"Stop!" Athena yelled. Zeus backed up and sat back down in his seat.

Only half the size of Zeus, Athena spoke.

"Where is the soup that we ordered?" Athena said in a smooth stern voice.

Feeling much more calmed, Marcellus said, "Well you see, Alliepa broth needs Pearl unions. Pear onions can only be found in the depths of the deepest forests. Your head chef, Ladelclyse, went out to get it. In the meantime, for who knows how long he is going to be gone, I have made you chicken noodle soup."

Raging up again, Zeus stood and said, "I want a professional! Not some assistant, where is Ladelclyse, chicken noodle soup is not fit for a god!"

Athena cocked her head sideways and stared at him with an evil eye. Zeus sat back down once again.

Turning back to Marcellus, Athena said, "What is your name young lad?"

"Marcellus."

"Very well then Marcellus. Chicken noodle soup will do for now. But please, make sure Ladelclyse gets back as soon as humanly possible." And with that Marcellus went bursting back into the kitchen.

He had never even looked a god straight in the eye, but to be punished by one was a whole nother story. Taking deep breaths he grabbed a wet washing rag and began to clean the counters.

Still looking, Ladelclyse was starting to lose all hope. For it had been at least five hours and he had only found a couple of dandelions. Continuing walking, Ladelclyses started feeling delirious. His head felt light, and things got fuzzy. His brain went blank and he tumbled to the ground, for he had no water or food, and had been walking for hours straight. By now it was also turning dark outside, not like it could get much darker in the depths of these woods. But everything got dark and Ladelclyse just fell asleep.

Maybe it was the fact that he had been up all morning, talking to Marcellus about his job, maybe it was the stress from finding the pearl onion, but either way he slept for a long time. As it turned to day Ladelclyse felt more sleepy and waking up to the warm sun beaming down on his face made it no easier to get himself moving again, but he knew he had to. Using the tree above him to pull himself up, he straightened his back and made a great big yawn. Looking around he saw some unusually bright green leaves growing out of the ground.

He stood for a second, staring at the odd thing, waiting for his eyes to adjust. It was still bright green and poking out of the ground.

Drowsy, Ladelclyse walked over and began to tug the leaf from the ground.

Pop! The root came springing out and Ladelclyse got a facefull of dirt. Inspecting the object he had pulled out of the ground, he couldn't believe his eyes! It was a pearl onion! Bright white with a strong smell, he saw it, there, in his hands!

With the vegetable in hand, he began running. He didn't even know where he was going, he just wanted to get back to Mount Olympus before the gods got anymore angry. Sprinting at full speed, he jumped over the tree roots and around the trees until he began to see a light. It was the edge of the forest!

Stepping out of the forest the light burned his eyes. Looking down the great hill that stood before Ladelclyse, he saw a small town down below him.

Not knowing where he was, Ladelclyse went down to the tiny little town.

Once he got there he was welcomed with a big grand arch reading: Welcome to Avexaville! Avexaville? Ladelclyse thought to himself. That was an oddly familiar name. It gave him tingles down his back. But, with no time to lose, Ladelclyse stepped into Avexaville hoping for the best.

Everybody here was dressed just like him and looked exactly like Athens. Going through what he assumed was the center of town, it was a lot more crowded and big than what it looked like up on the hill.

Back at the god's palace, they were all hungry for dinner once again. Prepared this time, Marcellus had a bowl of chicken soup in the pot. Before Zeus could even scream his name, Marcellus had rushed in with the bowl of chicken noodle soup.

This sight made Zeus groan and slouch down in his chair as a little two year old would do.

"Please, no more of this mushy gushy chicken concoction you've made here. Please" he complained.

Athena replied, "Zeus, daddy, it'll have to do for now. It's better than no food at all."

Quietly, Marcellus carefully spooned the mushy gushy chicken concoction onto each of the god's plates.

"Excuse me?" asked Ladelclyse to a man wearing more bright, royal clothes. The man whipped around to stare at Ladelclyse with bright piercing blue eyes and a beautiful baby blue robe, just like his.

"Yes?"

"Uhhh, well," Ladelclyse started, "I was wondering, where am I?"

"Why, you're in Avexaville!" Exclaimed the man.

"I know that, I saw the sign, but do you have a map or anything?" Ladelcyse though for a second and said, "And what is your name?" He knew that if this man lead him to trouble, Ladelclyse could report to the gods and report the man.

" I am the great Effron. Maker of the best pots in all the land," said Effron.

"Or so he says," exclaimed a random stranger walking down the crowded streets.

Shaking his fist in the air, Effron exclaimed, "Curse you Mercedes! Your pots are merely squares!" Turning back to Ladelclyse, he said, "Excuse my interruption stranger, but there are many families competing in the competition of the pots, for the creation of the pot was here, in Avexaville."

"No worries," said Ladelclyse.

"So what is your name?" Asked the man.

"I am Ladelclyse."

"Oh, I'm sorry, you needed a map, come, this way." Effron grabbed Ladelclyses hand and dragged him through the city to a less crowded part of the city into a little shop with maps all over the walls. He grabbed a map out of a bin, pulled out his coin sack, took out three coins and put them on the counter. Putting the map in Ladelclyses hand, they walked out the door.

Still saying nothing, they walked out the door. Ladelclyse put the map in his pocket right next to the onion. For a moment, Ladelclyse had forgotten his job at the town but the Pearl onion alarmed Ladelclyse.

Casually walking to who knows where, Ladelcyse asked Effron to speed up.

"I really am in a hustle." said Ladelclyse.

"Well, of course," said Effron, "and not to be mean young lad, but what is that smell? Do you need to bathe yourself?"

"No," Ladelclyse said. "Where we come from it is culture to rub yourself with mud." What was that excuse? Thought Ladelclyse. Well, it was the best he could do for now, because if he told Effron it was a pearl onion, he would have to explain the who story and how he is technically a god, and he didn't want to have to explain all of that. Either way, the old man seemed to buy it, and they started running through town.

As the streets got less crowded, they got a lot bigger and Ladelclyse could see the beauty of this town. It was almost as if Mount Olympus got turned into a city.

The huge gargoyle popping out of every nook and cranny where as detailed as one of an artist's paintings and the clean polished white marble railings leading up to the homes where as clean and white as snow. And the cobble streets had each brick placed with love and care in just the right spot. You could just tell.

As the two men kept on running they came to an opening with a big golden statue. There was no one else around and you could only hear the pigeons picking at the ground.

But the statue-it made Ladelclyse stop right in his tracks. It was bigger than anything he had ever seen and the detail. But that wasn't even the most amazing part. It was a statue of Zeus. He stood grand and tall with lightning bolts in his hand, ready to strike at anytime.

Effron stopped as well and stared at the marvel for a moment too.

"That is our god, Zeus, he built this entire city." Explained Effron.

"Oh, trust me, I know who Zeus is, but he built this city?"

"Why, of course, this is Avexaville, the land of good people. Once it comes their time for people to go, the gods look at the life they lived and if that someone was a good, loyal person, they would go to heaven, but if they were greater than good, they come here."

Ladelclyse gasped. His mother told him stories about a place like this when he was young. That's why it seemed so familiar!

"So," continued Effron, "you seem a bit young to be here. Where are you from young Ladelclyse?"

"Athens." Ladelclyse murmured still trying to wrap his head around the idea he was in some super heaven. "And how I got here, I don't know."

"Well," said Effron,

Ignoring everything else, Ladelclyse walked up and touched the statue.

Everything got bright and next thing he knew he was at Mount Olympus.

How he got there, it must have been the gods, but he rushed into the palace just in time to see the sight of Zeus dangling Marcellus by the neck.

"Stop!" cried Ladelclyse. Everyone turned to the young man.

"I am here!"

Zeus set down Marcellus and sat back down in his seat to see Ladelclyse run into the kitchen.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here," started Marcellus.

"Not now," said Ladelclyse. He grabbed the scroll off the counter top and pulled the pearl onion out of his pocket. As he reached in he felt the map of Avexaville. Just another mystery in his pocket.

After quite some time of frantically running around in the kitchen, Ladelclyse had a fresh pot of Alepia Broth, ready to be served to the gods.

He came running out with the pot and slowly spooned the same proportions into each god's bowl.

Zeus was the first one.

"Why this is delicious!" he said. The rest of the gods nodded their heads in agreement.

"Thank you young Ladelclyse," started Athena, "This might be the best meal I have ever had."

Ladelcyse beamed with joy.

"But," Athena cut him off, "Due to the time it took to make this meal, there is a consequence. Whomever from this day forward chops and onion, they shall cry." She made a figure eight motion in the air and took another sip of soup.

Ladelclyse was happier than ever, even though he set a forever curse on everyone and everything, he was happy.

What Happened to Savannah

By: A.P.Hart

A long time ago in a castle there lived a beautiful little girl named Savannah. Savannah had very long, blonde hair, her hair ran all the way to her ankles. She always had her hair up the same way because she didn't have anyone to teach her how to put it up any other way. And her eyes were a beautiful bluish, greenish color. Her favorite color had always been purple. All her dresses were purple and she has lovely, glossy purple shoes to go with all her dresses. They all also had the scent of lavender.

Her father, Alexander, was very handsome. All the ladies of the town drooled over his dark brown hair and dreamy blue eyes. His eyes had a sparkle in them that influenced everybody. Alexander was never home. He was always traveling. He left his maid Annie with Savannah.

She was alone.

Sadly, the castle was run down from the water crashing up on the castle walls. When rain was pouring outside the castle, it looked very gloomy and sad. There was one window that overlooked the palace garden. A certain window above the garden had a glossy tint in it and no one knew why, only Savannah and Annie because they were there the day it happened. During sunny days, the castle was shimmering from the glossy layer of paint. The air around the castle tasted like the flowers from the lovely garden that smelled of roses.

Savannah wandered from the castle. She heard a scratching noise.

"Hello?" Savannah whispered

"Hello?" she repeated.

"Go away!" a very deep voice yelled.

"No. Are you hurt?" she yelled.

"It doesn't matter, just go away!" the man yelled sobbing from the pain and soaked from the blood running down his leg.

She wasn't really going to go away. She ran off and hid behind a tree. Then it happened!

Aphrodite came down from Olympus and saved the old man from the sharp axe in his leg. Then they saw her.

When she saw Aphrodite save that man, she thought to herself that she too wanted to become a goddess to save people.

Thoughts were running through Savannah's mind, but the most important one was the one that yelled "RUN!"

Savannah had probably run two miles before she came to anything but trees.Then she saw what she had been looking for. Hebe's palace. Savannah went up to the door. She didn't know if she should knock or not. Her gut told her to knock. She did.

"Who is it?" Hebe yelled.

"I'm Savannah."

"Who?" Hebe said, "Anyways, what do you need?"

"I have a favor," Savannah said quietly.

"Will you let me in?"

Hebe finally came to the door. Savannah stepped into the palace. The palace was beautiful.

The rose vases that held the flowers had a pretty tribal print around it. Maids everywhere. Unlike the other doors there was one unusual door in the back of the palace. I had an unusual,weird feeling about it.It was dark brown and was very clean.

"Ok, what do you need?" said Hebe.

"Oh right," said Savannah, "I want to become a goddess."

Hebe clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. Her faced turned bright red. She couldn't believe that someone had just begged her to turn them into a goddess.

"And you expect me to do that?"

"Yes, I will do whatever you want me to do." Savannah pleaded, "please I'm begging you."

"I don't think so, you can't just expect someone to turn you into a goddess."

"Please, what do you need done? I will do whatever you need!"

Hebe stood there and thought for a minute. Savannah just stood and waited anxiously, she really wanted to become a goddess it was her dream. Hebe had the perfect idea!

"Alright I have a perfect idea. You need to go down to Poseidon's palace and steal his Cerberus." Hebe said with an evil smile on her face.

Savannah crept along the old grey walls and then Cerberus walked up to her to see who she was. Savannah knocked him out and took him back to the palace.

Two hours later Savannah returned with the Cerberus. Hebe was delighted.

"Good job. Meet me at the Garden of the Gods tomorrow at noon. You will receive your reward there."

Savannah showed up to the Garden of the Gods at noon like Hebe told her to do. Savannah was so happy her dream was finally going to come true. Hebe emerged out of the shadows with an evil grin on her face. Savannah was kind of nervous.

"Great! You showed up like I told you to. Are you ready to get this over with?" Hebe laughed.

"Yes, I am!"

Savannah looked over and saw a little girl tied up. She was devastated. Savannah had wondered what had happened to the poor little girl.

"Alright Savannah. Today you have to make a big decision, it will change the rest of your life."

Savannah stopped and stared straight into Hebe's eyes. Savannah looked down and realized she was trembling and had a terrible headache.

"Ok. What will it be?" Savannah said nervously.

"You will either become a goddess and kill this little girl or save this little girl and never become a goddess."

Tears welled up in Savannah's eye's she knew she had to make the right decision, but she didn't know what the right decision was. She knew what she had to do. She had to become a goddess, it had been her dream her whole life and she couldn't just let a life full of dreams float away.

"I have made my decision." Savannah said, "I want to become a goddess. It has been my dream my whole life and I can't just let that go."

"You foolish little girl!" Hebe shouted, "I can't believe you would risk another person's life to fulfill a life's dream. For your foolishness, you will become a purple snake."

Hebe patted Savannah's head.Suddenly, Savannah was slithering on the ground as a snake. She knew she had made the wrong decision.

Haunting Hebe still wasn't pleased and took Savannah's to Hades's palace and Savanna was forced to stay there year long for her foolish mistake. Hebe finally made a deal with Savannah; to keep her as a snake and let her go into the real world or become a human again and never be allowed up of the underworld.

Sad Savannah chose to stay a snake and go up to the real world, but she will never be a human or a goddess all because of one little mistake that she made. Savannah was stuck as a snake forever. Savannah learned that day that she should have thought of the little girl before she thought about herself.

The Cat and the Cucumbers

By John Hebert

Once, long ago in the land of Nohumania, the land where the savanna was like gold, the trees were bright green, the mountains are tall and the oceans were clear, and there was every animal but no humans, there was a golden-brown cat named scratchers. He lived in the prairie by flowing stream next to the great forest and gardens of Biometer where the wind tasted like sunshine. Every day, he woke to the beautiful sunrise and happily roamed all day in the prairie with the other cats and the birds. He would go back to his home by the grassy riverbank when the coyotes started to howl in the evenings and the birds stopped chirping.

He ate from the gardens of Biometer but never from her cucumber plants. For she once said that whoever ate from the cucumbers would be captured by Zoos, the great god of all animals, and questioned on front of the gods with little chance of returning.

Several friendly years went by for scratchers, and he had never eaten from the forbidden cucumber plants.

One day, he and Clawers, another cat, were out enjoying the sunshine and they came around to the topic of the great garden of Biometer.

"So, in the garden, do you think that you'll ever eat any of the cucumbers?" said Clawers.

"No. Of course not," replied Scratchers.

"Me neither. But if it was the only food around, would you eat it?"

"No. I'd just look harder. There's gotta be something else to eat around."

"But what if there wasn't anything else around?"

"I'd rather starve to death. It sounds less stressful."

And so the conversation went on until they heard a soft squeaking noise next to them.

"Hay!" it said. "Listen to me."

They paused, looked around and then saw a little innocent mouse. Puzzled, they looked at each other, and slowly continued on.

"Hay! Guys! Stop! Listen to me!" It continued.

They stopped again and looked over.

"What do you want little mouse?" groaned Clawers.

"Just listen to me. If you go over and eat a cucumber from the garden of Biometer, then I, Micebe, will make you immortal."

The two cats looked at each other in disappointment.

"Just do it. I'll distract the other gods so you won't be caught," she replied.

The two looked at each other again, this time with a brighter look on their faces.

"Okay. when should we eat it?" scratchers replied.

"Right now. Just go!" She said just before she vanished.

"Where'd she go" asked confused Clawers.

"Come on! Let's go!" said Scratchers.

Once they got there, they took a cucumber, half hidden by the next to it, for Clawers was still not convinced that they should eat it, and broke it off the stem. Scratchers are it. It tasted delicious. Clawers had a nibble of the green vegetable but still wasn't convinced.

That night, Biometer looked down at her cucumbers and saw that one was missing. Others had been missing before because they fell off the stem, so she took no note of it.

The next day, the two cats pounced back. Again, they took another hidden cucumber and broke it off its stem. They shared it, Clawers eating some too, and because it tasted so good, they ate another, then another, until they had eaten five cold, colossal cucumbers.

While they were at it, Zoos had called a meeting to address the problem of the snakes eating all the birds' eggs. Because of it, Scratchers and Clawers got away unseen by anyone.

That night, Biometer looked down at her cucumber plants as usual and saw that lots of them were missing. "I don't know what is happening," she mumbled. "Tomorrow, I will keep a watch on them all day long." She told this to Zoos.

The day after that, Scratchers, Clawers, and all the other cats came to the garden and started eating the cucumbers. Everyone loved them. They ate and ate until they ate all of them.

"Zoos! The cats are eating my cucumbers!" yelled Biometer quickly.

"The cats?" said Zoos.

"Yes. The cats!" she replied.

At that moment, Zoos struck down his lightning bolt directly at the garden. It exploded everything. All the plants. All the trees. All the remaining cucumber stems. Then, a giant beam of light shined down at the cats.

"Who did this?" said Zoos with his low, powerful voice.

Awestruck at the event, the cats said nothing. They all just started at the beam of light shining above them, flummoxed, as frozen as a statue.

"Answer me," said Zoos.

The scarred cats were silent, waiting for someone to answer.

"It was I," said a quiet voice. It was Scratchers.

There was silence.

"Why did you do this horrendous act?" asked Zoos.

More silence.

"To become immortal," replied Zoos.

"Who told you that?" said zoos.

There was more silence. He couldn't remember anything. He was afraid. He didn't know what to do.

"Answer me!" thundered Zoos.

Then it came to him.

"Micebe," He replied in a shaky voice.

"MICEBE!" Zoos yelled, shaking the frantic atmosphere.

The skies became cloudy. They started to shake. Lightning crashed.

"From now on, cats would be afraid of cucumbers but cats would be able to chase down mice!" declared Zoos. And it was. And it still is that way.

Therefore, cats will panic at the sight of a cucumber, but mice will panic at the sight of a cat.

The Path to Darkness

By Dylan

Long before time was told, in a village not far from the sea, there lived the humble people of Magnatriterra. These people lived good lives and honored the gods as often as necessary. The town was always a welcoming place to people living there or just passing through. It was almost always warm and the air tasted of fresh blossoms.

But this town had someone special inside of it, his name was, Xexn. He lived on a farm with his family, Mom, Dad, and little Lory. Xexn helped in the fields planting and growing crops. But it was his way of growing the crops that marveled others. He simply stuck out his hand, concentrated real hard and the crop would grow at a tremendous rate. Within a few seconds, he would have a full grown crop.

The council of the village was afraid of Xexn but was okay with him in the village as long as he didn't use his powers for evil. Xexn kept that promise no matter how tempting it was. Even though Xexn was gifted in that way he wanted to be more, he wanted to be a hero.

A few months later after pondering the thought of becoming a hero, Xexn grew more fond of the idea. In fact, he trained every day to see what his powers could do.

One day while he was training Xexn suddenly froze at the thought of a single question. "How did I get my powers?" he asked himself.

He ran inside and found his mother organizing next year's crop placement. "Mom can I ask you a question?"

"You just did honey", she said being funny.

"Ha-ha, very funny. Now can I ask you a serious question?"

"I guess so."

"I was wondering about how I got my powers?"

His mom sighed a long disappointing sigh. She told him a story of a beautiful goddess named Gaia, the goddess of nature. She had a son but he was stolen from her by an evil nymph named Arsuisus. Arsuisus brought Gaia's son down to earth and dropped him in a river hoping that he would drown, but he didn't. One day while a village woman was out picking flowers, she saw him in the river, picked him up and brought him home. Xexn was stunned at what he had heard.

"Why did Arsuisus take me from Gaia?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, sorry" she replied.

Xexn headed back out to the barn to ponder this thought. Then he decided that he was going to meet his birth mother and then answer his questions.

Suddenly, he heard the loud screeching and yelling of the townspeople. His mom came running outside and they both dashed to see what was the matter. When they got to the beach, they found themselves stunned at the horrifying sight of a giant sea monster, "It's the Kraken, run!" The Kraken stood 100 feet tall and full of long dreadful tentacles. It grabbed several people shoving them into its mouth and ate them. Xexn felt a shot of excitement, this was the opportunity he was hoping for.

He ran up to the mighty beast and stuck out his hands. All of a sudden, long, thick vines shot out of the ground like bullets and wrapped around the Kraken. This made it fall to the ground with a hearty thump. Xexn wrapped up the tentacles so they couldn't move. After the beast was subdued, the townspeople peaked out from their hiding spots. A loud cheer roared from the crowd. Everyone was clapping. Xexn took it all in. It felt good.

Without warning, a dark cloud appeared in the sky, a pitch black chariot flew down from the cloud and landed on the ground. Everyone but Xexn fled back to their hiding spots. None other than Hades stepped off the chassis of the chariot.

"Foolish mortal!" he boomed "Do you know what you have done?" Xexn was frozen with terror. "My pet was here to graze and you interrupted her." Hades released the Kraken and it went scurrying back into the sea. "And because of this," he went on, "I will take your family's souls." Hades held up a hand and four ghost like figures came to him, and Hades put them into a jar and sealed it. Xexn watched as his mother fell to the ground, still and lifeless.

"Mom", he yelled. Hades laughed and flew off with his family's souls.

It was days after the incident when Xexn heard a knock at his door. He opened the door and saw a little elderly woman standing there, it was the town librarian. She barged in the door with a load of papers and books. She set them down on a table.

"Listen", she said," I think I know how to get your family back". Xexn felt a rush of relief and happiness. She opened up a book and showed it to Xexn. "It says here that to get a favor from Hades you have to do an even greater favor for him." She explained to Xexn that getting a soul from Hades was a big favor to ask. To get all four souls he would have to bring Hades Decapitor's ashes.

"Who the heck is Decapitor?" asked Xexn.

"He was once Hades' apprentice but got jealous that Hades was the ruler of darkness. Decapitor had a very messed up mind. It was always dark. Decapitor swore to one day become the lord of darkness. Decapitor left Hades and they have been enemies since" explained the librarian. Xexn took a long deep sigh and took all of the information in. He was shocked.

Xexn helped the librarian pack up her things and sent her on her way. Once she was gone he walked to his room and started packing. He was going to find Decapitor and bring his ashes to Hades.

He walked out of his house and took one last thoughtful look at it. He started to walk, but he stopped abruptly. "Where the heck am I going?", he thought. And dashed to the library to find the librarian standing on the steps. "I almost forgot to give you the map to his lair",she said "Sometimes I can be really stupid."

Xexn traveled on for many days through forest, desert, plain, and jungle. Following the map, he came to a large cave in a mountain. The map ended at this place. "This must be the lair of Decapitor", Xexn said to himself. Xexn walked a few feet to find a jade ax stuck in the ground. He took the ax just in case.

There was a ginormous magma chamber inside of the mountain. Xexn looked down over the ledge, when he did, a giant monster with a blazing head and midnight black horns stood up.

"I am Flamox, demon of the volcanos. What brings you here, puny mortal?" asked the raging demon.

"I am Xexn and I am here to find Decapitor" replied Xexn weakly.

The monster let out a blood curdling laugh. "I care not who you are, but the fact that you seek Decapitor humors me. You don't stand a chance." Xexn gripped the ax tightly.

"My map to Decapitor's lair ends here, tell me where I need to go".

Flamox stood up taller. "I am the guard of the second map. To get it, it must be over my corpse".

Flamox threw a flaming boulder at Xexn. Xexn just barely dodged it. The battle went on. Xexn kept attempting to lash at the beast with the ax, but always missed.

Xexn was getting tired. He didn't have much left in him, but he still kept coming. He leapt at Flamox with all of what was left of him and slashed off the head of the demon with a blow so powerful is sent the ax flying into pool of molten magma.

Flamox fell. His motionless body lying in the ash and lava.

When Xexn landed, he was on a ledge that was on the opposite side of where he began. There was a cave that continued the original path. Xexn stopped at the entrance of the cave to catch his breath. When he was ready he hurried into the cave.

After walking for a while he found a cage. He suddenly heard the words

"Help me."

They were not out loud but inside of his head. Xexn peered closer into the cage

and a majestic dragon stepped out of the shadows.

"I am Alumadon. I was captured by the horrid beast that guards this place, now he keeps me as his trophy," the dragon spoke softly and peacefully.

"If I let you go, then you will have to promise to help me on my journey," Xexn

said sternly.

"I promise," Alumidon replied. Xexn opened the gate and walked over to the rear

end of the dragon. There laid a chain clenching the dragon's ankle with its nasty grip. Xexn found a nearby rock and started banging it against the chain. It broke easily from all of the years that had worn it down. "Why didn't you break the chain? That was easy" exclaimed Xexn.

"The chain was made of nickel", replied Alumadon," Nickel makes me weak". Once Alumadon was free, he seemed to get stronger.

Xexn told Alumadon about his family, Decapitator, and the second map. Alumadon seemed surprisingly emotionless. He showed Xexn to what seemed to be a stone shrine. There in the center was the second map. Xexn carefully took it off of the shrine as if it were his mom's favorite china. Thinking of his mom made Xexn smile.

Once he possessed the map, Xexn mounted Alumadon and flew out of that dreadful place.

Xexn grew more blue every day that he was away from his parents and more determined to get their souls back.

After what seemed like days flying, the two finally came to a huge fortress covered with flames. Xexn was humbled. Alumadon landed at its towering drawbridge gate. Xexn knocked and the door fell with a disastrous CLORNCK. Xexn and Alumadon stepped inside. There were two rows of a thousand cages lined up along the walls, one on each side. They walked along the path leading to the main chamber of the lair. The air reeked of death and despair.

It wasn't long before Xexn heard a weak, "Help me."

Xexn looked back, in one of the cages was a young, beautiful woman.

"Help me," she said

"For the second time on this journey someone was asking for help" Xexn thought to himself.

Xexn walked over to the cell and tried to open it, the door wouldn't budge. Alumadon busted the door open with a ball of Krystelight ( A type of energy ). The woman thanked Xexn for the help and told him her story. She was Hebe maker of the gods and goddesses. She asked if Xexn was going to face Decapitor.

"Indeed I am " he said.

"Then let me turn you into a god, after all only gods have survived fights with Decapitor."

Xexn took the suggestion and Hebe turned him into an immortal god.

Xexn was lifted into the air while a bright aura surrounded him. Xexn then was gently lifted back down. When he looked at himself he realized he had wings.

It took Xexn a while to get use to the wings but he eventually did.

Once that was over Xexn walked to the second door, he paused, then opened it.

Decapitor was sitting on a throne in the back of the room.

"Welcome to my dearest home, ungrateful pest, I am glad that you are here. I haven't had a visitor since... well... I don't know, who cares. The important thing is that you are here"

Decapitator, being dark and creepy, shut the doors with a swipe of his hand, leaving Alumadon and Hebe behind. He lunged at Xexn with great force.

They fought a battle that could only be described as unbelievable, Decapitor was attacking with astonishing strength. For every punch Xexn laid, Decapitor laid one ten times stronger. The battle roared for several hours. Hebe and Alumadon trying with all of their might to get in to help Xexn, but the doors wouldn't budge. Finally, Xexn hammered Decapitor in the face, sending him to the ground. The doors opened and Alumadon and Hebe were allowed in. They rejoiced, not knowing that Decapitor had gotten back up. He struck Xexn, making him fall to his knees. The others jumped back frightened at what just happened. Hebe grabbed a spear off of the wall and tossed it to Xexn. Xexn stabbed Decapitor right through the chest. He stumbled backward. Slowly Decapitor started to disintegrate into ash. Hebe gave Xexn a handkerchief to collect what now remained of Decapitor.

Xexn traveled to the underworld. With Alumadon and Hebe at his side and gave the ashes to Hades. Hades agreed to return the souls of his family after confirming that the ashes were pure. Then they were instantly transported back to Magnatriterra.

Hebe said her goodbyes and left for Olympus, Alumadon was greeted as a guest in the city and as Xexn hoped he became a hero to all, now and forever.

All was at peace in Magnatriterra, Xexn was reunited with his family, he continued to protect the great city, and he was accepted by the gods. But what no one realized was that Decapitor survived but not in a true form. He must stay in the shadows. Forever lurking.

How the Unicorn Came to Be

By: Claire Hoyle

Long ago, when people were still new to the face of the Earth, there was a young horse.

Now this horse was the most handsome, and most sympathetic of all the stallions in ancient Greece. His shocking white coat and mane won all the hearts of the fair mares. But the stallion, whose name was Gizmo the Great, (or just Gizmo,) could care less about mares.They followed him around and distracted him from important thoughts. All he yearned for was to dive into the water and swim along with all the other fish. Honestly, he felt like he could do so much more good below the surface of the water.

His proud father, who was the leader of the herd, would not even let Gizmo go near the beach though, fearing he might be washed away into the waves forever. So the poor mustang would unhappily graze and gallop with the rest of the group with boredom.

One day, Gizmo was feeling rebellious though, and confronted his father with his nose high and courage pumping through his chest.

"Father, if you do not let me visit the beach, where my heart yearns to go, I will leave the herd, and never return," neighed Gizmo.

Although this comment broke his father's heart, the ancient stallion had too much pride, and would not even let his favorite son get away with disobeying him.

"You think you can get away with rebelling against your herd leader that easily," his father screeched," Do as I say or leave the herd now!"

And with that, Gizmo ran as fast as his powerful legs would carry him, and came to the edge of the beach. He regretted his act, for he knew even being by the sea would not ease his everlasting want to swim. Desperately, collapsed onto his legs, and cried a tear reaching sound that awoke the god, Poseidon.

Now Poseidon, was not only the god of the seas, but also the god of horses. He always made sure that horses were treated very well. People who misused their horses led a life of poor luck and sorrow.

So when Poseidon jumped out of his bed at the sound the Gizmo made, he quickly tried to locate where it came from. And so when he found a broken hose crying on the hot, sandy beach, overwhelming pity came over the god. Poseidon rushed to Gizmo's side and comforted the sad horse.

"Why the long face?" Poseidon joked, "Get it? Because your a horse, and y'know horses have long faces and....."

Not paying any attention to Poseidon's humor, Gizmo sighed and rested his head on the grainy sand below him.

"I long to swim with the other fish, but no horse could ever dream of doing such a thing!" Gizmo wept.

Then and there, an idea sparked in Poseidon's mind. It was true, horses could not swim, but what if Gizmo was not a horse?

"I've got it!" yelled the excited Poseidon, "What if I turned you into a fish?"

Gizmo had a questioning look on his face for a moment, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized he could do it.

"I'll do it!" cried Gizmo.

With those three words, started wondering what kind of fish he could turn Gizmo into.

"One problem, I can only turn mammals into other mammals. So are you okay with being a whale or dolphin of the sort?" asked Poseidon.

"As long as I can swim in the colorful sea!" grinned Gizmo.

With his mind made up, Poseidon took his great powers of the sea and started to create his masterpiece. Waves crashed, clouds gathered, and the wind started to roar. Gizmo could feel himself starting to change. His strong, lean muscles turned to blubber and fat. The once silky white coat that famed Gizmo transformed gray and bald. And the most drastic changes were the size of Gizmo, and the 8 foot long horn that grew from his forehead. Then, all at once, instead of a handsome young stallion beside him, Poseidon was feasting upon his eyes a narwhal.

Gizmo gazed at himself. Wow, now he could really swim! Without another thought, Gizmo, who was now a narwhal, crashed into the ocean and started to swim away, surprisingly well for his first time.

"Wait!" called irritated Poseidon, " I have to warn about something!"

Gizmo turned his head around to see why Poseidon was calling.

"Don't go near any of the other narwhals, because if you do, they will know who you were and kill you!"

Gizmo nodded to Poseidon and dived way down into the depths of the Mediterranean.

As Gizmo looked around at the crystal blue magic that surrounded him, he felt great happiness arise through him. He swam wherever his heart would lead him, and did it without care.

After hours of exploring what would be his new home, Gizmo came across a dark, mysterious cave. So not thinking of what might be inside, he rushed in to explore. But when he reached the main part of the cave, his heart jumped. In front of him, A body with a long,dark horn slept peacefully in the water in front of him. And when the dark figure in front awoke, Gizmo lost his breath.

Then realizing he didn't have gills, Gizmo could not breath. He swam as quickly as he could towards the surface, Gizmo plunged out of the water and gulped in a big breath of water. The waves crashed and churned from the body weight impact of Gizmo. When he was okay again, he dived back down into the depths. But when he turned around, he saw the figure who was in the cave.

"AHHHH! Please don't kill me!" wailed Gizmo.

But when he looked at the figure, Gizmo realized that it was not a narwhal swimming before him, but a curious swordfish.

"Calm down kid, I won't hurt you," said the swordfish.

"Who are you?" questioned Gizmo.

"I, am Miltonaties, the great swordfish that bows before you," replied the swordfish, " But you can just call me Milton." and he winked at Gizmo, " Who are you?"

" I'm Gizmo the Great, but just call me Gizmo."

" Well, looks like both of our parents had big expectations!" said Milton sarcastically.

" Ha ha, well, I guess I'll see you around then," pressed on Gizmo.

"Ok, see you later!" said Milton happily

With that, the small swordfish swam off and left Gizmo with a confusing, happy feeling inside of his horn.

After many days, the two became great friends. Milton taught Gizmo to catch small prey fish and where the best real estate was at the time. A few times, they almost ran into a big gang of narwhals that hung around the area. But they always managed to stay out of sight.

One day, when the friends were looking for food, Milton decided to go get food from a smaller area where Gizmo could not fit into.

"Okay, should I wait here then?" asked Gizmo.

"Nah, go home and go take a breath. I'll save some fish for you big guy," answered Milton.

Gizmo nodded gratefully and went home to get a big gulp of air. As he looked out onto the beach where he had been turned to a narwhal before though, he saw something familiar. A large, elderly stallion was sadly yearning for something dearly over the horizon. The closer he got, he realized it was his father.

"Why! I told him to stay away from the water, but he wouldn't listen. And now he is dead!" whinnied the sad horse.

When Gizmo saw his father like this, he wanted to go up and comfort him. Then, he realized he gave up the ability to do that when he left him. Deep guilt came over Gizmo, and as he tasted undecidedness come,dove back down into the water. And what he saw next replaced his guilt with horror and anger.

Poor Milton lay there on a rock, turning the the water making around him salty and thick with blood.

"Milton!" screeched Gizmo, and he ran up to check on his friend. The swordfish had several ripped fins and a chipped nose.

"Who did this to you?" he wept.

Milton whispered pathetically, "The narwhals."

Without another word, and forgetting his promise to Poseidon, Gizmo swam off to avenge his friend.

"Why did you hurt my friend!" snarled Gizmo.

Three narwhals turned their heads around to find a small narwhal staring at them with hate in his eyes. And two of them managed to dodge him just before the third one was impaled with his tusk.

"What do ya think you are doing, bud?" the largest narwhal said. Then, a whiff caught his senses. This was not a narwhal hovering in the water before him, but a horse with a narwhal body.

" Easy, pretty pony! You think you can just show up here, and kill one of my friends like that?" he said, "I don't think so! Vinnie! Get him."

Both large narwhals charged Gizmo, and started to stab him with their tusks.

Poseidon heard the commotion from Mount Olympus. Angrily, he guessed what had happened. But because he had really like Gizmo, he took miraculous mercy on him. With a snap of his fingers, Gizmo was instantly washed up onto the shore, as a horse once again.

When Gizmo woke up, he realized he could breath, and that he was no longer surrounded by water, but by air. It almost felt like, oh no..... Gizmo was once again a horse. But why did his head still feel heavy? When Gizmo looked up, he saw a small, white horn sticking up out of his forehead, just like when he was a narwhal. Gizmo was very sad, but slightly relieved at the same time.

When he looked up, a beautiful maiden shining like a star, stood before him.

"Who are you?" wondered aloud Gizmo.

"I am Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty. I am here to comfort you, the poor, handsome thing. You have gone through so much suffering, and deserve a bit of love." cooed the maiden.

Aphrodite stroked and fed Gizmo ambrosia and nectar, foods only the gods got to enjoy. She longed to take him home with her, but she new that it would only lead to trouble. Instead, she settled on a different idea.

"I will make your beautiful horn magic, and give you the gift of everlasting life, young stallion. Then nobody will dare to harm you," sweetly said Aphrodite. And with that, she cast her fingers upon his horn, and a golden spark steadily flowed from it. Gizmo also felt new energy flow through his exhausted body.

"Thank you, kind goddess!" neighed Gizmo, and she smiled. The refreshed stallion ran through the woods to try out his new magic.

Once in the woods, he came across a sad young filly. He trotted up to her to see what was wrong. Right away, he noticed her leg was twisted in a weird angle.

"Are you okay little one, what happened?" he gently asked.

The young horse sadly looked up at Gizmo, slightly confused by his horn, but blinded to questions from pain.

"I wanted to fly, like a bird, but when I jumped, i fell and hit the ground." she whimpered.

Understanding for the fully filled his heart, and he decided to do something, something that would do good. He hopped with exhilaration at the idea.

"I have magic in this strange horn, you see. I could make you fly!" he suggested.

Disbelief shone from her eyes, and she lost the little trust she had in him.

" How do I know if this is not some sort of trick?" she hesitated.

Gizmo instantly started to prove his magic real. He faced a flower, who had not yet blossomed, and put his horn to work. After a few moments, the flower slowly started to open it's pastel pink petals, now bursting with life. Eventually, the young bud had now opened it's pollen to the world.

The speechless foal stared in amazement. She filled with hope at the performance.

" Please, do it," was her response.

At those words Gizmo pointed his horn at the filly, and put all his energy into the difficult task. Steadily, small feathers appeared on the mare's back, then grew larger, and larger, until the filly in front of him shone two glorious wings sprouting from her back. Gizmo was surprised even with his own work, and filled with pride.

"How could I ever thank you!" whinnied the filly.

As she used her powerful wings to lift her into the air, the young mare slowly started to fly off. But before he lost sight of her Gizmo called her a question.

"What is your name?"

In the distance, he heard what sounded like the name "Pegasus." He grinned to himself and started to continue his trot through the forest.

Gizmo was never to be seen, or heard from again. People tried to catch him, and use him for his magic. Yet, they would always return from their mission submitted and empty handed. Some said that Gizmo returned to the herd of mustangs and still romes with them today, others say that he used his magic to turn back into a narwhal, and spend his days swimming with the fish. After time, Gizmo was nicknamed, the "unicorn," and earned the love of all children throughout the world.

In the end, Gizmo realized though, that you don't have to become something else to do great things, but just be happy.

How Tigers Came to Be

By:Zane Kondratieff

A long time ago in ancient Greece there was a warrior named Tirion. He was strong and powerful, and he led an entire army. And no one was ever brave enough to fight him, for he was famous for being so strong that no one could beat him in combat. He and his army had started to conquer more and more land until he had conquered all the area that became Greece. Greece then became a great city with temples, houses, wonderful architecture, art, and many more great things. Tirion became more and more proud of himself. Eventually, he became so full of himself began to call himself a god. After a long time of his talk the people of ancient Greece began to call him a god. They even said he was greater than Zeus.

Then one day, Zeus came in human form and asked Tirion, "Are you truly a god? Are you really better than the great Zeus?"

"I am, I am Tirion the one who conquered all this sacred land,"

Then Zeus suddenly revealed himself to Tirion, "I am Zeus the head of the gods, if you truly are a god and a better one than I am prove it to me!" Zeus roared like a lion.

"And I know just how you will do it, a god would be able to kill the Chimera, the Nian, and the Hydra. But no mortal ever has," said Zeus. "If you cannot do this then I will send you straight to the underworld for disobeying a god."

"I'll do it," Tirion said confidently.

Tirion took his army with him after he had Zeus's permission, for entire armies had tried to vanquish the Chimera before never succeeding. When they neared its birthplace, they all looked over the massive hill, the only thing between them and this infamous beast.

Tirion then devised a plan but his men became unsure of what to do. Half of them charged the beast. Tirion cried out but it was too late the beast saw them and immediately the lion head devoured some of them while the dragon head burned all the remaining men. Tirion knew had to save the other half of his men. He sprinted out and threw the carcass of an entire cow to the lion head. The lion head began to eat but the dragon and goat needed food too so they all began fighting over the meat Tirion had given them. The rest of the army along with Tirion watched until the beast had fought so much it was on the brink of exhaustion. It then fell over and went to sleep then the men came out of hiding and stabbed each of the heads. After the defeat of the chimera, the men were in high spirits except those who had lost friends for half of the army was destroyed in just one battle.

Next, the men marched to the home of the Nian. Unfortunately for them, the nian was smarter than the Chimera. The closer they got the closer they were to the sea and soon enough they could taste the salty air.

Using its magic, the nian crept behind the remaining force and stole five men at a time until only five men along with Tirion were left. Since they were in the front, they never noticed the nian stealing his men away until it had stolen all but six. After that, they were aware of it so it did not try to take any more men instead it confronted them directly. Next, Tirion had an idea he told his men to keep it busy while he ran off into the trees. He quickly took two huge ropes and tied them to the tops of two trees about 20 feet away from each other. He then pulled them so the trees were bent then he took the rope and made a loop each end. He took a small vine and tied the two loops together and then set it down and covered it with leaves. Then he set his bow in a nearby bush and ran back out he told his men fighting the nian to follow him. They all ran behind the bush and when the nian came running after them Tirion picked up his bow.

Right when the beasts two front legs where in the loops, Tirion shot the vine and the two trees pulled the rope tight and the loops pulled up the nian hanging by his two front legs. The nian struggled but the ropes were too thick and tight. It eventually stopped. When one man approached it, the nian breathed fire on him and burned him. So, Tirion saw that by cutting one rope it would fling the beast into the ocean so he dived in and cut the rope quickly. The two trees straightened out flinging the nian into ocean never to be seen here again.

After the nian was taken care of Tirion with four men out of the 5,000 men he had headed to the cave of the legendary Hydra. When they reached the rocky territory of the hydra the air began to smell of rotting flesh, probably from the hydra's last victims.

This time Tirion didn't want to lose any men so he immediately stopped and made a plan with his men, he would need every single one of their help. They climbed to the top of the cave and made sure he would smell their scent. But they each set up rows of boulders on top of the cave. They heard him coming then two heads poked out and all the boulders came down. Tirion saw what they were doing the hydra was much smarter than it looked the two heads were destroyed under tons of boulders but the hydra did that on purpose.

It was now aware of where they were. The hydra ran out and devoured all his men but one. As fast as a cheetah they scrambled up the rocky cliff side but still the hydra caught his last man and ate him whole. Now it was Tirion's turn there was no way he could get out of this situation it was the end. The hydra picked him up and shook him so his weapons fell out of his belt he could do nothing. For the first time, Tirion felt helpless in the last 10 seconds before he was dropped into one of the head's mouth, he prayed to Zeus but Zeus was unforgiving to Tirion and thought he deserved this punishment.

Next, Tirion was dropped into the mouth of the head. He was being mauled by the giant sharp teeth he was bleeding all over and knew he had received many injuries. Suddenly, he noticed something shiny stuck in between two of the teeth. Tirion felt the part that was sticking out, it felt like a leather handle. It was an axe. He grabbed the handle but he was being swallowed but he held on with all his might he finally pulled it out of the giant tooth.

Then Tirion took it and slammed it into the roof of the mouth. He hit it so hard it's skull cracked in half and the head fell down dead then using almost all his strength he crawled out. He noticed the only thing holding up the cave entrance, which the hydra's heads were directly under, was a dead hollowed out tree then with all his might he threw the axe into the tree breaking it in two with the tree broken the cave collapsed right on top of the hydra. Tirion made sure it was dead then he passed out.

When he awoke again, he felt he could walk so he got up and went to Olympus to talk to Zeus.

"Zeus how dare you leave me to die when I pleaded for help. I did all that you asked even when you rebuke me and now I am scarred everywhere and will never be able to function the same again!" yelled Tirion to Zeus.

"You did do all that I asked of you and for that you shall be rewarded but for your disrespect to me and all of the gods. I will also punish you. I will first turn you into an orange beast and you will have black stripes from your scars and to remember your battles. You will also have sharp teeth and claws to represent your power when you conquered all of Greece. You shall also be immortal and I will name your species Tiger," Said Zeus.

"So be it," replied Tirion and he was turned into the first tiger.

Battle of the Supernaturals

By: Ben Kosacz

Once upon a time, on top of the mighty mountain named Mt. Olympus rested the kingdom of the Greek gods. Their palace was built upon the columns of the strongest stones anyone had ever heard of which were decorated by the finest artists in Greece with lush landscapes carved into them.

The god of the sky, Zeus, sat on his golden laced throne of power and wielded his lightning bolt in his hand. He zapped tiny mortals whenever he chose at an attempt to cure his boredom but was never satisfied enough.

He questioned Poseidon, his brother and god of the seas, while slumped in his chair, "What can I do up here? Being a sky god sure is boring, ugh."

Poseidon laughed. "Of course there is something to do," he said. "We can play games, drink sweet lemonade, uhhh, we can play games."

"You already said that," Zeus responded while rolling his eyes.

"Oh. Oops. I guess there really isn't much stuff to do here."

"I wonder what our lonely brother Hades is doing. He must also be bored down there watching the dead and dreary people of the Underworld."

Hades, god of the Underworld, sat in his throne of bones and drank wine out of his silver goblet lined with amethyst. The screams of the tortured didn't seem to have fazed or disturbed his relaxation. How queer. And scary, too.

Meanwhile in Rome, the Roman gods sat in their pretty palace. It sat in the Valley of the Gods which was expected. The palace was painted red, green, and yellow to attract everyone's attention. It was a strongly obnoxious sight. A fountain spurted out water. It dripped, dripped, and still dripped until time itself ended. Plink plop. Jupiter, the Roman god of the sky, laid in his bed and slept. Neptune, the Roman equivalent of Poseidon, slept, too.

The hall of the gods was filled with snoring supernaturals. It was as loud as a jet engine.

Pluto, the lord of the Underworld, yawned of boredom. Somnus watched over him, preparing to put the man to sleep just like the other gods.

Pluto looked above him. "Hey!"he yelled furiously.

"Uh-oh," thought startled Somnus as he retreated away.

Pluto raced to the other gods and told every Roman god to follow him to chase Somnus. He told them.about how Somnus pranked them.

"That insolent fool! Let's get him!" yelled Pluto.

For many days and nights, the furious gods chased Somnus. He led them all the way from the Roman Empire over to Greece.

Finally, he stopped. Somnus laid down at the base of Mt. Olympus to take a rest, ironically. Little did he know that this was the home of the great Greek gods.

Zeus looked down and saw what looked like a human. He obviously decided to zap him with his lightning bolt. Zap!

"Hey!" yelped the disturbed Somnus.

"What? How did you not die?" yelled the vexed Zeus down from the never ending mountain.

"I'm a god, idiot!"

"Come up here and show yourself."

Somnus rolled his eyes, "Fine, whatever."

As Somnus flew up to the summit of the mountain, Zeus stood there waiting.

"You look like Hypnos," said Zeus.

"Who is Hypnos? I am Somnus, the Roman god of sleep. And you are..."

"I am Zeus, king of the gods and Greek lord of the sky. Duh."

"But, there are only Roman gods, Greek gods don't exist."

"Clearly, you are wrong and I am right because it's the other way around."

"Nu-uh!"

"Ya-huh!"

As the the two gods bickered and babbled like baboons, the Roman gods soon caught up and saw Somnus on the mountain. They also flew up to him and the other muscular man. The gods quickly forgot that they were pursuing Somnus by the sight of him arguing with the strange man.

"Woah! There are more of you?" shouted the perplexed Zeus.

"What's all of the commotion?" shouted Poseidon who was followed by the other 11 Greek gods.

"I was just telling this 'Roman god' that only Greek gods exist," responded Zeus in an annoyed tone.

"I was telling your friend Zeus here that Roman gods are the only gods," said Somnus.

"Ya! He's right!" cheered the other 11 Roman gods who were behind him."

"Well then," pronounced Ares, the Greek god of war, "there is only one way to settle this. War!"

"Ares is right, for once. We must fight each other. In the end, only one group of the gods will win and the other group will be dead," said Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom.

The two powerful forces met each other at the field of grass below Mt. Olympus. Once all of them were suited in armor and ready to fight, they charged at each other. Their battle cries rang through the air. Swords hit shields and arrows flew into armor.

Day and night, the gods continued to battle. Many were getting tired, but they never gave up. The sun heated and reflected off their heavy armor. Sweat dripped from their bodies.There was never any significant progress made since they were all gods. Ichor, the golden blood of the gods, stained the grass and dirt around in the battlefield.

The gods each fought their counterpart. Zeus took on Jupiter, Poseidon battled Neptune, Hades and Pluto jousted at each other, and so on.

They were angry at the fact that they had another god that was able to take their place. But they weren't just angry. They felt scared. Scared to admit that they had to accept that they can't be the only gods. Scared to accept that both forces can have peace and happiness.

Only two gods were able to find unity and accord with each other. They were never given attention, but they didn't care. Dionysus and Bacchus, the gods of wine and the vine, had mostly taken their spots in the palace, also. They never married and never cared. They never got the gods to discontinue their fury with each other. That was something they did care about. In fact, it was almost the only thing they cared about. Their names were Hestia and Vesta, goddesses of the hearth, home, and family.

"Stop!" yelled Hestia and Vesta. The women stood on the mountain top, overlooking the battle. They decided not to fight because there was no point.

"What is the point of fighting when we are all gods. We can't die. Ever. We are immortal," pointed out Vesta rubbing her soft shawl.

"Isn't it your job to be the wise one Athena?" said Hestia accusingly.

"Uhh... My bad," said Athena guiltily.

"Only joking," responded the chuckling Hestia. "I say we all gather around a big fire in the Greek god's palace. Hebe said she was happy to serves us as long as were stopped fighting," said Hestia.

"Fine," said all the gods while rolling their eyes except for Mars and Ares who were the gods of war.

"No! We want to keep fighting." they said stubbornly.

"Alright, see you later," said Vesta while smiling for she knew they would want to come in eventually after they smelled the sweet ambrosia.

While the rest of the gods sat down inside drinking golden nectar and eating ambrosia, Ares and Mars soon got lonely while fighting in the cold, dark night. The two of them grudgingly walked in through the castle doors.

'We knew you would come in," said Vesta.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," said Ares acting childish.

The hall of the gods were filled with laughter and rejoice. Most of them were hazy from the thick, honeyed nectar, too. But that didn't stop them from partying hard.

By morning, all of them were out cold. Although, this time it wasn't Somnus' fault for he himself was snoring like a roaring lion.

By noon, the gods woke up and the Romans were on their way home. The gods would meet again soon, though. But for a different reason. A reason that decided if their reign over the Earth would come to an end or not. That is a story for another time.

Adventures of Cosmo

By Kevin Luo

I was sitting on the front porch of my home staring at the sky while the sun was shining brightly and white clouds were floating like huge marshmallows.There were birds chirping and the sounds of laughter from kids playing were off in the distance. The wind was gently walking around making a whistling sound.

My home was quite large compared to other houses in Rome. The outside was made of oak wood painted light brown and the front door was a dark mahogany color. Delicate windows were also dotted around the walls. In the back, there was a peaceful large landscape where all my cows grazed gnawing at the dry yellow grass.

I started staring blankly at the sky while drinking some wine from my golden goblet. After just a couple more glasses, I was feeling a little hazy. Memories attacked my brain. I was overflowed with memories from a long time ago. Memories I had locked up. I remembered myself when I was just a young man. I was stronger and taller than other people in my village. Like the other villagers, I had messy, chocolate colored hair, but my wise blue eyes strongly resembled my mom. My skin was covered with ash from working in the blacksmith. The smell of coal blocked my nose and all my clothes were old and torn up.

One afternoon when I had just came home after working in the blacksmith, I started to hear loud screams and the ground shook. I thought it was the angry Poseidon, god of the sea, so I immediately went to the temple to pray for his forgiveness for whatever I had done. But I was wrong. It was not Poseidon's fault. It was something much worse.

As I walked home in fear passing the blacksmith, I saw something in the reflection of a silver shield. Monsters started pouring down the hill led by the feared minotaur and the most feared gorgon ever, Medusa. The minotaur was carrying his large double headed axe. His large horns and muscular body brought fear over the village. While on the other hand was Medusa peacefully walking down the hill. The snakes in her hair moved anxiously around in anticipation to kill people. Lucky for me, I only saw her in the reflection of a shield, but I couldn't say the same for others. There were already about 12 stone cold statues in the distance.

Everyone was in great panic. The screams of dying men and women filled the air.

But I wouldn't let this happen. No. I had to do something. I couldn't hide while my comrades were slaughtered. I immediately entered the blacksmith, shoved open the thick oak door, and started to prepare.

I grabbed an iron breastplate and helmet. Picked up the sharpest spear and sword I could find and took off for the hill.

The amount of corpse on the ground increased like wildfire. Blood was splattered over walls and houses were torn apart.

I charged at a cyclops. He was twice the size of a house and wielded a wooden bludger with spikes at the end. Adrenaline surged through my body. The cyclops saw me and tried to smack me with his bludger, but hit a huge boulder next to me. Rocks sprang up and pelted into me. But I wouldn't go down this easy. I got right up and stabbed my spear into his thigh. He fell and let out a huge groan. I finished him off with my sword which I stabbed into his eye.

I was extremely tired but picked up my weapons and went on to kill my next enemy. As I sprinted up the hill, I noticed a chimera burning down my house. My parents were running around in panic. Its fire breath was shooting out of its mouth with no signs of stopping. As I engaged I noticed it had three heads. One of them was a lion with a huge golden main. To the left of it was a emerald green serpent with a long tongue and razor teeth. And to the right was a goat with sharp horns. The Chimera had a body of a lion with blood red wings.

I knew that I probably couldn't have killed this beast like I had done to the cyclops but I was going to try. As I approached, the serpent noticed me and within an instance the fire stopped and it was staring right at me. By this time, I was tempted to run but it was too late for that. The chimera could easily catch up to me and probably eat me as an on to go snack. So, I decided to stand my ground.

Suddenly, fire started to sprout out its mouth. I tried to dodge it but bits of the fire still hit me and burnt my clothes. I started to get tired, so I tried something risky. I charge straight at the Chimera and got into stabbing distance of it. As my arm lifted into the air with my sword, the serpent on its head bit me. A deep cut sprouted in my arm and blood poured down on the burnt grass. I dropped my sword as the poison rushed through my veins. The pain was unbearable. As I slowly closed my ears, I saw the chimera eat my mom and dad whole. And then I was dead.

My soul slowly drifted through the underworld. It was very dark but some areas where lit up with dark red lanterns. In front of me the the god of the Underworld himself, Hades. He was wearing a dark purple cloak and had lightning blue hair. In one of his hands he carried his helm of darkness and in the other a golden scepter with a tip made of diamond.

I tried to warn him about the monsters but no sound came out of my mouth.

As I slowly drifted helplessly through the land of the dead, something didn't feel right. I passed all the other souls who were drifting helplessly like me and entered what seemed like Hades palace. It was a dark, tall building with fires lit all around it and a tall fence separating it from everything else. Inside was a huge hallway with a dark red carpet and blazing torches lit on the sides. The ceiling went so high up that I couldn't see the top. I still didn't know where Hades was taking me.

Suddenly, we entered a huge room with a gold tiled floor and walls covered with shiny gems. Hades who still had a dark look on his face set down his helmet and took hold of his scepter with both hands.

"You, Cosmo have been recognized by great gods of Olympus as a brave hero," thundered Hades in a deep voice, "You my friend shall be given the gift of a second chance ordered by Zeus himself."

"Uhhhh, thanks," I replied realizing I could speak again, "Can you bring back my parents too?"

"I am afraid I cannot do that, it is very rare one man is given another chance much less an entire family"

"Thaaats ok," I replied with tears running down my pale ghostly face.

"As you are probably well aware of the most feared monsters we know are gathering up their forces to take down Mt Olympus once and for all," said Hades in a desperate tone, "As you haved proved your heroic ability, Zeus has ordered me to ask for your assistance in the crisis."

"Sure, I want to get revenge on that stupid chimera for killing my parents."

"So, it is settled then, now I will help bring you back to life"

I slowly closed my eyes and waited for what was going to happen next. Thump! Hades hit the ground with his scepter and as I opened my eyes to see what was happening white light surrounded me and next thing I knew I woke up in the middle of a field.

It was a bright, sunny day with few clouds in the sky. I stared around but to only find that the dark green grass seemed to go on forever.

"Was this a prank?" I thought to myself.

With nothing else to do, I strolled around with no expectation of finding anything. There were snow white rabbits prancing around with their bright pink ears. Bees were busily buzzing around gathering pollen.

Then, the lovely goddess Demeter appeared out of thin air.

"Ahhh!" I screamed.

Demeter wore a white cloak that smelled like honey. On her head, she wore an olive leaf wreath that sat upon her blonde hair.

"Sorry to scare you," Demeter said, "Zeus has sent me to take you to Hephaestus, god of the fire and forge."

"Why?" I stammered.

"He is to craft you divine armor and godly weapons."

"So then, where do we go?" I replied with great excitement.

"Oh that is not what I am here to do," said Demeter as she pointed to the sun, "that is up to Apollo, god of light and truth."

Apollo descended from the sky in his bright orange chariot lined with gold. He wore a cloak matching the color of his chariot and held a small wooden harp in his hand.

"Come aboard!" Apollo laughed.

I slowly climber aboard his chariot and seated myself on one of the seats.

"Hold on the something!" He yelled.

The chariot zoomed into the air. It was going so fast that everything around me was a blur. It felt like seconds since we were in the grassy field and now me were in a mountain.

"Here's your stop!"

The chariot stopped in front of tall steel door imbedded in the mountain. I climbed out of the chariot and the door flew open. There stood Hephaestus. He was a very tall and muscular man and wore an oversized cloak smothered in ash. His hair was full of soot and his face covered in dust.

"Welcome Cosmo!" Hephaestus thundered.

He let me inside the mountain where there was a huge hall way. We both walked forward in silence until I noticed a beautiful set of armor.

"Excuse me," I said with a shaky voice and pointing to the set of armor,"Is this the actual set of armor Achilles wore in the Trojan War?'

"Yes, yes ,yes I remember making that beauty all too well, but today I will craft you something even for magnanimous.

Now I was feeling excited. We walked on passing a couple more sets of armor and then we stopped.

"Ok, I need you to stretch you arms out," Hephaestus said while fumbling through a shelf.

I did as told.

"Ahh, there it is," Hephaestus said as he pulling out a tape measure.

He pressed a button and tape measure flew into action. It measured the length of my arms, my height, and somehow my weight.

"Why are you measuring me?"

"It is to see how I should craft your armor."

"Ohhhh," I said feeling stupid.

"Sit here," Hephaestus commanded as he pointed to a comfy looking chair.

I sat down and immediately felt relaxed. It was a steel rocking chair with super soft cushions.

Hephaestus left the room and in what seemed like ages came out with unbelievable set of armor, a bow, and a sword. The armor was made a rare and durable metal called celestial bronze. The sides were spoiled with jewels. I tried it on. The armor fit so perfectly it felt like I was wearing a regular shirt. The sword was also celestial bronze, but the part that caught my eye the most of the middle of the sword. Diamonds were spaced evenly in the middle.

I was amazed and over overjoyed. I picked up the blade and instantly I realized that it was the lightest sword I had ever held. The hilt was soft and fell perfectly into my grip. Lastly, I examined the bow. The hilt was made of beautifully decorated cherry wood. I picked up the light bow realizing I didn't have any arrows. Before I could say a word, Hephaestus had gone back into the room, made a quiver full of arrows and came back out.

"Sorry about that," said Hephaestus.

I was speechless.

"Thank you so much," I said finally finding my voice again.

"No problem," replied Hephaestus with great pride.

Hephaestus escorted me to the steel door and there was Apollo again.

"How was it?" he said.

"It was incredible," I replied, "here look at his.

I passed him the dazzling sword.

"That is something!"

"Yeah, I can't believe that it is mine."

I jumped in Apollo's chariot and said my goodbyes. And yet again, I was speeding through the sky. This time we were traveling to a different mountain. One much taller.

As we arrived at the top, I finally got a glimpse of the one and only Mt. Olympus. It was a huge palace made of solid gold and perfect marble columns. In front, was a well tended garden. A marble fountain sat in the middle and a rainbow of flowers surrounded it. And hovering over the fountain was the king of all gods. He wore a golden olive wreath that gave a strong resemblance to a crown. The sides were spoiled with rubies and emeralds. His vanilla white cloak was lined with gold and had a thunderbolt design in the middle.

"Welcome, welcome!" roared Zeus as he descended to the ground," I see that Hephaestus has made you some pretty snazzy armor."

"Yeah, it is so comfortable and the sword and bow are also amazing!"

"Good, good, good, you will needs them for what is coming next."

"What are doing next then?"

"All the gods are preparing to defend our home," said Zeus in a worrying voice, "Hermes has found out that the monsters are attacking today."

"Uh-oh."

"You should get prepared too, we are all going to meet at the fountain once everyone is done."

"Ok."

Zeus led me inside a small room in the great palace. I didn't get much of look inside, but I noticed everything was made of expensive gems and metals. The room wasn't very big, but had marbles walls carved with a plethora of designs.

I quickly equipped my armor, put my sword in my quiver, and took hold of my bow. I rushed outside to find all the other gods all ready and prepared for battle. Almost everyone was there. Artemis and Apollo both held bows. Artemis' had a moon on it while Apollo's had a sun. Ares and Athena were both wearing armor like mine and held long, pointy spears. Hephaestus also wore godly armor and held a dangerously big hammer with spikes on both sides. Lastly, there were the three legendary brothers, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Zeus obviously had his famous lightning bolt and Poseidon had his trident. Then there was hades. He looked the way I had seen him in the Underworld. He didn't look prepared at all and only held his helmet (to be fair it could make him invisible) and a stygian iron dagger which could drain the life out of anyone. But that was all he had.

"Hey everyone put these on," said Hephaestus as he passed everyone strange pieces of clear material, "put these on your eyes and you won't turn to stone when you look at Medusa."

Everyone obeyed.

"Everybody listen up!" roared Zeus, "We need to be ready from all sides when the monsters attack so I want everyone in there positions and Cosmo I need a quick talk with you."

"Sure."

"I know this is a little out of your comfort zone but..."

"Don't worry, this is going to be a piece of cake... right?"

"Yeah it's just that the gods have never fought these monsters before because they have made heroes do it for them, so I need you to put in your all to set an example for the other gods."

I was astonished. "You're kidding right?"

"No, the whole reason we have brought you all this way is because we have seen your potential and skill."

"Ohh thanks....but do you think I can take on all those monsters?"

"That is why I have asked Athena and Ares help you."

"How?"

"Ares had given you strength and Athena has made you impossible to hit with any weapon but..."

"But what?"

I turned around and there they were. The monsters. There were only cyclops and harpies, but most of us knew they were only sent to tire us out. The more powerful monsters were nowhere is sight. Apollo and Artemis were doing to most damage standing on a balcony on the palace with their bows. Soon, the floor was littered with dead cyclop and harpies covered with arrows and blood. So far, no one was really tired but Apollo and Artemis. They both sat down to take a little break while the rest of us got ready for the more powerful monsters.

All of a sudden, the army of monsters appeared across from us. The front lines were made up of more cyclops and the occasional harpy. But behind them was the real deal. The most feared monsters ever could be seen towering over the cyclops. And then I saw it, the chimera that killed my parents. We stared each other in the eye and now I was determined to take it out. Without thinking, a raced at it. I mowed through cyclops after cyclops with my godly sword. My mind was overflowed with anger and the thought of vengeance. I was so focused on getting to the chimera I forgot about everything else. In the distance I saw the mighty brothers Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades holding off the minotaur, Medusa, and the hydra. Ares and Athena were taking on the dangerous typhoon while Hapetus was lazily sitting on a cannon he had made shooting balls of flame at the cyclops. But something didn't seem right. Where was scylla?

As if right on cue, scylla appeared behind me. She snatched me up with one of her six months and tried to chew me up like a dog toy. Lucky for me, Hephaestus' armor was no match for scylla's teeth. Her teeth couldn't pierce my armor but only made little scratches.

"Help!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

Artemis and Apollo got up and started showering arrows on scylla but there were too many harpies around her acting as a shield. I started to panicked. Thoughts of death flooded my brain.

"Cosmo use your sword!" hollered Artemis and Apollo.

I abruptly snapped out of it and drew out my sword. I swung at the monster's neck and barely managed to cut it off. I fell out of the sky and landed on the ground with a huge thud. Now the scylla was furious. It tried to catch me again but this time was shot down by the talented archers.

"Thanks!" I screamed while I walked away and remember my initial task.

The chimera was still in the backlines breathing out fire hoping it would hit one of the gods. It didn't take long for me the get in front of the chimera because a Athena's help. Every time the cyclops tried to hit me with their bludgers, they missed and I was able to stab them with great strength because of Are's help.

Swiftly, the chimera turned towards me. Its three heads still as scary as ever.

I pulled out my bow and shot a couple of arrow at its body. They all hit but didn't seem to do anything. I was pretty confident that the chimera couldn't hurt me so I did something stupid. I tried the thing that got me killed. I charge head on at it with my sword. This time I was ready for the snake. It tried to bite me but I cut it off right on time. What I didn't expect was the goat. It hit me hard in the chest and I flew back. It took me awhile to get my breath back but when I did I charged again. I managed to dodge the goat and impaled my sword in its chest. Before it fell the lion used all the strength it had left to breath fire at me. Even my armor couldn't hold it off. The flames were so hot that I crashed to the ground along with the chimera.

Unanticipatedly, I woke up in the middle of what seemed like hospital. I saw a blurry faces above me but had no energy to get up.

"Open your mouth," said a familiar voice that sounded like Apollo.

I used all my strength to open my mouth and Apollo slipped a yellow pill in it. All of a sudden I felted alive and sat up.

"What was that?" I asked.

"A medicine I created for the gods, but seeing as you were really hurt I gave you some." replied the god of medicine, Apollo.

"Well, thanks then."

I stood up and found numerous burnt marks on my skin.

"Can you get rid of these burns?"

"Sorry, I tried and got the majority of it but it was really bad."

"Sooo, what do I do now?"

"Go ask Zeus, he is by the fountain with the other gods."

Disappointed, I walked toward the fountain. As a entered the courtyard where the fountain stood, all the gods from the battle bowed towards me.

"What happened when I was out?" I asked surprised that everything looked normal again.

"Well, all of us were really busy fighting to monsters that we didn't notice you were missing until the battle was over. After it was done all of us looked around to find you and Apollo was the first to do so. He took you to the medical room and let you rest awhile." replied Zeus.

"How long was I unconscious?"

"About three days."

"Wow! Ummm thanks a lot for everything."

"Actually we should be the ones thanking you. You heroically slayed the chimera and helped take out scylla. Because of this, we have decided to award you with an infinite fortune, swift travel wherever you go, and constant protection provided by us."

"Thanks so much. I can't believe I deserve all of this."

"You should be very proud of yourself. Apollo will take you wherever you want."

"Good bye then everyone."

"Bye!" called all the gods.

I strolled over to the edge of the mountain and somehow Apollo was already waiting for me in the front seat of his chariot.

"Where do you want to go."

"Rome."

We took off and soon enough I was in Rome.

"Thanks for the ride."

"No problem, have a great time."

Apollo sped off and was out of sight.

With all the money I had, I bought the large mansion I am living in today.

Now, I knew what the last word of Zeus' sentence before the battle was. The four letter word "fire".

The Ugly Girl's Acceptance

By: Jaden Ly

Long ago, in Greece, there was a girl named Ida Forester. She wasn't the most attractive, the most graceful, or the most popular. She never had perfect, straight brunette hair and to be honest she had lacked style. She was a smart one, though. All Ida needed was to be smart from preschool to middle school and she would be fine. Well, that was what she thought until she got to high school.

Ida went to school at Olympus High with her best friend Daniel Alston. Daniel was the type of guy who was envied by the other boys of Olympus High and all the girls wanted to be noticed by him. He had that light chocolate brown hair and ocean blue eyes that all the girls drooled over. Except, he had a secret. Daniel had liked Ida ever since they were only five years old. He just never got the courage to say something to her. Yet, he was still the perfect best friend a girl could have.

One day, Ida and Daniel were walking down the mile-long halls of Olympus High when Daniel saw a poster that posted a competition. It was for which student could make the best invention and the grand prize was a humongous five thousand dollars.

Daniel pulled Ida to the bulletin board and said, "You should join! You're smart and creative and I'll even help you!"

"I shouldn't. I wouldn't even know what to do," she answered.

"Come on, please," Daniel begged, "it'll be fun working together!"

Finally after twenty minutes of pleading, She finally agreed and for the next week they worked their hardest on the invention. he drew the plans, she made the measurements, they bought the materials, and then put all of it together to match the blueprint.

Three weeks later, Ida and Daniel had finished their invention and entered it into the competition. They had won and at the school assembly the principal announced to the whole school in an assembly that their invention won. Ida was extremely happy, so much so that she could even taste the victory. It was the best day ever for Ida until the "Mean Girls" that had bullied Ida since forever came up to Ida to "congratulate" her.

"Ha! Look at this, the nerdiest, dorkiest girl in the world wins," said Lena while flipping her long, gorgeous, curly balayage honey colored hair.

Red-haired Anna spoke up to say, "Yeah, why don't you take your five thousand dollars and go buy yourself some new clothes and a sense of style. Another tip, get yourself some makeup for that mess," while gesturing her hands at Ida's face.

Ida ran off to the janitor's dark, disinfectant smelling closet and sat down on the ground against the door to make sure nobody came in.

"Why doesn't anybody like me? Daniel probably doesn't even like me. He's just my friend because he feels bad for me," Ida cried into her dry, cracked hands.

Ida heard a knock on her door and Daniel yelling at her to open up. She didn't want to.

Daniel yelled, "Ida, open up, please!"

"I... I don't want to," Ida replied.

"Are you crying? Ida, open the door. Please."

"Daniel... stop!" Ida screamed at him with her voice coming out louder than expected.

"Just tell me what's wrong."

Finally, Ida gave in and let him in. Right after Ida opened the door, Daniel went in and immediately hugged Ida and consoled her.

When Ida got back home, she thought of what Lena and Anna had said and she ran up the stairs as fast as she could and slammed the door behind her. She collapsed on her bed and thought of what she could do to make herself pretty and popular. An idea popped into her head and it was to ask Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, to help her.

Ida got on her hands and knees, looking up to the sky, and pleaded to Aphrodite and said, "Aphrodite! Help! Please! I can't take this anymore. Lena and Anna, won't leave me alone."

Aphrodite granted her wish and gave Ida trendy clothes, beautiful makeup, and voluminous hair. There were sparkles flying around Ida and when all the sparkles finally settled Ida went to her silver full length mirror to see her transformation. She loved it. She had straight, soft brown hair. A black and white silk dress with sparkles. It was perfect.

The next day, Ida went back to school feeling more confident than ever. All the popular girls were looking at her and their faces were full of envy. Well, not Lena. Lena and Anna saw how all the boys noticed her and they got angered. Their faces were red, smoke was coming out of their ears, and Lena's fists were clenched like she was ready to punch something or even someone. Lena roughly pulled Anna off to the side and they planned to ruin Ida's life for as long as possible.

Ida saw Lena's red, fuming face and Anna's look of jealousy. Except she didn't know that they were going to ruin her life so she just continued her day. Being beautiful was going great for Ida until Lena and Anna eventually got all the other girls in the school to turn on Ida.

The whole day Ida got shoved, tripped, laughed at, and even got food spilled on her. So again, Ida went back home and sobbed her eyes out. Eventually, Daniel had called her.

"Hi," Ida answered weakly.

"I saw people were being harsh to you today," Daniel answered.

"Yeah.... why weren't you standing up for me?"

"Okay. First things first, why did you change yourself? Next, I liked you just the way you are. Lastly, why would I stand up for a person I don't even know?"

"What do you mean you don't know me. I'm Ida, your best friend since we were like babies," Ida told him astonished.

"No, I don't know you. Actually, don't even talk to me. I don't want to be friends with somebody who lets other people affect their life and somebody who thinks that nobody loves them for who they are."

Daniel hung up.

Ida could practically hear the disappointment in his voice. She could barely believe what he told her, but she didn't care. She went on with her life day after day. But, day after day she kept getting bullied by all the girls and even Daniel didn't hang out with her anymore so she had to fend for herself, all alone. Even after being transformed into a beautiful human being, she still went home every day sad.

She couldn't take it anymore.

Ida pleaded and begged Athena, goddess of wisdom, to transform her back. Athena knew when she saw Aphrodite change Ida that it was going to be a train wreck. Even though Athena knew this would happen, she still fulfilled Ida's wish because Ida was still her favorite mortal. Again sparkles surrounded Ida, but this time she was back to her old self.

"Oh, thank you Athena," praised Ida relieved, "You are the most amazing goddess in all of the world. Also don't tell Aphrodite this, but she didn't help my situation with the bullying and the "Mean Girls" at all".

Athena promised not to tell, but she is a goddess so who knows.

After the transformation, Ida called Daniel many, many times, but he never answered. So, she went to their "place" which was the café right down the street from their neighborhood.

The café was small, but crowded. It had walls of burgundy and diamond shaped windows. Ida went in to order a medium green tea. After she got her tea, Ida went to look for Daniel. He spotted her first. When Daniel saw her, he ran up to Ida, hugged her, and spun her around. Daniel was relieved that Ida was back to her normal self and she was the same, clumsy, messy haired, beautiful girl that she was when he fell in love with her. He decided it was time. It was time to tell her how he felt.

"Hi!" Ida greeted.

"Hey, what happened?" Daniel inquired.

Daniel interrupted her before she could respond, "Wait, hold on, don't answer that. I need to tell you something... I've wanted to tell you for like 12 years."

"Okay, what is it?"

"Ummm.... I don't know how to say it. So, I'll just straight up say it. I have loved you ever since we were five. So, please never change the way you look for other people and liking a person is not just about looks, but about their personality."

"Woah, you like me?" that was all Ida could take out of his love confession.

The rest we'll never know. Only Ida and Daniel know what happened after that. We just know it ended well for Daniel after having to wait 12 years. Ida also learned she doesn't have to modify herself to please other people.

Later that day, Ida was reading a book when she got a call from a company. When she answered a man with a rough and scratchy voice told her that his company wanted to offer her a deal since the they thought that her invention could make them tons of money not just for themselves, but also Ida. She agreed on the deal, obviously.

After the deal was offered, she traveled around the country and even the world, talking to kids about her journey and life. The kids, especially the little girls, looked up to her because she overcame self-doubt, bullying, and teasing to become a very successful business person.

Ida got married to Daniel becoming Ida Alston. They had four kids, which were three boys and one girl. Her life turned out great and she learned that being herself was the best thing that she could be.

The rest is history.

The Story of the Sun

By; Siler Lyle

Once upon a time, there was nothing but darkness. Nothing but darkness and fairies and dragons. There were people, who had never seen light except for an occasional moon fairy who was drifting along.

The humans were in small tribal groups. It was typically families and close friends that lived in neighborhoods. One of the humans, known as San, dwelled with his lovely family lived in a small walled off town that was against a massive mountain.

The mountain, Mount Moon, housed hundreds of moon fairies and dragons wouldn't go near it because of its brightness. San, had befriended some moon fairies who came to his house and tribe and made light so it was easier to live. Dragons would stay away from moon fairy groups because of their immense mountain of light. They only attacked them if they were alone and easily picked them off.

San's parents, Crie and Glass, were the most important things in his life, he did whatever they wanted and helped them whenever they needed. They lived on top of a river that ran right through their village. The wall was on one side while sheer cliffs enclosed the other three. He was an only child and had no friends, he had never seen a dragon but knew what they were.

They lived off of delicious azul berries that grew underground and required no light to grow. They had massive plantations underground and you only needed to dig a 3 inch hole to get to a plant. The ground squished beneath their feet and mud stuck to their feet as they trudged throughout the land. Their buildings were built of smelly tree roots known as delorian trees that were sturdy and easy to shape.

There was sunlight and stars hundreds of years ago but the stars and light got taken away as a man known as Cyeye killed Ares pet, the hydra and as a punishment to man, ever since there has been no light. Giants always roaming and cyclops always picking fights with them and causing lots of problems around the land. There were also lots of raiding parties scavenging lately, they had spears and makeshift shivs. No fire, the gods had banned it because it could help us out too much. We had little warmth in our houses and had to create a lot of heat to keep our homes livable. They were a lucky family and lived near the stream where they had set up a series of watermills to create friction and act as though a heater.

As life was going on, there was occasional raiders but nothing too serious. One day, after he had harvested enough azul berries to have dinner, he was stumbling about in the dark finding his way home with three moon fairies guiding him. It had rained the day before and the storm was still firing lightning bolts at tall buildings and at water. It was three days since the storm started after Zeus had had a fit over his baby being banished to the land because of Hades evil pet cyclops had taken him down to the underworld and then cast a spell casting him to live there forever, but Zeus was leader of the gods and made Hades undo the spell, however the spell had its effect and Zeus's son, Surge, had been caught in between the two on the Earth's surface.

Surge had amazing abilities within him, he could run incredibly fast, see in the night, and had a small glow surrounding him. He was wandering around when he found the wall.

"Hello?" he shouted "hello?" His enormous voice could be heard from miles away.

The guards posted on the wall saw the light and heard his voice. They sent a team of people to go investigate. San insisted on coming. Because he wanted a friend to hang out with.

"Stay where you are!" ordered Barch, one of the guards, "We are armed."

"Don't hurt me," Surge called back timidly, "I'm the son of Zeus,"

They appeared in his dim light that looked so bright, San was the first to speak.

"Hello, I'm San, prince of Moon City," he told him, he was proud to be the prince and was respected by all the people.

"Hi I'm Surge," Surge replied "Prince of Olympus."

"If you are," Barch said smugly, "What are you doing down here?" He laughed and taunted him.

"I swear I am," Surge said in protest, "I am only 11 years old and I don't know how I got here, but I know my dad is Zeus."

Everyone laughed at that, they teased him and taunted him until he had enough.

"I'll show you," he said firmly as his eyes lit up and lightning started firing out of them. He rose ten feet into the air burst into flames while lightning bolts shot out of his eyes, then his flame turned blue and white and he rose another 20 feet into the air, he was mad, he started cracking the ground below him with his increasing heat as he rose higher and suddenly exploded as a shock wave knocked everyone over. Only San remained standing, Surge returned to the ground making the whole ground tremor.

"I told you," he replied angrily, but he noticed San was still standing, "how did you not fall over from that?" he asked.

"I...I don't know, it must've missed me," he was confused when everyone fell but him.

Suddenly, Barch got up, "Hey kid," he said "we will give you a home, just don't do that again," he mumbled.

Surge got up, he followed them home and took a spare room in San's house. They had gotten used to the dim glow and liked it to see in the dark and the moon fairies had also gotten familiar with him.

Suddenly, the house caught fire! It light up suddenly! And only San's parents were in the house as it caught fire! Surge ran over, he looked in but couldn't go further because the door was locked and all hope was lost. San was heartbroken and prayed to the gods to bring them back. Suddenly, Zeus appeared, he looked angry and San knew from the moment he saw Zeus, Zeus had made the fire, Zeus had killed his family, Zeus was the culprit! He tensed up and his face turned bright red, eyebrows angling towards his nose as sweat dripped down.

"Quiet," whispered Zeus, "I can bring your parents back if you do one task for me," his voice boomed into San's ears.

"What would a god like you want from a stupid mortal like me?" San asked sarcastically.

"I need you to kill Hades, or bring the light back to this place," he answered greedily. Gesturing towards the dark surroundings

"Why would I help you?" San sneered.

"You will help all your mortal friends, bring your parents back, and become immortal forever," Zeus was hesitant about the last thing but needed San's help.

"Ok, I will do it," he said anxiously, "but I need one more thing,"

"What is it?" Zeus asked.

"I need to have my town become a great kingdom,"

"Ok as long as you do one of the tasks I gave you, by the way which one?"

"I will bring light back to earth,"

Zeus explained to San what he had to do, he had to go to Mount Olympus, climb to the top, find the secret kingdom, and take the dragon stone and bury it deep within the ground. If he didn't bury the stone, the dragons would change to like the light and terrorise the world even more. He would start his journey the next day and Surge would come with him. Three moon fairies would come too to guide them for the moon fairies had all come from Mount Olympus.

They packed up and headed off. It was damp because of the rain the last night. They had enough food for two months and enough supplies for a couple of weeks. They were walking because the town had no spare horses although there was a path that had been cut by travelers before them who got lost in the tall grass. They had walked eight miles before they hit Mount Olympus. It was home to a wyvern. The wyverns were very similar to dragons although they had one key advantage, they could withstand light. This particular one had one thousand years behind him and was going for another thousand. He was the biggest, meanest, and fastest of all the wyverns and dragons.

"Lets just walk around it," said San.

"No, we have to fight it, it has the key to the lost city of Olympus," Surge replied.

They had swords and shields but nothing that big. They wandered into the cave, San regretting ever coming. There was evidence of hundreds of men coming to fight with ten times better armor and weapons than them, dying. San was shivering; he'd always been cold but this was different, he was scared. Surge seemed to just walk along not minding the bodies until he saw something. He reached down and picked up a spear. It was normal, no it wasn't, it had a string wrapped around it and the tip was a rock, no two, no three, there were lots of rocks fastened to it in a triangle shape that was covered in blood.

Suddenly, there was a shriek,it was loud, louder than San ever heard. Then the earth shook. Rumbling beneath their feet, it was getting closer. Then there were two glowing lights. A burst of purple and blue flames came barreling right at San and Surge! San jumped and knocked Surge to the ground. Then came a swirl of dust, the speed picked up, San was flying. He flew into a wall, Surge heard crack, was it rock or bone, or both. Surge flew up, but he controlled himself, then hurled the spear into the wyverns open jaws. It shrieked then flew away leaving a glowing stone behind. Surge ran over to San, flipped him over and gazed at his lifeless body. He gazed at him then a smile came to San's face, he got up and picked up a key. It was the key to the lost city! They did it.

The wyvern returned with two more at the door, picked them up at the door and threw them into the dark sky. The stone was in San's hands as well as the key. He dropped them both right in front of the lost city. As San and Surge flew out into space they saw Zeus.

"One of you will be a hero, and the other nobody," Zeus said and then disappeared.

Suddenly the boys started fighting, they used swords and shields and fought each other in mid air. San slashed Surge on the arm knocking it off and Surge got stabbed to death right after. Zeus came back, "congratulations you won, the light will be named after you and anything it makes," he said then chuckled and zapped him with a lightning bolt killing him. But even to this day the sun is called the sun and sand is called sand. Zeus never kept his promise and San's parents never came back, and his town never grew, Zeus had lied.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

By: Geneva

Once upon a time, the winter goddess Chione was making a blizzard up in the sky, she was the greatest at making storms for she was the goddess of winter; her wild curly and silver hair blended in with the clouds. Chione's pale light skin reflected on the fresh powder that was gently placed all over the land. Her lips and cheeks were rosy from the harsh winter winds. Truly, Chione's eyes were as blue as the ocean, they almost looked like as if icicles grew in her iris. Chione spends most of her days up in the clouds watching the simple mortals run to their homes. Chione was happy in winter, though she despised summer.

The month was March, and all of the land was covered in white cotton, the plains sounded as if the wind was whispering to the mortals to run. The sky smelled of crisp frostbite. This was the weather Chione created, and this has gone on for five months and counting.

Chione whispered to herself, "I don't care if it takes everyone in the world to die, to realize that winter is the best season of the year, and since it is the best season soon winter will be the only season for every year!" Chione grinned she was very proud of herself for capturing Persephone and Iris.

But Chione didn't know that her prisoners Persephone and Iris, were plotting their escape. Chione captured them because, she never wanted winter to end.

"Iris the only way we will be able to get out, do you know what that is?" questioned Persephone, "with sunlight because sunlight will melt all of this ice," she explained.

"I realize that Persephone, but how will we get past the deadly icicles that haunt this prison? Before the ice melts," asked Iris.

Iris and Persephone looked at each other. They both knew that this winter had been going on way too long. Both were trying to figure out a plan to get rid of Chione,

"I got it!" Iris exclaimed.

The more blizzards Chione makes, the more people of the word keep dying from frostbite and hypothermia. However, Chione didn't care about the people who were dying, she only cared about stopping spring.

"Ok, I think I have found a plan to get rid of Chione, all she wanted was winter to be longer, right?" said Persephone.

"Right," answered Iris. who was sitting on the icy ground of the prison cell, her hair was damp but still had curls in it. Both of them had been locked up now for four months, it was now March 28.

"What we need to do is give Chione what she is asking for," Persephone said, "she will have November 20 to March 19."

Iris groaned she didn't like working with Persephone even though there gifts collide with each others, it was like a cat working with a dog. they don't mix, even though they were forced to work together. Iris wished that Persephone was never here, Iris was optimistic but she was never with Persephone, Persephone was always kind and daring, she also had made childlike suggestions to get them out of there cell. They both knew that the other gods and goddess were counting on them to stop Chione of her wrath.

It was now the month of April, Iris and Persephone had almost broken free of the cavern.

But they were now stuck in an endless labyrinth.

Finally, the goddess succeeded and found themselves in a different ice building.

"Ughhhh, we have a whole other ice cavern to go through," groaned Persephone.

Iris wasn't paying attention to Persephone's blubbering because she saw a light in the distance. That light was singing, the lyrics were about the cold harsh winter, Iris hissed at Persephone, they both heard the singing. They ran toward the light and saw Chione. Her hair was glistening off the snow and her lips were as red as blood. Iris and Persephone both realized that the sounds weren't singing. People were screaming. People were screaming with pain. Chione giggled to herself as she watched the mortals scream with pain. Chione whipped up a blizzard that caused a disease that would tarnish the whole human race. Iris and Persephone stood in shock.

"Chione!", yelled Persephone, "Let these people live in peace, we are going to make a deal with you."

Chione turned her head to face Persephone and Iris, her lips were as red as blood, her hair flowed against the wind, and her eyes looked as if they had icicles in them, these icicles are killing the mortals.

"I'm listening," said Chione.

Iris with a confident voice stated, "we are willing to give you November 20 to March 19, we will not let you have the whole year as winter."

"No, I'm not going to do this unless the month of your escape, April, will have rain showers in honor of me, Chione the goddess of winter, these showers will warn the mortals that I will be back," stated Chione.

Persephone and Iris looked at eachother, they both had become friends.

"We both agree to this deal Chione, there will be rain showers in the month of April to honor the goddess of winter, but after each shower Iris will light up a rainbow for the mortals to brighten there day after the showers," explained Persephone.

And from then on, Chione would leave the mortals alone until November 20. There was rain showers in honor of Chione. Iris would put up a beautiful rainbow in the sky afterward. And that was the end of the dreadfully long and diseased filled Winter.

How Mr. and Mrs. Bean Came to Be

By Melanie Penfold

In a small town on the edge of California in the year 2015, there lived a young man about the age of 28 with small brown eyes and light brown hair. This man was called Mr. Bean even though his real name was Mr. Burn. The townspeople knew him for his love of beans so that is what they always called him, but Mr.Bean never seemed to care.

See Mr. Bean was so focused on his life and love of beans that he never had time to realize what was happening in the real world.

Mr. Bean had only one problem, he was so busy buying beans that most of the townspeople thought that he was crazy and stayed as far away from him as they could and Mr. Bean didn't seem to notice.

But one day, Mr. Bean bought a plethora of all sorts of beans, such as, black beans, green beans, lima beans, and all sorts of different mixtures of beans. Later,he decided to take a break from buying beans and take a walk in the park.

Just as he arrived at the park, everyone was gone at the very moment. So, Mr. Bean walked back to his house and whenever a single person saw him they would quickly run away.

By the time he got home, he questioned if either the town thought that he was dangerous and wanted to stay away or they thought that he was crazy.

So every day after speedily inhaling his freshly cooked beans, he would take a daily walk to the town park and back. And every time he walked there everyone would walk away by the time he walked up to them. So Mr. Bean never really talked to anyone.

But one day, a young woman with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes walked up to Mr. Bean and Mr. Bean smiled as she walked up to him and said,"Excuse me sir but my child will not do his exercise when he knows you will be out here walking and I think it would be better if you walked a different way."

Mr. Beans smile turned into a frown and lugubriously replied, "ok mam."

Then the woman gracefully walked away.

By the time that Mr.Bean reached home, he collapsed into a chair and gazed into the fire with sad beating eyes as he thought of what the lady said.

"I will never go outside again," He said still gloomily looking into the fire.

That following week Mr. Bean stayed all day every day indoors just wanting something good to happen but nothing ever happen near his house ever and he eventually got very Vexed and flummoxed all the time about those words that came out of the woman's mouth.

Mr. Bean would cook beans for every meal than lay on the couch wanting to talk to someone that would want to talk to him.

And every day, he would get mad at himself for wanting beans so much than following that he would eat a bowl of crisped cooked beans .He went through the same routine everyday for about a month same things for about a month until he realized something he had never thought of before.

Mr. Bean had wanted someone that understood him, and the the only thing that he understood was the bowls of wonderful beans. So, he decided to pray to the goddess Athena his favorite (for her beauty) to give him a living bean to love and talk to.

That night, Mr. Bean thought to cooked up his favorite bean dinner, "The Vegan Experience, A Fancy Meal Fit for Vegan Royalty" that gave off the aroma of fresh beans, to give to the goddess Athena.

By morning, Mr Bean took his dish and was walking over to the temple of Athena to present his gift which no one could ever give a better gift than this.

As Mr. Bean walked into the door of Athena's temple, he set his favorite bowl filled with his favorite beans on the golden stand with griffins carved into the sides.

Then Mr Bean found a bright red chair next to the stand and sat down and asked Athena to present him a human bean so that his days of sorrow would be over.

He pleaded for the rest of the day repeating the same words over and over. At the same time, Athena was eating the beans that he had presented to her which tasted divine. As she sat eating, she listened to his plea and thought that he deserved to have the desires of his heart.

That following day, Mr. Bean went home wondering if Athena had heard his plea and had anwser it. when Mr.arrived home it was still empty with no one there.

"What was I thinking that Athena would give a crazy man like me my wish I am as lonely as a tree in the middle of nowhere and that will never change."

That night, there was a loud knock on the door Mr. Bean slowly walked to the door thinking who could that possibly be.

He answered the door to see a lovely short young woman about his size with beautiful brown hair and her eyes beamed with happiness.

"Ommm, can I help you miss," Mr. Bean confusedly replied.

"Are you Mr.Bean? Someone down the street told me that you lived here," Her lovely voice replied.

"Well yes I am Mr. Bean but why are you here?"Asked Mr. Bean confused.

I had a dream that the goddess Athena told me to find a man name Mr. Bean and my sorrowful life would be better," replied the woman.

Mr. Bean did not now what to say. Athena had heard him and here was a wonderful woman on my doorstep!

"O please come in, are you hungry, do you need anything, can I help you with anything?"

That following year Mr.Bean and what soon became Mrs. Bean, got married and had a lovely life together they had two little kids which were named Lima,and Tepary. They were able have beans all they wanted and never caring what other people did or said to them, because they had each other and that is all they needed.

The Myth

By Andrew Jacob

There once were two young people who loved to play sports.They lived in colorado, and their names were Camren and Jacob. The gods were Poseidon, Zeus, and Melquert, the god of awesomeness.

The gods were having trouble finding out who was better. And so one day, Camren and Jacob both wanted to be awesome but they were not friends.They both had brown hair and brown eyes. They were both also Mexicans. It almost felt like they were both brothers.

They both lived in a town named Fort Collins. They went to the same school but did not really notice each other that much.Zeus was the god of the lightning, Poseidon was the god of the water and the ocean, and Melquert was the god of giving people powers of awesomeness.

Melquert was one of the best gods because he liked to give people some of his awesomeness. Poseidon was just a mean old guy, and Zeus was just always angry.

Even Though Jacob and Camren were not friends, they still saw each other at school and in the halls and knew who each other was and each other's names.

When the summer was over, everyone came back to school and so did Jacob and Camren. While Camren and Jacob were at school Zeus, Poseidon, and Melquert were all still fighting over who was going to give them some of their power. So Poseidon said that Camren and Jacob needed it because they can breath under water and be great in school because they will now all about the ocean animals. Zeus said that he needed it because he could control the sky, and so he could, be really popular in school, and finally Melquert said that they needed it because he could be awesome and everyone would like them.

The gods kept on fighting till a huge demon came and started tearing up the school. Then, the gods saw the big demon, and they all recognized him, and it was Hades the god of the underworld. Zeus struck him and struck him, and then Poseidon kept slapping him with water and Melquert just stood there looking awesome.

While the fight was going on, Hades sent his army of demon dogs at him and a evil skeleton army to attack all of the gods. The gods kept fighting for about a couple of days while when Jacob ran home he thought that Camren had something to destroy that evil monster. So, Jacob ran to Camren's house and asked him if he wanted to join on the fight and Camren said that he wanted to fight a demon. While the got everything ready, they came over and started hitting the demon, and then Melquert said, "What are you doing?" So Melquert struck them with awesomeness power and then they just stood there and started blinding the demon.

"You both got some of my power," Melgert said.

Then when Hades went back to the underworld, everyone lived back how there lives were. Because he gave Jacob and Cameron too much power, Merlquert started to die. Melquert because he gave Jacob and Camren too much power and he started to die. So, everyone was happy except Camren, Jacob, and Melquert.

After a couple of days went by, it started to get all sad and droopy because Melquert died and everyone was really sad about that. Then they were one god short. Eventually Camren and Jacob became gods, after they grew older like about 30 years old and lived a lonely life and were eventually friends and were really good friends.

Pine Trees and Apples to Pineapples

By Ally

Two Costa Rican towns accumulated together where they happily savored some sweet, juicy, and flavorful pineapples in front of them. There were several pineapples piled up and there were more just starting to grow in the distance. The fruit shined and glistened and the spikes poked out in pride. The sun shined down and the world seemed to be at peace.

No fighting, anger, or tension.

But it wasn't always like that.

In fact, it was just one incident that caused everything to change.

The leaders of the two cities were Juan and Jugo. They had great resemblance to each other, because they were twins.

Juan was the ruler of Appleca and Jugo was the ruler of Pineville. Every day the towns would fight and fight and fight.

"We have a better Clocker team than you!" A citizen of Pineville shouted in disbelief of the other town.

"NO WAY, PROVE IT!" screamed an aged woman from Appleca. She then boiled up with anger from this act. Her face turned as red as a sour and pungent grapefruit and her fists slowly clenched together. The woman's face scrunched up and she was ready to fight.

There couldn't be a day without anger or hatred for the opposing town.

One bright, sunny day in the middle of Spring, Hera, a goddess and queen of Olympus, got bored and decided to cause some trouble. She knew that both of the towns presented the different types of plants including pine trees and apples.

Automatically that gave her an idea.

So, from this idea she planted a new seed directly in between both of the towns because she knew that the towns would fight over the seed and who got it.

The seed was plopped silently into the moist rich soil. The worms that lived in the soil could already taste its sour existence. Hera gave the plant water and a spell that made it only grow when something truly incredible happens. This meant that if the town's fight, the seed will never actually grow.

The seed sat there completely still.

And it sat there for three months.

It sat there until one day when a farmer from Appleca dug up some dirt next to the lonesome seed. He notice the little speck in the ground that stood out from the others. With excitement, he galloped into town and told everyone.

This information traveled all the way to Pineville. Everyone knew that the seed was directly in between both towns so each person began to wonder.

"I think Appleca should get the seed because we are a bigger um.......town," an aggressive and annoying man from Appleca pauses and then exclaimed, "because we are more intelligent."

Then someone from Pineville would shoot back, and it would go back and forth until the dark, silent night.

It was a week later that this quibbling turned into big arguments across the towns.

The big arguments, as usual, never stopped without intervention by the leaders.

Even though the twins disliked each other, they knew they had to think of a logical solution that would solve the towns' problems.

Eventually, after many days, the leaders decided that if they fought in a game both of the towns played, and the winner of them got the seed for the town, that maybe the chaos would stop.

Since the leaders were in charge of the towns, there could be no interruption in this decision.

Word was sent around about this game, and pretty soon it became a festival.

For the first time, the towns got together to host the game. Which was very unusual since the towns were never happy together. So the leaders decided that they made the right decision and carried on with the game.

After three long weeks of preparation, it came the time of the real event. Both of the towns accumulated into one big stadium.

Juan and Jugo put their armour on and prepared for a long long battle. They knew each other's strengths and knew that it would take awhile to end. But they didn't know that it would never end. Up above Hera had been watching the whole thing. So she put a spell on both of the leaders so that there would never be a winner. She loved making spells. Especially when it ended messing things up. And in this scenario, messing things up was just what the towns needed.

The game was clocker. It was a fast paced game using two sticks and a round lightweight ball. It would be arranged in between the leaders and each would try to hit the ball with the stick into the other one's goal.

During the game the twins realized something.

The fight would never end.

They had been sweating and swatting at the ball for hours and it felt like a whole day.

The crowd sat half asleep, and the sun shone down which made it feel hotter every second.

So, they sat there after they decided to take a break. They hated each other and knew that they shouldn't.

The longer they sat the more they realized that they would never solve anything if they kept up the quibbling. In fact, that had never had solved anything. The two towns got into many fights for this reason and they were just letting it happen.

Jugo thought, why do we do this?....Why do we spend so much time and energy fighting each other when we could work together.

It took lots of strength for the defeated and dull Jugo to finally look his brother in the eye and say the one thing that he has dreaded so much to say. "I am sorry, I shouldn't have been so mean and stubborn all of this time."

As he said this, Juan absorbed what Jugo said and began to cry exasperatedly.

He had cried many times before this because of Jugo but never once in a relieved way. "I am sorry too, for all of the hate I have given you."

Both brothers went leaping into one another and their tears went gushing down onto one another's armor.

The crowd began to gasp.

And soon after this, everyone was apologizing.

It was a day that they would never forget, and a day that would be enjoyed for forever.

Immediately after this chaos, the little black seed shoots out of the ground leaving a giant implant where the seed was growing.

It sprouted directly from the ground. The leaves began to sprout incredibly fast, and a little blob was forming directly in the center of the bush.

Soon after this people began to see the pineapple growing.

They were astonished.

Why now? Why us?

But the only people that could answer that were the brothers. They went by later that day and gave an hour long speech of how they were going to combine towns and their plant and town would be called Pineapple. They said every word proudly and with honor. They always said things proudly and with honor but this time they did it together.

Then and there the pineapple completely sprouted out of its bush and plopped beneath the brothers. They cut it open and were the first to eat it's delicious, citrusy and juicy substance.

While they cut it out, the people gathered around could sniff the sweet smell that floated in the air.

The pineapple was passed around slowly and quietly.

From then on, the people from the town of Pineapple cherished the fruit and shared it with other people passing by. The town grew to bond tightly together and the brothers lead them. And it was all from Hera. Because sometimes a mistake can turn into something that is not a mistake at all.

The Changing Dragon

By: Micah Robertson

In a cave on a distant island, there were three sirens "that" looked like vultures "and" were caring for a egg none of the three saw before.The first siren said, "What if its parents come looking for it?"

The second siren said, "No chance, I saw its parents killed by the Greeks."

And the third one said, "So let's care for it as our own." All three sirens agreed on this.

The gods in Olympus saw this and they agreed that it was the right thing for the sirens to do. But the gods were worried because they also knew that the Greeks were looking for it and that they would stop at nothing to get that egg because that egg was a changing dragon egg, a dragon that can use all of the elements like fire, water, nature etc. It wasn't long until the greeks found the egg.

The Greeks on the island where puzzled that they didn't find the egg. But after a few hours, they found the footprints that the second siren made. They followed the footprints to the cave. The sirens used their powers to get them away but the Greeks pushed in and took the egg. The Greeks ran down to the shore and they were in such a hurry that they forgot one man named Pompythesis was left behind.

Pompythesis had know choice but to go back to the sirens cave. When the sirens woke up, they were startled to see the Greek there. Pompythesis said, "I beg you to take me home I will do anything for you.

The first siren said, " Ok but we want to know where those men took the egg because that egg is very dangerous. The gods said that it was a changing dragon and that it could not be raised like a normal dragon is raised."

The young Greek definitely agreed to this, but meanwhile back with the Greeks they were nearly halfway home and already bad luck was with them, the waves were crashing on them like an eagle diving for its prey. But the sirens and the young Greek made a boat and was heading for Greece where the changing dragon was about to hatch. In a stable in Greece, a baby changing dragon was born and the captain of the mission,Pom said, "Do you know the type of dragon this is Caca.?"

"Yes," said Caca, "It is a changing dragon that can use any element like fire, ice, nature etc.

"Yes, you are correct," said Pom, "I'm going to sell this magnificent dragon to one of the wealthy men."

"Sell it to me," said Caca. "I have the most experienced dragon breakers and dragon trainers in all of Greece."

Pom agreed to this thinking that over the years that he would steal the dragon and kill Caca. Over the years, the sirens got very lost and they killed Pompythesis because they thought that he was lying and after they killed him they returned home empty handed. But meanwhile in Greece, the changing dragon had found its powers. One night, Pom broke in and killed Caca and stole the dragon, he wanted to use the dragon to get back at the sirens for that long ago the sirens killed his family. The next morning, he rode the dragon to siren island. When Pom reached the island, the sirens saw the dragon and knew that that was the changing dragon. They ran down to the dragon and said, "It is us that had cared for you when you were a egg."

Pom said, "do not listen to them now kill them!" The dragon obeid and fired ice and it nearly killed one of the sirens.

But just then, Athena the Goddess of war and wisdom came down and said, " These three sirens are telling the truth, now kill this man for he is the real villain." Pom turned white as snow and the dragon turned and froze him with ice. The dragon and the sirens had a reunion. But it was not over they saw a hundred more Greek ships coming!

Athena and the changing dragon rose up and combined their powers and made a Athen Dragon and killed 50 Greek ships in three seconds. The remaining turned back and headed home. For many years the sirens and the dragon lived in peace.

The Sheep's Wool

By Mila Schneider

Every day Genette would tend to the helpless little sheep that grazed in the field all day doing absolutely nothing. Gennette only kept the sheep because her poor old father believed that one day they would be used for something great. She would then get going on her daily routine. Every day, the young girl would go out and gather ramie that grew in her father's greenhouse. She would pick and cut the ramie perfectly for making her clothing that she would sell at the market that weekend to make money to support her family since her father was getting a little too old to be working. It was only her and her father that lived on a farm that sat on a hill right on the edge of the Greek city, Athens.

Genette was a 16-year-old girl with auburn hair. Her mother had died when she was 10 years old from a fire that had started the market from a flamethrower that had no talent. Gennette tried not to think of it because when she did she instantly started crying.

She once found her father sitting in his favorite chair reading the newspaper. His eyes were set on an article about what was going on in the town below. She looked over his shoulder and saw people saying that sheep were useless creatures and that their species shouldn't even exist. That got her wondering why her father still wanted to keep the sheep and not get something like a cow that produces delicious white milk. A cow would be a far better animal to keep around than a sheep.

She pulled the newspaper away from him and asked, "Why do you still want to keep those worthless sheep anyway? Everyone in the town obviously agrees that they do nothing but sit a graze all day long. If we get rid of them, and get cows, we could be selling cheese and milk and other dairy products at the market instead of clothes. We wouldn't need the expensive ramie plant in the greenhouse."

He looked at her with big eyes, "I have told you before, I believe that some day the sheep will become the most useful animals the world has ever laid eyes on. They may not be very useful now, but they will be, trust me, you just need to give it time. But for now, why don't you go out and cut the ramie in the greenhouse before it gets too late."

She shrugged and had an awful thought that her father was going crazy, but she shook away that horrible idea the moment she had it. Of course, her father might have some different thoughts but he was not going crazy...she hoped.

As she walked up to the door to the greenhouse, she noticed that the lock on the door wasn't locked, it looked like it had been jammed open...recently. She opened the door and looked inside and what she saw surprised her more than anything had surprised her before. The ramie had been stolen! Pots were tipped over, everything was out of place and even one of the greenhouse windows was broken, which she oddly didn't notice when she walked up to the greenhouse, but the worst part was, there was no ramie to be seen, every single leaf had been stolen. Even the beautiful scent of the ramie was gone. She had always thought the ramie smelled like a wonderful spring day in the forest, and now it was gone! How could this happen? How was she going to explain this to her father? He would feel so lugubrious. They had absolutely no way to make enough money to buy more ramie. Only if those stupid sheep could make them money!

Up above on Mount Olympus, the goddess of weaving, Athena, saw what had happened to Genette. She had always been very fond of Genette because she made such fine clothes. She wanted to try and help Genette, but she knew that since ramie was so hard to get in Greece because it is a plant that likes to grow in Eastern Asia, there was no way that she could help Genette in time for the market. She started thinking about how she could help Genette and her father. And then the goddess had a great idea.

Genette slowly walked back inside dreading that she would have to be the one to tell him the bad news. The front door slowly opened and she found him exactly where he was, reading now a different article. Steadily, she walked up to her father, and sat down in the squishy chair that sat in front of the one her father sat in. He looked a little confused because she was supposed to be collecting the ramie.

"Hey dad," she said with a guilty smile trying to procrastinate, "I, uh, need to tell you something that you're not going to like."

He knew right away that something was up.

"The ramie sort of got stolen," Genette said with gaps in the middle of each word.

She knew she would be in big trouble, so she just sat there on the couch with her eyes shut and a scrunched up face ready for the fireworks to explode out of her father. But no fireworks came. He said nothing and got up and left. This was no surprise to Genette because it had happened before when her mother had died, he was going to pray to their goddess Athena.

It was not long before Athena had gotten the prayer from Genette's father. She knew that things were getting utterly urgent so she decided to test out her master plan. The great goddess went to the cloud closest to Genette's house and found exactly what she was looking for, the sheep. Disguised as an old woman, she found Genette sitting on the porch and she went to go and talk to her.

Athena sat next to Genette and said, "Why do you look so down my child?"

Genette answered with a long face, "Well, let's just say there is nothing to sell at the market this weekend."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure of that," and with that the old woman touched one of the bare sheep's back and instantly it started growing little white curly hairs everywhere. The old woman touched another and out poked those curly hairs. She touched another and another and soon enough, all of the sheep in that field had their own huge blanket of white, curly, and soft hairs. The sheep could barely stand up with all of the new hairs on their back and the field was filled with baaing in all kinds of pitches.

Genette looked at the old woman with eyes as wide as an owls and was finally able to mutter, "Are you some kind of god?" As she sat there gaping at the old woman in awe.

And with that the old ugly woman turned into the beautiful goddess Athena.

"Now, you can shave off the precious sheep's wool to make beautiful clothes that nobody has ever seen before. You can still go to the market and make enough money to last you and your father the entire year."

Genette squealed with delight.

Her father came rushing outside to see what caused all of the baaing, and to his surprise he saw the goddess Athena standing right next to his house and even more surprising the sheep had their own white curly blanket laying on them.

Genette ran up to her father and said with delight, "We have something to sell at the market tomorrow! We can shave off the sheep's wool and make one of a kind clothing."

He looked at her with a huge smile on his face and he said with a laugh, "I told you that those sheep would be good for something one day."

And with that, Athena went back up to Mount Olympus and looked down as she saw all of the wool be weaved into marvelous clothing that would last for a long time.

Killer Dog

By Wyatt Smart

A vary long ago in a small town with houses of bamboo and roofs of long dry grass that were held on by a rope of tied together leaves, the bamboo was cracked and snapped due to the tropical storms they had undergone. The town had a population of a little over 70 men, women, and children, but the most respected and strong man was, the leader of the municipality, Liam.

Liam was a very tall and has a large chest and arms, he had brown hair and eyes, and he had great skill with the bow and arrow, that was one of his favorite hobbies. His best friend and another leader of the town was the great warrior, Noah.

Noah was also one of the leaders of the camp. He was short and stocky with broad shoulders and large quads, but Noah would rather have a battle ax or a great sword than a little bow.

Then, one cold and rainy night, a scream of terror raised over the town.

" Ahhhhh!" a terrified voice screamed "Help! Wait! No!"

"What was that," Liam said getting out of his bed like a rabbit quickly getting out of its hole. After about three minutes he was out of bed and prepared.

" Liam help," Noah yelled.

Liam sprinted as ast as he could to where he heard the cry for help.

He got there and saw Noah and a few other men looking down at something. His mind was going through all the possibilities of what happened. He had never heard a scream like that in his life.

"Liam Hurry!" Noah yelled at the top of his lungs while flailing his arms side two side.

"My god" Liam said is a shocked voice. He could barely make out who it was. He guessed it was Mark.

Mark was just an innocent citizen. He was the local doctor.

It was so bad. The man had his shoulders ripped out of his sockets, his leg was broken, and his stomach was covered in divots and gashes.

"This had to be something big," Noah said in a disgusted tone.

"You don't say," Liam sarcastically said.

The next day, Liam announced what happened to the town.

"How could we ever feel safe again!" an angry man shouted with his fist flailing in the air.

"Trust me i'll keep this town safe," Liam reassuringly said, "I'm sending out a search party lead by one of my best friends, Noah."

"We'll find this beast," Noah said after walking in front of the crowd, "and we'll kill it."

The next day the men covered themselves in the nicest leather armor they had, Noah grabbed two large daggers, put them in two sheaths on his belt, grabbed a massive sword and very large shield. The other men grabbed bows, arrows, and spears.

After the group was suited up and ready to leave, Liam went over to see the group off.

"Be careful out there," Liam said facing all the men.

"Oh don't worry, I think we're all a little scared," Noah said while while nodding his head.

"We sure won't be letting our guard down," said another man from the group.

"Well watch your backs" Liam said with a hopeful look, "good luck."

The men left.

After about an hour, the men were about three or four miles deep in the forest they believed the beast had come from.

Then, after about another 30 minutes of hiking they came to a very, very large tree that had a huge cave at the bace. They went to investigate but Noah stayed out on guard. The cave hag decomposing animal bodies laying all over the ground.

"This smells awful" someone from the group said after gagging.

"This feels weird",another man said.

Then faster than the men in the cave could think, the men heard Noah yell,"Run!".

It was too late for that. The moment they walked outside they were greeted by a colossal 10 foot tall, 15 foot long, beast with brown and black heads that almost looked like a rottweiler. Noah was fighting it of for a moment but it noticed the men sprinting out of the cave, it went for them. It caught up to them in no time at all and devoured them one by one.

Noah managed to get away and hide from the killer dog.

After that, when Noah had the town in sight he yelled "Liam!" while jogging back.

"What happened," Liam said while helping Noah into a chair, "Where's the rest of the group?"

"Dead," Noah said while holding back tears, " We should have come more prepared"

with his hands in his face Noah felt like it was his fault the his men were dead. He thought he never should brought his men near that killer's cave. That's why they're dead.

"Ok," Liam said with a determined look, "Gather all the men."

After two days of preparation, Liam was ready to end this.He was dressed in extremely tough iron armour, he had a bow slung over his back, and a dagger in sheath secured to his leg. But, instead of going to the beast lair he let it come to his turf. Lima knew that this thing had a taste for blood so he just waited till the monster came. And it did.

Liam heard scream. He could tell the men were getting ripped apart limb by limb. Then, it was silent.

The silence was then killed and Liam was greeted by a huge man-eater. Liam jumped out of the way as fast as a fly trying to escape a hand. After trying to escape, Liam drew an arrow, pulled back, aimed, and hit the beast right in the eye. The head grew limp and fell right in front of its chest. Dead. But that was only one head down nine to go. And just because Liam dodged it once doesn't mean it was over.

One of the heads caught him in the corner of its eye and went for him. That head didn't stand a chance, Noah sprinted in front of the head decapitating the it from the rest of body.

"I got you," Noah said while helping Liam into a run.

Once they got to a safe distance, Liam did something to truly show his skills with the bow and arrow. He loaded up three arrows onto his bow, pulled back, and let go. The arrows flew in a perfect line, then they smashed into three of the huge dog's heads. Five heads to go.

He was getting weaker and the men of the village took this to their advantage. About ten men went in with pikes(15 foot long spears) while about five men stayed back and shot bows. They drove their picks into the 10-headed dog but they could only take down two heads before they were devoured. The men shooting bows were not as skilled with the bow as liam so they could not hit the monster as easy as Liam.

But before the men knew it liam and Noah were back in the fight.

"Three more heads to go" Liam said while loading up another arrow.

"Let's get this killer" Noah exclaimed while throwing his battle ax into a ready position.

Noah was not kidding, he threw his ax so hard that it actually sliced through the neck of another head.

Liam was ready to end this. He climbed up the dog's leg to where he was on the back. He then pulled out two daggers from his ankle sheaths and shoved one in each head. The beast fell.

Liam stood on top of the fallen beast like and action hero who had just killed his arch nemesis. But it did not just end like that, Liam realized that he had been bleeding out of his left thigh for the whole night. It was all black.

Liam woke up to Noah sitting at his bed.

"He's awake!" Noah yelled to the doctor across the room.

"How are you doing," Noah said.

"Oh just wonderful" Liam said while laughing.

"Is it dead," Liam said.

"Yep, you killed it," Noah said with a look of great respect, "You saved this town."

"It wasn't just me," Liam said while about to laugh, "You had to fight it twice."

Both men laughed.

The next day, Liam and Noah hug up all the heads of the 10-headed dog one by one in front of the town hoping that this would scare off any other beasts or monsters from coming in. It did look intimidating. Almost like the gates of hell. But the people inside were still awesome. The citizens of the town felt safe and felt even more respect for their leader, Liam, they wouldn't be there without him.

Hebe's Mistake

By Liesel von Trapp

Once there was a boy named Henry, who was noticeably fast for his young age of eleven, and a girl named Madelyn, with big green eyes and long blonde hair who was also eleven years old. These two children lived in a rickety brown and tan orphanage that was falling apart at the corner of Avenue Drive along with many other children around their age. The strong smell of rain still remained in the air after the long rain they went through the night before. This particular orphanage was located in Edessa, Greece and it was located right next to a big, wide, green, fruitful forest. This forest was very familiar to both Madelyn and Henry.

"Everyone, why don't you all go outside and play while I tidy this place up? Let's go out and have some fun," said the nice owner of the orphanage, Rey.

"Yeah! That would be awesome," said Henry in an energizing voice, a big smile across his face.

"Want to go to the forest, Henry?" Madelyn said, shooting a look at Rey, who smiled and nodded her head, whenever Rey nodded, her long, bright red curly hair bounced up and down.

"Yes! What should we play this time? Dragons, survivors, or how about explorers where we pretend we are trying to find something, but we get lost?" Henry said, his big blue eyes perking up, little did they know how much their game would come true.

"Okay, let's try explorers today," Madelyn said as Henry pulled her with his strong arms into the forest.

A few minutes later, Henry and Madelyn were by the creek that they knew so well, it was near the middle of the forest, but closer to the orphanage than the ocean, which was on the other side of the forest. Henry and Madelyn were out "exploring" by the creek when Madelyn saw something move. "Wait Henry stop. I just saw something in the grass move," she said.

"I'm sure it was just your imagination, besides grass this long would move in this breeze," Henry replied also looking down at the grass, Madelyn wasn't one to lie.

Henry breathed in the crisp air when he saw it too, but this time the creature jumped out of the tall grass. "It's a frog! Madelyn it's a frog!" Henry yelled with joy.

"Aww poor little guy, he's limping," Madelyn replied.

"What should we do with him?" Henry replied to Madelyn's observation. Madelyn had always wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up, so she always took pity on hurt animals, and always knew what to do.

Just then, the frog started hopping, no matter how badly his leg hurt, he wanted to get away from these colossal creatures looming above him.

"Well, right now we should catch him so that he doesn't injure his leg even more," Madelyn said in a rushed tone.

"I can get it!" Henry said, he started sprinting after the frog, he knew how important catching and saving this frog was to Madelyn. Maybe once the frog is healed, the orphanage could keep it as a pet, Henry thought as he was running after the injured frog.

This was no ordinary frog, to Madelyn, it was a beautiful frog, it was shimmering in the bright spring sun, and it was a very bright shade of green she had never seen before, she needed to catch it. But Madelyn was falling behind Henry, and she didn't want to slow him down, so she kept running as fast as she could. She waited until she almost lost sight of Henry, who was a very fast runner, to yell "Henry! Henry slow down! I'm way back here! Did you catch the frog yet?" Madelyn knew her friend Henry had very powerful hearing, so she did not doubt that he could hear her.

Madelyn saw Henry stop and turn around holding up a small twinkling bright green thing, and she was proud of Henry, for she knew he had finally caught it.

When they reached each other, they realized that for once they did not recognize their surroundings. The world around them was dead silent. Then Madelyn broke the silence

"We need to find our way out of here," she said, "If we don't get out before nightfall, Rey will be very worried, and we're the only ones who know this forest inside and out, out of all the kids at the orphanage, we could walk through here blindfolded," Madelyn finished.

"Okay, we should start looking around for rocks, trees, anything we recognize," Henry replied.

"Right, good idea Henry!"

It was now 4:00 pm and Madelyn and Henry had resorted to yelling for help for a while and conserving their energy, since 1:00 pm they had been wandering around looking for any familiar rocks or trees, or even tree roots. "Henry, did you happen to see anything that met the eye while you were chasing the frog?" Madelyn said, breaking the chain of constant yelling from both of them.

"No, all I saw was a blur of different shades of green and brown," Henry said, ashamed, why couldn't I be more observant, he wondered.

Meanwhile, up on Mount Olympus, Zeus was getting ready to leave to take a new harp to Apollo, one that the mortals had oddly sacrificed to him, they did know that it is not the same as an animal like a sheep or something, right? Lately, Zeus had been sorting the mail that the mortals had sent to the gods. We really need a messenger, he thought to himself.

"Zeus!" Hebe yelled as she came running around the corner, "Zeus, I just heard some voices yelling for help coming from Edessa, it is two children, and I stopped to see Athena, and she said that they have been yelling for help and running around for the past few hours. Don't you think we should do something?" Hebe said rapidly, her big brown eyes big with fear.

"Hebe, I am very busy and about to leave to give this new harp to Apollo, don't you think they could hold off for a few hours?" Zeus replied.

"This time they sacrificed a harp, seriously? I mean, why would the mortals do that? We ought to teach them about what to sacrifice, and what not to. Us immortal gods got to eat too y'know. We could die of starvation," Hebe replied questionably.

"Hebe, if you want to save these mortals so bad, than why don't you just go down there yourself?" Zeus asked, "Well I've got to run, Apollo's been expecting this, and don't tell him I plucked a few strings on it already," he finished.

"Okay, maybe I will go down there," Hebe said to herself as Zeus left.

It was a sort of bumpy ride from the beautiful, big, purple and gold city of Mount Olympus on the biggest cloud in the sky that's around 2,477 feet in the air, but Hebe made it down to Edessa safely disguised as a young maiden, she walked the wet, gray cobblestone streets in the town until she came across Avenue Drive and went to the small brown and tan building that looked as if it had been through a lot of weathering, and then, to her right, was a beautiful, overgrown fantasy looking forest, now she knew why these two children loved playing in it, she often saw them having an amazing time in this forest, and now she understood why.

She went into the forest and soon, the voices yelling "Help!" "Help!" became closer, her feet touched the wet, muddy ground near the end of the forest, and there she saw them, one boy and one girl sitting with their backs against a large laurel tree.

They looked first at her feet, and then up at her small, oval shaped face. Her long brown hair was curly because of the humidity and her eyes were filled with joy, for Hebe had found them, she had saved these two kids who had been lost in a forest for hours and hours now.

"Do not be alarmed, for I am Hebe, cupbearer of the gods, and I am here to rescue you," she said.

"What's that cup you're carrying for?" Henry asked, staring at it, it had three zigzag lines going horizontally across the middle of the cup one was purple, one was a bright sky blue, and one was pure gold, the cup looked like it was one thousand years old.

"I just told you, I am the cupbearer of the gods, and this is my cup," Hebe said, wondering if this kid even knew what he just said.

"Well what does it do, Ms. Cupbearer of the Gods?" Henry asked.

Then Hebe took off her cloak that had disguised her and set it aside on a big, gray rock to the left of her. "Whoever drinks out of my cup will become a god forever," Hebe said.

Just then, Hebe stepped forward toward the kids and she stepped on a great big tree root that was covered with army green moss and was connected to a massive oak tree. Hebe started to fall and it seemed to be a long fall for her, but to the kids, Madelyn and Henry, it was as quick as a lion pouncing on it's prey. Hebe's worst nightmare had just happened, her cup spilled, Zeus had said that if she spills it and makes somebody, anybody, a god, that he would take her cup away from her.

"Are you ok?" Henry said as Hebe's cup was falling, and as Henry was saying 'ok' seven drops of the nectar inside Hebe's cup landed in his mouth. "Yummy, that nectar tastes really good!" And then Henry realized what had just happened to him, "Oh my gosh, Hebe I'm so sorry, will Zeus get you in trouble now that I'm a god and," Hebe cut Henry off.

"It's going to be okay, Henry," Hebe interrupted "Don't worry about it," she finished.

Back at Mount Olympus, Zeus was back to sorting the mail again, "Gee, we really need a messenger these days, I'm tired of sorting through the mail these days," he said.

Soon after, Aphrodite came skidding around the corner and she said, "Zeus! Hebe just spilled her cup!" Being the tattle tale she is, Aphrodite, out of all the gods, for they all saw the incident happen except for Zeus, who had his nose in the mail box separating the mail for all the gods and goddesses, just had to tell Zeus what Hebe had done. "Oh great, now another thing to deal with, Aphrodite, some mortals sent you some dark chocolate while you're here," Zeus said, standing up.

"Oh yay! Those mortals really do follow directions well!" Aphrodite squealed, Zeus got a confused look on his face, then he just shrugged his shoulders, he did not want to deal with Aphrodite today, he had enough on his hands today.

Meanwhile, Hebe was pacing the muddy, tree bark and moss covered, wet soppy forest floor. Hebe was so very worried what Hebe would do to her, for not once had she ever dropped her cup. "Madelyn, you'd better go back to the orphanage, I don't know what's going to happen, and I don't want you to get in trouble," Henry said. Madelyn turned around with her head down and Hebe guided her to the orphanage using her telepathic powers to lead Madelyn in the right direction. Madelyn felt a little nudge at every turn she needed to take, and in no time, she was back at the orphanage and everyone was already inside. Madelyn whispered to Rey that Henry was with Hebe in the forest still, but he was safe. The essence of oregano and pasta sauce was in the air, Madelyn was so starving that she could almost feel her stomach churning underneath her skin.

Then, all of a sudden, Zeus' voice thundered from the top of Mount Olympus "Hebe, Hebe! Bring the boy up here!" Hebe and Henry both were now scared, what would happen to them? Nor Henry or Hebe could be killed or hurt for a punishment, so what would Zeus do?

This was the very first time, and maybe the last time, Henry experienced the ride up to Mount Olympus, so Hebe had to go through the whole procedure that Zeus had done to her on her first time on the ride up to Mount Olympus.

"Please keep your hands and feet inside the air current at all times, you will experience the air pressure getting more overwhelming as you gain incline, but you'll get used to it," Hebe said as she was pointing out where she wanted Henry to go.

"Okay," Henry said, looking straight up, now that he was a god, he could spot Mount Olympus from anywhere, to mortals, it was hidden.

When both Henry and Hebe got up to Mount Olympus, Zeus was standing there waiting for them.

"Hebe, you know what I told you about your cup, and the list of rules I gave you, where is that exactly?" Zeus finished, glaring at Hebe.

"It is hanging up on my wall in my bedroom," Hebe said, hesitantly, this was true, anyone who walked in Hebe's room could see the poster hanging on her wall.

"Okay, and what happened exactly?" Zeus said, looking at Henry now.

"I went to save the kids and then when I finally found them, I came forward and tripped and Henry was in the middle of saying something and a few drops of nectar fell into his mouth," Hebe was talking very quickly and her big brown eyes got bigger.

"Okay well now that Henry is a god, we need to make him a god of something so that he can help the mortals out. Say, what are you good at young man?" Zeus said, looking at Henry.

"Well," Henry answered, "I'm really fast," Henry finished, looking up at Zeus.

"Hmm," Zeus thought about it, what could he be useful for, he thought to himself "what do you like to do, what are you interested in?" He finished.

"I really like to run and I'm very interested in sports," Henry answered.

Zeus considered this, "Okay, so you're fast, you like sports," wait, he thought, he's fast, so he could deliver things fast, so that means he could deliver the mail! "Have you ever ran a paper route Henry?" Zeus asked.

"No, but I'm a quick learner," Henry said, confused, why would Zeus want to know that?

"Okay, Henry How would you like to be the messenger of the gods? You will get to see all the gods every day and there is no limit on how fast you can run," Zeus offered.

"Great! That sounds fun!" Henry said with an excited look on his face. Wait, what would happen to Madelyn then? Henry thought to himself. "Wait! What about my friend Madelyn?" He asked.

Zeus thought about this for a while, then he answered, "How about Hebe and I dress up as mortals and then pretend to adopt you?" Zeus looked down at Henry and he could tell that he was thinking it over, but Zeus could also tell that Henry was worried.

"Ok. I wonder who Madelyn will play with after I get adopted," Henry proclaimed, deep in thought.

"Look kid," Zeus said, putting his hand on Henry's shoulder, "It'll be fine, you can always disguise yourself as a mortal and play with Madelyn," Henry could tell that Zeus really cared about the two of them.

"Ok. Let's do it," Henry responded, confidence and eagerness in his voice, "I will walk up to the orphanage as if I have returned and then you two stroll by and say you would like to adopt a child, and it turns out to be me. Ok? You guys are good actors, right?" Henry added.

At the same time Zeus and Hebe responded, Hebe said, "Yeah, I guess you could say that," she said.

Zeus, on the other hand, replied, "Umm, so so, actually, not really, but we can make it work," Henry was now a little worried about this plan and if it would work or not.

They all went in the descending air current and within minutes, they were at the orphanage, Henry walked up to the door while Hebe and Zeus waited in the bushes. Henry walked in and through the window, Zeus and Hebe saw Madelyn throw her arms around him. Hebe and Zeus waited about seven more minutes until they went up and knocked on the door and a tall and skinny girl with long curly red hair answered the door.

"Hi, my name is Rey, come on in," she exclaimed, Rey had always been elated, especially when they had visitors.

Hebe and Zeus were disguised as an older couple, Zeus had a brown old trench coat on and a grey hat, Hebe had a shawl over her shoulders and was wearing a green dress with assorted colored flowers across the bottom. Zeus and Hebe walked in and they said that they were interested in adopting a child. Everything was sticking to plan, so far.

They went into a small office with a big dark brown desk with papers scattered all over it. "What are your names?" Rey asked the both of them.

Hebe couldn't say that her name is Hebe, just make one up Hebe, just make one up, she thought to herself. Hebe looked up and the first thing she saw was a chair, "My name is, umm, it's Carla, Carla Chairman," she replied.

"And my name is," Zeus continued, "umm," Zeus looked at the pen on the desk, "my name is Paul Pennyworth," Zeus finished.

"Ummm, you guys don't have the same last name?" Rey said in a confused tone.

Hebe shot Zeus a look, "I kept my maiden name," Hebe replied immediately, she saved the whole plan. Zeus had a look of relief on his face. Thank you, Zeus mouthed to Hebe.

"Are you looking for a boy or a girl?" Rey asked the couple.

"A boy," both Zeus and Hebe said simultaneously.

"A boy who's not too energetic and rowdy, we have a lot of breakables at our house," Hebe said, she smiled sweetly.

"Okay, there is one boy that I think you might enjoy, hold on one second. Henry! Henry come here please!" Rey yelled. Hebe glanced at Zeus and the grinned at each other. "Henry is very energetic, but he'd rather spend his time outside," Rey finished.

"He sounds good to me," Hebe said.

"Me too," Zeus proclaimed. Henry smiled at both of them.

Once the adoption papers were filled out and Henry said his goodbyes, they were off to Mount Olympus.

All the gods held a ceremony to celebrate their new member, and at the end of the ceremony, Zeus announced "Henry for now and forevermore, you will be known as Hermes, messenger of the gods, thanks for helping us all out," he exclaimed in an excited but calm tone. Hermes has been up on Mount Olympus delivering letters and gifts to the other gods ever since then, and he still goes and checks on Madelyn every once in awhile, who is the only one who knows what happened on that long day in the forest.

The End of Achilles

By: Camren Soto

Once upon a time there lived two young men in the army with black hair and brown eyes.

All they wanted to do was serve there country Myonavpolis they enjoyed fighting and shooting bow and arrows.

As the years went by then they wanted to have adventure, but the last war was 89 years ago, and they lived on a small island that they had explored millions of times. The next day approached, and they had no idea what was coming.

We saw thousands of innocent people get creepy burned then swallowed whole by the one bird i knew all too well. I remembered him from when I was just a newborn he stormed in the village and killed my father and mother, Hwon said. As soon as the evil thing looked at Hwon, he charged. Me and Cree jumped in and tried to kill the beast but as soon as we hit him four more came rushing to his side screeching a deathly sound.

All of a sudden, Achilles showed up throwing and stabbing spears at the four beasts. Shocked by the surprise, Hwon and Cree jumped in and fought too as the four birds retreated. We all new they would be back for more, so we prepared for the worst.

A week later, they returned but not with four. They returned with 400 as we saw them approaching over the horizon we were lugubrious . They were furious because that one hit Achilles threw was fatal, and he killed the alpha.As they came storming in, we killed them off one by one until one hit Achilles heal, and he was dieing quickly, and we had one more left to kill, but little did we know it was the chief.

All of a sudden, the phoenix bolted at Cree just as Achilles jumped in front of it and killed it. Right as he, himself found he was Oozing blood out of his heel, he could smell and taste the

underworld and died.

A Fraction of an Android

By: E. Willow Shadow

For thousands of years, humans were doing just fine; until pollution and garbage made Earth nearly impossible to live on. Eros was a newly discovered Earth-like planet, perfect for supporting life, but Earth was better. Now, instead of pollution people have to deal with, it was horrible, deadly creatures.

The town of Phobos was home to many creatures such as Manticores, Giant Eagles(can pick up about 10 people at a time, and flies away with them), and more of the sort.

These creatures made surviving a bit difficult. Aidan had run into a Manticore quite recently, while she was going out to the trade store. She tried to sneak past it, but then Aidan realised, entangled between its legs was a much smaller creature--a baby Manticore. And just as the mother Manticore turned her head, it saw her, and Aidan had to reach safety in about a minute or two, or she would be torn apart and eaten. She could hear its massive bat wings flapping hard to try and keep the hirsute beast in the air; all the while trying to stab her with the giant scorpion tail attached to its rear, in place of a tail.

Aidan ran as fast as she could, and finally, spotted a warehouse that could provide shelter. She slid under the massive metal garage door, and she could still hear the heavy breathing and scratching of the Manticore outside, too big to fit through the small gap. The warehouse smelled of lemons and oranges, which made sense when she saw a bottle of scented floor cleaner. She turned to one side of the room, and saw a mirror. Aidan admired her reflection. She had blond hair that faded to light blue hanging down to a little higher than her waist, green eyes, and a jean jacket, light grey shirt, and shorts with ankle-high boots. Aidan sighed. Not very fashionable, in her opinion.

Then, without warning, the lights flickered out. This was normal, because the lighting system was still being worked on, and so the lighting wasn't very stable.

She then heard a scratching from outside, and grabbed her taser, even though it was just the Manticore trying to get in another way. Most people had tasers equipped on them to temporarily stun Androids.

Ever since the war broke out, tasers became more common. The war was by far one of the fiercest battles most historians had ever seen, and it began when humans were stupid enough to give Androids AI (Artificial Intelligence), and then, well, they started to learn on their own. Eventually, the Androids started demanding rights, like humans have. Some people voted for it, but others remained firm against the Androids and other machines such as their toasters (since then, a lot of people still can't eat toast, because the toasters refuse).

Suddenly, Aidan heard groaning, and she looked around, and saw a hallway in one corner. She followed the groaning sound down the hallway and through a large door marked, 'Parts Room'. It was a large room made of brick, in which sunlight barely glinted through the small, rectangular windows, which gave Aidan a prison-cell vibe, since they were barred. A feeling like something was being trapped here. And then she saw it. They were everywhere--Android's severed parts. There were even boxes full of parts. It was like a technology mass-murder.

"I can't move..."

Aidan looked around the room, and in one corner, she saw a shape. Then, the lights flickered back on and she realized it was a person.

"What happened here?!" said Aidan.

"There were a lot less Android corpses when I got here." the figure replied. "We're all Androids. All of us here--- well, except you. But I'm one, too."

The Aidan then started crawling, very slowly, to a charging station. Then, the Android set itself to charge.

Then, they spoke; "By the way, my name's Jay. Who are you?" said Jay.

"I'm Aidan. Nice to meet you." replied Aidan.

Much later, and to their surprise, gunshots could be heard from outside and a huge explosion set off nearby, so big that it knocked Jay out of her charging station, and onto the floor where Aidan was knocked down, also.

"Uh, oh." they said in unison.

"That must be UNIFY," said Jay.

"Who now?" Aidan questioned.

"They want to eliminate everyone except themselves to restore Eros to 'the perfect society'." said Jay, "they'll even kill one of their own if they step out-of-line."

They both ran outside to, in both horror and disbelief, there were people in massive, armored rovers, tanks, and more, shooting down buildings and people alike.

"There is nothing you can do," said a man inside one of the armored rovers.

"We have to stop this!" exclaimed Aidan, "This isn't right! People should stick together! Not fight each other!"

"There's a major difference between what is right, and how much power people have. A large amount of power over others can drive some people to do crazy things." said Jay calmly. "There is nothing we can do. We're only two people."

"Don't go repeating what the guy in the tank was saying--wait--I know!" shouted Aidan excitedly.

Then, they ran back into the warehouse and into the Android cemetery. Then, Aidan set to work. Hours later, she was finally finished. She and Jay had rebuilt most of the androids, since most of their main functional parts were fixable enough.

"We have an army of Androids!" screamed Aidan, "Yaaas!"

"Okay, I get that you're excited," said Jay.

And with that, they set out to battle against UNIFY.

They fought for quite some time, rovers and tanks shooting down Androids, and Androids swarming the giant metal behemoths.

Suddenly looking around, Jay realised that UNIFY had a laser cannon--pointing at Aidan.

"Look out!" shouted Jay, but amongst all the chaos, Aidan couldn't hear her.

Jay started sprinting, faster and faster, dodging left and right to avoid the chaos and destruction around her. Without warning, time seemed to slow down for a moment. The fight all around them; then it fired. The laser cannon fired. She ran as fast as she could, trying to get to Aidan. Then, Aidan turned to see her friend in front of her, standing there, as the laser cannon fired. Jay absorbed the shock, saving Aidan's life, but losing her own in the process, and this thought came to Aidan as Jay was blown into a million pieces right in front of her, that shot into space and appeared infinitesimally small from where she stood.

Many years later, Aidan still remembered and admired Jay's bravery, and decided it was time. She had recovered Jay's hard drive, which was the only piece of her not blown into deep space. Hours later, she was finished.

"How you feeling?" Aidan asked nervously, unsure if it worked.

"Good." said Jay. "And..uh..thanks for rebuilding me. Wow. You look older than before."

"I missed you!" said Aidan, her eyes full of happy tears.

"I missed, you too." said Jay calmly, pulling Aidan into a tight hug. "I'll always have your back."

Since then, the sun has reflected off the pieces of the Android who gave her life for her friend's, and humans have started calling the fractures 'stars', and they still shine brightly to this day.

Thieves Never Win

By: James Miller

In Houston, Texas, the year 2017, Jamey was in her living room. She was gladly knitting a fuzzy sweater for her cousin with her lips curled back, smiling. While Chris was in his basement plotting revenge, with a grin on his face, making sure that he had no contact with anyone, while he was working on the plot.

While Hades was petting his Cerberus, and hanging out with the minotaur, in the Underworld, he was watching over all bad people.

Back in 1971, Jamey would tease Chris. He thought it was because she didn't like him, but it was the exact opposite. Jamey really had a crush on him.

But now, back in 2017, Chris was finally figuring out how to get Jamey back. Chris had figured out the perfect way to get her back, stealing!

Since they still lived right across the street from each other, Jamey still liked him. She had been working up the guts to ask him out. Chris never thought that it would have been a crush for all those years of teasing.

They would always say , "hello", every once and awhile just like normal neighbors while Jamey's cheeks were red, and Chris was sweating hoping that she wouldn't find out his secret.

Jamey went to sleep that night as happy as ever while Chris just got in his car to go to Jamey's house. When Jamey woke up she was excited because it was her birthday. But, once she walked downstairs she notices places empty in her house. She thought nothing of it. But then, the next morning even more things were gone. So then Jamey called the police, and she said,"Hello, I think I have been robbed!" she told the police.

"We will be right over ma'am."

Meanwhile, Chris was at his house watching as loud sirens and cop cars went across the street.

The officer said to Jamey,"The most we can do right now is either stay here all night, or you can set up a video camera. "

Jamey replied, "I will do the video camera thing."

That night, Chris came back and the video camera ran out of batteries, so the camera didn't get it, but somebody else saw him do it.

The following morning, Jamey checked the camera and saw that it ran out of batteries, and she was thinking that the camera was as useless as a garden hose with it not being hooked up to water.

The next night, Chris came back, but he had a surprise in store for him, Hades, the minotaur, and his cerberus went into Jamey's house and waited for Chris to rob Jamey again, and as soon as Chris showed up, they brought him to the underworld. In the morning Jamey saw that their were burn marks on the ground, as she touched them they were still hot, and it smelled like smoke in her house. She went to get breakfast, and everything that there was to eat in her house tasted like smoke.Once Jamey woke up in the morning, she went down and reviewed the footage, and she saw Hades taking chris to the underworld.

Jamey then went down there herself. She found Chris. They saw each other and Jamey ran to him, and she finally confessed that she loved him. Jamey and Chris two of them had to work it out with Hades and he let him go back up to the real world.

Up there, they worked out a few things and then they decided to get married.

Then, they both told their parents and Chris's parents asked why, and he told them.

"It turns out, that after all of those years of teasing, it was because she actually liked me."

They had the wedding, but the deal with Hades is what they had forgotten; it was that Chris had to spend three months in the Underworld for the rest of his life, and Jamey could come down for two out of the three months. The two lived up the ten months that they both had on earth.

A few years later, the two had three kids, four dogs, and a beautiful house to live in, they even had made a home in the underworld. Hades soften up since they had kids and dogs. So, they could stay in the Underworld of all three months.

Chris made sure not to do anything bad again.

Phones

By: Emma

Once upon a time, far up on Mount Olympus, lived the gods and goddesses.

Zeus, the king, was sitting down until he saw something odd on the floor beside him. What could it possibly be? Zeus pushed a little circle at the bottom of the jet black screen and a light shined brightly in his face.

"Ah!" Zeus screamed as loud as a little kid who just got their favorite toy taken away from them. Then Zeus looked away.

His voice echoed across the mountain and all of the Gods and Goddesses ran to Zeus to see why he yelled.

"Why did you yell?" astonished Apollo asked Zeus.

"It's so bright!" Zeus shouted.

Apollo picked up the thing Zeus had found and stared at it intently.

"What is this?" Apollo asked Zeus.

"I don't know," muttered Zeus.

"It's a device!" Aphrodite called from the back.

"Well, it needs a name," Zeus announced pacing back and forth.

"I think it should be named after me," Persephone said. I will call it a phone!

"It should be named after me! Athena argued. "I will call it an Ath."

This was a hard decision for Zeus because they both wanted to be named after this device, and Zeus didn't want to be the person to pick who it would be.

"Hey, I called it first so I get it!" Persephone yelled.

"But I deserve it more!" Athena yelled back.

Zeus was starting to get really miffed by their fighting, but didn't know how to settle it. But, they just kept fighting and fighting.

"No, I deserve it more!" Persephone argued.

"You are being so mean!" Athena shrieked.

"Your being so annoying!"

"You're the one who is being annoying!"

"No, you are!"

"No, you are!" Athena repeated.

This went on forever. Zeus didn't know how to stop this madness. But he had to stop it somehow.

"Ugh!" Persephone screeched, "I hate this!"

"Stop being mean!"

"Enough!" Zeus cried.

Everyone was silent. Everyone, especially Athena and Persephone, were scared. Everyone finally sat down to hear what Zeus had to say.

"You two, go make this device but better. I will blindly pick which one I think is better and whoever's device I pick, will get to name this device. You both have 24 hours to make a device and everyone will meet back here, same time," Zeus explained.

All of the Gods and Goddesses left, and Athena and Persephone went to go make their devices. They both thought that their ideas would win. But only one person can win. Athena's idea was to have a device with nothing but books. She wanted that because Athena was the Goddess of battle and wisdom so, she loved books.

Persephone, on the other hand, didn't just want to have one thing in this device. Her idea was to add things where you can click on them and you can do different things on them. For example, instead of giving someone a letter, you can just type a message on the device and send it to someone. Some that she added was a calendar, clock, notes, and many more that she thought would be useful. Athena and Persephone were both very confident they would win and proud of what they created. The next day, everyone came back to their meeting place. Athena and Persephone hid their devices so Zeus wouldn't know whose was whose.

"Alright," Zeus started off, "Apollo, hand me one of the devices and I won't look so I can examine it."

"Ok," Apollo said grabbing Persephone's device. "This one is letter A."

Apollo handed the device to Zeus and he examined it closely. Then he turned it on by pushing the little circle on the bottom.

"Well, it's definitely not as bright as the one I found, that's good," Zeus began, "What are these? Wow you can message people on here without sending a letter. Cool! Hey, there is also one for a calendar, a clock, a note, this is so cool! This thing has everything!" Zeus beamed handing it back to Apollo, "Now, give me the next one."

Apollo grabbed the next one from Athena. "Here is the next one," Apollo said, "This one is letter B," Apollo handed this one to Zeus.

Zeus examined this one and pushed the little circle on the bottom. "This one isn't as bright either! Cool! Let's see, wow there are lots and lots of books. I love books! It has all of my favorite books too! I love this!" Zeus said happily handing this one back to Apollo.

"I've got to go with...A," Zeus finished.

"Yes I won!" Persephone bragged celebrating her victory.

"And I lost," Athena mumbled sadly walking away.

"Athena, wait!" Persephone pleaded. I will name all those things I had on my device after you. You know, like the clock and the messages and stuff like that. I will call them... apps! Yes, apps because they both start with A."

"Aw, thanks Persephone!" Athena smiled and gave Persephone a hug, "I'm sorry

I got so mad at you yesterday, I didn't mean it."

"It's okay," Persephone sighed, "I'm sorry too, I didn't mean to yell."

"Alright," Zeus said, "now let's have a party!"

Everyone got some food and they all had a nice dinner in celebration of Persephone's victory.

Then the phone was created, and ever since, companies like Apple and Android have created their own version and sold it to people and given themselves the credit but, it was really made by Persephone. Who created the device that Zeus found? No one will ever know.

The Tale of Three-Headed Dog

By: Sawyer Webb

In a village in Ancient Greece there was a maiden named Hebe who could make magnificent portions of different effects. She could make love potions that made people topple head over heels with the tears of a person, she could make strength potions that rivaled the gods if she figured out the secret ingredient, she could make people swift with her potions that made Hermes mad, and much more, some of which tasted like death.

The king of this city was very troubled of his agreement to participate in the Delian League, for Athens was treating the other continuing cities, including his, like peasant servants. He had heard of this maiden and her amazing potion making skills and he hatched a plan to use her skills to take over the Delian League. He made his guards detain her on false charges. He met her in the dirt filled dungeon.

"Little lady you have done some pretty bad crimes," he said.

"No, I didn't do those things King Cerberus, you must believe me," she pleaded.

"I will make you a deal in order to let you go," he told her.

"I'll do anything Your Majesty!"

"Then you must make a potion that will make its user as strong as three dogs and not susceptible to magic," he instructed her. "It must be finished by tonight and you will have any material that you will need to create this potion."

She went to work immediately, for she did not know that the king had no evidence against her. Once she had finished the potion, the king instructed her to brew another batch. The king was very cunning and was favorited by Athena, until now.

Athena looked down at Cerberus and Hebe with a crease in her forehead. She was worried about the fate of Athens, after all she founded it. Athena called upon her uncle, Hades. She pleaded to him, "Please Hades you must stop Cerberus before he takes Athens!"

"Why can't one of my brothers do it?" he asked with a crease in his eyebrows.

"Hera won't let Zeus interfere or interact with mortals unless she says so, and Poseidon is still mad at me for taking the glorious city from him," Athena explained.

Hades replied reluctantly, "Fine," Athena flashed a smile for a second, "but you need to give me information on Penelope, for I need a queen to rule with me in the lonely Underworld."

Back in his kingdom, Cerberus heard from a credible prophet that Hades is coming for him on his way to check on Hebe.

"No matter," he said to the prophet, "my potion will protect me from anything Hades will do."

In the Underworld, Hades was studying Cerberus and collecting magical gear. Hades knew from Athena that Cerberus may have many potions with him and Hades brought gear that will defy any potion. However, Hades did not know that Cerberus' main potion would block any magical effects.

Hades teleported from the shadows of Cerberus' throne room where the king is waiting with armor and his potion on his belt. Hades charges at Cerberus. Cerberus dives to the side and slips a skinny potion off his belt. Hades grabs his spear. Cerberus popped the lid off of the vial. Hades took aim. Cerberus chugs the potion. Hades let the spear fly with incredible speed. Cerberus dropped the potion, jumped up, and caught the spear mid-air. He looked at Hades with the look of a wild dog. It was his turn to charge Hades. He was too quick and Hades was tackled. From there on, it didn't take long. Hades had no way to harm or dodge Cerberus. Hades was beaten like a dog. Cerberus took Hades unconscious body and took him to lovely Hebe.

"With Hades blood, you must create a stronger potion and make the effects last longer," he gets an insane look in his eye, "I will take Athens with an army of men on this potion.

Hebe cowered in a corner and started to shake.

"What are you doing!" he yelled as he started to shake as well, but out of anger not fear, "Get to work now!"

Hebe swiftly got to work. She drew golden blood from Hades and prayed to Athena.

"Goddess of Wisdom please help me in these dire times and give me some way to stop Cerberus before he destroys all of civilization." She did not know how quick her prayers would be answered.

Athena appeared in front of Hebe and started to instruct her on what to do.

"Take this ambrosia for it is the drink of the gods and mix it with the potion. It will make anybody who drinks it incredibly vulnerable to magic, but it will make it taste the same," she said with hastiness. Hebe took the vial of ambrosia. Athena held Hades and teleported out of the dungeon.

As soon as Athena left, she poured a little amount of ambrosia into each skinny vial of the potion and then stirred it.

Athena took Hades to Olympus and went straight to Zeus. When she found, him he looked happy until he saw his brother, Hades in such a terrible state. Zeus went straight to him and clutched him with his mighty hands. Even Athena teared up a bit. When Zeus looked up, he had lightning cackling in his eyes.

"Who, who did this to him!" he bellowed as he shook with anger, the smell of smoke coming from him. The sky got dark and thunder clouds began to roll in.

"Cerberus, who now is marching off to Athens take the city," Athena said while wiping away tears.

"You will take my brother to Hera to heal. I need to stop this madman for defying the gods in such a terrible way," he instructed her as he walked away. Athena took Hades to Hera with a frown. If she hadn't put the right amount of ambrosia into each vial, then Hades and Zeus will take part in the same fate.

Outside the gates of Athens, Zeus appeared in front of Cerberus and his army.

"King of Olympus to what do I owe this pleasure," he said with a smile as he took a vial of the potion off his belt.

"What should we do King Cerberus?" a soldier whimpered out.

"I will beat Zeus like a dog then we will take Athens!" he shouted. His army roared in reply. Zeus wasted no more time and took his lightning bolt and rose up in the sky.

"Are you too much of a coward to fight me like the god everybody worships. I don't want to just beat you, I want to show the world that you are a false god and then everybody will worship me!" He chugged his potion and when he was done Zeus threw his powerful lightning bolt at Cerberus.

Cerberus started to shake and moan. His skin turned into fur. In place of his hands, grew the paws of a dog. On his shoulders sprouted two dog heads. Finally he fell over on all fours and bowed his head. When he brought his head back up, it was the vicious head of a dog.

Hebe was rescued by Athena and was turned into a god. She now bears a potion in which whoever the drinker drinks from it turns immortal. Cerberus was taken by Hades to the Underworld to guard the dreadful place.

"You once beat me like a dog, now whenever you mess up I will return the favor," he warned him coolly.

Athena spread all of Cerberus' citizens to many different cities and then all of the gods destroyed the city and no mortal was able to rebuild it. Sometimes you can smell the smoke of lightning and the howl of a dog can be heard from behind the last door that is laying on the ground with stairs underneath.

Unbreakable

By Christian Wood

Aidan Coole is a 16 year old boy who is the best pitching prospect in the country.

He wants to be in the MLB, but he would do anything for his country. Aidan enjoys the summer so much mostly because of baseball.Aidan's dad played one game in the major's then his arm blew out.

Aidan pumps his fist in the air as he marks down another batter in the world junior baseball classic game against North Korea. " Everything is going great for Aidan, and he is going to LSU for college baseball." He has 5 MLB teams looking at him, but then everything changes forever. The USA has declared war that starts world war 3 against North Korea. USA is looking for young soldiers. The next day Aidan meets with a general; he is going to war.

One month later, Aidan sits in the fighter jet Eric calls out, "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2,1 drop it!" They drop it, and then a North Korean plane flies out of nowhere and strikes the bottom of the plane. Aidan goes running and then he shouts the bombaugh doors are stuck.That means the bottom of the plane by the back is open. Just as Aidan is looking down there more bullets spray and just miss him. Aidan runs to the front of the plane and looks through the cockpit window.

Then Bryce shoots the North Korean plane down and everybody watches as the North Korean plane fall into the ocean Aidan thinks, "that could've been us". Then all of a sudden, everyone hears a pop Aidan runs up to Cole and says try this. But then Cole and Eric are having problems controlling the plane and Cole shouts out "prepare for impact". Aidan wakes up in a raft with Eric and Cole sitting there and staring at him he has a bandage wrapped around his head and he is wet and cold. Eric says, " we are the only three that made it". Aidan can not bare to hear that that the people he was with a few minutes ago are gone. Cole says, " we have some chocolate and water only one piece at a time." Night hits. It is time to get some sleep.It's the next morning Aidan wakes up to hearing Eric freaking out because a pigeon ate all the chocolate.Cole asks, "now what are we gonna do?"Aidan whispers, " shhh. I have an idea." Aidan then puts his hands in the water and pulls out a shark.Three weeks later Aidan asks Eric, " you ok". He gets no response. That's it, Aiden and Cole mourn over the loss when they rap his body. Then they throw him into the ocean and watch his body sink. Two weeks later all of a sudden, Aidan starts waving his hands into the air thinking it was a American plane but it turns out it was a North Korean plane,then bullets start shooting everywhere. Aidan jumps into the water but then there are sharks in the water and Aidan realizes that so he starts kicking the shark and punching them then

they swim away, then the plane flies away. The raft is inflated and Aidan gets back on the raft somehow Cole didn't get hit by a bullet. Then Aidan starts to patch the holes and when he is doing that a shark jumps up and tries to bite his hand, but then Cole swats the shark with a paddle.

Three weeks later, Aidan sits in the North Korean concentration camp. Then the camp general comes in and starts beating up Aidan. Then the next day, Aiden walks out and there is a Korean baseball player standing there then the general comes to him and points at this dirt hill and hands him a ball and then hits him with a stick in back it hurt so bad that Aiden almost fell to the ground, then Aiden gets on the mound and throws the pitch and the batter swings and misses then that happens again and again. Then the general comes up and starts beating up Aiden with the stick. The next morning, Aiden wakes up and then goes out to go get the coal. Then Aidan goes into the room and there is Achilles and Athena are standing right there.

Aidan stares in at Yankee Stadium and gets a signal. He takes a breath. He strides and then the Yankee batter swings and misses he just threw a no-hitter to win the world series!

The Truth Behind the Tree

By: Julia

Trixie was one of many tiny nymphs living in a faraway forest. Trixie always had a good head on her shoulders. She had an adventurous mind, but knew her boundaries. Trixie had blue eyes as shiny and pure as the ocean. She had hair as red as a perfectly precious and plump petite cherry. Trixie had demonstrated an excellence in solving any type of puzzle.Trixie was as kind as the neighbor down the street who baked and gave everyone her goods. One day, while playing in the forest with other nymphs, Trixie decided to join in. The forest smelled like freshly fallen rain. Suddenly, the nymphs started forming crazy random shapes and configurations with their bodies. Trixie suddenly got a terrifying feeling, but somehow thought nothing of it. With every moment that passed, Trixie was getting more and more concerned about what was going to happen. The other nymphs had been decent and had the joyous laughters of little children at their birthday parties. At that same time, Medusa was in that very forest, secretly preparing for the killing of the nymphs.

Trixie asked, "Is it just me," she asked with a worry-filled look, "or did it just drop several degrees?"

All the nymphs replied with a resounding no. Trixie started to get more and more concerned. She knew that they were on the verge of death. Slowly, she started realizing that the air truly was getting colder. Suddenly Medusa came strutting in while the nymphs were formed into a tree shape. Medusa's nasty personal scent of death and rotten human flesh grew stronger and stronger. It was like a human slaughterhouse was coming for the nymphs. Trixie was the one who knew that they were going to be in a deep pit of trouble, and she was right. The taste of deathly fear lingered in Trixie's mouth. Medusa was ready for these young nymphs to be gone. With one petrifying look into all of their eyes, Medusa began trying to freeze them into stone. The slithering snakes on her head had the feeling of scales that were soaked in blood. There was something wrong.

Surprisingly, the innocent nymphs were not turning into stone. Instead, they were turning into wood. Medusa was confused and later found out that one of her snakes was completely sick and messed up. While Medusa was confused in her battle, she knew it was not her. Overhead, Zeus was watching the nearby battle and started fighting back to help out the nymphs. This dynamic had caused the whole wood effect. The nymphs were all screaming which caused the little holes and divots in trees that can be seen. The sound of hundreds of shrieks as loud as whistles filled the forest fast, but just as fast as they filled the forest, the noise disappeared. The nymphs' lives flashed before their eyes.

With all of this commotion, the few nymphs that were still alive, but were in other parts of their world, later saw that their nymph friends had created the first real tree. They accepted the fact that they would never see Trixie again. All the nymphs were in deep sorrow but they moved on with their lives. Medusa learned that she had created something new, unlike any other thing that existed during her time, which both freaked her out and amazed her. To this very day, that is still how trees are made.

The Origin of the Diamond

By: Pietra Arikita

Once upon a time there lived a man named Aeoson, he was a handsome man that had bewitching hair that no man has ever had, his eyes were like an oasis in the middle of the desert. He was married to an equally beautiful woman called Anaís, her beauty almost matched Aphrodite, the goddess of love, and her skin was as smooth as a babys. The couple lived in a house that was a little separated from town but the house could fit 50 men and 50 women together. The house had tiny specks of gold in its walls and almost all of its furniture was the most expensive in town.

One day however, while Aeoson and Anaís were dining at the table, Anaís was really excited about something, Aeoson could see that she was excited but he was not sure for what.

"Sooooo, you know what is coming up?" Anaís asked so excited that she almost yelled the question.

Aeoson wasn't sure, but he didn't want Anaís to know, "What if it was something important." he thought. "Hahaha, of course I know," Aeoson lied, trying to make his voice as steady as possible, " But since you seem so excited about it I will let you tell me." said Aeoson smiling.

"IT'S OUR 6th YEAR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY IN 4 DAYS!!" Anaís yelled with excitement.

Aeoson froze; he had completely forgotten about it, he knew that this was when they both each got a present for each other, but what could he possibly get her? She already had everything. He looked at her faking a smile and praying that she could not see it.

The next day Aeoson exploded out the door, sprinting to the city, he needed the most time he could get so he could get the perfect gift. He went from store to store, not finding anything that was good enough for his beloved wife. Aeoson started to panic, if he could not find anything for his wife, the only thing he could do is pray for the gods for a suggestion of what he should get for his wife. Aeoson got home and went to the praying room, there he prayed nonstop, not even stopping to go to the bathroom.

Little did he know that the goddess Aphrodite was listening to his prayers, when Aeoson finally gave up, he went to the bathroom and to the kitchen to make dinner, Anaís was worried about him, but she knew Aeoson and didn't say anything. Aeoson made his way to the garden to lay down in the grass. Aphrodite made herself only visible to Aeoson and spoke.

"Aeoson, i heard your prayers, i have come here to help you." Aphrodite said blandly "Why don't you get her a ring with the finest, most beautiful rock of all rocks that any mortal has ever seen?" Aphrodite questioned.

Right after Aphrodite said that Aeoson thanked her and sprinted back to town. When he got there, he was exhausted, he need water, his sides hurt, and his legs were practically dying, he quickly found water and drank as much water as possible. Then he went to all the ring stores to find the most beautiful ring ever. But that was a no-no too, he quickly realized that there was no ring that was like Aphrodite described. Disappointed, he went back home. But when we was about half way there, the goddess Iris appeared in front of him. There they made a deal, the goddess Iris would transform him into a beautiful ring right at midnight, but it would reflect rainbows when the sun was shining. And so the deal was set.

Aeoson got home and asked Anaís if they could give their gifts at 23:56, Anaís quickly accepted because she couldn't wait to show her gift to Aeoson. And so the time came, it was 23:56 and Anaís was first, it was a beautiful pottery set, it was perfect. But then it was Aeoson's turn, it was 23:59, he was holding his wife's hands, The goddess Iris was watching and when the clock reached 24:00 Iris was quickly moving and turned Aeoson into a ring just like Aphrodite described, but the only exception was that it would reflect rainbows when it was in contact with the sun. Anaís was shocked, she couldn't believe what he had done, just like that, in a poof ! Her husband was now a ring, but the ring was perfect, smooth, like when you just brushed your hair and pass your hand through it , it was transparent like glass, and just like she liked her rings to be. The ring was golden and had a little bit of silver in the middle, the jewel was not so big but not so small. After this event, she always had the ring with her for the rest of her life, even when she died; the ring was buried with her.

The End

Alphabetizing

By Juan Gonzalez

A long time ago, on Mount Olympus, everything was perfect and golden and the smell and taste of cherries and pleasure filled the air. However, this was not a good time for the mortals. While the gods were having the time of their lives and everything was swell, the mortals were dying. Their population was decreasing rapidly because, at this age, there was an act applied to all humans from the gods. Any mortal that used a word that does not have a god that starts with that letter was punished with death by the swords of the gods.

Then one day Athena couldn't take it. She had a sour taste in her mouth that told her she should do this. She hid the god's swords so there would be no more deaths. She went to the town of Troy and gave a heart filled speech about what was right.

"Citizens of Troy." Athena spoke. "It is I Athena." As it went quiet. "I have heard your cries for peace and for the suffering." "I have heard of your fellow people dying at the hands of the gods." As Athena spoke a tear ran down her cheek. "And I have come to tell you no more suffering!" Athena exclaimed.

"And we together can put an end to this!" The crowd roared at Athena's speech.

The Crowd began chanting. "No more deaths! No more deaths! Athena! Athena!" But little did Athena know that the god Bacchus had heard her chants and wanted to secretly join so he sent her a message that read:

Hello Athena,

It is I, Bacchus, and it is I who has heard your outrageously amazing speech of what is right. And I am here to say I would like to join you in this quest to save many lives.

And so, Athena accepted his request and allowed him to join her. From there many gods began joining them. But little did they know Zeus had his people. He had intercepted these messages and was furious. He began his own organization and planned on destroying Athena And Bacchus. Zeus's foul scent of anger filled the room.

Athena had her side consisting of Bacchus the god of wine, Poseidon, the god of the sea and, Artemis the god of hunting. Zeus began his organization and soon he had Ares the god of war, Savitar the god of speed, and Hephaestus the god of building. And that night a thunder cloud went over Mount Olympus and everyone knew exactly what was happening, Zeus was angry. Hephaestus built a battle field where Ares stood. But Athena's army was not intimidated and was ready. And just like that the war began.

They charged at each other with strength to battle, except Savitar, he was nowhere to be seen. However then they all saw Savitar running in a circle. At first, they were confused but then, they saw it. Savitar had created a tornado sweeping up Bacchus and throwing him to the walls back and forth, then the tornado ended and Savitar was dead. Because of his speed with the tornado he went to fast and he was killed by the tornado, after this came brutality and death.

Athena was thrown out of the battle field and never came back. For everyone else it was Ares and Zeus vs Poseidon. But little did they know that Bacchus wasn't dead. In Fact he was fine. But They believed he was killed by the tornado. Poseidon began a tsunami that destroyed Ares and he was weak but he would not give up and they kept on fighting. But after they fought for awhile and Bacchus was still playing dead he snuck up and it happened. Then and there, he stabbed Ares right in his back. Ares fell dead. After he did this Bacchus was immediately pushed to the ground by Zeus, and thrown over mount Olympus, to never return. It was two vs one. Zeus gave up and they escorted Zeus back to Mount Olympus to make sure he didn't try anything sneaky so he would be forced to make an announcement everyone would hear.

Zeus Spoke "it is now Legal to use any word at any time and these are all the new letters that can be used: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z." And it was officially made, The alphabet.

The Tale of Femi

By Amanda Millers

One beautiful day, Banafrit was out with her daughter, Alexandra. Banafrit had a curvy body with straight black hair that almost resembled the burning coals in a fire. Banafrit also smelled like fresh Lilies that had to just been picked. When you were near Banafrit, you could almost taste the sweet sugar that came from her. And the birds chirped and followed Banafrit everywhere because the birds adored her. When you touched Banafrit you felt a sudden warmness that immediately spread throughout your body, even in the cold. Alexandra was just like her mother especially with that icy blueness in her eyes that looked like a frozen winter pond. They were playing in a little grassland near their home, the grassland was filled with luscious grass and very fertile soil that you can dig your feet in to keep your feet cool from being baked by the sun. There was also a stream that flowed a slow pace through the pasture. The mother was doing her daughter's hair in a very simple braid that went straight down her fine, bare back.

All of the sudden, Banafrit heard a piercing shriek that was so loud she couldn't hear what the noise said, but then saw her daughter, who was livid, sprinting away without warning like an antelope frightened by a lion . Banafrit then finally figured it out, it was mice, but where? She decided to look later.

Banafrit was frenzied, so she called upon the goddess, Bast, for help to take all the mice that roamed around the Malkata(malkata is the Arabic name for palace) so she could get her daughter back. Bast agreed but on a couple conditions.

"You must bring me Golden Chalice that holds the sacred wine, the skin of the Silver Lion," Bast exclaimed, "and a Holy branch up upon the mountain of Bresalock(bres-ah-lock)."

Banafrit wholeheartedly agreed so she could get her daughter come back from where she went. She promised herself to go on the journey herself and that she must leave at once. So, she got herself food, weapons, and hope to bring on her journey. She went to Shezmu first, but before she went in, Bast appeared and gave her a protection spell and a bag of fresh lamb's blood as and offering to the god. Banafrit went in and asked for the holy chalice in return of the fresh lamb's blood, at first her offer was declined but later Shezmu accepted because he couldn't hold the urge for blood back. Banafrit went outside to see that the chalice floated up in the air and disappeared right in front of her eyes.

Once again, Banafrit did the other two tasks but came out raw. But she still managed to get around it. Banafrit called out to Bast again who came with all the prizes that she had harvested and began formulating a creature small enough to fit in small spaces like a mouse.

The golden chalice became the blood of the creature, the skin coated the muddy being like a blanket, and the holy branch became two things, spikes on the beast's toes and a tail. Bast snapped her fingers together and... BOOM! The creature became a reality.

They called this being Femi, which means love. The love passed on and soon all the mice were gone, Alexandra came back relieved and with joy, she also made another name for this being, aqattat saghira, which means small cat. But we say house cat today because the cats we own are loyal and they stay inside a house.

The Creation of a Softball

By: Analicia Burgos

Once upon a time their lived to girls named Noel and Kaylee, they're both brunette haired with brown eyes. Their biggest accomplishment was creating an object that would be useful to people in the world. They also enjoyed playing games and making food together. They have always felt that they would be together in every moment in eachother's lives. They both lived in Paris, France. They lived in a town called Bakersfield. It was a beautiful town right next to a river bank. They also lived right next to each other. Every morning, they would wake up to the water stream and birds chirping among the trees. When they walk outside they smell the pretty flowers blooming.

They decided to meet up one sunny day. They went to the park for a couple hours and saw kids hitting a rock with a solid stick, then the rock rolled over to them and Noel picked it up and looked at it then thought that they could create something better than this to play with all the time for their biggest accomplishment. Then Noel and Kaylee looked at each other and Noel said, "This might be a trail straight to our accomplishment of our lives, so if we want to make this on our own then we will need some green cloth to make it soft and some red laces to grip it easily!"

Then, Kaylee said, "If we want to make a bat to hit the ball with, then we will have to find a thick tree branch." So, they rushed home and made a plan for who would get what. Noel decided that she would go find a grapefruit and some green cloth, and Kaylee decided that she would find a thick tree branch and some red lace to make the seams for the softball. When they finally found everything they needed they met up at Kaylee's house and gathered all their supplies together.

First off, they measured the length and width of the grapefruit and cut off the right amount of green cloth. Secondly, they wrapped the grapefruit in the green cloth, then sewed it together so the cloth wouldn't come off. Then, Kaylee brought in the red threads and found the exact measurement of laces that they needed and where to put them. They finally found the measurements and put on the lace and by dinner time their softball was a finished creation. Noel and Kaylee had a sleepover at Kaylee's house, they were so happy that they made a softball. They woke up the next morning and ran to the softball fields to get first dibs on the softball and got some friends and they played softball for a couple hours.

Then one of their friends asked them and said, "Who made the softball?"

Then Noel answered and said "I made it and Kaylee was my helper!"

Then when they got back home from the park Noel said "I am so happy that we made this creation together." Then Kaylee just nodded and walked on. Noel could sense that something was wrong so she asked Kaylee what was wrong and Kaylee's response was "You said that you made the softball and I was your helper, that is not true I am the person who found the bat and I got red thread for the laces, the worst part is that you didn't even give me credit for making it!" Noel was so shocked that what she said made Kaylee upset. That day the girls went home upset and stayed in their rooms all day and night not talking to each other. Then in the morning Kaylee decided to go walk her dog around the block, and then around the corner was Noel who was walking her dog. Then right when Noel saw Kaylee, it was like death between them. So then they passed each other and went back home. Since Noel felt bad for what she did, she decided to write Noel a letter apologizing for what she said.Then before Noel was about to leave it by her door she decided to make a ball for Kaylee to keep for the rest of her life. When Noel saw the creation she had made for Kaylee it was like beauty and grace mixed together. Then she took it over to Kaylee's rang the doorbell and ran away so Kaylee didn't know that it was from her. When Kaylee opened the door she didn't see anyone so she looked down, grabbed the note, and the box the softball was in and went up into her room. When she was ready to open it she opened the box first and saw the softball and Noel wrote on it

"I am sorry for what I said about you and I didn't give you any credit can you ever forgive me?"

So Kaylee opened the letter and in the letter were apologies and sorrows for what happened between the two of them.When Kaylee first saw that it was from Noel there was joy in her heart that made her happy. So Kaylee thought about it for a few hours and finally had an answer for Noel. The answer to Noel was yes Kaylee can and will forgive Noel for saying what she said. So Kaylee called Noel and said "Hey Noel, I can forgive you for what you said and I hope that maybe we can hangout soon and make more softballs. The next day Noel went over to Kaylee's and they decided to look up the god or goddess of creation to see of they could have him/her create the softballs they make. So when they kept looking and looking they finally found it was a goddess and her name was Thetis goddess of creation. Then they found a chant they have to say to summon her to make a softball. The chant was titled "The Chant of Creation", the way it was pronounced was really easy and the chant to summon Thetis is "Maztak Thetis Lusha ma." When they found out how to pronounce it they looked up what it meant where they say it, how they say it, and how many times they chant. It means Goddess of creation please create this small object into a ball to play with in the park, they say it around a circle of rocks, and they say it three times. That evening they went to the park and made sure that no one was there and got some rocks out it into a circle and then got all around it. They got their balls out of their bags and started chanting "Maztak Thetis Lusha ma" "Maztak Thetis Lusha ma" "Maztak Thetis Lusha ma" and their appeared Goddess of creation Thetis.

Thetis asked them in a nice delicate voice, "What may I create for you girls tonight?"

The girls replied "Can you create this circle into a softball? It means a lot to us and we would be so happy if you can make this for us everytime we create a softball and want to sell it."

"I can make this into a softball for you girls, but keep in mind I may not always answer after all us goddesses still need our beauty sleep."

Thetis huffed and she puffed and handed them the very first softball in the world to ever be held in worldwide history. That was when they stuck with the name softball forever.

When they felt the softball it was very slick and the sight of it was a shiny green ball with red little laces to pop out. The sound of it when you throw it or field it is like music to your ears. The taste of it was cherry limeade with laced red cherries. The smell was like a waterfall mixed with roses. Then after they started a business named Red Laces for Green Places, they grew out to be old and to this day you can go visit them in Bakersfield and from now on you will always see the first softball to ever be created in their window.

Hildo and Halloween

By Alivia Cady

Long ago in Ancient Greece, there was a new and growing town named Athens. Athens was the nicest, most beautiful town around that always smelt like fresh bread baking in the bakery. Itound. Ev was a lovely town, with flowers growing everywhere and the sun was always beating down on the warm everywhere you looked, people were happy and joyous, but, in this town, there was an old ghost who loved to startle people. As legend goes, he had been one of Apollo's sons but, Apollo had thrown him off Mount Olympus because he was a mortal and great Apollo didn't want him. When he perished, he turned into a ghost. This ghost's name was Hildo. One day when Hildo was scaring people in the town square, he caught a glimpse of a beautiful and stunning girl. He didn't recognize this girl, but all he knew was that he loved her. He thought that if he scared her, she might notice him and think he was brave! Hildo was too afraid to do this. He thought he might make a fool of himself. He needed more time to gather his courage.

The next week, Hildo saw the beautiful girl again in town and by then had gathered up the little bit of courage he had to try and impress her. So, he swiftly followed the girl to her home. When he got to her home, he thought of a plan quickly in his mind. He would take some delicious candy that was given to him by a older shopkeeper in the town and put it in a bowl. The shopkeeper did say that it was healthy but also the most tasty candy in town that was supposed to have a splash of sugar and would melt in your mouth. He would offer this small bowl of candy to the girl. He poured the candy in the wooden bowl, and left it sitting out on her counter with a yellow note reading "Take me". Aphrodite looked at the beautifully decorated, sparkly candy, which she didn't trust, and left another note reading "Is this a trick or a treat?". She got no reply.

That night, Hildo decided to play another joke. He decided to conceal her house in the candy he had put in the bowl because he knew everyone loved candy. Hildo thought this was a harmless, innocent joke. Aphrodite awoke the next morning and looked at her walls, surprised. She realized that they were covered with the candy she had received the day before, so she was very angry with whoever was doing this. Another night after that, Hildo left yet another bowl of candy. Again, Aphrodite was furious. Hildo still didn't know that this beautiful maiden's father was Zeus. So, Aphrodite clutched a piece of the bitter-sweet candy and stuffed it in her mouth so that whoever was bugging her would leave her alone. She fell to the ground with a loud bang and Hildo realized that the candy wasn't regular candy, but it was poison. He wept for years and years, realizing what he had done and was ashamed.

After Hildo had overcome his misery, Hera, a goddess, had found out what Hildo had done to Zeus's beloved daughter. She knew she must tell Zeus what had happened. After she told him, he was mad as a polar bear when you take its cubs.

"Guards," howled the mighty Zeus, angrily. "I would like you to create a maze. Nobody shall ever be able to escape this maze. When you have built this, you shall trap Hildo inside the maze. Understand?"

"Yes sir," they both mumbled, frightened.

Day and night they worked on the maze, finding all available resources. After two months, they had finished. They went down to Athens and found Hildo. Then, the guards seized the sneaky ghost, but Hildo slipped out of their hands. But they grabbed him and tossed him in the maze, slammed the doors, and locked it up.

Years went by, and Hildo wept and cried, day after day. He screamed to Zeus and constantly begged to leave. Zeus insisted not until he had a plan that all the gods agreed on. Hildo was depressed. One day, Zeus came to Hildo and told him they had concocted a plan. For 364 days of the year, Hera would spy over Hildo to make sure that he wasn't doing anything naughty. For one day of the year, October 31, Hildo was allowed to scare people in a friendly way. This day was named Halloween. Hildo was very happy about this, and gladly thanked the gods very much. Hildo flew back down to Earth with a humongous smile, and felt like he was finally free, the fresh air blowing around him and Hera could keep him safe. Hildo was already excited for Halloween, and he had planned everything. The costumes, the candy, and even he carefully planned his decorations he would put on everyone's houses. Halloween was only 30 days away.

The Magic of Soccer

by Judy

One day, there was a girl named Makayla. She spent most of her day on the soccer field practicing for this huge championship game. She was very tall, strong, brown colored hair, and has some freckles. She felt very excited, but at the same time nervous. The coach's name was Austin. Makayla moved from Tennessee, and she lived Salt lake city, Utah. She joined the top team in the league. She has had the same soccer ball since she was five years old and still has it. Then one day, on the championship game she used that ball and found out it was the first soccer ball ever made on earth, so it turned magical. This all happened when she got hurt from the other team being frustrated at her for scoring the goal to the game up.

Makayla woke up bright and early on the championship game day. The game started at 10:00 a.m. and she had to be there an hour earlier. They played at their home field. While the team, was warming up she smelled delicious juicy hamburgers. The referee was a little late, but they got started fast. The referee's cheeks puffed up and his faced turned red like a tomato and made the sound of nails on a chalkboard. Makayla thought his whistle was broken. Makayla started with the ball and dribbled it down the field, the other team made a great tackle and got the ball and passed it around Makayla's team. They made a move through the last defender and shot the ball and scored. They started off with the ball again. Makayla was really mad, so she pushed through everyone without getting a foul and scored!! The crowd was going crazy! All the soccer players saw this big huge crowd staring at them and clapping. The other coach started screaming and got as mad as a chicken with it's head cut off.

He screamed on the top of his lungs, "You suck ref!"

The ref shouted, "You're out of the game sir!" One of the other teams parent's had to come coach their team. The game was much quieter after that. It was halftime and they got into a different formation. The ref blew the whistle and the other team moved around them. The other team shot, Samantha, their goalkeeper made a great save, but there defender's weren't there and they rebounded it and shot, they scored. It was 2-1, the other team was winning. The other team got very pushy because they didn't want to give up a goal to tie the game up, but Makayla gets hurts very cruelly and couldn't walk. The other player kicked her really hard in the knee, where she couldn't bend it. That player that hurt Makayla got a red card, which meant she couldn't play for the rest of the game or the next game, so Makayla's team had an advantage.

Austin quickly came over and checked on her. She cried so much that she could taste the saltiness of her tears. Then one of her tiny droplet of her tear hit the soccer ball. Her coach carried her off the field, but then Makayla saw a goddess and heard the goddess say the ball the ball, you can play. Then Makayla's team subbed in for Makayla and got a free kick. When they started Makayla stood up and she felt better as she touched the ball. The ball felt like baby skin after it turned magical. She thought how could this possibly happen. She told Austin she felt better and got to go back in for the last five minutes left of the game. The ball only turned magically on Makayla because it was her tear. The ball let makayla do whatever she wanted to do. She dribbled through everyone and scored. The ball slipped through the goalkeeper's hands and made a big whoosh sound because it was so powerful.

Since, it was the championship game and it was tied, it went to overtime. That meant They get three extra minutes to play. They start at the half line and the other team starts with the ball. It became very big challenge. Thump, there was a huge tackle. The three minutes was up and it is still tied, so that meant it went out to a shoot out. Five people got to shoot from each team. Makayla's team went first, Hannah went first to shoot, that plays in the mid-field. She scores!! The other player from the other team went, Samantha made a great save!! Makayla could tell that the other team wasn't good at shooting. Four other people shot and it turns out Makayla's team won! They got first place. Both of the teams shook hands and said amazing game. They walked over to their tent where they got their medals.

Clearly as Makayla's tears dropped on the ball, the ball turns magical and let them win. Makayla gots healed by the magical ball and scored the last goal.

The Origin of the Pufferfish

By Micah

Once upon a time in ancient Greece there lived a man named Pufferish and he had deep feelings for the maiden of the land named Kassandra, Kassandra was as sparkly as the ocean and as beautiful as the sea.Pufferish was madly in love with her but she loved another whose name was Valethragha.Pufferish hated this man and sums up a plan to kill him.First he will gain his trust then he will invite him to a picnic right by the chasm of death and finally Pufferish will push Valethragha of the chasm and he will fall to his demise.

On the day of the picnic, Valethragha said " why did we meet here at the chasm of death instead of the pastures of sweet?" Pufferish said with a devilish smile"oh no reason." Pufferish knew that he had been unwilling to come but he thought it to be rude to come so he came any way at first it seemed like it would be a normal picnic but what Valethragha did not know is that he would die before the sun sets.At about noon pufferish decided to make his move so he asked valthragha to step by the cliff for a toast so Valethragha came over but this was probably the worst thing hed done in his life, because right at that moment he was thrown off a cliff.The gods were mad at Pufferish for killing this young and beautiful man, but Pufferish did not care that the gods were angry instead he decides to go and find his love.this makes the gods even more unhappy especially Poseidon. Poseidon was only mad because Kassandra was his daughter.Poseidon is so mad that he doesn't give Pufferish's town any rain until Pufferish dies but before he dies,Pufferish begs Poseidon to let him escape this madness,but instead Poseidon turns him into a fish that has only on defense which is he can puff up to the size of a balloon. And his knew name was Pufferfish,did not enjoy this in fact he hated it more than death.

The Origin of the Continents

By: Anaka Hansin

Once upon a time there lived a proud young sea nymph named Aquilonem. She was beautiful, with skin the color of soft green coral, hair like the soft ocean waves, and the fullest lips, as blue as the sunny waters. And her eyes,they could find their way to any young man . All she had ever wanted, was to be free of the ocean. She enjoyed ruling over the sea nymphs, but she was distraught. Aquilonem wanted to explore the open-armed sky. But instead she had to live in her castle, all alone. Her stunning, huge, castle that echoed the sound of the ocean waves up above, and smelled of sweet sugar pearls. Aquilonem's cook always made wonderful meals for her that tasted so good, but she was beginning to dislike lobster. She was just about to drift off to sleep with all of her subjects just as she did every day after the tide moved in.

When all of a sudden, there came the loudest noise anyone had ever heard! It shook the entire kingdom awake. The queen was startled at the loud noise, and swam up to the surface to find out what it was. She later found out that it was all the gods arguing about what they should do with the sea nymphs. Aquilonem was taken aback, and her pride got the best of her.

She decided to take six other nymphs along with her, the best subjects she had. Sul, Europa, Afrika, Azsia, Soce, and Aussailia. Aquilonem decided that they would leave in two days. As the time passed, she was thought a spell by the kingdom's sorcerer to allow the nymphs to breathe above water. At last, the time came. The queen had a chariot prepared for them that was made of the hardest armored coral in the kingdom. It was pulled by the most masculine hippocampus, with a scaly dragon like tail, and a mane made of seaweed.They all left, and on their way decided that they would prepare a speech for the gods. After two days, the nymphs finally broke the surface of the ocean. They were on their way to Mount Olympus! Once they arrived, they told those gods and goddesses to shut up! Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, Hera, Aphrodite, Demeter, and Apollo were furious! (However, they did mask it very well, for once.)The gods and goddesses stepped into another room to discuss this matter. They finally decided that they would pretend to agree, and ask the nymphs to stay for a few days. Then, they would bring the nymphs into the chariot room, and each god and goddess would get to turn a nymph into a giant floating land mass in the ocean. Later on, they would turn the rest of the nymphs into little islands floating around these, continents.

Suddenly, the nymphs stormed in, demanding an answer. The gods and goddesses, proud of their brilliance, said that they would quiet down, on one condition. That the nymphs would stay for a few days. Cautiously, they agreed. After a while, the gods and goddesses grew anxious with excitement. Soon after, on the last day, they all brought the nymphs to a chariot room where their chariot was being held. The supernaturals stood in a circle around the nymphs, and Zeus told them of good!

"You have come here to disturb our conversations. We are very angry at this, and now you will be punished." At last, the nymphs finally realized what had happened, but it was too late. It was said that the screams of the nymphs could be heard twenty-five miles away as their bodies were expanded and turned into rock and dirt, their arms and legs turned into mountains and volcanoes, and their fingers and toes turned into lush forests filled with vegetation. All the other nymphs in the sea could also be heard, screaming for mercy, as their bodies turned into islands.

The End

Unicorn Incident

BY: Merrinn

Hi I am Merrinn, I also have a twin sister, her name is Cara. We were born on, June, 12, 2005. My brother Matthew was born on March, 8, 2003. We are getting ready to go explore the forest that is close to our backyard. We are going to prove that unicorns are real and not extinct.

Legend has it that there is a unicorn running around in the forest. Cara and I are the first to go and look for the unicorn. We are also going to bring our big brother, Matthew. He always loves to go out into the woods with his friends. Almost every day when he would finish his priorities he would go explore. This is so exciting, I cannot believe that we are actually doing this. Cara and I have never been into the woods before. We are scared but yet very excited. Some people also say that there is a unicorn goddess. Isn't that just awesome?

We are walking up to the beautiful sight of the woods. From a mile away you could probably hear the lovely sound of the birds chirping and singing. We could smell the fresh flowers that were starting to bloom. The taste of the air was fresh and alive. The beautiful forest has the feel of the rough and the soft tree barks. The woods were also kind of scary, but it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever been. The first on my list is probably Mutino Neui the island.

THERE IT IS!!!!!!!!!! THE UNICORN... I had never seen such a beautiful animal in my whole life. Cara and I are super pumped to go and see the unicorn up close. Here we go. Matthew, like always, is speechless about cool stuff. I grabbed my camera and took a picture as fast as I could. Cara and Matthew did the same but from different angles. THIS IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! The unicorn has white fluffy fur (but not to furry/fluffy). It's horn is a golden sight of beauty. The mane and tail are both braided.

"Come on, let's go! I want to touch the unicorn," I said. We are now are on our way, walking slowly. Wait, I cannot go any further. There is a force field... we can't go all the way to the unicorn. Oh no, I think that the UNICORN GODDESS IS HERE... WOW! She is gorgeous. She has long, silky, dirty blond hair in a messy bun. She is wearing a beautiful golden gown. Her shoes are 8 inch heels. She is a glowing goddess in the world. She starts to yell at us for endangering the unicorn. But then we told her that we just wanted to pet the horse and not hurt the animal at all. We said that we loved unicorns and that we would never do anything to hurt it. Then the unicorn goddess unlocked the unicorn and let us pet it. It was a wonderful day to live This is an experience that I will never forget. This is a lasting memory. Forever I can tell this story to my friends and family. I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS DAY OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!

The Origin of Softball

By: Hayley Freshwater

On a morning where the sun was mildly hot, Hayley, Hannah, Jordan, Evelyn, and Lizzy, were warming up on the baseball field,ready to play baseball, where they were eating the dust because it was really windy. Jordan pointed out that there was a tree stump that read "These fields are to only be used by goddesses. If your step foot on this field and are not a goddess, beware!" But it right in the middle of the field, nobody knew why. But there didn't care

After they warmed up the game begun, Evelyn was up to bat and the pitcher was winding up expertly, and threw the ball right over the plate. She launched the ball far and long, among the infield and outfield, straight out by the fence.

"Yay" screamed the crowd thinking that it was going to be a home run. But something weird happened! The ball disappeared. There went their last baseball! They didn't know what they were going to do because they couldn't finish their game.

Jordan announced, "How about we hit rocks!!"

"Ummm.... No!" Snapped Hannah.

Jordan smelt the hot dogs from the concession stand as fast as a dog can find steak. "Hey Hannah, can I ask you one more question?" She asked.

"Are your serious, I know what you're thinking....... so no!" Hannah rudely said.

After Jordan was done whining about not getting a hotdog, they marched back to their houses.

The next morning the girls got back together, they found a large, green ball sitting perfectly on the pitcher's mound. Hannah picked up the unusual ball, her face was puzzled.

The umpires called "Play ball" and the game begun! While Hayley was pitching, she found that the ball was heavier than a baseball, Lizzy and Evelyn are pitchers too, our 3 pitchers struck out 5-9 girls each game.

Ever since that day, this team has played softball together. The city finally made official softball teams, and fields for everyone to

The team cheered "Stars on 3.... 1... 2... 3... stars!"

A Watery Grave

By Elizabeth

"Deal!" Poseidon shouted as he roughly and aggressively took his older brother Zeus' hand.

Zeus had challenged Poseidon, that whichever side won the Worst War, would receive the finest wine of all Olympus. The wine was rich and had the sweetest kick of tang. 11 years later was March 20, 3034 in modern California USA. The USA and Japan had been at each other's throats for about the past 11 years. Generals for each side had come and gone. Most of them died horribly and suffered in battle. The last Japanese general had been replaced with Tsuki Shale, along with Naomi Roberts who had a charming freckled face who was the new American general. Tsuki Shale had raven black hair, pale peachy skin, and eyes like the starry sky on a clear night, piercing the the eyes of others. Plains would not have been covered in dried hard blood if the disagreement had just gone unnoticed. Japan was teaching children about the horrific traumas that happened between the US and Japan, but those lessons had become untrue, offensive and unrealistic to the USA. Sometimes when problems do not find a solution people can turn to a grim situation instead and that is what these countries came to conclusion on.

Minutes passed by as thousands and thousands of brave soldiers lost their lives, and at such a young age. Americans coming from the east and the Japanese coming from the west, mass chaos was surrounded the vast fields. Soldiers were dropping like flies as others quickly ran from the danger like a chicken running without a head. General Tsuki Shale was very insightful and found a pattern in which the American army was attacking from. She came up with a strategy to encircle their opponents by putting the strongest at the end and then put the weakest at the middle and as they charge run around and connect to surround. This would make the other army become frantic and break formation.

"Sergeant Leo, Lieutenant Richard," General Shale commanded, "get to the edges and take your best with you!"

Camouflaged planes and jets flew overhead threatening millions of lives as dark grey exhaustion trailed behind them. Military aircraft soared and roared with speed as high powered machine guns fired from above. Rockets were raining like cats and dogs racing through the sky then hit and warm red blood was spilled on the fields. Not a soul saw it soaring through the sky as it prepared to shake the earth. General Naomi slowly lifted her head but to see an aircraft so large that it could fit 600 soldiers!

" It's like the Death Star," Shale was alarmed, "but this one was made to blow up."

Hatches unlatched as spread apart and a colossal black ball of fiery flames came hurtling down. Because of the smoke and ash caking the sky from all the fire the pilots had missed the target. The USA. Although it did not hit the USA it made a mammoth sized "cannonball" into the ocean! A ringing sound lingered in everyone's ears. This created a wave so big it would surely destroy all that mankind had created and mankind itself. Poseidon, who was in favor of the US , had seen this happen before. Poseidon stepped in and attempted to hold the wave back with his rippling thunderous muscles. He struggled to keep it from killing everyone. The wave kept building up and building up and was such a strain that when Poseidon tried to tell the Generals to move all you heard was, "tsu...nami!" croaked Poseidon. But the armies were so paralyzed with fear that not a hair moved. Salty water was forced down throats.

The water was no longer a wave but a wall as tall as the Great Wall of China was long!

Gods only have so much strength to spare, and the God of the Sea's time was up. Poseidon's everlasting strength gave way as the water pursued over the coast. It was a quilt dropped over the country as it killed any living thing in its passed. The Worst War ended because there were no more people to fight or disagree with. The roaring of water and dying fading screams of the murdered soldiers who died that day was all that was heard. The putrid smell of blood hovered over the ground.

"I now declare that any ocean waves threatening human life will be named tsunamis," Poseidon managed to croak that as guilt took over him and salty tears dripped down his weathered face.

Poseidon never helped in another tsunami incident for the fear that he would die of the guilt he carried with him from the first accident. As for Naomi Roberts and Tsuki Shale, they observed the next generation carefully carry on as new technology was created to help prevent more natural disasters. Like seismographs and air bubble helmets.

Clamante

By Kevin

Once upon a time there was a young beggar named Clamante and he was as poor as the birds on the street. One day in Ancient Greece, a civil war broke out between the sides of Greece. The democracy because corrupt, Areas the god of war, wanted to veiw war rage across Athens the city of the goddess of Wisdom and craft, Athena. The town became a battlefield.

Ares found enjoyment in the deaths of hundreds of people. Ares liked darting quickly down from the sky. Ares was doing one of his flying trips to the battlefield, Ares passed a group of Ares made smoke as he dashed across the field of dead bodies. He became so happy that he wanted to take some for display for his celebration, and by chance Clamante was there laying by all the bodies. Sad Clamante had just lost all of his family and wanted to lay with them until he died. Ares is so big compared to humans and for the other gods mistakes he did not see that Clamante was alive. Ares took a bag from a farm and Zoomed down on his chariot and sweeped about 20 dead bodies but one was Clamante and he was not close to dead.

Then, later in the future Ares, when trying to cool the bodies saw the bag moving Ares shoved his a hand into the bag and clinged onto him and pulled out Clamante, Ares laughed. Ares wanted to keep Clamante as his own servant for all the deeds he needed. Clamante was so full of this pain of doing everything for the god of war so he decided to run away as fast as he could but he has gone nowhere because everywhere he went he could of been caught. But by the time he was going to stop trying, he was as mad as a Tsunami crashing down onto a beach with the the strength of the world. Clamante knew he would be looking for him so he ran and ran but by the time he made it past Ares temple he tried to get back to Athens. Clamante los tall his hope to get back home as Ares walked up to his mighty dad Zeus. As he tries to listen behind a pillar, Athena spots Clamante behind the huge white marble pillar, Athena questions herself, should she really give him up.

Athena at that time decided to do one thing that Clamante did not know and as he watched Athena glided straight up to Zeus and passed Ares right up. Clamante, was as frightened as a Antelope inside of a cage of Pumas. He saw Athena come from where he was before. He saw Zeus and Ares walk ferociously behind him to see that they were bigger and taller than he was by a mile and if they saw him they would think he was an ant. Athena on the other hand walked over to where Clamante was and kneeled down but was still taller then him from an apple to an apple tree. She lifted up Clamante with here hand and carried Climate over to where no human has ever used. It was the elevator for good people from the underworld would use to come up and live on Beautiful Olympus. He was dropped by Athena into the cylinder of amazing gold and silvers and beautiful purple chandeliers that hung from the top. Clamante was shocked to see all this gold and wealth in one place . It looked like a king or queen's temple but smaller.

Clamante got more comfortable the doors were slid shut. Clamante felt a burst, as strong as if you got butted by a ram. Right before he got comfortable he heard a burst of sand (Swish) go into the tube. Clamante reached over to the sand and picked up a dust of the mini rocks and yelled, home!!!! With the blink of an eye Clamante went to the door and ripped it open and ran to the world but as he walked up to people, they did not even care. But Clamante felt joy in everything even the birds that people compared him with. It felt like 60 years since he has been away. Now every day he thanks the world for everything and became the happiest man in the world. But as the years went on he gave happiness to everyone. Then Clamante has became older and the time was up, and his happiness was never shown again and every year after year no one has ever has seen and will see happiness again.

Why Did Mt. Vesuvius Erupt?

By: Tyler

Long ago, in ancient Rome, Pompeii, a city at the base of Mt. Vesuvius, its fate was being decided by goddess Tyche, goddess of luck, and lord Zeus, king of the gods, ruler of the sky. Poseidon, god of the oceans, sat nearby listening to Zeus and Tyche fight. Zeus fighting to keep it, because it was his favorite, Tyche fighting to destroy it, because she had a score to settle with Unipedes, a young nymph who beat her in chess. They were fighting over the fate of Pompeii.

The next day, Tyche and Poseidon conspired on a plan on how to destroy the city. Poseidon thought that they should destroy it with an earthquake, being the god of earthquakes. Then, they thought of taking Typhon, a huge monster the size of a skyscraper, bent on destroying everything, and putting him under Mt. Vesuvius, and let him break Vesuvius apart, letting ash, rocks, and magma fall on the city of Pompeii. Then, after the city was covered in ash, Typhon would destroy anything left. Now all Tyche had to do is wait. Typhon agreed, getting into Vesuvius from the inside. During the following day, Tyche kept Zeus busy by arguing with him.

Meanwhile, Poseidon was hidden in a cave near Mt. Vesuvius and had told Typhon he would signal him with an earthquake the day before. Now, sitting in his cave, he gave the signal by creating a medium earthquake. When this was happening, Unipedes, Tyche's nemesis, felt the quake and knew by instinct that something was wrong. There was no other movement, so she went back to relaxing in her villa. In Poseidon's cave, he saw Tyche acknowledge his signal when she sent a large four leaf clover that only gods and monsters could see because of the mist, a magical thing that blocked the sight of mortals, created by the goddess of magic, Hecate.

Typhon acknowledged by making Vesuvius smoke a bit. Poseidon gave the final earthquake, meaning Typhon should start. Typhon was Mt. Vesuvius, and all the sudden, he started throwing pieces of rock at Pompeii. Then, ash clouded the city over, covering the streets with three meters of ash, enough to destroy anyone in the streets. They felt like a school bus was on top of them.

Unipedes, in her villa, heard the commotion and smelled the smoke. She looked out the window. She saw people suffering, choking on ash, and dying. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw her dog. She knew she couldn't take him, so she stroked his soft head one last time.

"Good bye dog," she cried "I will always remember you."

She knew that she had to get out of there fast. So, she took nothing from her villa, except a steak, and ran south, trying to reach the city of Stabiae, where she had distant family that she knew she could live with.

Zeus, watching from above was furious towards Tyche because he knew that it was Tyche so he decided that he would hunt her down. Poseidon, seeing this decided to take a risk. He took his chariot sped very swiftly towards Tyche, picked her up, and took her back to the cave so they could hide from Zeus. Zeus was hunting Tyche down for five weeks, still with no luck. So, after six weeks, he decided to give up. He made a truce with Tyche, so he could talk to her.

The next afternoon, Tyche cautiously approached Mt Olympus, fearing the worst. But it turned out that Zeus just wanted to have one city of his choice to give peace and prosperity. Tyche agreed under one condition: Zeus did not punish her in any way for the destruction of Pompeii. Zeus complied. He chose Florence, Italy. Florence had been begging for help in their war. Tyche agreed. Therefore, Florence is a very wealthy and peaceful city. After this, Zeus and Tyche were good friends on Mount Olympus for eternity.

Tech VS Bieberous

By: Ryan K

Once upon a time their was a fair boy named Tech n9ne who was 8 and born in Kansas City, MO. Kansas is warm and smells of flowers and water. His muscles expanded like mountains. His eyes dark brown resembling the earth. He loved to run and his favorite thing to do is to listen to music. It was the middle of summer and the birds were chirping, the wild game grazing and the rivers and stream whispering the sound of nature. The smell of wild flowers grew and grew. Then tech loved music so much he started to make his own type of music the has never been heard of or even thought of. Weeks after weeks finally he mastered the new music. The idea was ingenious. Suddenly, something magical happened that changed the course of history.

Then, after Tech found out his new talent he sprinted faster than Usain Bolt to his friends and family. He showed them his talent and after a week the god Bieberous, the god of song, heard of this new music and he was furious of this cause he knew that this new music was way better than any music he created. At this Bieberous decided to challenge the young Tech. When Bieberous found tech he was very surprised because he thought tech was older.

So after a few years, Tech was of age to challenge a god. So Bieberous swooped in on Tech and challenged Tech to a sing battle. Bieberous went first. He sang "Sorry", Tech was very confused because the crowded enjoyed this ear bleeding words that came out of Bieberous's mouth.

After the horribly awful song was done it was Tech's turn to spit. Unlike Bieberous, Tech didn't have a song to copy. So Tech improvised and freestyled it. The words flowed out of his mouth like a river run down a riverbed.

Afterwards, Bieberous knew he had been beat, so he walked away sad and ready to take his revenge! Bieberous thought and thought of how to take his revenge and finally it hit him, it was cruel and would make anyone suffer for the rest of their lives, by pursuing the curse of death upon Tech mother who passed away of this curse on Jun 7, 2014.

Tech was sad by the death of his mother and started to get depressed so Tech keep doing his music which help with his depression. Eventaly Tech got over his depression and was at the top of the food chain for music(he also dethroned Bieberous).

Why the Sun Rise and Sets

By Johnny Lu

A long time ago there was a poor person who lived in Ancient Greece, a kingdom that smells like fresh bread. The person's name was Alexander, Alex has curly hair and bright blue eyes, he smells like the forest. Alexander might not look as if he is great, but he is a great poet, and proud of it. One day, when a group of people gathered around to listen and praise Alex's poetry, this made Alex prideful and reckless, which made him think that he is better than anyone else, even the gods.

A day later, when Alex was walking home from the market where he bought stuff, he thought, if he sold his poetry to other people, like the ones that always come to praise him, he could earn lots of money, this thought excited Alex as he ran home to prepare for tomorrow. But Alex didn't realize that up in Olympus, lived the gods. Apollo is one of the gods on Olympus, he was the god of poetry and music. Apollo was very strong and mighty, he could turn into anything and take form of any shape, he is also immortal but has been punished by his father Zeus times before now. So as time goes on the next day, where Alex is making trillions from selling his

poetry, Apollo watched down from Olympus.

As Alex was selling his poetry, he got more reckless by the second, and eventually he started bragging. "I'm so great," Alex claimed, "that I don't thinks the gods could even be as great as me."

An wise old man looked over at Alex "Don't anger the gods ," he said with a worried tone, "bad things tend to happen if you anger the gods." Alex ignored the old man's advice and continued bragging.

Up on Mount Olympus,What was seen in Apollo eyes was only anger burning like fire.

At once Apollo rode his golden chariot down from Olympus and arrived at Alex's house, everyone gasped and kneeled down before the god, only Alex remained standing.

Apollo spoke "Alex you had angered me, the god of music and poetry, therefore you will pay."

And so it began, both of them sat down and started reciting poetry, the people gazed at both of them in awe. Alex's poetry was truly great but Apollo's was fantastic. So Apollo won and cursed Alex to only allowed to speak in rhyme for the rest of his life because of his foolish thought of overcoming a god.

Resting on Olympus, Apollo's problems are far from over, little did he know that his father Zeus, the king of the gods was keeping an eye on him this whole time.

When Apollo returned to Olympus, Zeus looked angrily at him and yelled, "Apollo, I will punish you of what you have done! You will chase the sun across the sky until the end of the world!" And with that, Zeus left.

After Zeus Left, Apollo became depressed, he thought, I need to take responsibility for what I have done, and so he took off to a life long service of chasing the sun across the sky.

This was why the sun travels across the sky everyday, it was because of the incident that took place in ancient greece when Alex challenged Apollo, Which ended up with Alex only allowed to speak in rhyme, and Apollo chasing the sun over the skies.

Ink the hunter

By: Jerry Lu

Once upon a time there lived a hunter named Ink. Ink was a greedy person that has dark hair, jet black eyes, and wants everything for himself. He lived in a town by the ocean in Ancient Greece. It was a insignificant town with old people that came back from war.

One day, Ink, the hunter bolted away again when he was stealing things, he ran as fast as he could, to a mountain far far away. The mountain had green spots on the tops like someone spilled paint over it. All of a sudden, he got teleported to a mysterious place. The place would make out of pure gold and gems that would have cost trillions of dollars. It was Olympus, where the greek gods lived in a life of luxury, there were thrones where the Gods and Goddess would sit, and has the smell of the finest flowers.Then on one of the thrones he saw a golden crown. He decided to take the crown and wear it himself.

Then, Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, noticed that the her crown was gone. She was very furious. She had always liked that crown because it was made of pure gold. She decided that when she finds out who stole the crown, she would punish them harder than how hades punishes awful people.

A few weeks later, Athena still has no luck finding the crown. Feeling down, she had no idea that Ink in the mortal world has taken it and has the idea of melting it into liquid. Then after month and month of looking around, She finally sees it for the first time in three months, the golden crown. It was on a dark haired man that just came out of a old, broken bakery.

Suddenly, anger rose up in Athena, remembering all that she has been through to get the crown, she was even more furious than she first found out that her crown was missing. She rose up to Ink and shouted " Foolish mortals, you have angered a God!"

"Who do you think you're talking to," replied Ink foolishly.

"You dare talk to a God like that!" roared Athena as she quickly flew up in the air.

Ink, seeing that he has no choice, used trickery. He ran very fast past Athena and tried to dash away again. But seconds later, Athena caught up again and formed a deep hole in the ground. Ink couldn't stop in time and fell in. The hole was too deep for Ink to get out and he was cornered.

Athena laughed hard as she got closer to Ink, then she slowly raised her hand and spoke spells that no mortal can cast. Ink can feel that his skin was slowly dissolving into a puddle of stinky goo like the crown he was about to melt. After hours of pain, Ink the hunter was completely goo that tasted of mud and Athena took him and flew back high to Olympius.

A few days later, Athena came to the town again. She spoke, "People of the mortal world, you will forever remember how the foolish Ink had died, for he messed with a Goddess and suffered the outcomes. That will happen to whoever mess with a God or Goddess again."

For now on no one ever messed with a God because of what happened to Ink. Because of the goddess, everyone have to write with the remains of Ink to remember what happened when Ink took the golden crown. The sticky dark part of the goo is known as Ink's jet black hair and black eyes.

The Robot

By Cara McGrath

Once upon a time in Modern Ireland there lived a girl named Nicole. She had beautiful long blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. What she wanted most in life, more than anything else, was to make an invention. Now, she had made plenty of inventions before. But she wanted to make an invention that was greater than the lightbulb, greater than the internet, greater than anything.

Now she was at a moment in her inventing career were anything she invented was terrible. Her robot server was terrible, the elevator that travels in, out, around, under, through, sideways, slantways, anyways, just not good enough. Just like her inventions, she felt awful. She lived in a place with very little publicity. She lived in Ireland, in the countryside, who knows where, and she had few friends. She had her two triplet sisters, Roisin and Saoirse, and they were the ones to properly test her outstanding inventions. Every morning she would run into the woods to grab some wood and had just enough time to run past the old tree and dip her finger in the sap and devour its amazing taste of nature and tangy sweetness. The place where they lived smelled like fresh grass, and tree bark, and it sounded like the birds having a conversation and the wind whistled in such a calming way. Her sisters liked her robot invention the best, but she disliked it the most.

One day out of nowhere she ran out of her room with her robot and into the woods. It was a rainy day. Her two sisters ran after her, telling her it would ruin her invention. Nicole felt a pounding in her heart half saying it was a wrong thing to do, the other half cheering her on. Her sisters screamed for her to come back. And she did. But without the robot. Meanwhile, in the forest, the robot was having some malfunctions. It suddenly jolted out of the spot that Nicole had thrown him on the deep forest floor. He started to rip through the trees tearing the forest down.

Then she realized what she had done. She sprinted fast into her spot in the forest were she had left the robot but he no longer remained there. Her eyes began tearing up and she grew into depression. She thought she would never be happy again. Her sisters ran into the forest and they found her lying on the ground.

Right after that they heard a noise. Not the normal bird conversation or the wind whistling. It was thumping. And suddenly the robot came crashing through the forest and Nicole woke up.

"Nicole, your alive!" Saoirse wailed with happiness.

Later on, after their parents had soothed Nicole and warmed her up, her dad, a retired mechanical engineer helped her rebuild the robot so he wouldn't be so destructive. It was done.The robot they had worked on for hours on end was done. She was exhausted,and needed some sleep. Suddenly, at about midnight, she woke up where she hadn't gone to sleep. She woke up with a view of the forest, lying in the robot's arms. She jumped out of his arms and looked around. She wasn't in their forest.The robot looked different. It wasn't the latest advanced robot. She was petrified. She ran and she heard the robot chasing after her crunching twigs and leaves. She screamed for her sisters, her parents, her neighbors. Nobody was anywhere.

After a while she stopped and realized she had lost sight of the robot.She felt tired and she was in the middle of a forest next to a pile of moss. She lay down to rest. Soon after she woke up in a glowing white and golden area. After her eyes had adjusted she realized where she was. She was with the gods.She saw a centaur staring right at her and telling the gods how he had found her in the deep woods and how he had carried her cold corpse up to the gods. . Zeus, Aphrodite and Moonlight, the goddess of mythical creatures, were all present at that moment also. They told her what to do. She unlocked the minds of her sisters whilst they slept. The gods lowered her down back down and she lay back in the forest. At last her sisters found her in the woods and they felt joyous that they had finally found their missing sister. They looked around the bright colourful forest that was in the past grey and gloomy. " I love You"

The End of All Ends

By: Mark Menezes

Her name is Carmen Lyten. She wishes that she had never been born.

Meanwhile, in Mount Olympus, Zeus was not amused with the joker in the palace, Kamisaki. Zeus was so mad that he shot Kamisaki down with a lighting bolt and he crashed down onto earth, in a volcano off the coast of Beijing. The year was 2099 and Beijing was covered in pollution, so the sun wasn't able to get through the clouds, and the temperatures severely plummeted, leaving the city in eternal darkness. But in the sea there was something even more concerning. The volcano's last explosion was catastrophic. Currently, the city was concerned about another explosion. To try to stop this an American named Carmen Lyten came to study the volcano and try to find the day of the next eruption. Carmen was almost to the point of figuring it all out. For another night she settled down to see of her machines could track any vibrations in the earth. She was about to get a reading, so she decided to get some sleep and record her data the next day to see if her machines had worked.

Crash! She was woken by the rattling of her lamp and the thuds of her stuff falling from their shelves. Immediately she went to go see if she could figure out what was happening. Her machine had collected a reading! But that wasn't the only thing. The reading said twenty years, and there was a giant tremor hitting her at that moment. After being thrown around and her belongings being thrashed, she found her machines smashed against the wall. She ran over to pick them up, and she was stunned at what she saw.

She was sure the tremor had broken her machine. The numbers were running down like crazy. The time until the next eruption was now only 8 hours away. She was too tired for any more, she fainted. When she awakened there was one hour gone.She was woozy but needed to go find out what happened. When she got there something was obviously wrong. The volcano was pulsing with energy and a green glow. The lava hissed with an ominous tone. She could almost make out the shape of a dragon or lizard, but she thought to herself that she was just hallucinating. She got back to her camp as fast as she could and got her thermal scanner that was in tact by a miracle. She could still smell the burnt ash from the volcano, being an omen for her to speed up. She was just leaving when she came back to look at the timer. It was now down to 6 hours. She needed to find out what was happening. She got to the top of the volcano and scanned it. There was immense heat radiating from the mountain- and an emerald looking stone in the middle, creating the green glow I could feel the vibrations of energy.

She didn't see it till 30 minutes later. There was an outline of heat in the shape of a giant reptile.She got her supplies to the top of the volcano when she checked her machine, she was at 4 hours. She got back to the top of the volcano, but sooned learned she would not need the binoculars for what was happening. The pulsating beast rose out of the volcano with the red eyes of vengeance that were set on Beijing. It was giant and was using the emerald and green liquid to fuel itself. Carmen knew she had to do something. She only had two hours. But now she understood- The timer was for how long she had before Kamisaki reaches Beijing. She had a choice- alert Beijing, or try to destroy the monster myself. There was no time she told herself. She could do this herself. The taste of perseverance filled her mouth as she worked as hard as she could. But Kamisaki wasn't there when she arrived. But then she saw him. He was approaching Beijing at high speeds, ready to destroy the city and make Zeus suffer for his actions. But Carmen saw a way through. It was the emerald, that was it's power. She only had 30 minutes. She got the mechanical arm as close as she could and snacthed at the emerald. She missed and almost dropped the grabber itself. She tried again and again but missed over and over. She could hear the shoutes of the city. The shouts of the people. Finally she grabbed it, but not in time. She looked over to see a destroyed city, in ashes and terror. Dead and screaming. Why was she so naive? Why was I so naive? Why did I make those mistakes? I had had enough. I wish I had never been born. I would never live again. I closed my eyes forever and committed suicide.

When Kamisaki died, a chemical reaction sparked and the whole sky exploded with color- it had sunsets like a beautiful rainbow, the blue sky as pure as a river, and much more. Now new inhabitants came to live in the beautiful Beijing. From that day on the whole world returned to its cheerful happy place.

The Real Reason Why the Sun Rises and Sets

By: Keegan Milewski

In the small town of Siena, Italy, Jeffy, an intelligent young person, starts to see a problem. The sun never sets nor does it rise, It just sits there beating down earth. Now the people of Siena are rejoicing and living lavishly, but Jeffy is without a home and isn't as fortunate as the others so he can never sleep because the sun is always beating down on him. So Jeffy wants the sun to have a certain time in which it rises and sets. But changing this will need the power of a god.

Because of this Jeffy begins to plead to Apollo god of the sun. He gets nothing in response. He even sacrificed sheep his only source of food, still nothing in response. One day Apollo comes down to visit Jeffy. He explains to Jeffy that he does not have the power to do so even though he is the god of the sun Zeus will not allow him to have the sun rise and set. Jeffy does not stop at this as he believes that with more people begging the gods may eventually give in do he explains to the town the problem and they agree to beg to the gods with him. So they do and Apollo is listening. Apollo is starting to get annoyed with all of the people begging so he Joins them and begs to Zeus. Zeus sees apollo and smirks telling him "You will never have the power to change the sun but beg all you what". Jeffy and the whole town of Siena manage to get all of Italy in on their "Quest for darkness".

So now with One god and around 60 million people nagging and nagging at the god day in and day out Zeus finally gives in. He throws a lightning bolt down on earth the makes the earth rumble and everyone goes silent. A thunder cloud the size of Asia floats over Italy. A voice thunders "After a year of you guys relentlessly begging I have made a deal with Apollo" "the sun will rise In the early morning and set at night giving you ample daylight to do your jobs but darkness to sleep peacefully"

The people of Italy elated so loud the earth shook.Everyone went back to living joyfully but Jeff still was missing something. A house. Now the problem was it was too frigid at night to sleep. So one day while Jeffy was napping under an apple tree. A man walked up to him and woke him up. Jeffy was frightened at first but calmed himself down enough to ask why the man had woke him.

The man said, "You are the whole reason the sun rises and yet no one has rewarded you yet. I come to tell you that you can have my home. Jeffy was amazed with what he heard and thought he was dreaming.

The man said "and don't worry about me I have many homes"

Jeffy nearly passed out. He asked the man the man to show him where his new home was. He took Jeffy to his new home on top of a beautiful mountain. So everyday he could see the magnificent sun rise and set.

Elijah

By: Hunter

One blossoming morning in a small town on Easter Island there lived a boy named Elijah, a tall handsome young boy with dirty blond hair and eyes as blue as the ocean itself. Every morning Elijah would work out, and he would start by running a mile around the lake every morning. Now this was no ordinary lake, this is the place Elijah last saw his parents. Elijah miraculously remembers that day clearly. His mind went back to a dark Sunday afternoon. It was about 5:00 when his parents came home. Sheer terror was illustrated in their body language. They said they had to go right away, when they made it to the lake they stopped. A massive thundercloud swirled over them. Elijah's parents suddenly threw tons of jewelry and gold coins at the ground begging for mercy. Elijah recognized this jewelry it was from the temple of Zeus. Then suddenly, a massive thunderbolt shot out of the sky, It reeked of a fire like smell, so hot that it did not leave ash behind of his parents. Another one began to boil ready to unleash its wrath. Then it ceased so abruptly a tremor of fear moved across his body and he never understood who was behind this as he was far too little.

The lake was empty since that day and it was peaceful, so he liked it. Now, one morning, there was an old woman at the edge of the lake gazing into it like she was looking for something. Something that made her get lost in the thoughts of old memories she had here. So, he strode over to her and realized he had never seen her around the lake before. She paused and turned around. She looked old but not too old, and she had a very gentle smile but then it disappeared just as quickly at it as came. She was glaring at him so intensely, into his soul, then a rush of panic came to her eyes.

"I must go." She stammered," Zeus would not like me conversing with you." Still confused she said, "You know what he did to your parents, and he will do the same to me." Then she was gone just like that like a light switch just shut off.

After all of this, he sat and contemplated this new theory of what happened that day. It blindsided him that he had not thought about this before, he had tied everything together and fists clenched screamed into the sky unleashing a fire inside him. He desired revenge badly. He wanted it so badly he enlisted the help of Dolus, god of trickery, to help construct a marvelous stadium that when Zeus entered it would trap him. Now this took a while since he had to build 900 enormous statues alone. The people of the small village persisted that he would surely die but he did not listen.

A month later, it was complete and Elijah stood alone in the center meditating, nervous but ready. He took a statue of Zeus' beloved wife Hera which was smooth on the edges and had a cylindrical base and threw it at the ground making a spitting sound that was heard around the world. Even on Mount Olympus. Zeus with sheer frustration came tumbling down like an avalanche appearing at the far end of the stadium fiery eyed.

"Mortal," he retorted," how dare you disrespect my wife."Elijah stood tall not backing down and said, "Just showing the same courtesy you showed my parents."Looking angrier than ever, Zeus spit and said, "Insolent fool, I should have slain you when I had the chance. Now you will have my wrath." Then, with a single thunderbolt Zeus hurled it as hard as he could murdering the ground making thick smoke bursted up in the air. When it cleared all that was left was just dust and the 900 statues surrounding it and the taste of blood. Those very statues that Elijah fought upon are still there, but nonetheless, Elijah was no more.

The Future of Soccer

By Ethan Pham

Shawn Claw was a towering human with big kind brown eyes and black hair. He always wanted to bring back human soccer. Unlike other people, he enjoyed playing soccer and playing with the unbeatable robots. He felt sad because his favorite game was dying because of the stupid robots. Jason, Shaun's little brother was a lean human ,but one thing about him was extraordinary. He had two eye colors, blue and green and curvy long blonde hair. He also had wanted to bring back human soccer because he felt like he was being treated unfairly. He enjoyed playing soccer with his older brother and singing. They both lived in Technopolis in the year 2164. Everything looked like technology and sounded like hoverboards. Technopolis smelled like cherries because of the overhead air fresheners and the air tasted like kiwis.

One day, Shaun and Jason were effortlessly slowly strolling to the soccer field to practice, but professional robot soccer players were there. They decided to gracefully shove them out of the way, and then the robots challenged the unfamiliar humans to a soccer game, but a special game. If the robots won they get to keep on playing, but if the brothers won, there would be equality and humans could play soccer. So, in response, the brothers agreed to play the robots.

On one sunny day, two young boys, Jason and Shawn decided to gather random humans in the city to play the robots, but in the corner, Jason was nodding his head as fast as a cheetah.

"Why would we do this?" he asked. "We will have no chemistry because we have one day to prepare and we won't know them well."

"It is two ordinary people against eight unbeatable robobutts," Shawn replied, "Do you think we will succeed?"

So, the brothers gathered just enough humans participate in the game. The whole team practiced many skills such as juggling. The game had started at three o' clock. Within the first two minutes of this historic game on the bright green pitch the robots scored and screeched like a thousand vikings. The whole team was devastated. Just before halftime, the robots scored an outstanding header goal. At halftime, everybody was giving up except for Shawn. He invocated to god of soccer, Goalidon. Then he gave a speech.

"Just believe, this game is not over, we are outstanding humans, we are just like sneaky turtles because remember it's better to go slower than faster," he said, " They may be better than us in some areas, but we are smarter and better than them."

The second half had started and the humans had started greatly by scoring a goal in the first two of the second half. The human defence stood up when the robots had gotten close to the goal. Then, when the humans got the ball, the robots received a crucial penalty in the goalie box. Jason was going to take the penalty kick. He took two breaths and slowly shut his eyes. And then, Pow! He had scored and the whole crowd was cheering and singing like dolphins. He screamed like a thunder cloud.

The next day, there was a parade where the whole city turned all the landmarks back to human style by covering them in grass and hay. The government gave them a national day and the city key to the capital. When the robot soccer player's owner, John Techfolk heard that the majority of the city appreciated the humans over the robots, he disabled the robots and allowed the humans to play soccer.

From now on, the humans can play and enjoy soccer without any worries. Also, the robots have been working for the elderly. What happened to Jason and Shawn you ask? Well, Shawn became a professional soccer player and Jason became a pop star and was called the two eye colored monster.

Flurry and Snow

By Blue Jay

In a far off valley,there lived a village of fairies and in that village lived a fairy named Flurry. She was very pretty. Her golden hair shone like the sun and her eyes were as beautiful as the river. She was also very playful. Also in that village there lived a beautiful butterfly who loved to get attention from girls two their names May, Ray but when Flurry would come around all they would want to do is play with her so the butterfly was very sad. So one day he decided to trick her into the Forest of Forever Hold Your Peace where an angry bear lived. Anyone who went into the forest never ever came out alive. So the butterfly said one day to the the little fairy, "Do you want to play tag with me?"

"Sure!" said the unsuspecting fairy. So she chased him into the the forest where he flew up, up, and out of sight. Flurry looked around and saw that she was in the forest. She had heard two girls talking about the forest and that you could not get out, but she thought it was a myth. She never thought that it was true so she decided to go back the way she came but no matter how far she walked there were always more trees. So she decided to sit down and see where she was.

Also walking around the forest was Snow she liked to watch the leaves dance. Snow was an average fox with red fur black paws. Snow loved to walk around and smell the perfumey daisies and she liked to hear the creek rustling. Most of all she loved to go out when it was winter, so she could feel the coolness of the sparkling snow under her paws, and taste of the snow in her mouth while she ate it. She wondered what was going on with Flurry who was just there sitting there she so went to see what was wrong. "What's wrong ?" asked Snow.

I am stuck in this forest and there's a fairy eating bear coming." said Flurry. "Oh, you must mean Uncle Joe. He doesn't eat fairies, he only eats humans, but he's the one who can get you out of here. I can take you take you to him if you make this place forever winter also could you make my fur wight. so she took flurry to go see uncle joe and he got her home. Also she never played with the butterfly again.

The First Ancestor of the Majestic Llama

By:Llama

A long time ago in a distant village dwelling in the peaceful mountain crevices of Peru, where the air smelled of fresh dirt covered in morning dew and the evening fog seemed to give you a damp hug as long as you were outdoors, there lived a young man named Lucio. Lucio had long black hair of a god and was very tall as well as good looking. He lived in a small, stone house on the grassy hillside of the tallest mountain with his mother Rosetta and his father Han where they could hear the stream flowing swiftly down the mountain and see the sun rising over the far hill before anyone else. Every day Lucio worked like an ox alongside his father, the strongest man in the village, harvesting and planting rice and herding sheep while Rosetta sat before her loom and weaved the most elegant designs into her beautiful rugs that made her very well known.

Many people in the village thought that they were the greatest family in all Peru, until one very unfortunate day. Lucio's father fell incredibly ill with a disease that no one in the village had ever come across before. A very long week later, Han could not take anymore. Lucio held his father's pale and shriveled hand in his as he said his last goodbye to his beloved friend. His father was gone forever.

After a long month of complete depression inside of Lucio's heart, his mother asked him in her sweet, soothing voice if he could resume his chores along with all his father's. Lucio agreed, but only because it was what his father would have desired. This meant that he would have to work like a horse to herd the sheep, retrieve water from the bottom of the mountain, and harvest and plant rice, twice a day. Every day. This was a lot of work for one man to do, but Lucio followed through, even though he went to work with a melancholy look on his disappointed face

Five long years later, Lucio would come home dragging bags of rice behind him as he trudged through the door of his home with an exhausted expression on his face. Every day after he completed his tasks, he was too tired to remain awake for dinner and would take a bowl of moist brown rice to his room instead of staying up with his mother to eat. He wanted to make his father proud, but he was getting overly frustrated with his daily assignments. One day, on his long walk down the mountain, Lucio came across the eldest woman in the village struggling to carry a basket of clothing on her back. "Lucio!" she called in a soft, fading voice. "Will you please help me carry this basket up the mountain?"

"No, you ugly old hag! I have things to haul down the mountain too. I have no time for your games!" he scolded as he passed her swiftly.

Terra, the goddess of the earth and animals, was aware this cruel action and went down to him disguised as a beautiful maiden. She transformed her usual apparel into a dress decorated with a golden trim around the edges and blue diamonds around the collar. She paused in front of Lucio on the dusty trail down the mountain. He was startled, but could not believe his eyes!

"Why did you treat that woman poorly?" she asked. When she spoke, her words were as sweet as the nectar the gods drank. Lucio did not answer. His dark brown eyes were wide with wonder.

"Beautiful maiden! Will you be my bride?" he cried in desperation. Then, to his despair, she disappeared into the morning mountain mist. Terra looked surprised by how a man could be so selfish. She then went to her father Allow, king of the gods and sky, for advice. Allow devised a plan to make him work for all eternity and not have the ability to complain, by turning him into a pack animal.

Terra journeyed back down to Lucio disguised once again as the maiden, and caught his undying attention. She talked with him for a while about his love for her and continually tried to ask him why he was in constant complaint. By noon, she was tired of him and revealed herself as the goddess she truly was.

"You will suffer for your cruel actions and attitude," she said, right before transforming him into a llama, an animal that worked all day by carrying heavy loads up and down the mountains. This way, he and all his descendants will have work as pack animals forever, and not of them could complain about their work like Lucio had done for many years before....... except for spitting.

The Wimpey One

By: Jaiden Wechter

Our story begins long ago, in the forests of Greece, where the wolf feast on the abundant, helpless prey. There was one pack of wolves near a river. They were marked by the primitive pilgrims that roamed the land outside of the wooded forest, as the Argyris Leonidas. The Argyris Leonidas pack was far different from other wolf packs. The wolves that made up the other packs were known as far more fierce predators. Occasionally, one of the people that had overtaken the land from the wildlife had gone and killed off the other pack wolves because they opposed as a threat to the young offspring. However, Argyris Leonidas tribe remained as thriving as ever. They, being less aggressive, did not get wiped out by the indigenous. They rather hunt for themselves, instead as hunting as a pack. They each have their own den at the age of two, and fend for themselves at that young age. This rendering the aggressive pack attribute unnecessary, and therefore the indigenous did not recognize the Argyris Leonidas as a threat to the indigenous tribe. In fact, the inhabitants marked killing a wolf from Argyris Leonidas a crime.

Melpomeni, being the pregnant female wolf, and a honored hunter, was granted the special exception to stay in her den, when others brought her water from the stream, and game from the wood. Melpomeni was the first female in Argyris Leonidas to stay in her den, while others cared for her. Three months later, Melpomeni gave birth to her litter. There were 5 cubs, that were indistinguishable, because they were so early in childhood. But then they were, at least one.

Vlasis, the youngest born out of the five, grew to be lazy. It had taken him six months after his other siblings before he could walk. There were also physical attributes. Vlasis' fur was soft to the touch, as silk, and his ears were as droopy as a wet leaf. Later in childhood, he was made fun of by the other hunters and boys, because he looked more fragile than a thin glass cup. Later on that year Vlasis was desperate to find some hope to go off of. One day he was hunting, despite his incapabilities, and wandered to the border of the indigenous colony. One group of boys playing ball, kicked the nut out into the forest, where Vlasis stood. Vlasis was curios, and sniffed the ball. The children soon discover where the hard ball has flown to. When the children discovered the ball, they also discovered Vlasis.

Since the indigenous showed no threat to Argyris Leonidas, they showed no threat to Vlasis either. The children stroked his silky fur. They reached out, and touched his floppy ears. Vlasis was admired by the children, and finally he knew what is meant to feel admired and important. The children led Vlasis into the colony. He was led into the main plaza where he saw early humanity working and building. As Vlasis went farther throughout the city, they came to a clay-made hut. He there saw two mature humans and two children. As Vlasis regained his energy from hunting by the fire hearth, he looked out the window, and saw a sculpture by the looks of it of a more significant human . The inhabitants of the colony called her Athea, goddess of admiration. Vlasis went to see this beautiful sculpture, that had almost looked real.

In Argyris Leonidas as a cub Vlasis saw the brave hunters worship these kinds of humans. They looked very important to both species. In Argyris Leonidas the hunters would bring this object a sacrifice from the forest. Not knowing why, Vlasis ran out to the forest, he saw the first rabbit to catch his eye, and charged. After some time, he killed the rabbit. Bringing it back to the sculpture Vlasis wondered why this piece of rock would help him, or even how it could help him. Vlasis made his way back to the sculpture, and laid the rabbit at it's feet.

A white flash, a feeling of a summer day warmth, the taste of fresh prey, Vlasis was unaware of where he stood, for before him, was Athea, but in human form. Vlasis softly sniffed the goddess, and when she touched his silky fur, she had vanished. Vlasis awoke at the feet of the marble statue of Athea. He pointed his head at where the killed rabbit was, but all he could taste was, nothing.

Vlasis opened his eyes to see a rabbit no more. He walked back to his den in shame, because he had felt he had gained nothing, and had wasted a rabbit, that he would have surely enjoyed, back at his den. He was walking through Argyris Leonidas when he noticed all the other pack members staring as he walked to his den. He had fallen asleep, and awoken to find wolves rubbing against Vlasis as a sign of respect and admiration. It was then he realized that the rabbit, will turn into many more. From that day forward, all of the people who admired him, had hunted for Vlasis, and he could lay back in his den, doing nothing but resting. One day he went back to the city to thank the goddess for answering his wishes. When he was done, he noticed where the children had accepted him as something good and admirable. He decided that he would live there, with the humans. Later, he had a family, with cubs.

These cubs, looked exactly like Vlasis, which the humans had called dogs. One blessing that the Goddess Athea included is that every offspring related to Vlasis, will look like him. Eventually everyone had a dog, and started spreading dogs to other parts of the world. Not only had the city and Argyris Leonidas admired him, now, the whole world admired him.

As these dogs move from different portions of the world, they adapted to the different environments around them. Some had different fur colors, and others had different shapes. There were dogs everywhere, and when Vlasis had passed, the inhabitants of the colony placed Vlasis at the feet of the statue. Vlasis would now be a representative of Athea, and he would sit at her right hand, and serve her for all eternity.

How The Sun Got Its Color and Light

Thomas Weseloh

One day long ago there was no sun there was only a massive dead planet filled with very explosive gasses floating in the space controlled by the god of planets Derv. On earth there was no light and the only creatures that lived there were monkeys and one of these monkeys name was Kong. All of a sudden, while Kong was eating his lunch a banana Kong saw a meteor the size of a chair coming down at him and it cracked open it took a minute for Kong to realize what was in the meteor and then he saw it a golden banana the shiniest thing on earth he touched it thinking it would blow up but it didn't so he brought it to show his friends and the King.

The King suggested that Kong should bring it to the ritual building, so he did. The king announced that Kong found a golden banana and put it in the ritual building so all the monkeys on earth had to do one hour of praying to the golden banana to let there be a ton of light. Later on the monkeys were all so happy that they had a party and a feast but little did they know that someone or something big was trying to steal the golden banana from the golden ritual building.

The next day the mountain lion decided to attack the monkeys heard the growling of the mountain lions so they were prepared to fight armed with banana rang, they started throwing them at the mountain lion and he started to get mad so he called backup and the other mountain lions that came in were distracting the monkeys while the other one went for the golden banana. All of a sudden all the monkeys went in the temple with Kong charging at the mountain lions the monkeys were hitting the mountain lion throwing banana rangs kong got up close and could smell the bad breath of the blood thirsty mountain lion thinking of what he would taste like if he got eaten. After a long time the monkeys actually won but some of the monkeys including Kong were severely injured by the ferocious mountain lion the king wanted Kong to die in a god like way so he gave the ritualized golden banana to Kong and let him eat it.

Suddenly Kong started to fly and went into space he reached a dead planet and it all happened so fast Kong got close to the very explosive gasses he accidentally took a breath and that was the end for Kong the banana reacted to the gassed and exploded making the dead planet go up in flames which is now called the sun making the god Derv get happy. Now the earth and all the monkeys had joy in the huge light that kong and the golden banana gave to them and now a ton of different animals are born because of the light it gave, the earth was now finally complete after 3 billion years.

Printing The Sticky Notes

By Sarah

My name is Bill and I travel with this strange man called the Doctor, or as I call him: Doctor What? I have a stunning afro and I like to ask a lot of questions. My job is serving chips (which is as boring as you can imagine), so I decide to travel with this lonely man to have some adventure and keep him company. My friend, the Doctor, is a mysterious Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous, wherever that is. He has a head of curly graying hair that looks like a stormy sky. He is can be deadly serious on moment and then laughing and joking the next. We ramble in a little blue box that is bigger on the inside; this machine is dubbed the TARDIS, by the Doctor, and it can voyage anywhere in time and space.

For another exploit, the kooky Doctor decides that it would be fun to go have a sojourn in Germany, 1440. I ask him what happens in 1440, but he won't tell. I guess I'm in for a surprise! I feel a faint tingling down my spine, but I know that it's just the nerves I get when I hear those ancient engines turning.

About five minutes later, we land in a house that smells of dead liver and dirt. There are papers strewn about the grimy floor and they all have what looks like a drawings of the first printing presses on them. Then the thought dawned on me: we were going to meet Johannes Gutenberg, brilliant inventor of the first printing press, the invention that paved the way for printing books today.

I hear the sound of heavy footsteps as the very man I was thinking about emerges from the shadows. He is wearing a musty old coat and a tired expression to match his worn boots. His beard, however, is as white as freshly fallen snow. I think he catches a glimpse of the bright yellow sticky notes that I quickly hide in my soft pocket.

"Who are you and how did you get into my house?" Mr. Gutenberg demands.

"Oh, hello. I'm the Doctor, and this is Bill," he clarifies in his Scottish accent. "We were wondering if-"

But all of a sudden he is cut off by a loud snapping noise and a supernatural being that looks like the Greek goddess of war and wisdom, Athena, materializes in the blurred smoke. She is dressed in smooth golden and red robes and is wearing an olive branch on top of her carefully styled dark brown, curly locks of hair.

"I am the goddess of sticky things, Glutinosissima!" she announces to us. "You will return to me what you have stolen!" The Doctor looks at me as if to inquire what I stole, and to return it before the terrifying Glutinosissima destroys us all.

"What did I steal?" I ask. But, then I vaguely remember that a nice friend bought these sticky notes for me. Maybe he stole them! I show her half of the sacred sticky notes, because the rest of the notes have writing on them. She nods and I give them to her.

Glutinosissima inspects the sticky notes and she realizes it is only half. The goddess starts to shoot bright, glue-ish lightning as fast as an avalanche, towards us.

We race over into a side room, where the air tastes like dust, while Gutenberg has a look of utter shock mingled with fear on his face. I don't blame him, that's how I felt when I first went on an adventure with the Doctor and the Nazi-like Daleks.

I stealthily creep out of the room and lie to a goddess, boldly stating that I don't know where the rest of the sticky notes are and beg her to leave us in peace. She takes pity on us and floats away on a cloud of foggy sticky notes.

Mr. Gutenberg wants to thank us for saving his life, so with the help of the newly fabricated printing press and the Doctor's sonic screwdriver, he prints our faces onto the remaining sticky notes.

We say sadly farewell to Johannes and travel back to the future. I leave the sticky notes on a dusty shelf in my room, so that I will always look at and remember this crazy journey to Germany. A few hours later (to non-time travelers), I make copies of the sticky notes and give them out to my friends and family so that they could make more and send them to their friends. That is the origin of the Doctor Who sticky notes.

Clash Of Kings

By Eddy Acevedo

Once upon a time in a high mountain above the clouds sat the glittering and gorgeous Mount Olympus. Atop a golden throne sat Zeus, the king of all the gods, he was watching Poseidon, the god of the sea and earthquakes, with his lighting blue eyes and was yelling at him for not doing his job correctly. Poseidon would always ignore him and would mind his own business but this time Zeus would throw a lightning bolt at him every time he would not pay attention to him.

Poseidon was very angry at Zeus because he was always bossing him around and throwing lightning bolts at him and it was time for him to take his revenge.To do this Poseidon stopped doing his job. Zeus, seeing this, got angrier it was as if his blue eyes were creating mini lightning bolts. Zeus stared at Poseidon's sea green eyes then he started yelling at him but Poseidon was ready for this and told him that he wanted to become the king of all the gods.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war, overheard them and with all her courage went in and proposed a fight between them and whoever won would become the king of the gods. Meanwhile, on Earth, a guy who works at a place called Supercell™ went into a room and found a strange purple glittering door which was spitting out purple teleportation particles and he decided to go in and immediately got transported all the way to Mount Olympus. Seeing the glorious place almost gave the man a heart attack. Hearing loud yelling noises he went to the arena and saw two men getting ready to fight.

Zeus and Poseidon got ready to duel and they started to summon armies to attack each other's towers.

"Take this you filthy god!" yelled Zeus as he threw a fireball.

"Curse you Zeus!" yelled Poseidon as one of his three towers was crashing rapidly to the floor by the fireball. The Supercell guy was so close to Poseidon's that he could feel the burning of the fireball. Zeus was feeling really happy that he had destroyed one of Poseidon's towers and was currently winning. Meanwhile on the other hand Poseidon was feeling discouraged and started to lose confidence in himself. The fight was brutal and the Supercell guy watched it all as the struggle to win was really hard. Finally, Poseidon's king tower got destroyed and after many hours the sky started to smell like burnt stuff because of all the lightning and fireballs.Zeus had at last won.

"See you can never defeat Zeus the king of all gods!" yelled Zeus at Poseidon. Poseidon feeling angry and sad about his defeat saw the mortal and zapped him back to his place back on Earth.

" Wow what a fight!" said the Supercell guy as he went back to his small, messy office. As he looked out his window the sky looked as dark as Hades's eyes. Zeus had become king of all gods once again and the Supercell guy made a game based of the battle and named it "Clash Royale" and this is how the famous game we all love and play was made.

The Cube of Rubik

By: Logan

It was on mount Olympus when the troubles began, during the rule of ancient Greece. A gorgeous place where one could get a single glimpse and never want to leave. Those up there on mount Olympus would often wake up to the smell of rich nectar that blew off the sweet nearby flowers and a cool breeze that would sweep lightly across the mountain. Pure white quartz pillars made up strong buildings and large puffy clouds to give off some shade. But on a particular morning, one with a breeze stronger than usual, the messenger god, Hermes, awoke to the sounds of a strong argument. His mouth tasted of honey and he was curious to know what would be the cause of so much frustration between the other gods and goddesses. Hermes crept out of his bed and towards the room of the argument, making sure to stay behind a wall to keep a close ear on what was going on. A likely case would have been argueing over the cause or effect of a war and who started it. But even then, the arguments never got to the point of cursing, screaming, or stomping. Hermes tuned in very closely at what it was about. It sounded like a pack of hungry lions fighting. Poseidon shouted out, " So if you think we need to stop argueing, what is your solution!"

Hermes knew at once what the cause was: Land. It caused a huge fight when two gods each tried to build a settlement on the same piece of land. Then a debate would often break out for who got it, because after all, only one could have it. But they must have stopped settling it out nicely because it sounded like a brawl was about to break out. It seemed Demeter, Poseidon, Ares, Apollo, Aeolus, and Athena found it high time to divide the land.

Apollo suddenly chimed in, "How about the mortals dividing the land for us, anyone?"

Some whispering went around, and a muffled voice came out saying something that could barely be heard. Sounded like his plan was rejected. Hermes thought it was actually a really good idea, but this wasn't his argument. Poseidon quickly suggested that maybe every god or goddess should start off with a dedicated piece of land and then should be able to capture others. This time Hermes could clearly hear what was said: It was a flat out no. Out of the blue, a light bulb shot off in Ares head.

He pronounced, "Maybe we should hold a competition between our favorite mortals. Whoever wins gets to divide the land up."

Hermes slightly smiled to himself. Maybe it was because it was a good idea. Or maybe because it was an idea that wouldn't involve a massive war. His idea might have been a good solution for once. However, with some voting, it was a quick no. Suddenly, Athena spoke out. Her idea was spectacular. A cube with six colorful sides. Each god or goddess with one color to represent their land grid, then mix it up to randomly to divide the land for all six of them. When it was finally voted on, they called out to Hermes, asking him to find a mortal to scramble the cube while they made it. Hermes did as he was told. He found a mortal known as Rubik and hauled him up to mount Olympus where the cube was newly constructed.They handed it to the man and told him to scramble it. So he twisted it and turned it it for one hour, then another, until finally it was done. Athena however had one more important thing to say:

"Gods and goddesses who were among this argument, let us take a yearly vote on if we want the cube to be scrambled once more in hopes of getting the land we want." The others all nodded in agreement.

How Hockey was Created

By Jim Ratzenberger

"GOAL, haha in your face Poseidon!" Zeus said antagonizing the other five gods playing Dionysius's new game he called hockey. Zeus remembered this so well over the previous events of the day.

The day was earth's one billionth birthday, and all the gods were celebrating a top of their home on Mt. Olympus. The party was bright and high spirited, there were nymphs and other intriguing creatures majestically dancing and singing festive lyrics , and vats of ambrosia and wine. All of the gods were watching the citizens of Ancient Greece go about their daily business, when Dionysius in his drunken and festive state, using an olive branch as a cane slipped, he was a baby giraffe when he fell and he accidentally smacked a golden discus into Poseidon's fishing net. He was ecstatic.

"Hey,"Dionysius yelled, "this is fun!" while clutching his aching back and leg.

Zeus walked over to Dionysius, he was furious and intrigued by Dionysius's new hobby.

"This?'' Dionysius answered, " is what I am going to call hockey."

"Can I join in?" Zeus asked.

Dionisius accepted Zeus's request and soon the two of them were playing one on one hockey. Meanwhile some of the other gods were watching them have so much fun hitting the discus back and forth and hitting it into Poseidon's net. Soon enough eight other gods had joined in, that is when the argueing started. Poseidon and Ares were fighting, and Athena and Aphrodite were argueing. Suddenly, Zeus's voice thundered through the palace. All of the gods stopped fighting and froze.

"STOP!" Zeus thundered, thinking what he had gotten his council into, "we must come up with a set of rules for us and the mortals to play this wonderful game by, Hermes write a list and take it to the king of Sparta tell him it is a list of rules for a new game."

Later that day, when Hermes returned he told all of the gods how much of a success their new game was. Soon after the news all of the gods were sitting around a vat of fine wine the taste of happiness and shouts of joy filled the air and the sweet air tickled their skin, they were all happy to see the mortals were having so much fun playing the new game the gods felt better that day. After all they all had received many more gifts and sacrifices!

The Nutcracker

By: Rebecka Borodach

"Oww! I've been stabbed!" I yelled as I was sewing my pointe shoes.

"That's literally your tenth pair this week." My best friend said as she was being fitted into her Sugar plum Fairy costume in the fitting room. She looked beautiful, tall, slim.

"Hey don't judge me," I narked at her while I was getting ready to be fitted into my Clara costume for the Nutcracker. We got the two best characters in the Nutcracker, Clara and the Sugar plum Fairy. I always wanted to be Clara ever since I was six.

Later that night, I asked my friend if we could get chips (french fries) but she told me no, which was weird because she would always say yes. So, I decided to follow her to see what was going in with her. I sneaked around Big Ben where I came across a dark alley, and there I found her standing there shifting her back and forth, I also found these two men dressed in black. I crept up a little further to hear what they were talking about. I heard some mean things about me, and that's when I heard it, she betrayed me. I started to sprint, tears flooding down my face. Bang! I ran into a metal pole and passed out.

I woke up in a cold sweat, the ground felt soft, then, I got up and found I was laying in moss. I looked around, my vision was blurry and I couldn't quite think straight. After a few minutes, I could start to think straight and see. I started to walk around and I'm figuring out that I am in the woods, dark, cold, and scary. I found this big Oak tree and found a knife in the owl hole. The knife was rusty, I can't take the pressure anymore, I'm going to do it, I take the knife and cut an x on my forearm. Then, with trembling hands, I was trying to ram the knife in my heart, but it didn't work my reflexes rammed the knife into the ground. Panting, heart racing, and my brain is going haywire. I forced myself to get up and try to find a way out this place. For hours walking in circles, I found this map with all the buildings that used to be there in 1918, today is 2017 so it would be 199 years old. I started walking north and found this Freed of London pointe shoe warehouse. At least I can stay here for the night, I thought. So I went into the warehouse and found a whole lot of pointe shoes, I even tried some on just for fun.

A few minutes past and I came across a room that was lit and playing the Nutcracker which I thought it was weird and creepy. Out of nowhere, I was in the room looking around to find the thing that was playing the music, I couldn't find it but I find this nutcracker with a baby purple box with a note in fancy calligraphy. I went up to the nutcracker with the box and read the note.

Dear Rose,

I have a gift for you, these pointe shoes are special, so be careful. I don't want you to get hurt.

Signed,

Anonymous

Who was that? How do they know me? I took the nutcracker and the box of pointe shoes and ran out of the warehouse and went back to the map, it was different, glowing. For some reason I found the Royal Ballet. I went southwest and after a few moments I was in studio 4. My ballet teacher was expecting me with the nutcracker and the box of pointe shoes. She told me that she went through the same thing when she was fourteen. She also told me that I had to perform with the nutcracker and the pointe shoes. I opened the box and found a black rose and the pointe shoes. The pointe shoes felt luxurious, perfect. I put on my toe tape, toe spacers, and my toes pads. I was shaking. I took the pointe shoes and flipped them over, I saw they were Grishko. I've never wore Grishko before I only use freed of London because that is what the Royal Ballet provide. Then, I remembered, when I was eleven, I had Grishko pointe shoes, they were hard, but easy to break in. I tied the ribbons, and stood up. My teacher told to do an echappé. I did it but I fell on my bottom.

"I think I broke my tailbone," I said struggling to get up, "I heard it pop."

She helped me get up and started to feel my bone. She said I cracked it but it wasn't that bad as the popping. I tried to the echappés again but she told to work on something else, so, I tried to do bourrées across the floor. I started out unstable but after a few moments, I got the hang of it.

In the morning, I heard this talking, I got up and started walking. All my bones in my feet popped when I started walking, it felt good. I went into the bathroom and found the nutcracker talking. I screamed so loud I could break a wine glass. He explained that he needs me to use him in The Nutcracker and the pointe shoes too. I told him or it that I've spent 194 minutes to break in the pointe shoes because when I little, it took 194 minutes to break in the pointe shoes.

Later that morning, at 08:30 (8:30) a.m. I rushed to eat my breakfast, I had french toast, strawberries, and tea (coffee). My breakfast tasted like sunshine parting through a gloomy morning. The smell of fresh strawberries from my garden freshened me up into a good mood. I put on my leotard and pulled my hair up in a nice bun and went straight to my pas de deux class with my one of best friends, Oliver. I felt the sweat dripping down his neck, it was cold and wet. The room was and humid and smelled like pumpkin spice because my ballet teacher sprayed air freshener.

Two months passed, and it was time to do the performance, I was nervous because my pointe shoes didn't break in, forgot basically most of my dances, my costume is crummy, and the nutcracker keeps on blabbering. The overture started and I started shaking, really shaking. I looked at the x I cut on my forearm and saw the blood flowing. I thought it was fine but it started to throb. It was my time to come out and start dancing and forearm felt numb when I did the nutcracker dance. He finally stopped blabbering about him disintegrating and blowing up after the performance, which kinda scared me. I finished the ballet in pain but graceful. I came into the lobby with a WHOLE BUNCH of flowers and everybody was taking pictures of me and it was great except for, my friend, she came out and told me she was sorry and would I forgive her. I grabbed her and hugged her.

Journey To Prove

by:Chloe Carper

Deseraye, the beautiful daughter of Zeus, is not quite as talented as her brothers and sisters. All she has is the power of lightning . She often felt misplaced in her family and that was reinforced by the way her father spoke to her in a cold sturdy voice. "Deseraye, you are not worthy of your place in Mt. Olympus, or this family if u do not prove yourself I will turn you into a mortal." Deseraye was taken aback by this coming from her own father and went away crying in shame. Not sure what to do, she went to her room and without thinking she climbed out of her bedroom window and ran into the dark and cold night. Shivering, with nothing on her back, she ran and ran faster until she had no clue where she was and was so tired from crying heavily and running that she layed down and went into a deep sleep. When she awoke, she heard someone whispering to her

"Wake up wake up!"said a strange voice.

Finally she awoke and with a burst she cried out "Ahhhh what are you doing?"and then he jumped back more frightened than she was. They both just stood there shocked for a minute and then finally she asked, " Who are you?"

The boy she was talking to was Andrew the son of Mother Nature blond hair with a low voice and ragged but clean clothes. He invited her to dinner which smelled so delicious she decided to join. While eating the wonderful dinner she told him about the conversation with her father and how she ran away to prove herself and he decided to help her. When they awoke Andrew told her that they were going to his relatives to see who could teach and help her.

So on they went through the vast green forest. They went to all of his relatives no one could teach her how to do their magic but onward they went to his last relative. Andrew warned her that Rubberto was very powerful. Rubberto really tried to teach her his magic and the effect went completely wrong. A huge loud explosion occurred and knocked Deseraye out. In shock and very frantic motion thinking if all the fairy tales he read he kissed her as he pulled away a flicker of hot light fell onto a piece of wood and a glow with red and yellow flames took over the piece of wood. Ecstatic she jumped up grabbed his arm and they ran all the way to the place.

They showed zeus the fire and he said, "Well done Deseraye you have proved to me that your are worthy of our family's title," he said in a proud voice. He invited Andrew to dinner and they all had mostly joyous lives.

Law Of Retribution

By Spansor Cho

Long, long time ago in Patras, Greece where mighty gods existed, there was a guy named Sel. Sel was annoying and complained about everything, at least he had patience. His favorite thing to do was to lay around in his house and do nothing. One day, people in Patras, heard of a new law and it was unfair to some people and benefited other people. After that day, people began to argue everyday until there were sides in the Patras. One was disagreement side, and the other was the agreement side. Both sides debated against each other to win over the law. Even gods took sides at that point. The agreement side was losing and losing until Hera the goddess of marriage, women and childbirth who was in the agreement side and wife of Zeus, planned to tilt the debate. Hera paid gold to some of the disagreement side to come over and join the agreement side. The debate was again fearsome. Overnight the people of Patras debated until Sel jumped out and clumsy punched somebody and said

"I am done here!" the debate was awkwardly silent... until another guy came yelling,

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"and punched Sel, the fight began. When the councilors saw about the fight over the law, government sent forces to stop the fight, but the government was powerless, even the soldiers without weapons were observing the debate and starting to fight. Some people could taste the blood gore in the mouth.After a fight, the hospital was busy, but nobody was killed. After a week later, Sel was getting annoyed by Zeus because he couldn't decide which side to choose. Sel ran out of patience, he finally said the sentence he wasn't suppose to,

"Oh my gods, why hasn't Zeus picking his side yet?! It's taking forever or is he just he a stupid?" Sel asked himself. As Zeus heard that mocking from Sel, Zeus, without a word, stroke down from Mt. Olympus, making a loud noise that almost every people in Patras can hear. Zeus summoned a lightning out of a clear sky and aimed at the mortal, some people could smell burning trees, which paralyzed him forever and that was not all, Zeus opposed the side of disagreement, and said

"I declare a new law around Greece, the new law is to never mock the gods or you will be punished forever." People was amazed how Zeus quickly decided to make a new law. The new law was to never ever mock the gods and if somebody even the king would be punished harshly. People of Patras feared of divine retribution and that's why never mess with the neutral, and a stronger person or people.

Pegasus's Defeat

By: Samuel Eyre

The prince Abass of Greece was returning to his kingdom after a long journey. The people in his kingdom were anxious to see him because he had just won a battle against Sparta and he wanted to celebrate the victory. On his way home, he was caught in a storm that blew him off course. Since he had no knowledge of where he was, he was forced to venture off to a stranded island with his crew. This small, strange, and uninhabited island belonged to Pegasus, the god of horses. In general, sailors tried to evade this island because of a legend that said all humans that went on this island would be turned into a horse.

It was known that Pegasus didn't want any human on his island. Fortunately, prince Abass was followed by another ship, so the crew went to prince Amphios, Abass's brother, to warn him that Abass crashed on the island. Once Abass and his crew crashed on the island, Pegasus locked Abass away in his stronghold to be turned into a horse later that day.

Amphios had heard of this island and he was convinced his brother was already transformed into a horse. Amphios decided he had to find a way to save his brother. Amphios knew all the horses of the island would turn back to humans if Pegasis was killed. So Amphios decided he needed to go save them. He had an idea to fill the ship with horses and let them go on the island so that he could hide between the horses where Pegasis wouldn't see him. He started to execute his plan, and arrived on the island hiding between the horses. When Pegasis came, he was surrounded by the horses. Then Anthios stabbed a poison covered sword through his stomach, the poison killing him instantly. As soon as he died, all the horses on the island turned back into humans.

After Anthios killed Pegasis, he was reunited with his brother, and they sailed back to their kingdom.

The Great Invention

By Aislynn

It was a beautiful crisp morning in England. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the smell of scrumptious sausages and toast with jam drifted into my room from the dinner down on Main Street. I was ravoness from the night's sleep.Hungrily, I scarfed down the sausages and toast that I had decide to make. Oh I am so sorry I forgot to introduce my self I am Steven Michels,I am 34 years old and I have one dog and a fish. About half an hour later or so I was ready to walk out the door. I was walking down the street and I had arrived at work. I was halfway through done with carrying my first load, when I set down my heavy load and a brilliant idea popped into my head and that is when it all a started.

After I had gotten the days off from I started packing my bags to go travel to go buy a vehicle. I didn't have any strong preferences for what I was looking for. By jolly it could even just be as non fancy as stale biscuits,just as long as it could work properly. Even though I didn't have strong preferences, I ended up not seeing anything that liked or worked properly In the end,I was very disappointed with the selection and that's when when I got the idea to make my own vehicle. I didn't have the exact plans, but I had some sort of an idea of what I wanted.

Later that month,I had at least made three vehicles but the first one explode, the second one burst into flames, and the third one fell apart. I didn't know what to do I had tried to do everything and I was about to give up,when Hephaestus came upon me with a gift, it was wrench. The missing tool I needed.

"Thank you!" I exclaimed.

" Well you are quite welcome." Spoke Hephaestus in a booming voice

"But why did you give me this?" I questioned

"Because I could see that you needed help-,Hephaestus answered "and so I gave you it."

I put the wrench in work and by god it worked! I could feel the rusted metal in my blistered hand.I had actually created a device that can help people travel. I used so much and it was so much easier to use than lugging 5-10 pound boxes every day for 5 hours.

A couple of weeks later my vehicle started to get attention. I was just driving around and then there must have been some newer people, a young couple in town because their jaws dropped as I drove by in my miraculous invention, carrying my heavy loads. They rushed up to me and asked if they could try it out and being the gentleman that I was, I let them drive it around the block, and by the second lap they had fallen in love with it. They had asked me to build one and with my trusty wrench that Hephaestus gave me I whipped one up, but I wasn't going to give it for free I was going to charge $100 for it. When they had started to drive it around people became interested in it. And soon after that I was making 1000s of them. Everyone in england wanted them. People were coming from all over the world to buy one. And eventually I had become rich and everyone who got one absolutely loved it. So everyone lived contently in their lives.

The Second Titanomachy

By Sir. Charles Abrams

A long time ago their was a world of peace nobody battled anybody else and everybody lived happily among the rule of the gods. The god that ended the torrent of pain brought by Cronus, was Zeus. This meant Zeus would rule the earth realm. His two accomplices were his brothers Poseidon and Hades. Since Zeus could not rule everything on earth and the gods, he had Poseidon rule the Oceans and sent Hades to rule the underworld.

One day Hades felt betrayed by his brother Zeus and journeyed down the bottomless pit to wake their father, Cronus. It had been deemed by the fates that whoever brings back one from the dead shall be sent to the underworld for eternity. Cronus, seeing that Hades had awoken him, swallowed the fates and vowed to get revenge on Zeus. Luckily Hermes the messenger of the gods had been their to witness the awakening so he was able to warn Zeus. While Hermes was telling Zeus about the encounter Cronus and Hades were forming a greater army of titans than ever. Soon Hephaestus was forging weapons and armor for all of the gods. His hammer and anvil screamed for revenge. At this time Cronus's was soul was consumed by the fates.They soon freed Atlas the titan who holds up the heavens. Cronus was smart and knew that this would cause Mount Olympus to fall down from the heavens. Cronus who was engulfed with fury screamed, "Zeus, my son I have awoken once again!"

His screams were heard all across Greece and Mt. Olympus. Zeus now enraged sent Hermes to scout Cronus. When he returned to Mt. Olympus Cronus had already summoned his army of titans from the dead and created a second army. Cronus not knowing that summoning back the army of titans would also bring back his father Uranus, made a third army the most deadly yet. He summoned all of his father's beasts the Sirens, Phoenix, Harpies, and Hades pet Cerberus. When Uranus awoke he brought back Mt. Orthys. Than the battleground was set, Thessaly the place where Titanomachy ended. Cronus's resting place. The gods prepared at Mt. Olympus and the Titans prepared at Mt. Orthys. When the Gods and the Titans finally met at Thessaly only Cronus and the first army was their. Zeus asked, "Before we battle father, why did you summon your army from the dead, you know it is against the jurisdiction of the fates?"

"Silly fool", Cronus yelled, " You think the fates will help you know, I consumed them like I devoured your brothers and sisters, and soon you!"

Zeus and the other gods thought he was a fool to think he could win. He was cornered by them. At that moment The earth began to shake, the ground split open and the second army of Titans was released. The gods were surrounded. Cronus seeing his advantage plunged the Gods down into the deepest depths of the underworld. There in the underworld they realised that Uranus Cronus's father was sleeping. They awoke him and told him about what his son was doing. Uranus then told them that the only thing that can defeat an undead army of titans is his pets. They told him that Hades controlled all of his pets. Soon after Cronus destroyed all of the farmland in the world and every living thing smelled of death, than he saw his father's pets were acting strange. They soon plunged into the underworld too. It was due to Cronus's reign of terror they left. The only pet that remained was the most dangerous of all, the cerberus. Uranus sent the sirens back knowing they could do nothing but harm to the mortals, but the Harpies and Phoenix remained. He sent the Harpies out and they killed the new army of titans. Then he diminished the gods physical shape so they were only minds. He put them in the Phoenix which would return to Thessaly. The old army of titans killed the Phoenix, but out of the ashes the gods new forms appeared. The gods now had the power to kill but not be killed. The only one they could not kill was Cronus though for he still controlled the fates. The only one who could kill him was his father. Uranus using his last ounce of strength lifted himself out of the underworld killing himself but also Cronus.

When Cronus died the fates returned. They brought Uranus back to rule the earth eternally but he decided not, he healed Hades mind so he would no longer be jealous of his brother Zeus. The fates granted Uranus the power to control time but all he did was kill the remaining mythical beasts. He then turned himself into the Phoenix and watched over the fates, the gods, and the mortals for the rest of time.

The Tiger and the Boy

By Griffin Hinkley

In present day Siem Reap, Cambodia there was a boy named Chanda. Chanda had very little food and possessions and dreamed of going to College in America where he would have a better chance, with his treacherous life. So, first thing in the morning he got his spear and sling shot, and set off to get food and walked in the jungle quietly and admiring all the trees and monkeys hanging from them. After wandering for a while he realized he was lost. So he sat down on a nearby stump moaning and praying to find his way out of there.

Suddenly, he heard rustling in the lushes brush behind him,he thought what if it's a boar I might be able to spear it and kill it, as he waited anxiously. He had his spear in possession. Suddenly, a giant and Aggressive Sumatran tiger leaped, Chanda quickly threw his spear only to hit it in the side and bounce off,which stopped him for a second. He quickly hurried up a palm tree near bye with his bag the tiger viciously leaped and missed by an inch. He finally got high enough where the tiger could not eat him. He started to think, oh no I left my family and I might never see them again now. Then he thought how to get down well the tiger was below him he smelt something and looked in his bag to see what it was and discovered fresh beef, he clenched the bloody and mushy meat it in his hands and threw the meat as far as possible he quickly jumped off the tree and ran ran as far as he could without looking back. He thought oh no i'll never see my family I've failed them, while tasting moist soil in his mouth, and that's when everything blacked out.

And he saw the Goddess Athena who was wearing gold armor and long black hair and said never run away without telling anybody

He woke up amazed to see his mom cooking warm soup. He asked what happened, she replied with a sob. A tuk tuk driver found you laying down by the highway 5 miles away,Wait shouldn't I be asking what happened. He replied, " I was lost in the jungle and I blacked out".Then he fell into a deep sleep.

Do Not Speak Out of Turn

By Aidan Horwitz

At Kinard middle school in the English room 309 after lunch when every kid had good lunch with great homemade food, every kid was whispering and then the teacher came in the classroom. The students walked to their desks and started listening to the lesson. Every student was acting well and paying attention.

Everything was going good until one of the students. Joe, who was one of the more popular kids began talking.Joe was talking to Bill. The whole class started whispering when the teacher was teaching. Mr. Blank the teacher with a lot of freckles, told them to stop and they didn't so he thought they were annoying.

" You students whisper as loud as an owl hmms." Mr. Blank told.

So Mr. Blank gladly called head god Zeus. Zeus was alarmed so Zeus came down with a thunderous, crackly noise and a lightning bolt. When Zeus came in he said, "Be quiet or I will use my..."

"Can you talk faster?" interrupted Joe.

"Lightning bolt on you," Zeus finished, smirking at Joe.

Joe looked impressed when Zeus smirked at him, but then he started listening. Zeus didn't leave he stood in the corner of the classroom waiting for someone to talk when they aren't supposed too.

Joe was thinking how to speak and not get zapped by the lightning bolt. So once he thought of how to speak out of turn, then he tried it he raised his hand and spoke off topic so Zeus glanced at Joe. Joe talked and talked until Zeus had enough and shot his burning lightning bolt at Joe was scarred when the bolt hit it made a big boom. Joe's had so many goose bumps he was like a goose and you could smell the burnt skin. The class ended, and Zeus followed Joe around for all of his classes, then school ended.

The following day school started as usual. In his first class, English he saw a figure that looked like a dotted stone, it was fragile but it looked like Zeus from yesterday so Joe was clueless, but the whole school had asked him a lot of questions about the day before but he didn't answer them. Joe was ashamed that he learned a lesson the hard way of talking out of turn.

Icarus's Way Back Home

By Danny

Once upon a time there was a person called Icarus and Daedalus, but as they escaped from the Minotaur but they ran into a bigger trouble that caused one of them to think the other was dead. Icarus dropped into the sea and Daedalus thought he was dead, but then he was not, he was saved by Poseidon who thought he deserved to live. He stayed at Poseidon's large ocean for a long time but then he thought it was bored to not live with his family and he wanted to go back to his dad.

As he opened his eyes the next day was the ocean like normal, he went to a unknown island to many people except him and Poseidon and all the other gods, it had a lot of trees that he could supply himself with. The ocean water touching the shore as it splashed. It also has a tiny bed hanging on to branches on a palm tree where he could rest, as the water splashed upon the shore he set up a place where he could pray to Poseidon and Zeus like always for wanting to go back to his dad, after he prayed to Zeus and Poseidon he went hunting for food that he needed for a living. With the animals he hunted he went to make himself a dinner.

The very next day he woke up unusually, he wanted to build himself a hut so he did not have to get swatted by rain when it rains. After that idea he went straight to work, he chopped off some trees so he could make the base of the hut, than he cut off some trees for the walls and the roof, he also made himself an bed he could sleep in, with the old bed on top of it for comfort. He thought something was missing, so he digged the sand and made a route to a tiny bucket that was from a shipwreck. The bathroom looked perfect and he really felt proud because he made a whole entire bathroom by himself. He felt like he needed one more thing before he went back to his bed. He went to the shore and put out some dried woods, and put a pile of wood on top of it. He then took two pieces of rocks and smacked them together so it could make fire. He thought it was brilliant for people who passes his zone could notice him stuck on a island. He felt like he had complete a marathon.

When he woke up the next day and went out for hunting he thought something was very unusual, there was trash and furniture everywhere on the island and he saw a bunch of dead man.. He thought it was a animal who killed them but it was not. They had a shipwreck and they somehow landed all the way over here. So as he went depressed and sad. When he went to go hunting after all that sadness he thought something was missing. There were marks on the tree and the leaves. Now he surely thought that there is a man alive. After he followed all that traces that the man left when he was going through the woods he found out that there indeedly was a man alive. Icarus asked who he was and he said that his name was Ueareus and he has been shipwrecked, he looked very curious. Icarus invited him over to his house so he could explain what happened to him. After he explained everything, Icarus was shocked, he said he was stranded too, but the better thing was that he had to go to the same place that Icarus had to go.

After that day they started making a boat together that they could travel. They really enjoyed every single day they spent with each other. In a few weeks they finished making the boat and they were ready to sail. They brought a ton of food with them and prayed to the gods before they went sailing out into the dangerous ocean. They started gathering all the food for the sail. They talked with each other on the plan on the trip to the far ocean and planned it out based on their knowledge.

After they gathered all the food for the trip they put them on the ship and prepared for the trip they gathered knives and other tools to help them survive. He brought some extra supplies just in case they get lost in the ocean or the woods. That was it, they started sailing off to where they direction that his dad was going too, he looked at the map that was from the ship, there was some close islands that they skip but the only direct island was a unknown island that Ueareus was going to explore than met this shipwreck and wrecked all the plans. They were getting ready to go out to the main ocean where there is no food supplies except fish and saltwater. They were getting a bit sick because they have been on the ship for so long.

After a while they saw this island that was in the middle of nowhere and there was just one house. They decided to stop by the island see who is there on the island and see if they can get some food supplies they were running lows at. They stopped the ship at a shore. They went to the house, it was on top of a mountain. As they went through they saw that there were marks on trees. Most of them were blue but one was green. They thought that green meant left or right or blue was just going forward, when they arrived at the green mark they could see the house that they were curious about. They went up to the door and knocked. A old man that looked familiar came out of the door. Whoever he was he made a desperate cry and ran towards him. Than he realized he was his father. He was so happy he ran to his dad with no problem at all. After that all of them lived there unseen and unknown.

The Dangers of the Lotus Flower

By: Lily

In a little town in Phillipia in Ancient Greece, in a huge mud house there was this little girl with the name of Lucia Argos, everyone around her knew that she was special, a nymph. There was also this young man by the name of Samson, when he was born he got snatched by Aphrodite and became Aphrodite's partner in crime or as she thought servant. Aphrodite was the most beautiful goddess in the entire world. Although Lucia was a mortal she was still stunning with her tan skin and dark wavy hair, Samson with his blonde curled locks and good looks, and Aphrodite with her golden hair wildly curled, naturally, they were enemies.

Ever since she was a little girl Lucia, always thought that Lotus Flowers were very innocent and very pretty and lovely to look at. But they were not, a couple years before Lucia was born Aphrodite went to France and got the Lotus Flowers seeds. She brought them back to Mount Olympus and made herself a little garden and then once they were finally bloomed, she cursed them with the deadly curse.

When Lucia was 7 years of age Lucia's mom always gardened with Lucia with the and she always helped, no matter what it was, but her personal favorite was the flowers.

As soon as Lucia grew older by 10 years she began rekindling her love of flowers and soon she wanted everything to do with Lotus Flowers, she went as far as wanting her own patch of land for her own. Whenever Lucia went to the forest to start planting she found a good looking young man about her age sitting on a rock of the most unique feature in the pine treed scent forest.

" What are you doing here," Samson politely asked to Lucia, "on this lovely day?"

" None of your business, sir." Lucia growled, still managing to be polite. Punching the "sir" into the sentence only wanting to appear civil.

Little did Lucia know that Samson was falling for the beautiful Aphrodite but, Samson was only doing Aphrodite's dirty work. Later that day, Lucia was still fuming after what happened with Samson and so she went to the market. Even when she was younger people whispered about her but she was getting so sick of feeling like a bear that can't find her prey and so she eavesdropped on these old ladies huddled in the corner of the town.

"Why hasn't anyone told her who she really is?" the petite lady exclaimed silently.

"Nobody has told her that she is a woodland nymph yet, but she has to know she is 17, a grown woman." The other lady replied.

Lucia charged home and demanded an explanation from her parents and they told her that they were sorry for not ever telling her and then she went to the forest in the middle of the night whenever nobody was around to process and then with having the thought of being a woodland nymph she went home only to return the next day. Early the next morning Lucia and Samson met for the bidding to get the land and Lucia outbid Samson by about 4 acres. Samson resigned from Aphrodite and told Lucia that he was working for Aphrodite because he was in love with her and that Aphrodite cursed the Lotus Flowers. Than, Lucia went to Mount Olympus and complained to Zeus about Aphrodite for being responsible for killing 12,100 people and Zeus reluctantly sent Aphrodite down to Tartarus where she belongs. Lucia ended up being a Lotus Flower and other plants nymph. Samson began serving for Hades down in the Underworld, lastly, Lucia also got her garden where she reversed the curse that Aphrodite put onto the Lotus Flowers.

Finding Daedalus

By: Nathan McDonald

Icarus woke up, pain rushed through him like he had been pelted by a machine gun a billion times. He could remember falling into the ocean. He took in his surroundings, he was on a beach and he could see feathers on the beach next to him. He then could see a labyrinth behind him. He knew where he was. He was on Crete. Suddenly, he could hear the waves crash and then it started to fall back a couple yards and form a huge wave. To his surprise Poseidon walked out, his gray hair swiftly flying against the wind. Poseidon wore a purple robe as clean and glamorous as Zeus but Poseidon had longer hair. His trident shone against the sun, the pearls glimmering on the sand making a subsequent scene of colors. Icarus was in shock. He tasted his nervousness, as a god was in front of him. He was about to speak but Poseidon disrupted him.

"I know who you are Icarus. I have sent for you to propose a deal. King Minos has a necklace that prevents me from returning to the lovely Mount Olympus, and I can't get it myself or I am violating my powers, so I want you to kill him and destroy it. In return I will bring you to your father," Poseidon explained.

Icarus was nervous because he had never killed anyone before, let alone kill someone who was royalty. He touched his head, feeling the sweat. Icarus then agreed because he was confident he could complete the task. Then, Poseidon lectured that they would meet back on the beach the next day. With that Poseidon then vanished into the waves. Icarus fell back smelling the freshness of the air. He had no idea what he got himself into, but he had to prepare.

The next day, he walked into the town of Crete, he could taste the sweat running down his face. There were guards by the door to the palace, like he expected. He then tricked the guards to leave by telling them he heard someone had passed out on the streets. And just like that he was in. He climbed the stairs until he saw the king on his deck. He pulled out his knife but hesitated, he felt like a horrible murderer for killing a person, but he wanted to get revenge on the king. He slit the throat of the king, he felt the broad blood as it trickled from his knife onto the floor. Seconds later there were guards surrounding him. He could smell the anger from the guards. He didn't notice the guard behind him though, and then the guard knocked him over the head with the back of his sword. Darkness enclosed Icarus.

He woke up and was at the labyrinth, he could hear his head throbbing from the hit. A few guards were holding his arms. They then threw him into the labyrinth harshly closing the door. Icarus remembered his way out from the last time he was in the deadly labyrinth. He followed the trail of torches he had the last time. He turned the corner and was surprised to see the Minotaur laying there. But the Minotaur looked very starved, the Minotaur's stomach showing its ribs. Icarus knelt and gently rubbed the Minotaur's head. Maybe it wasn't such a bad creature he thought. Icarus frowned at this sight and gently closed the Minotaur's eyes, being the last the Minotaur would ever see. Icarus found his way out the next day and waited at the beach for Poseidon.

Eventually, the waves fell back and Poseidon walked out. Like Poseidon's deal he took Icarus to Athens, where is dad Daedalus was. He could taste the excitement in his mouth. They road inside the water, Poseidon using his powers to make Icarus swim fast and breathe underwater. They reached Athens where Poseidon told Daedalus where to be because he was standing ashore exhilarated to see his son. Icarus smelled the salt from the ocean. Him and his dad were very happy to see each other. Poseidon glad to return to Mount Olympus with the other gods thanked Icarus and disappeared into the waves. Icarus and Daedalus then walked into the distance starting their new life in Athens.

The Story of The Two Best Friends

By Schaeffer Mikkelsen

In the beginning, A young girl, who was only about 10, named Lily, dressed in a skirt and a pink shirt wearing beautiful, sparkly, flowers in her hair, was playing around in her green garden just being a girl. The next day, another girl named Abby moved next door to Lily, she was also Lily's age, and loved nature like Lily did too.

These two girls soon met and became best friends. They both promised they would age together, always be best friends, and die together. They always were outside and always had each other, they loved the smell of the rain and the plants and everything. Then one night, they had been outside the whole day through when it became dark, so their parents didn't know that they weren't in bed from what they saw and heard,their parents thought they both went to bed after they ate their chocolate pie dessert, so both of their parents sadly locked all the doors. So the two girls remembered something. They both Immediately yelled, " The Fort!," the Fort was their favorite place to play.

There were tons of adorable awesome animals too, that the girls always pet. So they ran off into the dull, dark forest where their fort was and spent the night there.

But the rain forest was not a very safe place at all. That night all the girls heard was rain and lightning, it rained and lightning struck the rain forest grounds. The girls hearts were beating as fast as a cheetah could run and, it was raining like a shower, they were scared to death! That very same night, one of them was the unlucky one, very very very unlucky. Which was Lily! What happened to Lily Bush was she had got struck horrendously. Something very unusual happened, Lily Bush had turned into a fireball,

"How could this be?" Abby then thought, she thought it might have been one of the gods.

But at that same moment, Abby was scared of her friend. She didn't know what to do so she simply hurried off and saved her own life before her best friend's. At first she tried to touch Lily but she just burnt herself.

But abby chose the wrong not to help Lily and the gods could not let her get away with that. So the gods did something evil, very evil. Flooded the grounds so Abby had to climb trees and go to the highest point where she could not drown. Abby felt very guilty, so she started praying.

She prayed, "Dear lord, please forgive me I didn't mean to hurt my friend, I was just being selfish. Please help me and my friend. And tell her I want her to forgive me. Please I don't want to die."

Aphrodite, which was one of the good gods, she was the god of the forest and she always wore flowers and smelled like them too, she was a wonderful flower, which inspired Lily to be outdoorsy. She was smart and soon notices this big problem. So Aphrodite appears and answers Abbys prayers, and save Lily and then reunites both Lily and Abby, and gives them both a safe home in the forest.

Abby and Lily were both very thankful and didn't know how to ever repay Aphrodite.

Furthermore, the best friends forget about the past and now live in the rain forest with the evil gods and the good gods. Lily and Abby both get their wishes as friends and they soon die together.

The Avalanche

By: Samantha Minks

Abbacus, the leader of Athens, was a curly haired, blue eyed girl and Kailypso, the leader of Sparta, was a gorgeous, tall, green eyed girl with long blonde hair. They both lived in Europe. The god and goddess of snow lived at the top of Alps Mountain. Bradus was a tall strong god and Harmandia was a brown haired goddess. The goddess of peace lived in the clouds and her name was Sambrosia. There once was a war between Athens and Sparta because Abbacus of Athens felt cheated when she was trading tea and jewelry with Kailypso of Sparta and the gods became furious because the gods were tired of hearing all of the fighting and bickering.

A war started between the two groups. After many years of battles between Athens and Sparta, the gods became angry. Bradus and Harmandia were so angry that they caused an avalanche with the sound of a mad cry. Bam! Abbacus and Kailypso got buried under the snow and both sides couldn't figure out how to save them. While Kailypso and Abbacus are buried under they were both scared and they worried that they weren't going to make it out alive. Sambrossian the god of peace quickly appeared from out of the clouds and spoke to the two groups. Sambrosia taught the two groups about peace, happiness, and love. The groups were mesmerized by Sambrosia, and learned their lesson about sharing and helping each other.

"Everybody we should work together, just like how Sambrosia said we should" exclaimed the Athens group.

All the love in the air melted the snow and Abbacus and Kailypso were rescued by their people. They realized that being kind to one another and helping each other was more important than fighting.

The Piano's Creation

Apollo, the god of music, smiled as he watched his city. All of the mortals were having a great time while they enjoyed the sound of the music that they made. And the sound was as joyous as a child at their birthday party. Apollo remembered those days. But now, instead of hearing music, he heard rumbling and saw things moving in robotic patterns. Machines. Machines were one of Apollo's greatest enemies because they got in the way of the art of music.

Apollo and his friend, Pegasus, the winged horse, soared down into his city disguised as a visitor with his horse. They came across a man making some of the machines and asked him a question.

"Hello. I am a traveler that has been here before when there was music. What happened to it?" Apollo asked.

The grouchy stranger looked at him with a frown. "That music left our hearts long ago. There was nothing new about it and it got old I guess. Besides, we have better things to do."

Apollo considered the stranger's words and headed back out of the city. He then flew up to Mt. Olympus, hoping to find some help there.

Apollo and Pegasus went into great Zeus' temple and begged Zeus to help him with his problem. Zeus didn't know how to fix this and told Apollo to go to Athena, the goddess of wisdom, for advice.

Later, when the god of music was at Athena's door, she opened it and welcomed him into her home which had the scent of healthy plants. Apollo told her everything about his city and the machines. Athena thought for a bit and finally gave Apollo her idea: invent a new musical instrument. Apollo adored the idea! He knew that his past instruments were old and boring, but a new one would get the mortals' minds off of the noisy machines. Apollo thanked Athena and headed out the door to get to work.

After many days of thinking and working, it was finally made. Apollo could taste his sweat as he stared at his masterpiece. A wooden, large shape that was too elegantly carved to describe. But something was missing. This wooden shape could not yet make music.

Apollo searched for his last piece for two seasons. When it was springtime, Apollo was as tired as a horse after a long ride. He was almost ready to give up when he saw a white feather on the ground. He followed a trail of them until he found Pegasus, Apollo's friend. Pegasus was shedding his winter feathers. This gave Apollo an idea. He asked pegasus if he could borrow 88 of Pegasus' shedding feathers and the winged horse agreed. Apollo went back to his instrument and made 52 of the feathers into white keys and 36 of the feathers he turned a black color. After turning the feathers into keys, Apollo put them onto the instrument. Apollo was happy that the hard work was done.

He brought the instrument down to his city and gave it to the mortals. At first the mortals were confused, but after each of them touched a key, they knew that this was a new musical instrument. But this one was different. This one could be loud and soft. Usually instruments were only loud. Therefore, the people of the city named it the piano which meant soft.

Now when Apollo looked down at his city, he saw people enjoying music once more. He heard the sound of the music they made and he felt the joy that they all felt. Apollo and his city were happy.

Across The Sea

Amber was a beautiful, young women who had lovely, long reddish brown hair. She loved to sing when she was by herself where no one could hear her, except her only pet, Jay. Jay was a gorgeous blue bird that sang with Amber. Together they would frolic along the soft beach sand of Bayocean, in Oregon and sing songs that Amber wrote. Every day they would go to the relaxing beach where she could almost taste the salty water and Amber would bring her notebook. In her notebook she would write more songs and poems about the ocean, she always wished she could lead a boat out into the deep blue sea. One day Amber asked her dad if she could get on a boat and drift far far away knowing that her dad would not endorse it. But one thing she did not know was that her dad was going to start yelling at her. She had tears in her eyes and ran to her room crying.

That night, Amber was writing in her notebook and looked back at some of last years pages and she started reading. Today I was thinking about how when I am older I will ride my dad's boat into the ocean so I decided to take a box I found in the garage and bury it right under the immense tree at Bay ocean. I stocked the box full of things I would need for a trip on the ocean. Amber looked outside and saw darkness. She also realized that her parents were sleeping. She reflected back to the argument and went to the garage. She came outside with her Bird Jay, her dad's small boat, a shovel, and a flashlight. After walking to the Bay Ocean Beach, she snatched up her shovel and started digging under the tree, then all of a sudden she heard a thump and looked down to the hole, it was the box. She set down her boat and put the box and the shovel in the boat while she was still holding the flashlight. Amber gracefully climbed into the boat with Jay on her shoulder, and drifted off into the ocean.

All of a sudden, she heard an ear splitting noise as she is faced the opposite direction it's coming from. Amber turned around looking up 15 feet at an enormous wave. She froze and saw a giant man staring down at her as if he had just been angered and he was, Amber recognized him and it was Poseidon holding a giant pitchfork, he smelled like rotten fish.Amber swallowed like she was choking on a piece of food she was eating, very nervously. Amber looked on her shoulder and Jay was gone. He had flown up into the midnight, black sky many minutes before. Poseidon threw her boat upside down and she fell into the ocean, it went so fast that she hit her head on the boat and was unconscious.

The next thing she knew, she was laying on very soft sand by a shady, short palm tree from the sun , not on bayocean but somewhere she had never seen before somewhere with charming pink and red flowers. She heard a voice.

"Amber where is Jay?" Shouted a loud voice of a women.

" He abandoned me and who are you and where is your voice coming from?" Amber questioned back.

" I am Athena the goddess of wisdom and I was the one who created this island, just for you." Athena Stated.

The next few days she built a boat out of stacks of wood she had supplied, the boat was sturdy and strong. After a few days of staying on the island Amber got homesick and wished her bird would come back and all of a sudden there he was Jay, she climbed onto the boat excitedly with Jay and said good bye to Athena then drifted off back to get home with her parents happily. She had learned to never leave without saying off the shore again.

The Fight For Freedom

By, Gavin Ruffell

A long time ago there once was a boy named Lebron, and Lebron was the bravest peasant in all of Machu Picchu. He was only a young lad when his parents died and most of the village died to the invaders as well. Then, when they were done attacking the invaders left him to live, and while he was growing up he would to be watched throughout time by the divine god of war Ares and train him to be the protecter Machu Picchu. As a boy Lebron had one friend that was named Cherokee and little did he now that Cherokee was the son of the god Hades god of the Underworld.

A few years past and Lebron decided to go on a adventure to the top of Machu Picchu, while he was saying his goodbyes to everyone he could not find Cherokee anywhere not in his village or near other landmarks until, "Help! It's not my fault I am Hades son." So Lebron sprinted to his house and then that is when he saw Cherokee laying on the ground with a knife in his stomach Lebron could smell the blood of his dead friend and with his last words before he died,"Ares was the one who did this?" Then Lebron wiped his tears from his face and says, " No you can't leave me you are the only thing I have left, please, please." Cherokee interrupted " It's time I go." with those words Cherokee took his last breath. In that moment Lebron fell to his knees, and with tears in his eyes he knew what he had to do he stood up without saying a word walked out of the house and gathered up his stuff to go on a journey.

The very next morning Lebron started his journey to find Ares and kill him.

When he got to the edge he did not even look back until he herd a voice say, "WAIT!'' Lebron turned back to see a little boy right next to him,"I'm coming with you" Lebron in shock says " NO! it's to dangerous and not to mention tiring." then Lebron thought to himself and remembered to ask "wait who even are you," the boy answered back saying, "Lionel," Fine you can come but you have to listen to me and do not talk to me'' Lebron decided. They started the long journey to find and kill Ares. When they got to the edge of the mountain where Ares lives, Lionel could feel his legs about to snap in half, Could we stop for the day" Lionel acknowledged, "No! Why would you come I told you it would be dangerous and tiring." Lebron told Lionel. So they kept walking until about midnight then they found it, the home of Ares.

Lebron told Lionel to wait out here while he takes care of some business "fine" Lionel told Lebron. Lebron walked very silently to his house with a blade in hand and there he was Ares, laying in bed asleep. Lebron went at Ares with his knife screaming "I hate you" then Ares a woke and jumped on top of Lebron and toke his knife and pressed his blade to his neck and said "I could kill you just as easily as your parents, I could find a new guardian just like that so I better just do that then.'' Then Ares raised the blade and just as he was about to get stabbed a arrow went straight through his head. A moment of silenced happened before Lionel yelled "Are you okay!" in a very excited tone. Lebron opened his eyes to see Lionel and said "thank you'' then gave him a hug.

Cerberus' Hunt

By Jeremy Jones

A long time ago in a small town in ancient Greece there lived a boy named Aeos, he would wake up early and stay up after the sun set farming, only taking breaks to eat. He was very kind and caring. His family lived on a farm near the forbidden forest, and in there lived the god of the forest, Hades. Anyone who went into the forest would be hunted and murdered by Cerberus, a three headed dog. When Aeos was 15, he went into the forest and was immediately cursed by Hades but Cerberus could not go after him until he was 18.

Three years later Cerberus was after him. Aeos didn't know though, until one day when he was harvesting crops, he saw it. It came out of the forest with a boom. Its gold eyes were glowing on its pitch black head. It had a muscular body with veins bulging out. It was slobbering from all three of its mouths, and bloodstains on its fur. It had a huge scar across its middle head, from someone who tried to kill it in the past, but failed. It had three mouthfuls of daggers for teeth.

Aeos quickly hit the ground with a thud and tried to hide in a groove in the dirt, hoping the Cerberus wouldn't find him. His heart was racing, thousands of thoughts dashing through his head, the Cerberus was searching for him. Aeos covered himself in dirt so his smell of sweat would be masked so it couldn't find him. Aeos could taste a dash of disgusting dirt that fell through his lips. Cerberus came near him and Aeos could feel its steps making the ground shake. The freezing dirt on his back gave him a shiver. Then as fast as if came, it disappeared, giving up on its hunt. Aeos went to his house and told his mother about it.

"I can't believe it," his mother said, "a Cerberus, on our farm?"

"Yeah, I couldn't believe it either, should I get something to protect myself, like a sword or dagger?" Aeos asked.

"Yes, definitely." she spoke quickly.

One day later Aeos went to the local blacksmith in town and got a sword created. It had an iron blade, a silver handle, and a lion carved into the middle of the blade.

Aeos went back home and continued to harvest crops. When he was finished he went back inside and saw his mother sitting down waiting for him. Then she told him how he was cursed by Hades and that he would certainly be executed soon. Aeos was astonished by these words. He didn't know what to say.

The next day he went and harvested more crops but this time he had his sword on him in case he saw the Cerberus again. While he was harvesting the crops he heard the same trot of the Cerberus but this time he was ready. He flung his shovel away from him and took out his sword that glistened in the sunlight. Cerberus saw Aeos ready to fight, it growled and charged at him like a bull. Aeos also started to sprint at the Cerberus. The distance between the two were shortening and at the last second when the Cerberus was going to bite Aeos, he slid on his knees and sliced its belly. Then he came up behind it and stabbed it in the back. Cerberus was bleeding quickly and was laying on the ground, whining with pain. The smell of the bleeding Cerberus body was disgusting, like rotting eggs and he could taste the disgusting blood and sweat of the Cerberus. Aeos climbed on the Cerberus's back and stabbed the middle head with his sword, sending the beast into eternal darkness.

At that very moment when the Cerberus was slayed the curse was lifted from Aeos. He returned to his house with the blood of the Cerberus on his hands. His mother was horrified at the sight of him. She asked what happened to him, and he showed her the gigantic Cerberus body on the farm crops. She was shocked at the sight of it and got some other people in town to help them move the body off of the crops.

After that day Aeos went back to his regular life, harvesting crops and providing for his family, but he was known as the man who slayed the Cerberus and no one ever went into the forbidden forest again.

Pete's Betrayal

Long ago, in Ancient Greece, there was a brother, named Pete and a second brother, named Joe, in Athens. It was a dark night, and there was a friend and no one else. The second brother, Joe, killed his friend, for betraying his team, the Greeks, and he had just switched to the Trojans. His other brother, Pete, betrayed him also with switching to the Trojans. Joe, ran through the forest into Athens. Pete had just noticed that he saw his friend dead on the ground and Pete got mad and sad at the same time, so he went back to Athens. He went to their house, and he saw Joe there, sitting, watching the clock tick by, 1,2,3.Pete told Joe that his friend was stabbed, and Joe was looking guilty. Joe knew Pete had switched to the Trojans. He asked Joe if he killed his friend. He heard Joe say,

"N-no.." Joe whispered. Pete saw the guilt of Joe that he killed his friend. Joe ran straight out the door, through the crowds of people. Pete followed. Joe shoved and pushed people out of the way to get away. Joe got to a dead end. He saw Pete very mad at him engaging him slowly.

That's when they started yelling at eachother and then Zeus came and said,

"What are you doing, I can hear this conversation from Mount Olympus!" Zeus screamed.

"Mighty Zeus, Joe had killed one of my comrades, because we switched to the glorious Trojans!" Pete said.

"I killed your comrade, because you're betrayed me!" Yelled Joe. Pete and Joe started arguing again.

"SILENCE!" Yelled Zeus. They both shut up.

"We shall make this fair to a duel." Zeus said. They both looked at eachother, eye to eye, anxiously Pete nodded, but Joe didn't. Pete swung his sword out of his Sheath. Joe silently took his out. They were both ready. Zeus said start. Joe charged at his own brother, Pete, like a bull. He was about to stab Pete when Pete held his sword out and Joe went right into it. He slowly fell of it with blood dripping everywhere. Joe fell on the ground dead.

Zeus looked at Pete, for a minute. Then Zeus went back to Mount Olympus. Pete put his sword away, and walked away from Joe's body, silently, with a bloody sword in his sword pouch.

The New Snow

By Kaci Swenson

One scorching summer day, Kiki had a soccer game. After this game, she went to her grandma's house to rest before the next game. While her grandma made her a snack, Kiki wandered into the kitchen, complaining to her grandma about how the other team had cheated. Her grandma said that she knew a story about cheating, and Kiki asked her to tell the story, because grandma always told the best stories. The story went like this.

"On a freezing afternoon, a snowflake the size of your hand fell from the clouds, it shimmered and drifted in the frostbitten air. It landed in the deserted snow blankets of Antarctica, but as it fell, it was different than any other snowflake. Despite its massive size, when it hit the ground, the snow shimmered and glowed. It blossomed out and whirled up in a massive snow tunnel, and when it cleared, there laid a beautiful young child wearing a snow colored dress. This child was named Nixinvadia, though she preferred to be called Nixi, she had pale skin and the blondest hair you will ever lay your eyes on. Her cheeks dimpled when she smiled and she had eyes that reflected the stars. She looked like she belonged in the throne of a kingdom. Although Nixi looked seven or eight years old, by heart she was an infant and she was stranded. She looked around scared and alone until the heavens opened. Down strode Zeus and his lovely wife Hera on staircases made of clouds.

'Nixinvadia, welcome to your new home,' Hera exclaimed.

'What where am I?' Nixi stammered, surprised by the sound of her own voice. 'Who are you? Who am I?'

'This is your new home. I am your queen, my name is Hera, and this is my husband the king, Zeus. You are the snow goddess Nixinvadia,' the Queen explained in a gentle voice. With a wave of her hand a beautiful snow palace appeared.

'And this is your home,' she added with a smile.

'If you need anything, come up to Mount Olympus for help,' she said as she and Zeus floated back to the clouds.

'And welcome to Earth, Nixi.'

As time moved forward, Nixi turned 16 and was still a gorgeous girl. She still had cute dimples and eyes that could light up a room. Her hair had straightened out and it cut off just below her shoulders. Though Nixi was beautiful and had many friends, she had one enemy who was popular and deceitful. Her name was Clarus and she took pride in stealing others moments in the spotlight. Clarus was good showing off and had many temples built in her honor. Nixi was able to do the same things as Clarus, even better, but she was shy and modest, while Clarus used other people's powers for her own fame."

"The sweet Nixi, who usually didn't let others people words or actions get to her, was so frustrated! She was fed up with Clarus getting all of the attention, so she did what she knew would get people to love her. In frustration, she sent a blizzard to a town in a drought. The blizzard went on for hours until it there was over a foot of snow! The children of the town were joyous, making snow angels. Nixi was so overjoyed that someone appreciated her work. Then one little kid trotted over to his mother and asked why there was snow. The mother answered that the amazing Clarus had blessed them. The mother then proceeded to tell the child that him and his friends needed to stay here while they give offerings at Clarus' temple. One women offered Nixi's favorite meal, chocolate fudge cake. The rich chocolate tasted like an eruption of flavors with its berry toppings. The gooey frosting felt like the amazing taste could last forever. And it smelled like a chocolate factory. There was a lot of food given to Clarus and Nixi's mouth watered for one bite of that cake. As Nixi went up to Mount Olympus, she passed by Clarus who was sitting there wolfing down everything as fast as it came. All the gods and goddesses were all so thankful that she helped them and helped the humans through a drought. She accepted the praise thankfully through a mouth full of the offerings of the mortals.

Nixi was even more furious. In her anger, she sent six feet of snow to punish them as she turned sharply, slamming the door. The sound echoed around the building like thunder as she walked out into the cold, the snowflakes stung her face as she stomped into her ice palace. That was about when she lost it. She ran to her room, tears streaking down her face as she landed on her bed. She then laid there for a long time, soaking herself in her tears.

Nixi cried herself to sleep, but as she did so, her tears rained down from the heavens to where they are needed most. The tears made its way to the place she had cursed with six feet of snow and her magic tears melted the snow, blossoming flowers and creating food from failing crops. She did this all without knowing, and with thinking she was a failure.

From the night before, she had swollen eyes and tear streaks down her face, just as she was about to fall into a deep sleep, Nixi heard a knock on the door and she went to answer it. When she answered it she saw 30 gods and goddesses shivering in the freezing Antarctic air. One stepped forward to congratulate her on her own temple. Nixi was very confused.

Someone asked, 'Didn't you make those amazing fields of green in replace of the snow?'

'But I'm not a planting goddess!'

No one knew how this was possible. When she asked how everyone knew it was her, only one child spoke up.

'Words rode on the wind. From one plant to another, it sounded like they were whispering to each other. It is also said that your new name is Nixinorus which means the new snow, to show that snow can create something beautiful,' a small child replied."

"What happens after that Grandma?" Kiki inquired.

"Well Nixi is finally acknowledged and gets to help people, and Clarus is revealed to have lied when she can't steal others thunder, or other kinds of weather," Grandma replied.

"So, I guess cheaters never really do win," Kiki remarked.

"Nope, because they can't win without cheating, and one day they will get in trouble for that."

"Thanks Grandma!" Kiki exclaimed, giving her grandma a hug.

"Of course!" Grandma replied, "Now, are you ready to win this next game?"

"You bet!"

"Ok! Let's go!" Grandma said.

Fostering God

By Jenny Than

"Attention fellow people of the court," the judge took a pause to put on his glasses. "Today we are here to happily decide if Zander Blog is to go into our Independent Living program for his reason of abusive foster parents." Within a moment I was about to tell everyone my ending of a chapter in my life.

When the moon had risen I felt the scorching feeling of burns on my cracking skin. My room was invested with the aching smell of tequila and I could hear the moaning of my vulnerable foster dad. My foster mom at the bottom of my ragged bed drunk as ever, thrashing me with a scaly belt of pure leather. I didn't cry. Nor would I ever cry. If I ever did, then I would completely lose myself during the process. Time had passed, and my blue hair had become drenched in sweat from my own faults. I felt defenseless, so I waited until the red moon was at it's highest. The time she would finally fall into her trance. At the moment she did, I decided I was tired of letting this happen every night. I was done going through the abuse of an insane women and a being seen as foolish from a shunned upon father.

The sun had excelled and I knew this wasn't the right way to collide back with my family in the sky, but there was something different with this foster family. Something that with the other "amazing" foster families always had with me. I had lost all hope with this one. I didn't care though, it was time. The sky came with a vibrantly ombre pink and the wind was filled with the taste of bitter sand. I sealed my eyes for a moment, I was finally at the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

I freed my eyes to see me facing Port Jackson. I pulled out a smooth and dull piece of leftover mirror from the first night with my current foster parents and glared at myself. Was this what is really right? For a far too long time I was just staring at myself.

I was far from ready, but it was time. I was supposed to walk onto the air into the raged waters into my own destiny. Instead, I was deaf by the sound of sirens and face to face with who made me understand where I belong. Thanatos, the greek god of death. I stared blankly into his sickening eyes where I thought he would terminate me into the underworld or overworld, but instead spoke with his distinctly

sharp voice.

"For why have you chosen the path," with a shortened pause when he shifted his eyes onto my bruised legs. "That most mortals would rather face their demons, than encounter in the time of their lifetime?" If I were to lie, I would be cursed with a blessing of living with the dead and my family, or I could tell the truth and learn what I truly was to feel. What would you do? Well me not being able to bare lying to someone so important, I quickly told the truth.

Afterwards, he threw me a confusing feeling of what can only be explained as relief. He knew that this was no right way to die, so Thanatos, being the "loving" god he is, returned me into the mortal world with a responsibility.

"If the god of death was to let you with this responsibility," as the judge once again took a pause to take off his glasses. Shuffling papers and then picking up his iron gavel. "I see the representative to be capable to live into the Independent Living Program, but be required to attend classes to learn what it means to be a good parent."

My heart is racing, and this is just the beginning of my endless future.

The Legend of Night and Day

By Leslie

Once upon a time in Ancient Greece on the lavish, beautiful palace of Mount Olympus that sat above a roaring river, there dwelled two gods the god of the sun and light, and the god of the moon and darkness. The god of the sun wore robes that were as detailed as a painting and held a glowing staff that was as bright as the sun, when he struck it down on the earth it created light, his favorite things were peace, happiness and light. He smelled like fresh flowers and summer days. When you around him you could feel the warmth and happiness. The god of the moon was the complete opposite. One day the god of the sun was seated happily on the edge of the palace and cast his light on the world, when suddenly his worst rival came up from behind and yelled at him saying that the world should be dark as well as light.

The next day, the gods started fighting. They yelled about if it should be dark or bright in the world. They fought for months and caused the mortals to suffer because it was consistently inconsistent between dark and light. They could not grow crops because every time they started growing it would turn dark and all the crops would fail.

The god of the sun would say, "It should be light because the world needs light to work and see!"

Then the god of the moon would shout back angrily, "It needs to be dark because the people need to sleep."

Eventually, the two god's constant shouting and rivalry finally caused the other gods on Mount Olympus to go crazy, so finally one day the gods had had enough.

"Enough!" Screamed the enraged Zeus "We have all had enough of your disagreement, you need to make up now!" And with that said Zeus stormed angrily out of the room.

Later that night in the palace, the long awaited, much overdue, peace meeting was held. The halls were decked with long flowing banners of silk draping over the large magnificent windows. In the great hall there sat a gigantic, old, mahogany colored table. On the table lay dozens of platters carrying every color food fit for the gods, there was every sort of food you could imagine. The god of the sun arose from his seat to look over all of the joyous gods and realized he was wrong to be battling his fellow god, and should come to an agreement. The two gods finally made up, and rejoiced for the rest of the enjoyable feast

The next morning, when they awoke they realized they still had not come up with a plan of how to share the day. The god of the sun raced down the marble staircase to find the god of the moon already awake and enjoying the morning. He proposed a solution where they split the day, half of the day would be light and be called daytime, the other half of the day would be dark and called night time.

After that everything was harmonious again on the beautiful Mount Olympus. And for years after that the gods both lived in peace and harmony once again.

The Myth of Alyona

By Alana

Alyona's life was perfect she was perfect, at least that's what everyone told her. She had everything but not enough. Alyona was a pale girl with long brown hair, thick eyelashes, and purple eyes. She was tall and athletic and had a high Soprano voice with a woodsy smoky scent and lived on a farm but spent most of her time in the woods. Ate the goddess of evil/trickery on the other hand hated Alyona and wanted everyone to stop talking about her so she came up with a plan.

So the next day, Ate dressed up as Chloe/ Demeter goddess of Agriculture and went to to spy on Alyona and for four days she did so the second day she dressed up as Samele Greek legendary mortal, the third day she was Aisy goddess of air, and on the last day she was Jenlene goodess of the moon. All these days she was thinking up a plan but it turned out she didn't need to. Alyona had a favor to ask Ate anyway.

When the sun rose the next day, Alyona went to find her. Ate hearing Alyona came out of her cave to go talk to her.

"Ummmm sooooo I was kind of hoping you could do me a favor." mumbled Alyona

"Ahh favors." purred Ate "How funny, I need one to." quipped Ate smiling to herself. "How about we discuss these favors out of the open." she volunteered.

They both piled into Ate's cave, Ate thinking her thoughts and Alyona thinking hers. Alyona and Ate spent a long time discussing and then both came up with an idea Alyona would steal something from Apollo god of the Sun/Light and give it to Ate and in return Ate would do something for her. Alyona agreed and went back home. Alyona had 3 days to fulfill her task.

When the moon fell on the second day, Alyona went to retrieve the Half Sun Ring the most sacred jewelry of Apollo's collection. Ate had told her it would be easy to get and that Apollo would not notice. Alyona climbed up the hill to The Temple of Apollo and Artemis and carefully slipped inside. Very quietly she slid into the Great Treasure Room and started looking for the ring. Once she found it she tiptoed out into the night and ran back home tasting the air from the speed she as going.

The next morning, Apollo went to check on the Half Sun Ring as he did every morning only to notice it was gone.

"Artemis!" he yelped "The ring is gone Artemis!" he howled.

Hurring Artemis the goddess of the hunt and moon sped into the Great Treasure Room only to see that he was right it was gone. Artemis and Apollo knew they couldn't hurt the person who did it but they could figure out who did and make Zeus punish them. So Artemis and Apollo started the hunt.

Alyona had given Ate the ring, In return Ate promised to give Alyona her wish.On Alyona's way back home Artemis and Apollo saw her through the bushes they were hiding in and sped off to tell Zeus what had happened.

"Zeus Zeus!" They screamed flying into Zeus throne room like a pack of lions.

They told their story to Zeus and asking him to get it back or punish Alyona. Zeus being able to tell if someone was lying or not decided to punish Alyona.

Apollo asked Zeus, "Why can't you get it back to me?"

Zeus answered, "Once something is given to a god/goddess by a mortal it is in the possession of that god/goddess meaning we can't get it back unless the god/goddess wants to give it back."

By then every god had heard what Alyona had done and where screaming out punishments for her like a bunch of birds.

"Enough!" boomed Zeus for he had already came up with a punishment.

From that day on, Alyona had to roll a huge boulder up Big Hill and every time she got to the top the boulder rolled back down to the bottom. Ate had the ring and would later on give it back to Apollo and none of the gods/goddess talked about Alyona again.

Origin Of Five Finger Fillet

By: Bluemask

One quiet day in Adalard there was a brown haired man named Bob. He had eyes like no other. From the day he was born people said he had the eyes of a god. They looked like fire burning in the center of the sun riddled with gold. But what was really special about him was his courage. He would do anything no matter how dangerous. He had ran into bear's caves bare bodied with nothing other than a stick and a cup of water and come out without a scratch. After that he was known as the boy who could do anything. Adalard was a very nice town next to a forest and lake. The lake has an odor of rotten eggs or sulfur.

Twenty years later, he was walking down the street to the store because he was out of food. and all of a sudden there was a rusty cage with a knife and instructions all this was in an alley off of the trail. He was instantly intrigued once he touched it the cage transferred to flawless gold with a clank. He hesitated to take it because he was starving and could smell the fresh bread and meat, but he decided to take the cage. He wrapped the cage with a cloth and put it in a basket and took it home. When he got home he read the instructions which told him to do something that he never would have tried. He put his hand on his table and took the knife in his hand as told and started to stab in between his fingers once behind his thumb and over to the next then back over his thumb and to the space in between the next fingers and keep this pattern. He took to it immediately going faster and faster. After a few hours he read the back of the instructions. It was from Ares, the god of war. He believed this to be false he took it back left it in the alley from which the cage came. Tired from the game he fell to sleep with the darkness engulfing the earth.

The next morning, he awoke. The cage was on his nightstand along with another note from Ares saying, "This is your destiny from the minute you were born. I sent this to you today for your last chance to do as I tell or you will die." With his life threatened, especially by a god, he took the knife and started to do as Ares had told him. Soon news spread of this event and quickly the brave king had to see. He ordered Bob to come and perform for him. Bob graciously accepted.

He approached the king and started to stab at his fingers. Ares was giving him energy to go faster and made Bob go faster. The king fell in love with this act he wanted to try for himself. Ares being the god of war, with some help from Zeus, took a piece of lightning and threw it down for the king as a knife to use. As the king stabbed in between his fingers he also fell in love with it. This outraged the public and the public considered them crazy and called the king unworthy of the crown and sent them both into the forest alone where they died from starvation and dehydration.

However, the tradition of five finger fillet have lived on, and this game still lives on today with its original name, five finger fillet, and a song commemorating the memory and giving instructions to anyone who wants to try to perform this dangerous feat.

Golden Guitar

By Matthew Waters

Once upon a time in Greece there was a golden guitar that could only be played by two gods, they were brother and both had blonde hair but Nicholas one of the gods had brown eyes and Matthew had turquoise eyes. There was also a demi god whose name was Cam, and he was trying to steal the golden guitars. The golden guitars sound also attracted girls. One night Cam came along and heard the god brothers play the guitars, this automatically made Cam want the guitars.

Cam sat and listened to the guitars and was also planning to steal the guitars the next night. Cam woke early the next day to plan his attack and steal the guitars. That night Cam went to where the gods played the guitars, when they were done Cam watched to see where they hid the guitars at night. It was in a room protected by a DemiGod named Jackson who had black hair and brown eyes. Cam was going to need more people if he wanted those guitars. Cam went off looking for powerful people that could help him get the guitars.

After he looked through the whole city he decided that a human could never stop a demigod so he thought, what if i could get a minotaur, a Jackson could never defeat a minotaur. So Cam looked for a minotaur for 7 days before he found one. It was bigger than anything he had ever seen before and it had a lot of hair. He would put the minotaur in a giant cage but he didn't know how to move the cage because it was over 10 times as big as him. Then he called his friend that could move it. His friends name was Gavin, he had black hair and could fly the minotaurs cage to the golden guitars hut. He released the minotaur at it charged at Jackson, but Jackson grabbed it and threw it down. This was going to be a tough battle. Cam thought he might be able to sneak through while Jackson was distracted by the minotaur. Cam snuck in, grabbed the guitar and ran not looking back for miles. Wants he thought he was far enough he stopped running and collapsed in fatigue. Cam walked back to his house with the golden guitar.

Icarus's Ocean Adventure

By Sienna

In Ancient Greece, in the land of Crete, Icarus and his dad Daedalus were flying to get home. Icarus did not listen to his dad and he fell into the ocean. Now Icarus is in the ocean and wants to get back to his dad and live with him again. What Icarus doesn't know is that their is trouble coming his way, but Athena is watching out for him.

Meanwhile Icarus saw a group of fish swimming by that smelled like sand. Icarus did not know what to do. Finally he asked them for help. Icarus talked to bubbles, a fish about his problem.

Bubbles said that Icarus should go talk to the octopus. So Icarus thanked the fish and went east like bubbles said. Once he got to the octopus Icarus introduced himself but the octopus kept ignoring him. Finally, once Icarus got his attention he explained his problem.

"I am sorry kid, I am no use, you will need to ask Pearl the Mermaid."

"Who is that?" said Icarus.

"You will have to wait and see. She is by the coral reef in the south. Hurry go!"

Icarus kept singing on his way "I am off to see a mermaid the wonderful mermaid Pearl." After a long swim that seemed like forever he completely gets to Pearl with Athena's help.

Icarus for the 3rd time explains why he is there. Then Pearl asks how Icarus can breathe in the ocean and if he isn't a human.

Icarus explained how he is a human and was questioning himself about being able to breathe. Then, Icarus realizes that Athena a Goddess of wisdom, made it so he could breath. Icarus explained that he was lost and wanted Pearl to help him, Pearl agreed. They both new that it would be a long journey. So Icarus and Pearl started their journey to get back to the land that Daedalus Icarus dad is on. Throughout their journey they ate seaweed.

Then, all of a sudden Icarus and Pearl felt a huge shadow over them. They both looked up at the same time. Swimming over them, it was a shark! They both screamed but that was the exact wrong thing to do. Then they had to hurry and swim to a rock which was rough on their hands as they felt it, to hide from the shark. What they didn't realize was the shark was trying to eat them. So the shark was searching all around for Pearl and Icarus to have them for his bedtime snack. With the shark still looking for them, Athena made the shark fall asleep with a magical potion that will only last so long. So Pearl and Icarus rushed and swam to get out as fast as they could. Then for three more long days and nights they swam and slept in coves, until they found the island.

Finally, after asking and searching for Daedalus Icarus finally finds him. They both are so happy to see each other. Daedalus explained to his son that he thought that he would never see him again. So they both told their stories and now that Daedalus elongated lost son came back, they both live happy lives together.

The End

Icarus's Journey

By: Ashley Sherman

In Ancient Greece long ago there was a boy. The son of an inventor who left his son to die in the ocean after escaping evil King Minos of Crete by using wings to fly like birds. Icarus was the son of Daedalus. Icarus has short black hair with soft blue eyes and was only in his teens. This boy was sinking in the water because his wings broke and he could not swim. All the sudden the boy felt a boost from his feet pushing him up to the air as the salty water stings his tongue. He wiped the water off his face and spit out the tart tasting sea water. Icarus looked around confused on what had just happened. When he looked to the left there was nothing but ocean. When he looked to the right his heart leaped out of his chest as he saw Poseidon god of the sea before him. Poseidon had long brown hair, a scowl on his face and, amazingly woven clothing.

"Well aren't you going to say something? A thank you would be nice" Poseidon says grouchy in a deep voice. Looking confused and scared Icarus replies greatly and thankfully. Icarus told Poseidon everything about the last couple of months. The men become good friends as their journeys of life continues.

Now time has passed and Icarus is torn if he should go visit his father or not but he likes his life with Poseidon in Ancient Greece and doesn't want it to end.Poseidon tells Icarus he has a friend who can help him and Icarus looks up at him very relieved and excited.

"Young man, what is your problem with love?" Aphrodite smiles as she asks that question and Icarus tells her everything.

"I cannot help you with a decision like that, but I can give you advice. Do what your heart wants to do and what your mind feels like doing. If you want to see your father you can meet him in Croatia." Aphrodite smiles kindly and disappeared into thin air.

Icarus ponders long and hard about this. Suddenly he realizes that seeing his father might be a good idea so he goes to Poseidon at a restaurant and tells him his answer. Poseidon gets up and brushes the chunky crumbs off his shirt and starts to walk towards the door to come with Icarus.

One month has passed and Icarus and Poseidon have made it to Croatia. They step off the boat onto the sandy shores. As they walked through the town of Croatia which smells like fish both of them are looking for Icarus's father (Even though Poseidon had no clue what he looks like).

After a few hours walking through Croatia they eventually found him sitting on a porch of a house playing with a puppy who was as furry as a sasquatch. It had been a year since he had seen his father. Icarus felt more dizzy the closer they got to his father's house. Icarus walked up to the man. Daedalus looks up at the young man to see his son, Poseidon, and Aphrodite all staring at him with straight faces but hope in their eyes.

"Son? Is that you?" questions Daedalus looking surprised.

Icarus agrees and they both wrap their arms around each other in a tight hug as salty tears of joy run down both their cheeks. Icarus looked at Poseidon for a moment and could have sworn he saw him crying but Poseidon quickly straightened up and wiped the tears.

Later in the evening all were sitting around a fire in Daedalus's house. Though Aphrodite was not there because she had important business to attend to. Icarus tells his father everything from the time they were apart. They both lived a untroubled life in Croatia together after the ripple in their lifetime.

The Hollow

By Alex Martinez

One day in Ancient Athens there was a boy about 13, Kale, who was resting in his kitchen when he heard a group of men putting up signs of a beast called a griffin, a big grey beast that tasted the salty mushy flavor of human flesh and their town liked to call him the hollow because people believed that his chest was hollow with no heart. Little did they know the hollow was planning to take over Athens and as he decided that the next day he would start his attack.

One day when a man was walking to get the teal hard fresh eggs from his chickens and then on his way he smelt a musty smelly smell unlike any he had ever experienced and went he went to see what it was he found an man dead with a note from the hollow on his forehead the attacks start now, from the hollow. For the next couple of weeks, Athens best soldiers and generals were all being killed like mashed potatoes being mashed and mauled maliciously and they were all Branded with a symbol of a griffin, and one by one the army of athens got smaller and smaller when one day Kale got a giant spark of bravery given by athene to vanquish the hallow. When Kale told his parents what he planned to do they just laughed hysterically and said he could not do it.

Discouraged, Kale went to the sacred hill to mourn and Athene gave him that spark again and he decides he will stop it on his own. So that night he went to were the soldiers slumbered and he waited and he hid in the bushes in the front of the soldiers barracks and then when it seemed that the air got colder like the polar ice caps during a winter storm and the the wind stopped and whole town seemed to go silent, he saw the hollow soaring in from above and when it landed he heard the great umph of the hallows feet hitting the ground with the force of a thousand men then when he dragged up the courage he went out dressed as soldier and as they fought and fought finally when Kale had the Hollow pinned he said "trick or treat" and ran him through and felt the cool slick blood of the hollow drip down his hand. When Kale brought Hollow home that day he was made a hero and he was immensely rewarded. Since that day, October 31 has been called halloween named after the Hallow and because of kales superior bravery and courage.

Rainy Days

Once there was a almighty god named Zeus who lived in Ancient Greece. Zeus had a son named Hercules. Hercules was wealthy, strong, and healthy. He was handsome and he loved sports and felt happy all the time. Hercules had many great traits but he was gullible. All the people loved him and they followed him around all day and night. Hercules had the perfect life. But one person hated him, a filthy, creepy, Mischievous, dull, aggravated boy with dark hair and blue eyes who liked stealing and he smelled like trash. He enjoyed causing trouble and his name was Adam. Adam was so jealous of Hercules' life. While his life was hard, by watching him he knew if Hercules died he could steal his money, so he started plotting his evil plan.

Adam finished his plan. First, he had to gain Hercules trust. Then, he would give Hercules a potion which would make him weak and powerless. So Adam went to Hercules and gained his trust after a couple of weeks. Now, Adam's plan was ready and he took Hercules to his shabby shelter and offered him wine. But little did Hercules know the wine was Adam's potion. Adam stared at him until Hercules drank the whole cup of the potion which smelled like grapes and flowers and tasted like regular wine. But then he started to get dizzy and fell on the floor. Hercules immediately felt weaker. Adam picked him up and threw him outside and started beating Hercules up aggressively.

"Why are you doing this?" Yelled Hercules, "You don't deserve your luxurious life." replied Adam.

Adam continuously punched Hercules' stomach and teared his smooth silk shirt. Then Adam pulled out a long sharp blade and was ready to end Hercules' life.

"Help father!" Yelled Hercules

Zeus heard him and saw what was going on and threw his lightning bolt. Adam heard the thunder and used Hercules as a human shield. Zeus tried to stop his smooth lightning bolt but it had already left his finger tips. The lighting came down and impaled Hercules and Adam, killing both of them.

"No, why Hercules take me instead!" Zeus shouted while crying.

Zeus never got out of grief. Every once in awhile he is reminded of Hercules and cries and it starts raining and thundering in greece. Still to this day Zeus is reminded of Hercules and creates thunderstorms and rainy days.

Origin of the Grand Canyon

By Riley

In Ancient Greece, the world appreciated and deeply honored Poseidon, the strong and heroic god of the sea. But there is another side of the powerful gods, Poseidon's brother, Hades, the god of the underworld, unseen and unheard was never appreciated. Poseidon was loved by all the people and Hades was nothing compared to Poseidon's courage and bravery. Hades was very jealous of his famous brother so he decided to do something about it. He wanted to be the new Poseidon so in order to do that, he needed his charming power.

About a week later, Hades started carelessly sending massive earthquakes from the underworld all the way up to the sea because he was mad that he was never appreciated by the Greeks. This made Poseidon angry at Hades and tried to stop the earthquakes from causing damage to the beautiful land.

A little while later, the filthy Hades swiftly pulled himself out of the underworld. Hades surprised Poseidon by coming to the sea and he started yelling at him and telling him how he was unappreciated. Except confident Poseidon didn't care for his brothers feeling and told him to return to the underworld immediately. Mad at his brother, Hades started fighting against Poseidon and trying to steal his trident. Hades started to make it further and further towards his brother.

A few seconds later Hades was inches away from taking Poseidon's trident. Hades reached out in front of him and forcefully latched his hand around the trident and yanked it towards himself with all his strength . He pulled away with the trident firmly in his hand. Almost instantly Hades felt more powerful and stronger then ever. He could feel the shooting power of the trident running through his blood. The trident had a rough scratchy texture due to the carving engraved into the gold. Hades started randomly pointing the trident and aggressively striking the land with his new power because he didn't know how to control it like poseidon did. He caused damage to everything he saw. With the splashing water everywhere, Hades' mouth was full of salty, dry taste buds screaming for fresh water.

"Stop!" Poseidon screamed.

Hades started furiously running to get away from his brother who was chasing him through the ocean. As mischievous as Hades was he decided to run through the land but was a lot slower than his brother.

Poseidon was wasn't far away from Hades and grabbed his trident from the back and grasped it from Hades' firm grip. Poseidon's strong power was back. Hades turned to face him with an angry look of disgust. Loudly, Poseidon took a single strong and powerful swing of his arm and smashed his trident down causing the earth to shake. All that Hades could hear was the large cracking sound like nails on a chalkboard of the earth underneath him to split apart into two. This crack in the earth spread apart and caused the Grand Canyon. The sound of the ocean water shooting through the split causing a salty smell in the air. With one glance ahead of him, Poseidon pointed his trident forward and a bright light shot out of the end. The light blinded Hades and as he focused his eyes he could see the dark, filthy, dusty, smelly, disgusting room of his own home. Poseidon sent him back to the Underworld forever. Hades felt as defeated, angry, and revengeful as a shark eaten by a minnow fish. This is how the Grand Canyon came to be.

Chrysanthemum

By: Nate Brors

Once upon a time, In ancient Athens, about mid-noon, there were two friends, Hera and Chrysanthemum. One day they were strolling and talking in the field when cocky Chrysanthemum challenged Hera to a javelin throwing contest. Hera accepts, knowing that a god would surely beat a mere mortal. The game shortly began and thousands of Athenians were watching. At the final throw, Hera was at 216 points and Chrysanthemum was at 220. Hera threw her final javelin,

Zephyr, the West Wind, who used to be best friends with Hera until Chrysanthemum met her, saw his chance. He quickly whisked the javelin of track and it pierced Chrysanthemum straight through the heart. Hera cried out in terror to Zephyr.

She hollered, "Zephyr! How could you!"

Zephyr called back, "It was the only way we could be friends again."

"Oh, we are far from friends" replied Hera. Zephyr, realizing his mistake tried to apologize but Hera would not listen. The air reeked like sadness.

The next day, Hera asked her husband Zeus to give her a special watering can so she could cleanse her friend. But Hera had something else in mind. She had gotten a special herb that can bring someone back to life. SHe got the watering can and poured the herb on Chrysanthemum and a flower grew on her. Hera was surprised, but the flower was magnificent. The people of Athens cherished that flower to this very day.

Trey William Brownell

3/8/17
⅞

Blakey

Zeus and Poseidon's Troubles

Once upon a time there lived Poseidon and Zeus they were brothers, Zeus had a wife named Helen and was the king of all the gods and could create lightning bolts. Poseidon was the god the sea and wore dark blue all the time and smelled like seaweed and fish all the time but was jealous of Zeus for he was just another one of the hundreds of gods like Hera, Demeter, Ares, Athena, Apollo and Artemis but Zeus was the god of all gods. Poseidon had asked mighty Zeus but he refused but Poseidon got very angry at Zeus. And one day Poseidon had an affair with Helen Zeus's wife when Zeus was away for revenge.

When Zeus found out about this he was furious his own brother having done such a horrible thing with his wife he was ungodly mad at his brother for doing such a bad thing to the great Zeus. The next day Zeus challenged Poseidon in a fight at the top of the clouds and whoever lost had to stay in the clouds for the eternity of the earth, Poseidon accepted the fight.

After three hours of straight fighting mighty Zeus struck poseidon with a lightning bolt and Poseidon fell to the hands of mighty Zeus to be sent up to the clouds for The eternity.

When Zeus got back to mt olympus he had a very very stern talk with Helen and Zeus made Helen swear a divine oath that she would never ever do it again. All the gods cheered for mighty Zeus because he was a good leader and didn't want Poseidon to rule the gods they thought he was greedy and not loyal.

As the bet said Poseidon was sent to the clouds and on the way up Zeus sent a curse to Poseidon that he could never ever leave the clouds.

Christos the Camouflaged Chameleon

Once upon a time, in a dark, freezing forest, there was a chameleon named Christos. Christos was a big troublemaker. He tried to obey all of the numerous rules of the forest, but let's just say he should've tried a little harder. One of the biggest rules the forest they had was no stealing. And, of course, he always used his astonishing camouflage to steal. Anytime, anything, anywhere. If there was something of value, Christos was there.

One day, he was feeling especially sly and greedy. He knew of a hawk, named Vasilis, a python, Hemeros, a lion, Oreste, and a puma, named Petros, that all had things from their ancestors with great value. Vasilis had his great grandfather's feather, Hemeros had his father's fang, Oreste had his mother's tooth, and Petros had his grandmother's claw.

Christos got all the items from the animals easily.

When done, he yelled, "Fools! The mighty Christos has stole your items like a sly fox!" He immediately regretted this decision, as he knew the animals would report.

As he predicted, he heard a knock on his door the next day and opened it up to see the king of the forest, Apollo, surrounded by armed guards. Some were even "armed" with poetry and violins, for king Apollo loved poetry and violins.

"So, Christos," King Apollo said slowly. You could've heard Christos' heart beating like a drum. "I've heard you've been causing some trouble around these parts," king Apollo said.

"What, wh-wh-what are you talking about you must have the wrong person bye," Christos said very quickly, then slammed his door.

"Christos, we know it's you. We were just going to talk, but know there's going to be consequences. Guards, get this door down and bring the wizard in." Christos didn't know what to do. Should he hide? Should he face king Apollo? His thoughts were interrupted by a loud crash: the door. He didn't see anyone at first, then there was a sudden flash, and he found himself face to face with an old man. There was warts all over his wrinkly face, but all this was partially covered up by his large beard. He didn't say anything, but Christos knew he was the wizard. Christos tried to run but it was hopeless. The wizard just teleported next to him. The wizard took his wand, said a spell under his breath, and there was another bright flash, then everything went black.

Christos woke up the next evening and decided to go outside and try to steal something, learning nothing after his past experiences of getting caught stealing. After all, the wizard didn't even do anything to him. Right?

He was sneaking up on Vasilis' nest, but then felt a tear in his back, followed by excruciating pain. Vasilis' claws had just obliterated his back.

"Why are you so illuminated?" Vasilis asked as Christos' back swelled up. Christos got up and saw his reflection in the lake: he was very bright. He knew the wizard did this to him.

"Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" Christos screached.

Christos kept trying to steal but was only clawed, thrown around, bitten, poisoned, and wacked. He kept getting bigger and bigger from swelling, until he floated away. This is how the sun was made, and why it rains extremely frequently in the forest: Christos is crying. It is also why Apollo is the god of the sun, along with music and poetry. He made the sun, and just loves music and poetry.

Laxus

By Jonathan Baker

Once upon a time, in a terrain far far away, there was a man dubbed Laxus. He lived in Neo Aqua, a mountain infested ocean port. Laxus had spiky, sharp blond hair, crystal blue eyes, and was above average size for a man his age. He was covered in muscle, from head to toe. All Laxus wanted in life, was to achieve something great, something that would make him go down in history. He also loved to go on strolls in the meadow at night.

One day Laxus was feeling particularly eager to go to the meadow, so he set off to the grassy plain, even though it was day. When he got to the meadow, he saw a warning sign to stay away from the meadow, but he was so eager to go, he just pushed it over and dashed hastily ahead. As he wandered along a path he saw a hole. He was quite intrigued, so he ventured over to the deep hole. But, he got to close and was standing on weak dirt, The dirt gave way to Laxus's weight and he tumbled into the holes black depths off death and blacked out from the force of his fall.

Laxus woke up to find milky white ground below him and many large temples around him. Laxus was fearful, but interested. He got up and walked along observing the eye candy. Then he spotted something in the distance that was colossal, a man, maybe in his late 60's with a aroma of sweat. When the giant elder saw Laxus, he let out a blood curling shriek that shook the ground below, the sound was so loud that Laxus face planted in the ground.

"MORTAL!" Zeus yelled."How dare you come to Olympus with no permission!" he screamed.

"No, please!" Laxus inquired.

"Be quiet you insolent fool!" Zeus said, angry.

After this Zeus called for the other gods and Zeus took Laxus to an arena. Zeus snapped his finger then glowing gold armor appeared on him with a silver spear. Laxus was terrified, but lucky for him, Ares the god hatred, and war arose behind him. Laxus felt a surge of influence take over his body, and his skin was turned viper black, the fear was washed away and Laxus felt courage now. Zeus, without warning, charged Laxus and swung his spear at him. Laxus then swiftly bolted behind Zeus and forced a powerful punch straight in the middle of his shoulder blades. Then Zeus's dorsum humanum turned pitch black like Laxus's. Zeus crashed to the ground and didn't get up, Laxus then kicked Zeus straight through his spine and then Zeus's entire body disintegrated into ash like fire wood. Except for Zeus's spine, which Laxus held up a then dug it in the rough dirt.

"Immortals!" Laxus shouted, "You are now under my rule!" Laxus screamed, pounding his chest hard, like a gorilla.

All the gods in the arena bowed down to Laxus, like they had to their former leader, Zeus. For the first time in an eternity, Laxus felt powerful, like he could do anything without a care in the world

After this, Laxus's skin turned back to it's former color, and then the ground began to feel farther away. Confused, Laxus looked around to see that he was the same size as all the other gods.

Then, the gods led Laxus to the king's throne in the main temple, when Laxus sat down he felt very happy and accomplished. The gods gave Laxus immortality liquid so he would never age.

Laxus resided at Olympus for the rest of eternity, where he was king. He had rule of everything, forever, until the end of eternity. On Olympus, laxus was the new Zeus, and people from all over the world worshipped him now.

Cave

By Ian Emme

In ancient Greece there was a strong kingdom, Sparta. In Sparta lived a mighty soldier named Cave. Cave was strong and he fought anything no matter what, His armour was gold his sword was made of very strong bronze He was the strongest soldier there was. Every time he was in a battle he would give all the troops courage and whenever Cave was there they would always win.

One day Cave was in a battle and they were losing, and Caves brother ran away into the forest because he was fearing for his life, Cave tried to catch him but he was not fast enough. The next day he was called to the king were he was accused of running away from the battle and he was permanently sent to the mountains where if He was seen again he would be killed on the spot. So he went to the mountains furies at whoever betrayed him.

Once Cave was in the mountains he was really cold so he dug big tunnels around the world for food without being seen and so he could get around to places and stay warm. When people from the kingdom saw these tunnels they covered them up with rock so he could now get out. Eventually he tried to get out but he could not break threw the rocks. He died in the tunnels and they figured out that is was his brother that ran away, so they sacrificed the brother to the gods so they would not be killed. Then they called the tunnels caves to remember him. So that is how caves were made.

Government VS the Immortals

By Eamonn

Once upon a time there lived a black hair, blue eyed, 15 year old vampire named Ace who just wanted to be normal he loved to run but he felt as though everyone thought he was crazy, and a god named Jay (the god of the undead) who had blonde hair and brown eyes and loved hanging out with people and loved to read. There also lived a blonde hair vibrant blue eyed girl named Anna who loved to hang out with her brother Jay and just wanted a new life where people weren't always asking her things, and a brown haired grey eyed girl named Lillia or Lil for short who would not ask for anything in her life and loved to dance.

They all lived in a small quiet town with the constant sound of birds tweeting, and it always smelled like pine needles, fresh grass and rain. When all of the sudden government officials started to attack and hunt them. On the first day of school as Ace, Jay, Anna, and Lillia got to school and to their lockers to put there stuff away, Jay and Ace caught up from over the summer while Anna and Lillia caught up with each other, while Ace was talking and looking at Jay he accidentally ran into Anna causing her to fall over as he got back up he helped her with her stuff then with his then with his head down walked swiftly away.

"Sorry my friend is kind of weird" Said Jay to his sister as he ran after Ace.

Sometime later in first period they had a pre-test to see what they knew but halfway through the test all of the sudden government officials came through the doors and started shooting people, one of the bullets shot at Anna but Ace jumped in the way of it

"Get down!" Yelled Ace.

They ran to the art room to hide when they got there it set off an alarm and they realized there was nowhere to escape but Anna was good at art so good that she could make them camouflage into the wall they were able to walk out of the school. When they were out of the school Ace thought it was as bright as living in the sun and they realized that they had set guards outside to guard the entrance so they could see if they got out as the rest ran Ace got captured by the officials trying to help the others escape. The others knew they had to find a plan to break Ace out, but how could they get him out without getting captured themselves? They made the plan that since Jay couldn't be killed they would send him to get Ace, sometime after that with Ace back they were attacked again but this time they had Jay protect them.

After a few days the people realized they had all the research they would get off of Ace and that they couldn't capture Jay or kill him so they gave up. But Ace and the rest were never going to be able to live a normal life thinking that it was going to happen again.

Darneil the Cowardly Warrior

By Rebecca

Once there was a man, his name was Darneil with hair as dark as night, eyes colored like dark coffee beans, voice was bold and strong, but he was a coward. For a war, had fallen upon the beautiful Rome and many people were dying and as each person died another had to be sent into battle, but Darneil was terrified he would be picked. But his fears had become a reality, he had been chosen.

When the sun rose the next morning, Darneil was already in the battle field that had the taste of smoke from a burning fire. He was terrified but tried his best to fight hard but he never seemed to be as exceptional as his comrades. By noon, Darneil was exhausted he wiped the stream of sweat from his brow and when least expected the enemy struck. Darneil was badly wounded, blood seeped from his wound.

It seemed like minutes had past but luckily Augustus, his closest friend, came to his rescue and drug him back to base. Darneil was hurt but once revived, after several days, was sent back into bloody battle. Darneil's cowardliness had come out and Darneil had found a way to avoid the wrath of war. Darneil hid behind his heavy shield. Long weeks had past, each day the fierce warriors were emitted back into battle but Darneil was always suppressed by his shield.

Meanwhile, the goddess of animals, Eva, hair brown as deep lush soil, eyes a gorgeous green like an emerald, voice like that of a ringing soft bell, had the lovely aroma of fragranced fresh flowers, had been watching Darneil.

Each day Eva became more and more frustrated with Darneil's actions. Finally, Eva couldn't take it anymore and went to talk to Jupiter, leader of the gods and goddesses. Eva had requested that she could act upon Darneil and put a stop to his cowardly doings. Eva was clever and after much persuasion, Eva got the permission to do what was required.

That afternoon Darneil was still hiding behind his shield but this day was different for atop the great beautiful hill was Eva. She was ready for what she was impelling to do. She looked down toward Darneil, Darneil was soon miraculously transformed into the original, tortoise.

Eva slowly glided down to where Darneil stode, tortoise formed, and shaking with fear for he knew who she was. A wicked grin swiftly flourished upon her beautiful face like a dark flower bloomed upon a hill, "You deserved this," she exclaimed with frustration fused into her silky chime like voice. "You were a coward, a wimp, you hid behind your shield while your comrades were dying," fiery anger blazed up inside her like that of hot magma inside a dangerously explosive volcano as she babbled more of her hateful words. "Now no one will be hurt by your cowardly acts because now all you can do is hide inside your shell like you hid behind your shield." As those words still floated in the air Eva slowly vanished into a thick mist leaving Darneil speechless, frightened, and to wonder, what tragedy would track him down next?

Timothy Jones

By Rocco Harmon

Sometime during the age of Ancient Athens, there lived a young boy with the name of Timothy Jones. He had the same look as his brave grandfather, Odysseus. Timothy was energetic and loud, he was only 14. He enjoyed causing trouble with the gods and playing checkers with his friends. He was very good at checkers and always beat his friends, but he still enjoyed it. His home was a beautiful, calm meadow. There were always birds chirping, and if you listened hard enough, you could hear a faint hum of the waterfall. The air had a great taste of honey. The grass was a soft as feathers. It smelt wonderful because of the roses and variable flower types. For the most part, Timothy Jones was a joyful person.

One day, Timothy felt very bored. He had never really felt this way before. All of a sudden, an idea came to his head, and he was very anxious to do this. He was going to challenge a god to a checkers game, this god had the name of Millwall. He was the nephew of the almighty Zeus. This god was particularly never in a good mood and is always very angry and jealous of other gods. He was as mean as a wild dog. So he decided to go do his kingdom outside of the walls of Mount Olympus. When he got inside the first face he saw was Millwall himself.

"What are you doing here foolish little boy?" Millwall roared. Timothy was nervous, so he explained that all he wanted to do was play a quick game of checkers. Millwall had nothing to do, so he gladly accepted his challenge, thinking that he could easily beat a foolish little mortal in such a game like this.

Later on, they went to a fancy room that was already displayed with a checker board. Timothy sat down on one side as Millwall taking the other. The game began with no audience but the two of them. After several hours the game came down to two checkers left per person. It was Millwall's turn, he thought fast and took out one of Timothy's checkers. It all came down to a tricky move that Timothy had learned from his father, Telemachus. He remembered it so well and took out both of Millwall's checkers in one move. After Millwall had just realized what had happened, He went furious.

"How dare you challenge a god like me you mortal!" he blurted. Timothy also realized that maybe he should not have challenged this particular god.

"You will be punished badly for this costly mistake." Millwall yelled angrily. On and on he kept screaming at him. A few moments later, he calmed himself down a notch. Millwall thought carefully on what Timothy's punishment would be. Soon after, he thought of the perfect punishment, it was one that his uncle had given himself thousands of years ago. The punishment would be to lasso the sun down and up every day for the rest of his life for the people of Athens. So every day, he is sitting in a grass pasture taking care of Millwall's job. sometimes you may notice the days get longer and shorter, that is Timothy giving us more or less time in the day. Any time you notice that the sun is rising or setting, thank Timothy Jones for serving a great deed to us humans.

The Origin of Thunder

By Kendall

One day in ancient Greece, there lived Apollo and his daughter Aubrey, she was the demigod of inventing. Beautiful Aubrey had mid-dark brown hair, which was as soft as silk, her eyes were as green as grass, her voice was as gentle as a sparrow, she tasted like honey, and she smelled like roses. One day, Aubrey invented a bowling alley, she showed it to her father. He thought it was amazing and the best thing ever created. The bowling alley was portable and had paintings of the gods on it, it was made of birch and dark oak wood, the bowling balls for it were covered light greens, yellows, purples, blues, and reds, and it sounded like music when you won,

All of a sudden, after Apollo showed the gods on Mount Olympus the bowling alley, they took it from him and threw him off of Mount Olympus. Apollo didn't expect them to do that because they were gods. Apollo went back to tell Aubrey, but it was too late. She already was upset because the townspeople were terrified from their bowling. Apollo told her that they had stolen her bowling alley.

Then, Apollo and Aubrey quickly went up to mount olympus to try and get it back. When they had gotten there, the gods had already replicated it about a million times. They knew they were never going to find the original one. So they asked every god that was bowling if they knew where the original one was. No one knew.

Right after, they were sneakily being followed by Zeus who knew they wanted it but, he wasn't going to give it back. Apollo and Aubrey knew something weird was going on. They looked around, confused. They thought they should just go home.

Later on, they saw the real one and it was pretty far from them. So they walked to it, then jogged, then ran, then sprinted and then it disappeared. They looked to see if anyone saw that, but no one was there. They realized that something happened.

Suddenly, they woke up in a cage. They were confused about what just happened. Then Zeus walked over to the cage they were in. He told them that he put them to sleep the second they saw the original. They begged him to give it back, but he refused. They tried and tried, he just wouldn't give it back.

After a while, they had a plan. They thought that they should try to escape at night. So they agreed. They waited and waited, until it was night. They thought that Zeus would be asleep, but it turns out, he was hiding outside the cage waiting.

Soon after, they found themselves trapped. Then they had an idea. They whispered quietly about the plan and decided to tell Zeus. Then they called him over.

"Every spring and summer you and your friends can bowl in the skies," They said, "but every winter and fall no one can touch them."

At last, Zeus agreed, said sorry, and freed them. They were full of joy that he said yes. That's why there's thunder every spring and summer.

People of the Flowers

A long time ago, there once live a kingdom full of goddesses and royals in Paris, France. There was a queen of that kingdom, her name was Queen Athene, but she had two daughters to take care of. Their names were Rosina and Daisith and they both loved the most beautiful and popular prince in the kingdom, and his name was Demetris. And because they both Loved him very much, it made them feel hatred to each other. Daisith and the rest of the kingdom are very open to telling Demetris how they feel about him, but Rosina was not and it made her feel like a rough sheet of paper rubbing on her heart, but she was very shy and not open to tell people how she feels about them and no one can change that. All of the sudden, Demetris made an announcement to the kingdom that he was going to chose one maiden in the kingdom to marry him.

Then Daisith wanted to show Demetris that they were meant to be, and so did Rosina but she was too afraid. Right after the decision was made that Daisith would meet Prince Demetris, it was the day that he would pick a bride. Daisith and another maiden named Tulily were the finalists, they had to bake him a dessert that tasted rich, smooth, and divine ,with a presence of beauty and color an had to smell like an ice cream factory or a cake shop. But later, Demetris heard a voice of a wonderful maiden in the corner watching the ceremony, it was Rosina.

Suddenly, Demetris Shouted, "Hey you, the maiden in the corner, step forward and tell me your name!"

Rosina Responded, "Me? My name is Rosina and I am the daughter of Queen Athene, but I am a goddess."

"You are the most beautiful girl and I can already tell you are nice and you are the one I want to marry even though you're a goddess, sorry Tulily and Daisith, you guys are out." Stated Demetris.

After a while of thinking, Rosina would marry Demetris under one circumstance, and that was he would have to make Daisith and Queen Athene part of the royal family and accept them as they are. Soon after time has past Demetris and Rosina would have to get married and they did and at last they were all a big cheerful happy family.

Magic Removed

By Amy Joyal

In a land far away, a long time ago, unicorns roamed the earth. Unicorns were the most beautiful creatures ever seen. They were tall and so startlingly white that when it snowed the snow looked grey. The tails of the unicorns were long, pearly white and shimmered in the afternoon sun. Besides these features, their horns made the unicorns the most beautiful creatures. They were like tall spirals, white and silver and gleaming. The one who cared for the unicorns was a young girl named Mustang. Mustang lived in the village next to the unicorns. The grass was green and smells of bread lingered in the air from the bakery. Early in the morning, she would take some sweet apples and lead the unicorns to a stream. She was very kind to the unicorns.

Far away from the unicorns, Agatha was watching them, studying all of their beautiful features. She loved how the sun shined off their horns in beautiful beams. She could to do that, too. Suddenly, Agatha came up with the perfect idea. She smiled to herself and waited for night to fall.

As soon as the golden sun disappeared below the mountains and Mustang had retired back to her village, Agatha came down from her house and stood next to the unicorns. Even at night they were beautiful, and they seemed to illuminate the grass. Agatha went up to the nearest one and tugged the horn off. The unicorn whinnied in surprize. It haddn't hurt, but startled the unicorn. After Agatha had efficiently rid every unicorn of a horn, she ran back to her home. She hadn't noticed the creatures started shrinking and changing color. Some of the creatures darkened scarcely, others became black, while more still became brown or spotted or tan. Not a single unicorn remained as bright as before.

Mustang awoke and began her day like any other day. She set off to feed the unicorns. But when she arrived, the unicorns were not there. Instead, she discovered black and brown creatures, slightly smaller than unicorns, and without horns. But each creature ran to her like they recognized and loved her. She thought, I loved the unicorns, I can love these creatures, too. And she did.

Meanwhile, Agatha was inside, spinning the horns into thread, then into fabric. She had softened them and was pulling them apart into little strands. She began weaving them into elegant cloth. Agatha was weaving and stitching day and night, and when she finished, she had the most silky and soft dress ever. The next day, The village called a feast, and Agatha shimmered like the moon.

A while later, Mustang found the creatures dead. They had lost their magic along with their horns. Mustang dropped to the ground and cried out to Athena. The Goddess soon appeared to the sobbing girl. Athene said,"There, there, Mustang. I can bring them back for you." Mustang had always honored her, and she decided to repay her. But when she looked at the creatures she realized what they once had been. Then she remembered Agatha's dress.

"Agatha!" Athena shouted loudly and violently. Agatha appeared wearing her shiny dress. Athena angrily informed what she had done and cursed Agatha to never feel anything with her hands again.

"I can only bring them back as they are. I am sorry." Athena confidently raised her hands and lightning shot from the sky and struck the horses. Athena was thanked, repeatedly, and ascended back to Olympus. Agatha remained a moment longer. In that moment, she whispered, "Take good care of them." Since then, they have had many names, but the village called them mustangs. They were loved.

Apollo's Art

By:Corney

In the heart of the Dark Ages, there was a city called Florence. The people came to and from work every day with heavy faces. Many of the children did not want to go to work, leaving the comfort of school. One of these children was Esmeralda. Esmeralda had dark wavy hair and hazel eyes. Her mother wanted her to become a seamstress, but Esmerelda would rather go see the oracle, Daphne. Daphne is said to have powers to read the future from Apollo himself. Daphne was the only outlet to the creative arts in Europe. Esmeralda awoke to restless shaking.

"Wake up," her mother said groggily, "it is time to go to your first day at work."

Esmeralda sat up with a jolt. She had forgotten about her job in the midst of the summer ending. She walked out of the door and onto the gravel street. As she passed the buildings, she saw a tall woman with blond hair and big glossy eyes. Esmeralda knew this was the oracle of Apollo. Her heart told her to talk to Daphne, but her brain told her mother would be furious if she skipped work. Ignoring her brain, she strode over to Daphne. She did not remember what she had said because the next thing that happened she was sitting at a table with Daphne.

Then Daphne spoke, "You have a great gift sent from Apollo child. For you have the gift of creativity." Was this really happening? Was she actually talented? Next, Esmeralda heard a ghostly voice in her head saying go, run child, run to the old worn museum. Esmeralda didn't know why she had the courage, but she ran until she reached the old museum on ragged Sycamore street. The building was splintering mahogany wood with a rusted roof from all the years of downpour. As she slyly walked into the gallery Esmeralda saw a torn canvas, yellow with age, buckets of crushed fruit, and a fine tip paintbrush. She picks up the brush and dipped it in the crushed fruit. Even though the smell was pungent, she dipped her paintbrush in the old paint every day.

After a month's worth of painting and lying, Esmeralda had built up the courage to show her mother. When she entered the room, her mother was washing the dishes. Esmeralda's mother had turned around at last and saw the beautiful piece of artwork her daughter had made. Her mother had burst into tears and demanded for Esmeralda to show the Council the canvas. When she did their reactions she would have never expected. The whole town praised Esmeralda's artwork with roars of applause. Up on Mount Olympus, Apollo stood with a huge grin on his face. He had done his job well. Florence and the rest of Italy had the arts in their lives.

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

By Macy

A long time ago in ancient Greece the sun was always shining and the clouds were never dark. Until one cold dark morning the sun never shone. The people were confused by the darkness and had no idea the cause behind this. If they only knew the anger between the two goddesses Aphrodite and Hera.

One day, Hera the Goddess of sun who was normally happy and cheerful as birds singing in the trees is filled with gloom. Normally, she shined so brightly she gave off the scent of lemons and delighted the senses to the point you could almost taste the lemonade. This all changed when she was being watched over by Aphrodite.

You see, Aphrodite was the opposite of Hera and was not happy about it because unlike Hera she got no attention. Aphrodite looked like smoke, smelled like burning firewood, sounded like a whisper, and tasted like salty rain which attracted no one. She was always unhappy , she was like the grass with no water or like the snow when you have no coat. Aphrodite was jealous of Hera and came up with a plan to change things.

Days later unexpectedly things changed. The people of Greece looked up after they spotted a strike of lightning hitting the ground. As they looked up they saw a group of grey smoky clouds begin to slowly move toward Hera. Then the people were puzzled as they saw the clouds, Aphrodite, covered up the sun, Hera.

"Aphrodite, what are you doing here?" Hera asked curiously.

"I'm done playing second and always being the bad guy!" Aphrodite states strongly.

"What do you mean? The town loves you!" Pleads Hera.

Aphrodite continues to close in on Hera and eventually covers her completely into darkness.

"I beg you not to do this, you may not be the brightest thing but you do have purpose." says Hera softly. Think about when you made it rain when the town was waterless, or when you made it rain so their would be a rainbow for everyone to look at.

"I guess you are right. We all have purpose in our own way. I have never looked at it this way." said Aphrodite.

Aphrodite moved away while the people of Greece looked upon. Aphrodite learned a great lesson that day. She still becomes jealous on occasion and cannot help but try to cover up some of Hera's glow. The people of Greece have become accustomed to her jealousy and the every so often cloudy day.

Nike and Athlitismos

By Andrist Le

Long ago there was a man named Athlitismos. He lived near a beautiful splashing river in Springfield, Massachusetts. It seemed that he cared more about the expensive clothes that he wore from day to day than his small cottage that he rarely ever entered. All in this tidy city were informed that Athlitismos was the best basketball player in the town of Springfield. Who started this rumor? No one knows. But some did have suspicion since even he himself had no problem telling any newcomers how superb he was at the sport that he envied most. Athlitismos was not modest. One ordinary day the god of victory, Nike, caught this mortal notify another individual about the most outrageous lie he had ever heard. After speaking with Zeus, Nike changed himself into the figure of an old man. He glided to town and sauntered to the entrance. The rain peacefully descended, Nike felt every soft droplet dap on his soaking hair. When it seemed like nothing could be better, Nike paced into city and was discovered by the proud Athlitismos.

"Welcome old man!" he laughed, "I am Athlitismos, the god of sports and most optimal basketball player in the world!" Hearing this Zeus was substantially angered. He nearly struck Athlitismos with one his impenetrable lightning bolts but suddenly he heard the voice again and began to listen attentively. Madness forcing his restraint to listen, Zeus imagined Athlitismos lying on the ground only blood streaming down his sorry face, and at any taste of blood, sadness would enter his ripe body. His soul prepared to escape his anatomy yet mind struggling to hang in.

"If you can construct the courage to challenge me I am prepared for you anytime. But know old timer, you will never win. I am as swift as a jaguar and you will plummet beneath my honor cowardly," Athlitismos stated.

"I-I-I ch-challenge you," Nike responded in an intentionally shaky voice. The manifestly confident man entered one of the few courts in the entire town and noisily slammed the door behind him with all his force. Looking forward Athlitismos heard a thunderous bang behind him. Take that, Athlitismos thought. Glancing backward he fell to the ground with astonishment. The wooden door that he knocked behind him was in small shattered looking fragments. He smelled what seemed like the scariest uncontrolled wildfire.

"What kind of devilish act is this? You are not who you seem!" Nike, still in an unfamiliar form, forced Athlitismos to frolic without conceding early. As they began their race to fifty points a multitude of humans were spotted. It seemed that they were having an intermission on the ruins of the door. As one brave young man entered, he noticed the two lions fighting for their meat. He yelled over to the rest of the curious families. As they all entered they saw the inspiring sight. An old man was actually leading Athlitismos. Suddenly, Nike began missing his shots. Athlitismos turned his fear into confidence. Time after time Athlitismos would rebound and put the ball right back down. As he put Nike in perspective of an old beggar, he began to come back. Down by four points Nike kept vexing. Suddenly he felt a surge that boosted himself. He knew that now was the time that he should take advantage of. With Zeus giving him power Nike returned to his normal form. He fluttered his wings and rose above Athlitismos. Athlitismos gazed dumbfounded. The short figure became as tall as a skyscraper and raised even higher above the liar. Its wings looked as sturdy as diamond, and his decorated body looked impenetrable. The spectators ran in fear.

"I am Nike, god of victory, and you shall not defeat me." He grabbed the ball and with combined powers won the game. Thank you my lord, Nike thought. Athlitismos pleaded for mercy but Nike and Zeus were furious.

"You are charmed!" cried Athlitismos, "You cannot defeat me again!" Nike laughed as Athlitismos was no doubt intimidated by the towering god. Covering Athlitismos with his wings, Nike turned him into the shape of a basketball. He labeled the ball with his first name and his favorite symbol. The first Nike basketball was made and given to Zeus for his victory.

The Fake Sun

By: Alamanzo

One day in the island of Crete, in Ancient Greece, Hadrian was planning up a diabolical plan. "I will do something that will affect everyone on the globe." Hadrian said evilly. Hadrian went to his dwelling to forge a very powerful weapon. It would be made of the most powerful substance in the world, aggregated diamond nanorod, or as others say hyperdiamond. Diamond boosted to its fullest potential and a little dash of HMX and Heptanitrocubane which is used by the explosive god Nullas to make the biggest exploding bombs. Hadrian makes a big stationary crossbow and aims for the sun. Then he takes the shot. When it hits the it blows up then lights the Earth on fire. Poseidon comes down from Mt. Olympus and creates a big tidal wave over the Earth and puts out the fire however there is no longer any light and no one can see. Hephaestus was asleep at the time so he didn't help anyone light a fire. There was no hope for the Earth.

For many years there was no sun. So a new temporary god had to be created. The god's name was Luxios. He was the god of artificial lights. Hephaestus had be ordered to create this god a weapon for all gods had weapons to symbolize them. Hephaestus created the Light Staff, a staff made of pure light that only the light god could wield.

Luxios asks Zeus to help energize his staff so he could create a new sun. Zeus however didn't think it was possible to. A minor lighting god,Tonitruios, was willing to help Luxios because he knew that if he helped him he would be famous. Tonitruios channeled the lightning and charged it in the staff. Luxios flew up into the sky. He created a big explosion which then the gravity spirits took control of and turned it into a stable sun.

Hadrian woke up from his bed with the most agonizing expression ever. When he saw the what light source in the sky he knew what he had to do. Hadrian went up and took aim with his stationary crossbow. However, Hermes was watching him he went back to report to Zeus. Hadrian took the shot but he missed and hit a meteor that was on a collision course to Earth. Then his second shot made it. When it hit the ball of energy it created a big cloud of sparks and ash, which created a big fire on the Earth. Once again Poseidon had to come out and send a huge wave over the face of the Earth.

The gods have made the decision to banish this troublemaker to Tartarus. Then Hermes came and said it was Hadrian. Hades immediately shadow-teleported to Hadrian and banished him to Tartarus Hephaestus invented a new light called the light bulb and Hermes spread it across the globe.

The Earth became very bright and people began to go crazy so they were taken to Athens to be cared for.

Meanwhile, Hadrian became the god of darkness because he went crazy in Tartarus. He had only enough power to dim half of the lights in the Overworld.

Then Luxios was sent to kill Hadrian. Hadrian made Luxios become blind so he could not see anymore so Luxios blew up the Light Staff killing Hadrian. Then Helios, the god of the Sun, finally came and made a new sun. The Titan Mnemosyne wiped the memories of those who experienced this disaster. Everyone in the world lived happily ever after.

Snow

By: Saje Lorson

A long long time ago there was a princess and a prince. The princess's name was Addie Snow and the prince was Hunter Blakey. They lived in a town in what is now southern Germany the sent in the air was always cinnamon. Just the sight of it will make you think of honey slowly dripping down a spoon. The air tasted like peaches and cream. The time is about 42 A.D. All the water in Germany would freas at prosise 4:30 pm December1. Addie adored to watch the pound in her backyard frease, and she was standing there at 4:20pm. Then one of her friends, Hunter, who desperately loved her came up to her and asked if she wanted to play tag. They started to play then at 4:39 pm Addie fell into the pond. Addie was playing still and then she realized what time it was and was so scared she was swimming faster than she had ever swam in her life.

"Help!!" she screamed so loud every body in the town could hear her. But it was to late she had been frozen under the ice the water was so cold it literally froze her heart. She had about 5 minute to live. Hunter saw her and ran to try and break the ice but it was no use the ice was so cold it was like ice cream and as hard as steel.

So instead he ran and went to Trey. Trey was the god of the winter. Hunter asked him to help her.

And Trey tried to help her but Jonny the former god of war, had put a spell on the ice so that not even a god could brake it. Then Hunter went to Jonny and asked desperately, "Will you let Addie go from the spell?"

Jonny exclaimed, "You will go or you will join Addie under the ice!"

Hunter pleaded, "Please will you."

Jonny interrupting Hunter said, "Beat it, or else."

Then Hunter left her and came back to Trey, And asked him if he could keep her alive for any longer. Trey said no but he could change her into something. Hunter thought back to think of what she loved and then he thought of it. They would change her into a cold flaky type thing. So then trey turned her into a cold icy flakes. They were wondering what to call it they thought that Addie wasn't the right name for it so they called it snow as in her last name and from that day on Addie was snow.

So all was happy until Jonny turned Hunter into a statue that when it melted he would die. So Trey sent the statue to Antarctica where it would never melt. But for trey he felt so bad that he couldn't save her. He went to the backside of Mt. Olympus to live the last of his days and every time it snowed he thought of Addie. So he would go into hibernation until it stopped. Then one time he didn't wake back up. And as for Jonny the other gods and goddesses decided to send Jonny out of the console of gods and Athena would take his place.

Jexers Dream

By Hunter

Once upon a time, on the elegant lush green Greek island of Kythira not too far from the Greek island Crete lived an old war hero named Jexer who was cunning and had fought in many battles with the Greek army including the Trojan war, then one day he was sitting at his window gazing at the horizon his face rugged, and worn, with a scar on his right cheek dealt to him by a Trojan soldier.

Then, all of a sudden he heard a knocking at his door and it was a stranger and he was just standing there doing nothing just watching him creepily, then he said "come with me," Jexer followed anxiously his sword at his side, the withered man lead him through the market in the town square to the beach where he could smell the salty ocean and taste the fresh fish then into a small hut near the water. The man sat down but Jexer refused to the old man then spoke " let me get you something" and held out a glass of water and Jexer just nodded slowly but little did he know the old man was a priest of the gods and the gods were about to test Jexer.

He drank the water slowly eyeing the old man and the old man sat there and when he finished the water he felt himself become suddenly woozy and he knew instantly something was in the water he collapsed to the floor not dead but in a dream state when he was in his dream Zeus appeared in the sky and told him he would have to defeat 3 mythical creatures or he be stuck in his dreams forever. First, a sandy circular arena appeared and he faced a minotaur with nothing but rope. The minotaur charged him he barely avoided the horns the beast turned around its eyes red with fury, Jexer dodged another charge from the beast and with his ninja like reflexes hurled the rope it landed around the Minotaurs neck. Jexer tugged with all his strength the beast fell to its knees then tipped over onto its side. DEAD.

Then Zeus appeared in the sky again he said with a boom " next you shall face the GOLEM" oh boy he thought to himself this is gonna be hard. Then he the arena disappeared and a new one reappeared and he was right in the middle and then he saw the golem with its big rock body it moved slowly towards him its dark purple eyes were as purple as a grape he only had a hammer and chisel great he thought to himself but then he realized just like a sculptor he could slowly whittle down the giant rock and use speed to his advantage so after quick strikes to the side and back he had it whittled down to a small rock which he then chucked it away.

Then with a BOOM Zeus appeared in the sky and then said that next he would to get out of the dream defeat a hydra the six headed sea serpent then out of nowhere SPLASH a new water arena appeared with only 6 small floating islands to stand on and this time with a bow and quiver full of arrows Jexer got ready for the fight ahead. The hydra rose slowly out of the water, Jexer knew he had to aim for its eyes he took out the first two on one head then two more eyes and then two more eyes and realized he was out of arrows then a sword appeared on one of the rocks he hopped to it and he knew what he had to do he charged the serpent sliced off one of the remaining heads and then the other and the job was done.

Then Zeus reappeared and presented the creatures each one had transformed into a laurel tree and each one was sent somewhere else in the world and this is how laurel trees came to existence and Jexer returned to Kythira unharmed.

How the Eel got it's EELectricity

By Meghan

Way, Way down in the bottom of the Pauli sea, where the sun doesn't ever shine through, and it is pitch black all the time, there was an eel named Maka'u who was afraid of the dark. Maka'u once loved the dark but once decided to explore and fell in love with the light. Even though it was still not that light, he could see! However, when he headed back home Maka'u missed the light, and sadly began to become more scared by the dark on every passing day.

Maka'u was so scared he would not eat nor sleep, because he was terrified that something was going to sneakily kill him. Eventually, Maka'u got so fed up that he ended up making the decision to go to the god in the sea, Pila Nui, the angler fish. The journey was only 80 miles across the Pouli Sea. No big deal, right? Wrong. Maka'u travelled for 3 tortuous months straight.

Later on, he finally arrived at Ka Pomaikai, which is Pila Nui's home, a rotted out pirate ship filled with gold coins. The "palace" of Ka Pomaikai smelt an old car that was covered in rust , with the water tasting well, like trash, and the entire area looked like an old junk yard. Maka'u tried to cheer himself up and make the situation less terrible.

"Palace of Ka Pomaikai? More like the palace of ka'ōpala!" Maka'u chuckled silently to himself feeling slightly better (ka'ōpala is the Hawaiian word for trash).

Maka'u wandered around the ship until he found Pila Nui sitting on a pile of coins eating fish that, by the taste in the water, must have been dead for a very long time. Pila Nui jumped when he saw Maka'u because well, nobody had been there for thousands of years.

Pila Nui shouted "What are you doing here? Do you want to take my precious gold?! GET OUT!" Things escalated very quickly.

Maka'u replied shakily "N-n-no! I-I'm afraid of the dark! I just want to see in the dark! I p-p-promise!"

"You are scared of the dark? This entire world is dark! You are dumber than a piece of coral!" Pila Nui was so angry at Maka'u that the tiny light bulb that drooped down from his forehead started to spark like it was going to explode. ZAP! Electricity shot out of it and struck Maka'u in the eye making a clapping sound as it did. Maka'u blindly swam out of there as fast as he could, casually running into walls as he did. Pila Nui started to chase him but realised that it was a waste of his time and headed back to his palace.

As time passed on, Maka'u started to process everything. Apparently, when he got struck in the eye he lost sight for a while, which is why he was slamming into the moldy walls. Maka'u was already blind as a bat, but could see just enough to make out things. But when he was struck, he gained the ability to see in the dark. Maka'u kept swimming but kept thinking why it was so light, and if it had ever been like that before.

When Maka'u got back to his home, he curiously decided to see what else the spark caused. After a while of testing, he found out if he concentrated enough, he could could create an electric bolt. And not to mention, but he could see perfectly now! The shock gave him night vision! Maka'u was now happy and could be happy forever now that he could see. Maka'u could sleep again, he found all the fish, and he had electrical powers! Maka'u lived eternally in peace.

Love Fish

By Brittany Phan

Once upon a time, there lived a mermaid named Pearl. She wanted to see the world, but she couldn't because she was blind. She tasted like a cooling popsicle on a hot summer day. Pearl was sitting on a rock feeling the refreshing water move through her fingertips which felt like grass tickling her feet. On the hill of Areopagus, Aphrodite, the goddess of love, stood. She thought Pearl needed some love and descended down and brought Pearl a glowing seashell.

"Pearl, with this seashell it can make all your dreams come true. But, if you lose this shell, the gods will curse you. Then you will never dream again.." Aphrodite said with warning.

After the speech of warning, Aphrodite left in a snap, and Pearl felt her float away. Pearl then realized she needed a love in her life. She didn't know how to achieve this dream but, after thinking about how to find love, Pearl remembered she had a seashell that could grant anything she desired. Pearl wished and wished that she would earn a love, she looked up at the sky and prayed.

"Dear Aphrodite, goddess of love, I hope you will grant me the wish of true love. Please grant me this wish and I promise to give my love affection. If I don't receive this wish I will die alone in sadness and guilt."

Aphrodite heard this wish and sent a messenger saying Pearl must sing for her love and one day her true love will come. After a few days, Pearl received the letter and she started to perform Aphrodite's orders. She sang a song her mother always sang to her when she was a little mermaid. A few moments later after singing the song, no one came. It was just a few dolphins who started to dance with passion and grace, and the water flowed with them as they smiled with happiness.

Now at this point, Pearl thought no one would come to her. But, she kept trying and all she got was a starfish dancing all alone with the raging waters pushing the starfish all around the sea. Shortly after Pearl's failed attempts at singing to her true love, Pearl sang her last song. She sang her heart out with passion and something or someone started rising up from the sea. Even though, Pearl could not see, she could feel someone was nearby; she kept singing and singing. She sounded like chimes on a breezy sunny day. Suddenly, a voice tickled Pearl's ear.

"My name is Neptune. I heard your voice and I was reminded of a beautiful sunset." Neptune whispered lovingly.

Neptune smelled like fresh rain on a cloudy day.

"My name is Pearl, I can't see what you look like because I'm blind. But, I know you could be my true love." Pearl said lovingly.

Neptune replied back saying "I think you could be mine too."

Neptune and Pearl talked and laughed for hours until sunset. Pearl put her head on Neptune's shoulder and she said "I love you."

"I love you too." Neptune exclaimed.

Pearl sang the song that made Neptune fall in love with her and all the seashells danced. The sky was pink, orange, and yellow and everything fell into perspective for Pearl. Her hair was flowing with the wind and she and Neptune watched the sunset until the stars came falling down. Salene was a Hero

By: Alexia Robles

Salene was a beautiful girl that lived in Mount Olympus. Salene was so pretty and got ready for the day early in the morning. Salene had long black hair, bright blue eyes,and was slender. She sounded like she had a sweet soft voice. Salene's feelings were happiness and revenge. She smells like sweet vanilla ice cream in a warm blanket. Salene tastes like marshmallows dipped in chocolate. Salene is a girl that has passion about everything.

A month later, the news have arrived and Salene will be having a baby sister and baby brother to be born. By noon, she planned to have a celebration but Zeus commanded only god's birthdays are important than anyone else.That night, Salene gets so angry with Zeus and tries to prove to him that all people are special and need to be celebrated on their birthdays. When the rain stopped, Salene proves herself by capturing the bird that Zeus could not reach because the bird was too fast but the bird always wolce Zeus up in the middle of the night. Later that afternoon, Zeus is amazed by her task and announces everyone deserves to be celebrated on their birthdays. Two weeks later, Salene's baby sister and brother is born and Salene welcomes them with a celebration, she calls a birthday party. At the same time, Salene is finally happy when her baby sister and baby brother is born.

The Creation of Starbucks

By Brayden

Once there was a goddess as beautiful as Summer itself, her name was Delilah, the goddess of nature. She was smart, pretty, and smelled like the flowers that she grew. She was everything a man would want in a lady. All of the men in Ancient Greece adored her and wanted to marry her, even the gods. Two of them were Zeus and Poseidon. They were both very strong, brave, intelligent, and humble men. Zeus was the king of the gods and the god of the sky while Poseidon was the god of the sea. The two loved Delilah more than anything else in the world and were willing to do anything to marry her.

Delilah woke up one morning and said,"Oh how nice it would be if I had a nice refreshing drink that would make me stay awake for hours."

Zeus and Poseidon had been secretly spying on her and wondered if they could be the ones that would make Delilah's dream come true. They decided they would have a contest that whoever created a shop that sold the best morning drink, would be the one that would marry Delilah, and she agreed with this.

The next day Zeus and Poseidon got right to work. They each hired a team of 17 strong, healthy men, it was definitely going to be a close competition.

After a long, yet miraculous three weeks, the shops were finished. Both shops looked incredible. Poseidon's shop was bright and colorful, while Zeus', a little more simple, made with fresh wood straight from the forest to make it look very welcoming. It was obvious it would come down to the tasting. Poseidon's drink was very tangy and sour, in other words, not good. Zeus' on the other hand was incredible! It not only tasted good but made you feel so awake. Just imagine the most amazing taste in the world. He called it coffee and his shop was called Morning Cafe.

"I have a winner!" Delilah announced, "Zeus, step forward please."

"Yes ma'am," Zeus replied trying to be as polite as he could, also wondering if he would be lucky enough to marry her.

"Zeus, whatever that coffee thing is, it's incredible," she said, "Will you marry me Zeus?"

"Yes, yes I will," he replied.

The town celebrated something special that will be remembered forever, but Poseidon wanted revenge.

The next morning Zeus and Delilah woke up and decided to take a walk down to the new coffee shop, Morning Cafe, only it wasn't there, it was nothing but junky rubble! They knew it could only be the work of Poseidon and they were soon standing on the doormat right in front of his house, which felt very rough and irritating to the feet. Zeus and Poseidon argued and argued until Delilah stopped them and settled them down. It was then that the men remembered their brotherhood and they forgave each other. They decided it would be best if they built a new shop using Poseidon's building ideas and Zeus' coffee recipe.

After another two weeks of hard work, the new coffee shop was finished. Delilah was extremely impressed and overjoyed with what they came up with. The coffee shop was full of comfy chairs, bright lights and amazing aroma. It also sold not only coffee, but pastries, breakfast sandwiches, and if there are kids that don't like coffee, there are also other warm and cold drinks.

"It will be forever known as Starbucks!" Zeus and Poseidon announced as everyone cheered.

"I know that you will be marrying Delilah, Zeus, but I am extremely happy with our shop and for you," Poseidon said,"May Starbucks be the most popular thing for all of eternity!"

Waves

By Ainslea

Vavene was a beautiful girl that lived on a small island in the middle of the ocean. The island had a sweet, small town on the far side of the beach. Vavene had long chocolate brown hair that draped over her shoulders and down to her hips, her eyes were a bright emerald green. She was also quite short. Her voice was cheery and soft and she loved the ocean and flowers, but while her voice was gentle and kind, her soul showed a different beat. Costin, one of the village boys, always admired her but she never knew nor cared. He was very tall and had shaggy blonde hair with a few streaks of light brown. One day during sunset, Vavene was walking through the cool water on the beach and collecting flowers and patterned sea shells when Costin came up to her and asked if she would walk with him.

"I don't have the time," she answered but quickly added before she walked away, "and I don't want to and I don't care."

Zeus heard her and decided it was time for him to interveen. As Costin walked away, Zeus cursed her to never set her feet on the smooth sand or green grass ever again. She would be part of the water, unable to pick pretty pink poppies that smelled like fresh rain and a sweet perfume and she would be unable to make necklaces out of the tiny shells she collected during low tide. Vavene fell down where she was and she became part of the water itself. She opened her eyes and looked up at the shore. The flower she was about to pick before she fell was still there leaning up against a large rock buried in the grass. Vavene rushed toward shore in the form of a little wave. Her water fell short and couldn't reach the flower, so she tried again and again each time failing. She felt as if she was chained up like a dog chained to a doghouse. Her tears weren't seen in the water by anyone. Kids came to play in the sand and make sand castles. Vavene was still trying to reach the flower. When the kids saw, the water lapping to edge of the sand they giggled, slid off their worn and torn rough shoes, and splashed around in it. The water made a whoosh as Vavene created more waves lapping the sandy beach. All the kids left except one. A small girl picked the flower Vavene had been trying to reach, put it in a beautifully decorated pot before letting it go into the water. Vavene raced toward the pot and knocked the girl over, but before the girl reached the ground Vavene caught her in the water. The girl laughed swallowing the unwelcoming taste of salt and sand in her mouth. She jumped up to head back to the town.

After an hour, Vavene thought it would be a good idea to go all around the world looking for flowers. By the time, she was back it was sunrise the next morning. A lot of kids were at the beach because the little girl who let the flower go into the ocean had told the whole town. Vavene rose a huge wave full of flowers and misted all the kids with the water. The kids laughed and ran around splashing each other and running through the cool water. Vavene knew that the kids liked her waves and she decided that she would always make waves so the kids could always play in them. She thought that if she was cursed with being part of the water forever she might as well do some good.

Vavene sent her waves all over the world for everybody. She would bring waves for everybody in the world for the rest of eternity. As for the little girl, she always picked flowers for Vavene believing it was all magic tossing them all into the vast ocean watching them get swallowed by the waves.

The Creation of the Sun

By Aarav Shah

Once upon a time, when the world was young, night ruled incessantly in Ancient Greece. The god of darkness, Shadow, brought chaos on the poor mortals. The humans prayed to the gods for some light to dispel the darkness, but no god would grant their request, in fear of Shadow. Even mighty Zeus himself, the supreme king of the gods, was afraid to challenge the dark god Shadow.

Then one day came a rash, ignorant young god named Apollo, god of music and the various arts of healing. He disapproved of the way Shadow treating the powerless humans, torturing them and making their lives miserable. Apollo, not knowing of the Shadow's great powers, decided to take action against Shadow, and bring the humans light. Zeus and the other gods warned Apollo, but he took no notice, blinded by the prospect of hope and freedom for the humans. But Apollo was not the only one who felt this way.

Another supernatural being, a goddess of the name Athena, also strongly desired to take action against Shadow, so she decided to assist Apollo with difficult endeavor. Athena knew of Shadow's prowess and capability for destruction. Athena and Apollo got together and, through diligent research, found out that the source of Shadow's great power was his purple scepter. Shadow called his precious scepter "Exousia", the Greek word meaning power and authority. This special scepter was kept in a high security vault.

Later that night, Apollo and Athena snuck out to Shadow's palace. The grand hall was luxurious, with elegant purple sofas and gold embroidered cushions. The smell of cakes wafted down from the kitchen. Apollo and Athena both felt as if the could taste the cakes in their watery mouths. Resisting the luring scent of food, Apollo and Athena cautiously made their way to the vault. There were two of the strongest and biggest of Shadow's guards standing attentively. Apollo, with incredible archery expertise, stepped out into the open and adroitly nocked two stunning arrows into his carved, intricate golden bow. There was a soft hiss and the arrows found their ways into the guards. Athena then took the pass key from one of the guards and swiped it in the door. With a loud beep, the door opened. As Apollo and Athena walked through the open doorway, the door abruptly closed behind them.

"It's a trap," whispered Apollo. Athena nodded silently. But then they saw it. Exousia, in the center of the room, was sitting there unprotected. The room was deadly quiet, a silence where Athena thought it too solemn to speak. Apollo, however, had no such qualms.

"This is way too easy," whispered Apollo.

"I know, but we have no choice but to forge ahead," Athena murmured, breaking from her trance, "we can't turn back, especially on this dangerous mission. The mortals need us."

Apollo inclined his head in agreement. Suddenly, Shadow appeared out of nowhere, towering defensively in front of his scepter. "You thought you could get away with stealing my Exousia!" roared Shadow, enraged by the daring of these inferior gods, "No one gets away with disrespecting Shadow!" Then the battle began. Accomplished Apollo and sagacious Athena against powerful Shadow. The duel raged on for quite some time. Exhausted, the three gods gradually stopped fighting and the battle came to a standstill.

Unnoticed by the three gods, Poseidon, stealthily biding his time and hiding in the shadows, seeing his chance, made a run for the scepter. Shadow, with no time to react, could not prevent Poseidon from obliterating the scepter with one blow from his potent trident. Shadow, his power source being demolished, shrank to the size of a mere rat. Poseidon calmly walked over to Shadow, now the size of a rat, said,

"Well Shadow won't be bothering us anymore." The three gods rejoiced and made their way back to their palaces. Tired, they said their goodbyes and retired to their beds.

The next day, Apollo got an honorable job. At the council of the gods, all acknowledged that the mortals were in dire need of light and clapped for Apollo. Using the combined power of the gods, a light source, now known as the Sun, was fabricated. Apollo was given the honor to bring up and set the Sun every day. The next day, the humans rejoiced in happiness as their troubles and sorrows were banished forever. The humans were content and tranquility and happiness was restored to the Earth and to Mount Olympus. Poseidon kept the rat, formerly the god Shadow, as a pet, where he never harmed anyone again. Happily, Shadow was eliminated and the Sun was created.

The Real Story Of How A Birthday Came To Be

Mackenzie was a very gentle kind soul who smelled like the freshly baked cookies that everyone craves. She was very adventurous and a bit clumsy. One bright morning where all the flowers bloomed and love was in the air the news came in Mackenzie was going to be the big sister of a new born baby sister. Uninformed Zeus had a rule that only gods could celebrate to day of newborns Mackenzie started to plan a party. She sent out invitations but everyone made excuses that they couldn't come because heaven knows they would be in ginormous trouble. Mackenzie then decided it will be a family day where they celebrate the tremendous news.

That night watchers from Olympus saw this plan and informed Zeus right away. Zeus requested that the watchers bring Mackenzie to Mount Olympus to figure out her punishment. The watchers came down at rapid pace and snached Makenzie into a sack without anyone seeing.

"Put me down." Makenzie shrieked as stubbornly as a spoiled child who is not aloud to get something they want.The watchers ignored her as they made their way to Olympus. They laid the sack in front of Zeus and walked away. As Mackenzie burst out of the sack her eyes puffy as clouds and vibrant pink she was screeching from the top of her lungs and slowly quieted down as she saw Zeus's tall shadow weighing over her.

Meanwhile Zeus glimpsed over Mackenzie with a stern look.

"What mortal would even have the guts celebrate some worthless child without my permission." Zeus yammered. With a shocked face Mackenzie replied.

" Me that's who." she commanded "If you didn't know mortals are no different and should be treated with the same respect as gods." With a unpleasant look on his face Zeus shoved her into a staircase as she tumbled down what seemed like 100 flights of stairs.

Suddenly as she brushed herself off and stood up she saw her mother standing with a blank stare on her face. Mackenzie went to comfort her and she was as cold as a icecube and whispered confusedly.

"They took the baby." With disbelief and aggressive furry Mackenzie traveled as speedy as lightning to find the child with a tear that dropped from her eye and tasted like salt water. Fortunately she found the child sitting in Zeus's arms. As Mackenzie almost started yelling at him Zeus stopped her as he apologized. With just a stare in the newborn child he could feel a spark of something that made him realize that she was going to be important maybe as any of the other gods some day and many other children could be too.

Finally he handed the child back to Mackenzie and she looked at the new child with a glimmer in her eye almost as if she could see what Zeus had seen in the child. Zeus walked away with an almost depressed look. She saw him walking away and didn't know if she should leave him alone or say something.

Mackenzie did feel accomplished but with a need to still do something. She froze for a second and called over Zeus as he look behind his shoulder. She handed Zeus a letter that read he was invited to a party to celebrate the new girl. Zeus looked at her with a pool of water in his eyes as he accepted the offer and made an announcement that everyone should be celebrated on a day called a birthday.

How Athena Became the Goddess of War

By Neil

Once upon a time there lived a princess called Athene and she was as beautiful as a flower.What she wanted most in life was to be a good feature queen and to do the most good things for her kingdom. She enjoyed playing with kids, and she always wanted to battle. At this stage of her life she was feeling a simple princess, but she didn't know what big change she was going to make to the world . Well, she lived in a big palace which was located behind the great waterfall which smelled like fresh refreshing water . One day, she saw her brother practicing boulting , and she wanted to do that. But her brother was not good at boulting so he said to Athena, "You can try fighting but be conscious not to get hurt." At that time, the girls were not allowed to fight

Then, after that day , Athena started to battle as her brother, and she won all the battles. All people were amazed that the prince was now able to battle so well. Shortly after Athena started to fight, Athena's father got to know that Athena was doing things that she wasn't supposed to do. Right after he found out ,he sat on his flying horse and bolted to the top of the Mount Olympus where the great Zeus lived. Athena's father said, "Hey mighty Zeus help me, my daughter she is starting to practice how to fight and you know that girls are not allowed but still she is doing that like dogs disobeying their master."

So then mighty Zeus said, " Let me see how she is practicing." Then Zeus came to their palace, his eyes were big and he was surprised to see a girl duel so well. He sent a soldier from his army to fight with Athena. Then in the arena, both of them were tensed and were ready to fight with all their strength. After an hour or so, they still were tackling and the swords were sounding like ting ting. At last, the soldier of Zeus was dead. Zeus was impressed to see a girl merder a rough and tough soldier.

After the fight, Zeus offered Athena to fight in his army. She agreed to that. After some years, Zeus made Athena the Goddess of War. So the moral of the story is that if somebody wants to do something which is not as easy just keep confidence in yourself and do it, and that's what Athena did.

Is Weather Changed by The Gods

Once upon a time there lived a middle aged goddess named Fantasy. Fantasy was a beautiful lady with dark brown hair and a stunning fuchsia dress but sometimes she was a crybaby. Her very close friend Faith another goddess and a stunning woman with blonde hair and a blue dress were with each other all the time (and she was the normal one). They lived in a small town in southern Rome, Italy. One day Fantasy decided she wanted to have some fun so she got a pillow and started a pillow fight. Fantasy always got it in her mouth which she said tasted like raw dry eggs.

"Watch out!" Fantasy exclaimed.

"Hey, thats a lot of fun," Faith said back. During this time, it started to snow. Whenever they hit their pillows the feathers that fell out was snow in the small town. The glistening snow fell softly and smelled like refreshing lemonade. As all of the little kids looked outside of their windows in excitement.

Now, however they were having fun, whenever Fantasy got hit with the pillow she started to cry even though it was as light as air and this caused heavy rain to fall in the town. No wonder all of the kids were confused because it just kept going back and forth. Soon enough Faith was done! They as goddesses knew what would happen when they did things when they were mad there was a thunderstorm when they were happy it was warm and perfect weather. When Faith got upset from what Fantasy was doing then she would tell Fantasy to be quiet and she would put her finger up to her mouth and shush as loud as she could. Now at this time in the town it was snowing, then 10 minutes later it stopped and then started to rain with whistling wind.

"Shh, do you know what is happening in the world below us, Fantasy?!" Faith exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it. Those people probably think we are psycho!" Fantasy said back.

That night a little girl named Charlotte, a beautiful brunette brought her dog on a walk as all of this was happening. She gripped on the soft leather leash as she noticed something weird. That all of this weather was changing and she couldn't remember who but someone told her about whenever something happened in weather it was the gods but she didn't believe it! So she screamed at the top of her lungs "Who is there! Is it the gods?!" Fantasy looked over at Faith in a weird way,

"Did you hear that?" Fantasy asked.

"Yeah, what was that?" Faith said back. They both started to have a conversation about what in the world they thought that noise was. They thought it may have been Zeus telling them to stop being disruptive so they stopped.

Now in the town Charlotte was getting a little creeped out because once she said that everything got quiet and she maybe thought wrong that there were gods making that, but Fantasy and Faith still didn't know what it was!

"Charolette, It's time to get ready for bed come in quickly now please," Charlotte's mom said.

Charlotte went inside and got ready for bed. And up in the clouds Faith and Fantasy were going to bed too because they were exhausted from their crazy pillow fight. From this day forward, Charlotte told all of her friend so they knew whenever it snowed , rained, and there was wind happening in a small period of time in the town, that is the gods and goddesses having a pillow fight!

THE KITTEN

It was March 5, 2017, at 5:00 P.M. 10 hours ago a mysterious giant kitten was reported to have appeared in Des Moines, Iowa. It was appearing to head right toward New York City. At it's speed it would reach NYC from Des Moines in 12 hours. This is how everything unfolded. The day before, Overseer Cat, the Cat God, had decided that China had eaten enough of it's little creations, what we know as cats.

At 7 AM, the Ultra Kitten, the embodiment of all destruction, was summoned. But, due to a faxing error, the summoning form had China on it smudged, and the interpreter read it as United States. But, cats are bad at reading, and not worthy of judgement. So the Ultra Kitten was summoned THERE instead. After only two hours of rampaging the estimated damages totalled to around $12 billion, and President Donald Trump declared a national emergency. All over the country people were praying to Overseer Cat for mercy, even going so far as to slaughter their dogs. But, once Ultra Kitten was summoned, there was no going back. The Ultra Kitten is revered to be 70 feet tall, and weigh 300 tons. Legends say that the Ultra Kitten had carved what we know as Mount Everest in under 3 days. If it were to achieve its adult form, the world was done for as we know it. Now it had been summoned again, and this time for an evil cause.

About 6 hours after summoning, the Ultra Kitten had reached Chicago, where a large battle with it took place, and about 200 soldiers fought. They were all killed within 8 minutes. 1 hour later, it had already caused about 7 trillion dollars worth of damage. The USA had fallen into near anarchy, and the world was falling into despair. The United Nations was teaming up to fight the massive feline, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers were at the ready, ready to be deployed at any given moment. 11 hours had passed since the first sightings, and now the military had set up formation to protect what was New York. Upon a tank getting in range of Ultra Kitten, the gunner screamed, "Eat lead!" And, surprisingly it obeyed. It actually ate the tank shell that was fired at it. And was unharmed. But outraged. So its first victim was the tank. Every soldier fired, every gun, blasted. The Ultra Kitten was taking on too many hits for it to handle. It slowly retreated, and a sense of hope flooded America. But it was short-lived, as Overseer Cat immediately declared an urgent call to arms. Cats, as soon as 2 minutes later, flooded in from all over the world, and especially from Japan's Tashirojima, a.k.a. Cat Island. And they were all bent on defending Ultra Kitten. Hundreds of thousands, no, millions of cats attacked. Adults, kittens, elders, even Grumpy Cat themself attacked. (Grumpy Cat, even without summoning, would probably join anyway, for the mercenary wanted all of humanity destroyed, not just America.) And, lo and behold, it actually helped. The infantry were easily torn to shreds, (and many died from the kittens' cuteness) the tanks had their fire distracted towards the reinforcements, and, with their fire not towards Ultra Kitten, the colossal cat could easily crush them. And as for everyone else, like the air units? Grumpy Cat's grumpiness flooded them and made them pass out. And all the bloodshed simply amused Grumpy. And, after about 20 minutes, the felines won. Every single cat returned to their homes, some wounded, much to the sorrow of their owners. Ultra Kitten went on to attack New York. As the humans hid in their homes, Ultra Kitten rampaged the city, annihilating everything in its path. And then, it took a bite out of a skyscraper. And then, after it swallowed, it let out a mew of utter horror. Not because of the glass shredding against its mouth, oh no. It was perfectly fine with that. It was what was within that glass that dismayed it.

You see, the Nintendo Switch had been released 2 days before the Ultra Kitten reached New York. And almost EVERYONE had one. Now, a commonly known fact about this device is that its cartridges taste incredibly awful. So awful, that the Ultra Kitten had passed out 2 minutes after swallowing its meal, which contained about 7,400 cartridges, and then crying out in pain, before falling unconscious. The world, all of it, celebrated, but too many were disappointed that something as simple as a video game cartridge would stop one of the world's greatest threats. But, it didn't matter, as the world was now at peace again. But then the knocked-out Ultra Kitten exploded, annihilating everything within a 0.25 mile radius, which in turn caused the destruction of the Empire State Building, and 3 billion dollars in damage. But that didn't matter, as at least humanity knew that the threat was out for the count. And the world carried on, more bonded than it ever was. And even though both sides suffered so many losses, and New York had tons of cat guts to clean up, all was well.

The End

Name: Timmy  
Date

Class Period:1/2

Teacher:Mr. Graham

The Poison Twins Showdown

In the land Sylitropolis, there was a fierce king named Sylitro who had two troubling sons: Sylitri and Sylitra. Kind Sylitri was the nice twin who made friends and loved the jungle. While the evil, jealous twin Sylitra, hated people, and even more his brother. The twins were the sons of the the god of poison: Sylitro.

One day Sylitro gave the twins his twin blades as a reward for saving the ancient sister, and defeating the ugly, evil, beast Mantidour who had captured their father who once ruled the world with an iron fist.

"Getting a twin blade is like a key to the darkest realm in this world," Sylitro exclaimed "Use it wisely, and use it not against each other"

Then one day, Sylitri and Sylitra were fighting for who should their father's city named by. But Sylitra got into a tantrum and was aiming to kill Sylitri, but accidentally killed their father with the twin blade. As their father disappeared, the twins held their dad's hands ,while their eyes were pouring with tears. Depressed Sylitra felt ashamed of himself.

After the funeral, since the twins did not decide who the city should be named by, they got so angry they sworn to never see each other again.

As Sylitri took the form of a viper and lived in a basket with his owner, a loyal professional flute player, Sylitra took the form as the deadliest spider in the world. Sylitra lived in the god jungle, killing all animals belonging to the gods, even Zeus baby sheep, and Athena's rare, golden, lion.

One day the twins heard a voice from Mindstorm the god of the mind. Zeus had asked Mindstorm too send the twins a message that they will see each other and decide who will end this war. But smart Zeus had also asked Mindstorm to tell Sylitri that he must defeat his brother at all cost. Zeus had helped Sylitri because Sylitra had killed his sheep and his fellow gods animals.

As the twins knew they must move fast, they changed back from their animal form to god form. They thought they were moving apart from each other, but they were getting closer.

As Sylitra was praying to the gods to help him in the battle, Zeus had giving him strength and courage to fight like a beast, and to have the the strength of ten men.

The twins then smelledt each other. Then they saw each other in Sylitropolis, their dads city. As the towns people stayed in a safe distance, they watched the epic battle begin.

"Let's end this brother, " shouted Sylitra. "You can not defeat me."

Sylitri knew his dad did not want his sons to use the twin blades against each other, but had no choice. As the brothers clashed with their twin blades, Sylitri used the power that Zeus gave him. As he used the strength and courage from Zeus, he defeated his brother. The final move was ready, Sylitri got his twin blade and slashed Sylitra rapidly, and finished him with a slam. Slitra fell to the ground tasting the dirt. Sylitri watched his evil twin quickly vanish, he took his twin blade and broke it as a sign of broken friendship.

"Goodbye brother, dad would've been disappointed in you,"said Sylitri as he waved goodbye to his brother.

"I always had hated you, but Ii hated that you were always dad's favorite even more." yelled Sylitra as he felt his body vanishing into the thin air.

The townspeople cheered, and threw flowers at Sylitri for saving the city.

Since Sylitra was dead, Sylitri took their dads city and named it Sylitripolis. To honor his dad, he made a stone statue of him out of ancient god stone.

Defeat of Kronos

By, Will B

A long, long time ago, there lived a titan named Kronos. In fear of a prophecy that he would be overthrown by his own son, Kronos swallowed each of his children as they were born. Luckily, Zeus, the king of the gods was saved by Reah. Zeus destroyed Kronos, and sent him to Tartarus, a deep, dark place in the underworld, rescuing his brothers and sisters from the stomach of their father.

Unfortunately, Kronos now seeks revenge on Zeus and the gods, and is slowly rising from Tartarus.

Meanwhile at Olympus, the gods were preparing for the annual Scrumptious Winter Solstice Supper in 4 days. Little did the gods know that Kronos had rose from Tartarus, and coming to Mount Olympus to get his revenge. As Zeus was gathering plates and wine, he heard something strange outside the gates to Olympus. He went to go find Hermes to see what's going on, but when he went into the great hall, everyone was gone. Zeus was as quick as a cheetah, and bolted outside with anger thinking this was all just a cruel joke that the gods were playing on him, then he spun around. It was Kronos. He was holding Athena over his mouth about ready to eat her. Zeus ran over. "STOPPPPPP!"he bellowed. "Please, don't eat her! I will use all my powers against you if you don't drop her." "That will be tough to do... after I take them away from you." Kronos shrieked. The gods looked confused, then Kronos let out a blinding green light from his hand, and whipped it at the gods.

When they finally opened their eyes again, Kronos was gone. "Where did he go?" said Poseidon.  
"I don't know," Zeus said confused. "He said something about taking our powers. What does that even mean?"  
Poseidon went looking for his trident, but when he found it, but it had lost its yellow glow, and gold color. He knew something was not right. He went to go check on his sea workers, but when he got to the ocean, there was no water! Difficult things had happened to the gods before, but this was beyond compare. "ZEUSSSS!" Poseidon howled, "you need to see this."

When Zeus got there, he had bad news as well. His master bolt had no power, and was the size of a pea. Zeus called Hades, and of course, the souls in the underworld had turned into dust. Poseidon let out a big sigh, and the three brothers declared a meeting in the great hall that night. All the gods were ordered to come.

At exactly 8:15 PM that night, Zeus strongly spoke up. "Poseidon, Hades, and I have been noticing some very oddly strange things going on with our responsibilities. Have any of you?"  
"Today all the messages i had disappeared!" exclaimed Hermes. "And no longer can i fly."  
"No boys talked to me today," weeped Aphrodite. "It's like I've lost my love powers."  
"That's it!" Yelped Zeus. "Kronos said he was going to take our powers away. It didn't make any sense at first but I get it now! He wanted revenge from when I freed you guys from his stomach. "The whole room went silent. The gods all looked astonished, including Zeus.  
"How? When? But..." Said Dionysus.  
"I don't know," Zeus said, "But I will find out." That very night, Zeus and Poseidon went to the Oracle to hear the prophecy.  
"For your powers to be regained, it might cause you pain. Reach deep down inside, for your powers have not yet died. But by the solstice of winter, that promise will splinter, and your powers will go permanently. To defeat Kronos will be a bonus, as defeating him is the only way, for your powers to stay. Not to tartarus goes the titan, he would not be frightened. Defeat Kronos permanently, because no other god would personally."

That Prophecy gave Zeus just what he needed. He told the others to gather the mortals. They were all frightened to show themselves to mortals, but sadly, it was their only choice.

After hours of mortals screaming and running, Zeus was able to tell them about what happened. The plan was for Hades to go into the underworld to fetch Kronos, and bring him to Olympus. The gods and mortals would be scattered around Olympus, with weapons ready to fight. When Kronos comes, the mortals will charge.

That night Hades got Kronos out from the underworld then ran to Olympus. The mortals and gods were ready, and armed. Then Poseidon saw a familiar green glow, Kronos was coming. As he set his big, beastly foot down on olympus, Zeus could see the mortals backing up.

"Where are they!" Roared Kronos "Tomorrow is the solstice of winter, and if you don't find a way to bring back your powers, they will be removed permanently." Kronos paused. He spotted a mortal out of the corner of his eye. "Just like...I will remove YOUUUU!!!" Kronos charged at the mortals, but he did not know that the gods were behind him until he felt piercing pain in his neck, and let out a deafening roar. They kept splitting Kronos into billions, and billions of pieces.

Kronos was destroyed and Mount Olympus was completely still for about 1 minute until the pieces of Kronos started to glow that weird green glow. Then, the gods started to rise into the sky and they felt a boost of energy and power. It started to rain heavily, and the rain filled the ocean, then Poseidon's trident started to glow, then Zeus' master bolt grew and flew into his hand. All the gods started to get their powers back.

But then Zeus remembered about what the prophecy said. The gods and mortals had completed the task of destroying Kronos, but not yet permanently. Zeus and Poseidon turned all the pieces of Kronos come to life. Then they turned into different types of creatures, some live in water, some life on land, some live in the trees. "I'll call them animals," said Zeus. It was now winter solstice and the gods invited all of the mortals to have dinner with them.

R and R and the Case of the Idol

By Sofia

"Did I hear this right? You just volunteered us to go somewhere in a private jet today a solve a mystery. I am NOT going!" Rory reached for her friend's arm while grabbing the hot file that had just printed from the fax machine shoving Ryan out the door, where as promised there was a van which took the two to an airfield. Rory explained to Ryan that they had discovered the temple of a goddess in which if you could outsmart her you became the new goddess and this was no normal god, it was Vengents, the god of adventure and mystery.

Soon the two were on a newly found island. After almost three hours of getting lost and having to start over they finally reached the opening of the huge temple where the smell of must and long burning flames leapt out. Ryan and Rory got only twenty feet inside the temple that look as if it was from an adventure movie before door closed, trapping them. Suddenly, a human figure appeared next to the two .

"You are wasting your time, she's is not going to let you out now." The cloud spoke in a raspy and broken voice. "Your only way out now is through" Ryan being Ryan took one look at the ghostly figure and hide behind her friend terrified out of her mind. Yet Rory stood her ground and looked back at the cloud. "She's after you, you've been warned." Then in second the cloud faded and was gone.

Rory started laughing hysterically at her friend. "THE FREAKING GHOST THAT JUST APPEARED DIDN'T SCARE YOU!" Ryan screamed at her friend.

"I've seen worse,'' chuckled Rory,"That warning was probably just to scare us." And so, the girls continued their quest. They came across multiple brain melting puzzles but Rory solve every single one in seconds even mocking the fool that she was making of the goddess.

The two girls journeyed on for some time and they finally reached the finally room in which there was a shrine in which the possessor would be the God or Goddess of adventure and the unknown, Ryan tried to stop Rory but she was couldn't be stopped from running toward the glistening statue; when all the sudden Rory was flung back and hit a wall. The girl wiped the fresh blood from underneath her nose, as she realized the two were not alone. Ryan pulled her long blond hair into a ponytail, getting ready to fight for her and her best friend's life.

"Oh, my gosh, are you okay?" screamed Ryan from across the immense room. Rory simply nodded,as Ryan watched as the anger grew in her friend's eyes. Ryan helping Rory get up.

Suddenly, the goddess appeared in front of the two. She was quite a short lady no more than five feet tall; yet she was quite a beautiful lady, who surprisingly looked young.

"If you want the idol you must solve a puzzle," said the Goddess. The two appeared in a room with four padlocks on the door one was a directional padlock, another a number, the last two were a 12-letter lock. "You'll find everything you need in the room, you have 1 hour to try and escape, if you do so I will give you the idol, if you fail you'll never have your friendship again."

Both girls did not spare a minute searching the room. When Ryan realized the wall paper was not placed right, she called over her friend and in the dim lighting in the room the two looked for something to peel back the paper. They got back the paper, where behind they found small drawer. Opening the door, they found the combinations for each lock. They enter in the combinations one at a time.

Surprised that they had gotten out so quickly the goddess gave Rory the idol. A golden haze fell over the girl replacing her worn trench coat into a Goddess like dress which still looked like her coat. Gazing at her friend, she realized if she was a goddess, she couldn't spend her life with her best friend.

" Actually..." Rory barely choked out without crying, "I don't want this, but I will keep the dress." And so the Goddess took back her power and let Rory keep the dress. Ryan and Rory rushed toward each other, hugging each other so tightly even the gods couldn't separate the two. "Thank you," Rory looked up at the goddess, " from the bottom of my heart." the goddess gave the girls a small smile and then disappeared.

And so, both of our heroines grew up to be amazing detectives and they now value their friendship over life and immortality. As it goes for the Gods they stop offering up their spots of God ship.

Why TCBY Exists

By: Hannah Childs

A long time ago in Greece, there was a kind and beautiful woman named Lindsette. Lindsette was the owner of Karpos Juicer, one of the most delicious and highly desirable juicers in Greece. She had gorgeous silky brown hair, creamy pale skin, and green eyes that were as beautiful as emeralds sparkling in the sunlight. Lindsette was a very special woman because her juice was highly desirable. She had quickly opened a juicer in Greece that became known all over the known world. When you came to her juicer you could smell the fragrance of the ripe fruits being combined together and hear Lindsette working very hard. Her juice's marvelous taste and creamy texture tasted like heaven in a cup, and was perfect enough to impress the Gods of Mount Olympus, except for one for whom they call... Hera.

One sunny summer day, Lindsette stood at her juicer that was neatly polished and was very tidy and was opening for the day. As she slowly grinded some juicy red pomegranate seeds, for one of her amazing drinks, a woman in a dark purple cloak appeared at her stand. The woman was quite beautiful, she stood tall, she was elegant, and wore a jeweled crown on her head. After the woman stood there for a moment the beautiful Lindsette realized that this was queen standing at her juicer was Hera, queen of the gods. Hera yelled, "I hear that your drinks are the most desirable in the land," Lindsette nodded her head nervously as the Goddess spoke. "Make me the greatest juice in the land, RIGHT NOW!" yelled the angry goddess. Panicking, Lindsette bowed to the goddess and rushed to the juicer and started slicing ripe fruits.

Lindsette rolled up her sleeves and started the process of making her juice. Shaking, her delicate hands sliced apples, crushed pomegranate seeds, and peeled ripe oranges. Hera watched as the sweet girl combined the fruits creating a juice that might impress the queen of the gods. Lindsette wiped her forehead with relief as she handed the queen her drink. As Hera sipped her delicious drink she created she spit out her drink all over the juicer, as Lindsette in fear, was shaking from head to toe. Lindsette stood at her juicer and cried. Hera emerged from her seat at the bar and hollered as loud as a wolf at midnight, "YOUR JUICE IS NOT MAGNIFICENT COMPARED TO THE JUICES ON MIGHTY MOUNT OLYMPUS, YOU WILL BE LOCKED UP UNTIL YOU CAN REGAIN YOUR TITLE AS THE BEST JUICER IN GREECE!"

Growling, Hera dragged the girl to a small prison on Mount Olympus that was protected by the gods. The prison was small and cold and you could hear faint sounds in the distance of the gods arguing. While she was in prison Lindsette was expected to produce a great juice. If she couldn't complete this task in three days she would be executed. Hera literally threw her into the prison with nothing but a mallet, some fruits, and a cup. To make matters worse the prison was freezing! If she even tried to make juice it would freeze into a block of ice that tasted magnificent. She threw the cup on the floor, no juice would come out because it was in a solid state. The only thing she could do now was to dry her tears and try to make some juice for Hera.

After many tries Lindsette's juice still froze solid. She threw her cups of frozen juice at the wall of her prison cell and cried. She looked over at the mallet and that gave her an idea.

"Couldn't I just crush my frozen juice with this mallet!" Lindsette decided that something was better than nothing so she grabbed the mallet, rolled her sleeves up, and go to work.

After one month in the prison creating a marvelous juice for Hera, Lindsette was finally ready with Hera's drink, it was amazing. It was creamy, it tasted great and was very refreshing, she would have to see if Hera thought the same. Hera was dressed in a silky purple tunic lounging on a very comfortable chaise eating grapes. Lindsette, shaking, bowed to Hera and served her the creamy drink she had created. Hera looked down at it and smirked,

"You call this a juice, you brought me a spoon for it!" Even though Hera was as mean as a fox being mocked Lindsette held her head up high knowing her juice was delicious . Hera took her spoon and ate it. As she smacked her perfect lips together Hera exclaimed, "This is the most delicious juice ever, everyone must try it! What do you call it?" Lindsette grinned and stated,

"I call my creation frozen yogurt." Hera raised an eyebrow and said,

"That is a rather long name why not shorten it, to fro-yo!" Lindsette smiled she loved the name and was excited for the other gods to sample her outstanding creation... fro-yo!

The next day, Hera held a party on Mount Olympus and all the gods and goddesses came to try the amazing creation we now call frozen yogurt, or fro-yo. The gods and goddesses were chatting like buzzing bees, devouring Lindsette's delectable creation. That is how one confident girl and one goddess created what we know as fro-yo, the most satisfying treat on the planet.

Wrath Of Hades

By Charles

In mount Olympus, Zeus and Hades are having an argument. Hades yells "I don't see why I have to stay in the underworld all the time, I think I should be able to come out whenever I want!"

"NO! You are the lord of the underworld, so you have to stay there! Do you think I go to the underworld where you live?" Before Hades has a chance to answer, Zeus yells, "NO!"

"I am not staying in the Underworld any longer," Hades thinks as he pretends to go down to the underworld.

Hades decides to go to a school and show Zeus he doesn't have to listen to him. He starts making crevices in the ground where dead people start rushing out of. Everyone in the class starts running, but the dead people are fast, first the teacher, then the dead people start grabbing everyone they could and drags them into the crevices.

Zeus sees the chaos and quickly grabs Poseidon, Athena, and Ares to help. They come to the school. Zeus is trying to think of what to do, "I could try to reason with him," Zeus thinks. He runs through the school to where he can see hades, Zeus says,"If you stop this madness you will be allowed out of the Underworld three months a year."

Hades, lord of the Underworld answers, "What difference does it make? It's not like anyone likes the lord of the underworld. Why should I listen to you? You're my brother that's always had it good, you get to be in control of everything in the normal world, I get the world of the dead!" The hallway starts shaking and turns into one huge crevice, dead people are crawling out under command of Hades.

The hallways that are still there are complete chaos, everyone, teachers and students run for their lives. Poseidon takes out his trident and runs straight into battle, he starts killing the dead left and right, he looks at Hades, launches his trident, but Hades sees it coming and sidesteps it.

Athena and Ares fight side by side, taking out the dead people with ease. They are slowly advancing on Hades.

A few minutes later they are all four there, Zeus and Hades are fighting. Zeus shoots lightning bolts, Hades lets dead people free. Quickly it turns from an even fight, to a four vs one. Ares, Poseidon, and Zeus all attack at once, Zeus with his lightning, Poseidon with his trident, and Ares with his sword. Athena is soon on Hades too. They start overwhelming him. He takes out his staff and fights for his life, Hades hits Ares in the head, he falls down, unconscious.

After 30 minutes of fighting Hades is wearing down, Zeus hits him with a lightning bolt, Hades falls to the ground. Poseidon runs at him with his trident raised. "I surrender!" Hades yells. Zeus tells Poseidon to watch over Hades, while he and Athena are going to finish off the rest of them.

Zeus shoots lightning bolt after lightning bolt all hitting their targets. It's like shooting sitting ducks. "Now I have to deal with Hades again," Zeus thinks. He and Athena walk to where Hades and Poseidon are, they are in a math classroom, room 346. "So are you going to listen to me now or what?" Zeus says, "You have two choices, either go to the Underworld by yourself or we make you go back to the Underworld."

"I'll go, if you agree to one thing, you must let me out of the Underworld on one special occasion, anytime there is a friday the 13th." Hades answers.

"Fine, now go." Zeus says. They all watch as Hades created one giant hole in the ground and falls through.

Ares wakes up and says, "What did I miss?"

Zeus answers, "Not much, we just defeated Hades."

Zeus walks outside to where all the kids and teachers are scared to death, Zeus waves his hand and they all forget everything that happened, Zeus repairs the whole school. No one will ever remember what happened.

So all the gods go back to their normal spots. About every 200 days, Hades comes out of the Underworld, on that day everything is closed, schools, stores, everything. That is how the superstition of Friday the 13th started.

Name Matthew Elliott  
Date 3/8/17

Class Period 1/2

Teacher Mr. Graham

Blobfish ruler Jarvis

The wind shot through Jarvis's hair like a bullet. It was three years since anything interesting happened to him. He now lived on a farm in the middle of some tropical island. He was now in deep thought about how he got here.

He thought back to Larry. Larry was a blobfish that had two legs and two arms. They were great friends. Until one day. They were together overlooking a drop off to the ocean, Jarvis however didn't know a clue why Larry was grinning next to him, but he found out eventually. Larry nudged Jarvis off the drop off and into the ocean. When he fell and hit the ocean it felt like concrete slamming into him. When he looked up his head was ringing, he saw flashing ambulances and police cars. But Jarvis ran away from them instead and found a washed up boat and rowed all the way to an island. Larry wasn't spotted since which was strange because he was a walking blobfish. Jarvis zoned out for too long and didn't realize that his cows were running loose. Jarvis groaned.

A couple hours later Jarvis was in bed. All wrapped up ready to go to sleep, when suddenly he heard a very strange noise from the barn. He bravely acted like he didn't here it and went back to sleep. Then louder and louder the noise became until the curiousity got the better of him. Jarvis got up crept outside next to the barn. Inside it sounded like someone was laughing a cruel laugh. When he finally had the guts to peek around the corner. He thought he saw something familiar, something that looked like Larry! He whipped his head back around scared to death. His knees were trembling and sweat ran down his face. He wanted to peek around the corner one more time and see if Larry was actually there. But to his surprise he was magically gone, maybe I just saw something he thought nervously hoping he was right. But not all was right in the barn one of his cows was glowing bright red. It turned around and looked at Jarvis. The cow's head had veins throbbing like crazy, he was missing part of it's ear and his mouth was drooling. He looked angry. Jarvis stared at the beast and the beast stared back. The cow backed up and charged at jarvis with astonishing speed. He quickly jumped out of the way just in time, but unexpectedly the barn started to collapse on him he rolled over, with his face buried in the dirt. He looked up hoping it was just a dream, but it wasn't, there was no way it was. The cow now in Jarvis's house caused a catastrophe. His house started creaking till it fell down, with the cow standing on top of it. Jarvis was caught up in deep thought of how this could happen. When Jarvis fed the cows they were all joyful, or neutral. He was caught staring into blank space and got ran over by the cow as it charged. Jarvis groaned and ached as he sat up. Jarvis thought of a plan to stop it but it was no use. He now put his hands in his leathery pockets and accepted his fate. But something was in his pocket. He pulled out the tiny, shiny, and smooth gadget. On the side was a tiny red button, It was shiny and round. He pressed it. A huge silver and shiny blade popped out. The cow charged again but Jarvis was ready. He pierced the cows chest and it fell to the ground dead. Jarvis knelt down and touched the cows glowing red head. His hand magically disappeared along with rest of his body! He started panicking thinking that he would turn savage like his cow did. Sweat ran down his face his knees were trembling as the last bit of his face disappeared. Then all was black.

He awoke in a forest. With dead trees and no possible light. It was dark and he could barely see. The cold wind drove a shiver up his spine. He heard the ocean waves washing up on the seashore. He carefully navigated himself through the darkness and dead trees. Until he came to a still salty smelling ocean. He looked around but he couldn't see anything So he decided to turn around until he heard a violent swoosh in the water. He jerked his head around cautious. He stood frozen in fear. Then he heard it again! It sounded as if it was coming closer. His muscles tensed. Then there was silence. There was a loud splash as larry jumped out of the water at jarvis knocking him back off his feet. Larry quickly seized jarvis's neck with great force. Struggling to get him off. As Jarvis squirmed and squirmed grasping onto every last bit of air. He quickly rolled over onto Larry and pushed him off. But Larry scratched him across the face right before he did. The one thing that was on Jarvis's mind now was... Blobfish have claws? He quickly scrambled to a tree and grabbed his face, but Larry wasn't done yet. He grabbed hold of Jarvis's arm and dragged him into the sea. The water was murky he could barely see anything, but then he realized that Larry was just trying to drown him! He struggled but it was no use. He opened his mouth do scream but all he tasted was salty water. Then he wondered if the sword was still in his pocket...He reached down and felt A metal tool laying in his leathery pocket. He pulled it out and just nicked Larry's hand so he would let go. He quickly paddled up to the surface wanting air with Larry right behind him. He finally reached the surface and pulled himself onto the sand And larry jumped at him with great force. Jarvis readied his sword and smacked Larry with the bottom of the sword. And Larry collided with the sand unconscious with a groan.

Soon enough The police came and took Larry away. Jarvis hid around a corner to avoid all the attention. He slowly sat down with his hands buried in the sand. The he thought back about what just happened and why it happened. Then it started happening again his right right hand started to disappear into thin air Up until his whole body disappeared, but this time he didn't black out, but when he looked around he saw nothing. It was as if he was floating.

Then finally it stopped and he was gently set down on a marble floor in front of two gods. He couldn't see them very well but he thought they looked like zeus and poseidon They both stared at him smiling smiles that looked too big for their faces. Then all the sudden a mystical wind picked up Jarvis and twirled him around in circles, until he was now in handsome robes with a staff that had a blobfish on it.

"You are now forever known as Jarvis the blobfish god." they both said. And for once that day he smiled a big smile.

The Creation of the World

By: Kaelyn Friedly

Long ago, before the green earth was created, there was darkness everywhere. There was a shadowy form that lurked around the earth. That was Pain. Pain was the god of darkness and everything sad.

There is also Curiosity. She was the goddess of hope, a speck of light in a jet-black night.

Curiosity loves to create objects to keep her amused in a world of shadows. Curiosity created an oak tree. She cared for it and it grew taller and taller everyday. Curiosity enjoyed the tree, she felt comfort when she would water the plant.

Pain saw the tree that Curiosity had created, he looked at it in hatred. He took his long, thin hand and touched the bark that protected that tree. The armor of black bark faded into ash and dust.

When Curiosity saw the ash pile, she started to weep. Plop, plop, plop. The turquoise sky was crying, too. Curiosity weeped for days, soon an ocean was filled with wet, salty tears. To her amusement, she decorated the sea with dolphins, fish, coral, and sand. She began laughing as the dolphins jumped about.

Pain heard the commotion and ended it instantly. He filled the shallow water with sharks and eels that creeped the water's edge. Curiosity saw this and cowered in fear, she ran. She found shelter in a dark cave and laid down to rest her heavy eyes. Night was now upon the world.

She dreamed of Pain and how she would be punished for her creations. Shivering, Curiosity woke up drenched in cold sweat. She walked slowly out of the cave. Her bare toes touched the hard dirt. She bent down touched the ground with her pale hands, and green grass coated the the earth's layer. This made her smile.

Her smile faded at once at the sight of her dead brother. The grass around him turned yellow and brown. Curiosity screamed and cried in anger. The skies turned black, bright lights cracked and shook the ground.

Lightning struck the grass and exploded into a ocean of fire. After three years of this commotion, Curiosity buried Pain's body and surrounded his grave in lilies, and orchids.

Curiosity wanted to make more creations, but she didn't wanted to leave Pain's body unaccompanied. She took a pile of dirt a drew a picture of a human being. Curiosity erased the image. The wind took the dirt and transformed it into a man.

"What am I?" the man asked. "Who are you?'

"You are a human being, I am Curiosity. I will make you company and I will provide you with shelter," replied the goddess.

She found a spot near a beach and placed sticks in the ground, and with a smile, they grew taller and transformed into a small cottage. The man praised the goddess after she had made him a family and provided them with necessary materials for survival. Curiosity came to trust the man-kind with her creations and sprouted lovely white wings and flew higher than the clouds and was never to be seen again.

Vitus

By

9 years later after the death his father the baby grows up with the other orphans and would protect them with his life.All his family left were three kids who had suffered similar fates.Quintis,Rufus,Lucia,and Vitus being the youngest and the child who was left with them orphans 9 years ago.As the morning dawns.

"Get up Vitus now is not the time for a nap" Rufus blasts into his ear

"Rufus stop yelling at me I'm up and try not to break my ears every morning"I shout

"Than try to wake up on your own''Rufus yells

I felt a bit guilty for not getting ready today was the festival of Jupiter and we still needed something to sacrifice and give Jupiter and have we no money either.To give him either.I go over and talk to Quistis we talk for a while that's when I realize what I can give to Jupiter. I could hunt something and sell it.I go over to my bag where I find my most prized possession a sword with the blade a beautiful color of the ocean and the hilt with carvings of waves inlaid with gold.I take it and throw it in a river where we were close.I took all my strength and focused it on waves of the river and send the sword out skewering at least 20 fish.After that I helped Quintis make a miniscule chariot that was beautiful and had a eagle on it with a thunderbolt on the side.

With that done I went to the market and sold my fish where I got a jar of blood for Jupiter than I start to think about how I got my sword.Rufus told me that 9 years ago they found me in a basket and a dead man not far away assuming it was my father he had been hit by catapult ball killing him but he left a note with me and it said 4 mortals will be praised by the gods of Mt.Olympia and defeat the evil one.I spend the rest of my time in the market till the festival starts I could hear cheers but we stayed at camp and built a mini temple when my head starts to hurt it felt like some took a hammer banged on it.A sense of urgency filled me what happened to the others.

"Rufs,Lucia,Quintis" I yell at the top of my lungs.

"Vitus where are you"I could tell from the rough voice it was Rufus

"Over here"

I slowly see a figure forming toward me with broad shoulders and bright yellow eyes.It was Rufus I saw Quintus and Lucia near him staring in wonder around us it was a beautiful room the color of white felt like an empty void waiting to be filled.Boom Jupiter appears out of nowhere staring at us with his eyes in rage.

"Ah mortals so the Prophecy is true then".

I could feel my arms and legs my brain told me to run but I knew better.And kneeled before him.The rest follow my lead even Rufus who never listens to me.

"Mighty Zeus tell us you have summoned us here"I say as strong as I can but the truth was I was in fear.

"I have called you here to tell you Hades has defeated many gods and is coming for my rightful throne and gains more power every god that falls"

I thought about what would happen if Hades ruled us and it sent shivers down my spine.later on Zeus tells us how he has given us a god for each of us to train with.5 gods came through the door.

"We have came up with pairs for you.Rufus with Ares,Lucia Athena,Quintis with Apollo,and

Vitus with Poseidon."Bam! And I'm back in the room again where the god with blue skin sees me.

"Greetings mortal"he says

"Do you mind doing something for me"he asks

"Depends what is it"I answer

"I want you to spar with me with a sword none of my powers no fists just sword to sword "he asks

"Sure" I say

"Than let's begin"he says

I draw my sword as a man gives the god a sword that rivaled in beauty to mine he draws the sword and stabs me in the arm and turns into Hades.I hold my sword in front of me and thrust.Hades and me fight for eternity neither getting an advantage.And that is the story of poor Vitus

Amaterasu's Great Follower

By Rahul Ghosh

A long time ago in a small village in Japan, there was a young man named Yoshi. Fittingly, living a virtuous previous life, lived in a magnificent house and was at the top of the social pyramid. Yoshi and his parents would always follow Buddhism and would go to the temple every day to pray to Buddha. Even so, Yoshi's parents did not seem like the most religious people in the world to anyone. The parents of Yoshi would shun poorer people, different cultures, religions, and while doing so, do all the rituals of a normal Buddhist. Remarkably, Yoshi was viewed in his village as an honest man, looking to a bright future. One day, Yoshi took a stroll outside and saw a scrawny and hungry beggar. However, all the beggar was asking for was kindness and happiness in the community, not money. Then, Yoshi saw a necklace which had the Torii Gate on it. The beggar was a Shintoist. Yoshi's parents told him to never interact with Shintoists, but despite his upbringing, Yoshi was a gentle and kind man.

Amiably, he talked with the beggar, and the beggar asked him a question, "Young man, I do not mean to offend you, but can you convert to my Shinto faith? This will help me on my quest for the world to be happy again. Your parents follow all the rituals, but are not happy or charitable." Peacefully, Yoshi started wandering with the mystic, and his social standing decreased as the months went by. His parents did not try to retrieve him because he now meant nothing to them.

After a few years, the beggar, who had barely survived on the benevolence of others, had passed away. Now, Yoshi had half of his life taken away from this and thus was saddened. Yoshi basically had replaced the beggar's life. Sadly, he had been publicly shamed, and when Yoshi meditated, kids in the jungle would throw stones and rocks at him. Though these kids were doing such atrocities, Yoshi did not care, even though he was badly bruised, and he kept meditating. Justly, Yoshi was praying for happiness in his village, for when Dutch traders came to the village, they would be burned and publicly shamed. With no stop, even after hearing shouts of others to kill Yoshi, he prayed. Finally, the great Shinto goddess of the sun Amaterasu came to Yoshi. She looked like a beautiful rose, and she could not be beared to look at by a normal human. Fittingly, Yoshi had meditated so much, he could resist her beauty.

"Yoshi, do not fear, for I am Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun," explained Amaterasu.

"Your goal of world happiness, while a nice idea, is impossible because the gods in heaven cannot deal with earthly matters, and if you devote your life to god, you can stay with us," advised Amaterasu.

Amaterasu said, "You and your teacher, the beggar, have clearly shown a life of devotion to god. While you may be young now, you are not safe on earth. Therefore, the gods have decided you must live with us. Sincerely, we are very sorry, but you will be able to meet the beggar and an abundance of distant family members."

"But I cannot go now, others need my help to reach god. If the gods cannot do it, then I must. There is absolutely no other way because if I die doing so, I will be in heaven soon after!" cried Yoshi. In sadness, for she secretly wanted to marry the handsome and honorable Yoshi, the beautiful sun goddess Amaterasu flew off into the sky. As she flew off, a rose smell appeared in Japan, soft fleece dresses filled the arms of girls, and for Yoshi, a miniscule fruitcake that was delicious. Amaterasu was disappointed, she gave Yoshi all these things to make her happy. However, he did not call Amaterasu and he didn't seem to care. A wanderlust, Yoshi sailed to various locations, spreading the Shinto religion, and when the time had come, Yoshi had died at a wonderful age of 81. Yoshi's life may now be told as a myth, but the outcomes of his actions were certainly not fairy tales.

The Antlers

Long ago in a forest there lived a moose. This particular moose was very stingy and intolerant. He believed he was the king because of his big and strong antlers that Artemis, the goddess of wild animals had granted him.

Every day on the way to his favorite pond he would trample all the creatures smaller than him he came across. Later that afternoon when he got to his pond, he looked around, there sitting on a small rock was a turtle. When the turtle saw him the moose looked really frustrated. Terrified, the turtle, without hesitation jumped off the rock into the pond.

"Please don't hurt me", the turtle whispered.

"I won't hurt you," grunted the moose,"if you go away."

The turtle nodded, shaken and swam off into the distance. This pond was the moose's favorite because he could see his reflection so clearly in the sparkling water, he smiled at the sight of his antlers.

Meanwhile all the critters had gathered at the heart of the forest where they were sure the moose wouldn't find them. Naturally all the smaller animals had had enough of this moose.

"This has to stop," said a squirrel sitting on a small rock, "We have to do something about him."

All the animals nodded their heads in agreement.

Later that day all the animals gathered at the foot of Artemis's palace to discuss their issues. Artemis listened while the animals took turns telling her about the moose.

When they had all finished Artemis nodded her head understandably and said,"I'll see what I can do." She kindly escorted all the animals out and thought to herself,"I gave him my gift now I can take it away."

Meanwhile the moose had just returned from his trip to the pond very exhausted. He laid underneath a canopy of leaves and fell asleep instantly. That night the moose woke up to a loud cracking noise. Not knowing what it was he got up to find out. He was startled to feel that all the weight on the top of his head had gone. Concerned he got up and stumbled over to the pond and bent down to look at his reflection. He was petrified by what he saw, he looked again even more horrified than before. His antlers, his prize possession had disappeared. For a moment he didn't know what to do, he was frozen, but then he had an idea. He recklessly ran as fast as he could ignoring the sound of laughter ringing his ears. Finally he reached Artemis's palace. He burst through the door, not even bothering to knock. Artemis turned to face him with a slight grin on her face. "Yes," she muttered intolerantly.

"M-My antlers," the moose stuttered, "Th-there gone."

"That," she breathed,"is the consequence for your behaviors."

The moose knew what she was talking about. He faced her with a terrified look on his face. Seeing him like this gave Artemis a new idea. "But," she said understandably,"You will get your antlers back eventually."

The moose looked up at her with a huge smile on his face.

"Only if you promise to leave the poor critters alone,"she said sternly.

The mose nodded excitedly and bolted out of the palace and into the forest, not even bothering to thank Artemis.

From that time on the moose still lost his antlers but he knew that they would grow back eventually. As for all the other animals they didn't have to worry about the moose any more after all he of all animals was the most pleasant to be around.

The Golden Apple

By: Olivia

Long ago in Ancient Greece,Many goddesses were having a party. There was one god there. His name was Paris.He was there to cater drinks to the goddesses. Paris was so late to the party. He felt so sick to his stomach because, he was nervous that he wouldn't be able to cater since he was so late. He had to hurry and get into the party but the man with the list of names claimed that he was absolutely not on the list. Paris had to think of something.....QUICK! Paris thought for a while,until an idea came to his mind. He could use his lightning powers to strike a big lightning bolt in the sky to distract everyone in order to sneak into the party. Paris finally got in! Paris started to cater drinks right away to all of the lovely goddesses.

Eris one of the gods,threw down a "golden"apple that stood "For the prettiest" Aphrodite and Athena saw the apple and wanted to have it. Both goddesses happily walked up to Paris and told him that he needed to choose from one of them. He insisted that he not do that but, the stubborn goddess eventually talked him into it.

The next day was the day for Paris to choose which beautiful goddesses should receive the glorious apple. Finally, Paris chose Aphrodite because he was determined that he would get the best time out of her. Zeus got mad at Paris for choosing Aphrodite and not his wonderful Athena. Zeus told Paris that he should have picked Athena but, Paris refused to pick anyone but Aphrodite.

Paris exclaimed, "I chose Aphrodite for a reason!"

Athena and Zeus decided to plot revenge on Aphrodite. Zeus and Athena angrily flew to Aphrodite's ginormous house when she was away. They found the "Golden" apple in her trophy room. Athena and Zeus took it back.

That afternoon Paris, Zeus, and Athena met at the Dionysus's Wine Bar, To talk with Paris about the choice of the "golden"apple.Paris finally decided to give Athena the beautiful golden apple. Paris handed Athena the apple extently. Athena was struck by a feeling of joy. Aphrodite didn't even notice that the apple was gone. Paris and Athena grew closer and closer each day. A couple months later, Paris proposed to Athena when they went on a trip to Athens. Athena said yes with excitement. Zeus had no idea that all of this was happening. A year later, they got married in the parthenon. Athena and Paris were so filled with joy each and every day. After a while they had 1 little kid named Hermes. Hermes was a joy to the family. Everyone was all fine and dandy until Zeus found out from Aphrodite about what had happened. Zeus was so mad at Athena for all that has happened in the past two years.

Zeus angrily said that" I should have gotten a say in what happened." ":Athena sadly replied but dad you were in Olympus. And we didn't want to wait."

Isa

1/2

Mr. Graham

Titans Cronus

Once upon a time there was a little sweet, shy boy by the name of Cronus Titans, who lived on a small town named Magie, lived with his mother and father, loved to read about volcanoes, and loved to collect rocks, but not his friends, Dione, Hephaestus and Saturn. They would tease him and make fun of him, because of his interests which once would become a huge complication.

"Oh my goodness!" Gaia gasped.

"What's wrong dear?" Blitz heard his wife.

"Look at this poor thing." Gaia stared at the boy.

"What happened to you little boy?" Blitz gasped too

After this conversation with little boy named Garuda, Cronus life completely changed. Garuda who once became the god of Birds had punished Cronus for stealing his gold, although this was a misunderstanding. The poor punished young man was yelled at and told to go sleep outside, and little did their parents know that was the biggest mistake they would ever make.

Worried Cronis said "Why is it my fault? What did I do wrong?"

Running, Rhea who had a dream of once being with him went outside but perhaps it was too late. Cronus was gone!

Cronus was all alone, with same dirty clothes that he wore when was told to go outside, with no food, and no shelter.

"I'm beginning please, on my knees help me gods, you know I would never do this to anyone", Misunderstood Cronus said with tears.

Every day Cronis would pray for forgiveness, but no luck. Every day that passed by, Cronus was turning into stone, sometimes he would become so mad at himself that his rock would melt and become lava. Goddesses were worried, this has never happened to any of the people in Magie. He started to get dangerous, and destroy things that were very valuable to people. He grew and Grew and met this beautiful woman named Rhea. It seemed like Cronus was happy with her but he didn't stop growing and his face was Only rock with lava, and was as high as a mountain he was angry at everyone for not doing anything this meant that his life was soon over. People started to attack him but he was indestructible. It was time for the gods to play a role.

Garuda exclaimed, "We must kill him, get all of your defenses it's time!"

Gods rushed to their palaces to prepare for the dilemma that would impact tear apart the world. Rhea, the beautiful god who was his wife, heard god Vent to send all of the other gods to get weapons, she was determined to save him, and stop the gods from killing him but there was no way. The clock was ticking and the more that Rhea called all of their sons and daughters.

"Get weapons," Rhea said.

"We never meant to do this Cronus," god Garuda yelled with anger, "You have ruined things that are not yours, you have torn families apart

"Look you old man, you're saying that because you want to become the greatests of all, the Hero, the best. But in reality you are not, and will never become one."

"How dare you say that!" Garuda looked around nervously lowering his voice.

"Admit it, you are the one that made turned me into this. You lied to my parents, saying that I Stole your gold," Cronus walking closer to the god, "I would never do that to someone that I hadn't talked to in years."

Cronus anger started to grow, lava melted, and slowly came down just like tears.

Gods got all of their weapons ready.

"Put the weapons down!" Rhea ordered to the gods.

Goddess Rhea Roared, "Step back, or I will let go all of my Arrow to any of you."

Everyone but Garuda, dropped their defences rapidly as if they were about to be enchanted.

"What do you think you are doing, a-and where did you get that bow?" Garuda said desperately.

"Mind your own business Garuda!" Rhea responded.

Cronus looked down at her with a short smile at his wife, and Rhea smiled back with Zeus, Hera, Demeter Hades, Ares and everyone else. But perhaps that was their going to be their last smile together.

Garuda threw the sword at the heart of cronus, which broke him apart into small rocks, and lava just like a volcano. Rhea and her son and daughters fought against Garuda and his troops, but perhaps it was too strong.This was the end of the for Cronus, and Rhea.

Years later, Zeus became the strongest of all gods, beside him were all of his brothers and sisters along with the statues of their parents Cronus and Rhea, Garuda was killed by the mighty ruler Zeus.

Why Rain Falls

Once upon a long time ago there was a youthful girl named Stormer, she was very beautiful with amazingly long brown hair and smooth brown skin but stubborn and takes pride in her opinions. She lives in a village in a normal house with nobody but herself, she was a hater.

On a normal day Stormer comes outside with a big bright sun shining on her long silky hair while the crowd stares at her in amazement and when she sees some people start to worship a statue of Zeus, she rolls eyes looks at in disgust and walks away angrily thinking to herself why do those people worship Zeus, it's not worth it. Days pass as she looks at the statue in disgust threw her dusty window.

As soon as she walks away an idea pops up into her head a horrible idea that would show the people just how angry she was about this worshiping thing, she would do it in two weeks. So she sets off to make her evil plan happen, but Zeus was watching her wondering what she was doing even though he knew how much she hated him and all of the other gods and goddesses. Twelve days pass, thirteen days pass and she whispered to herself "tomorrow is the day." The next day when everyone was asleep even Zeus she grabbed a flaming torch with fire red, yellow, and orange from a pole in the village. She ran and set the statue on fire. Zeus was awakened by the screams and yells of the people in the village and the smell of a pungent smell of smoke he was scanning the village to see who could set the statue of him on fire, and then it clicked. It was Stormer. He yelled in rage and anger.

He stomped to his lightning bolts grabbed a bunch found her and cast several lightning bolts down at Stormer, a couple missing her but on his last one, his hardest he threw, hit her straight in the heart. Stormer fell violently to the cold, hard ground. In a couple of hours Zeus realized what he had done and came calmly and swiftly down to her and the people stared at him in awe.

Zeus picked up the beautiful girl and brought her to Mount Olympus and laid her in a straw bed in a cold cellar. After a couple of days she woke up but in a different form. She was a storm cloud! When she thought she could scream a big thundering BOOM came from her mouth. In rage Stormer was able to slip out of the window and into the sky. Zeus knew that this would happen, he hit her directly in the heart so now she could never be turned back into a human. Stormer was forever a cloud.

So now Stormer is a cloud floating in the sky still angry and in rage making thunder and lightning to prove that she is angry and that is why rain falls.

The Forest Is Talking

By Sydnee Manyik

Deep in the forest, Regan the mystical fairy had awakened not feeling very good today. When Regan doesn't feel good neither does the forest. See, Regan is the tree fairy and she helps the trees stay alive. Soon enough all the trees started to die. Since Regan was unable to give the trees there dusting they started feeling very very sick, as without their dust they can't stay healthy and alive.

Regan continued to rest, trying to get better as she started to feel like she had killed her family. Not being able to go talk to them or help them to get better. She began to get worse and everything she had done had not helped one bit. Regan felt absolutely awful for her family not being able to help, the forest was in deep trouble.

While she laid getting rest, she was alarmed by a loud noise, Regan could barely move but she slowly got up and saw some sort of irregular creature she had never seen before. She was only 6 inches tall, had no wings and was as red as a beet. She had long curly hair that was as white as a marshmallow. As she analyzed the creature she fell into a deep sleep. The next day as Regan was waking, one of the fragile little creatures walked up to her and saw her fairy dust. The creature picked up a handful and watched it fall through her tiny, little fingers, onto the fairy. The mischievous, creature left after she spilled the sugar like dust not knowing what power it beholds.

Regan suddenly woke up feeling like a new person. She was not sure if the little creature was a dream or real. She knew she had to get back to her forest family to help them. She was flying, from tree to tree as fast as she could making them come back to life, and feeling strong again.

The little creature came back eagerly the next day and saw something strange. The fairy was gone, she walked around looking up at the trees. She couldn't believe her eyes, they were miraculously alive! She wondered what had happened over night for this to take place. The feeble, little creature was looking for the fairy not noticing the fairy was following her. She kept walking through all the whispering trees. Wandering farther and farther into the fresh pine forest. After a while she had wonder too far. She was now lost.

The fairy peeked behind the trees, noticing the little creature was feeling down.

"Hello". said the fairy.

"Hello is somebody there?" The little girl said sniffling.

"Who are you?" said the fairy.

"I am Anna the colossal, protector of the animals. I came to the forest to see why all the natures beautiful animals were leaving."

"Do you know what is happening to the elegant forest?"

"Regan replied", "It is all of my fault". I got sick and was not able to take care of my beautiful forest, when you arrived and sprinkled the dust on me, it cured me!"

"Well I'm glad I could help", said Anna gleefully.

After Anna cured Regan, Regan cured the forest, and all the animals came back. Anna and Regan became the best of friends. They took care of the forest gracefully together, making sure nothing bad ever happened again.

Olympic Games

By:Sophia M.

Long ago, in ancient Greece up in Mt. Olympus, were the great gods who ruled over the face of the earth. For many years, they had nothing to do except look down on swaying fields of loneliness for miles and miles. As you can see they were extremely bored. One day, the great god Athena, goddess of battle and wisdom, had an idea to bring great excitement and entertainment to the gods.

"Great gods of Greece, I have found an idea to bring entertainment to us and our great people of earth". " she announced.

When other gods had heard of her wonderful plan, they know that the great Zeus himself would give a great award for such a wonderful idea for them and the people. Immediately, Apollo the god of light and truth, Poseidon god of seas and oceans, and Hermes the messenger god, rushed up and joined Athena and wanted to be a part of this. For the gods thought that with the best idea and how it was done, would have the honor of being respected by it.

Then the mighty Zeus spoke;" Well then, there shall be a competition held, by the end of this month, each of you must show and perform your idea, and whoever has the greatest performance shall be the new entertainment for all of the gods and the people of earth."

After the meeting, each went to work right away.

Day after day, all gods that were participating in the contest were up all night trying to come up with ideas for what and how they would be presented by.

Scared, Athena was in her room scribbling off many ideas frantically trying to have a single idea come to her, but it never came. She collapsed onto her bed crying and wondered why she had even thought she could do this. Later on, that night, she had a dream about why all of her friends and family loved her so much. It was because of her strength, courage, and encouragement. Crying on her pillow, she suddenly awoke and had an idea.

Once one long month had passed, and all the gods had gathered up to see what the four gods had prepared.

"Mighty gods of Greece! We have all gathered here to see what our gods have prepared for entertainment! Let it begin!" Zeus announced.

Poseidon first came up and showed something called swimming. It was how you would stay afloat of water so you wouldn't drown of the deep waters.

Quickly, Apollo rose from the crowd and introduced archery, which was a weapon in war, hunting, and just for fun.

Hermes proposed a thing called with running/ jumping called track and field, and hurdling. Many other gods joined in and created many other ideas. Athena could feel her sweat drip down and was having doubts about how it would go.

Finally, Athena spoke of her idea." These amazing ideas are truly wonderful, and should be brought down to Earth, but something that could be added to all of these ideas is strength, competition, fun, encouragement, and teamwork. If these ideas had these, they would be called sports, or games!"

The head court was amazed by her idea and murmured between each other. Finally, one of them had announced that all of the ideas that the gods had would be created into sports. Every four years, there would be a big event where all the sports that could be competitive would have strength, courage, teamwork, and would be competitive to compete all around the world.

"Athena, what should we call these sports?" Yelled one of the gods.

Athena thought for a while and then had a brilliant idea.

"Well fine sir, we shall call these special games the Olympic games!"

The gods yelled in a victorious roar for all the land could hear.

One year later, when all the gods of Mt. Olympus had agreed on what the games should be, Zeus balled all of the ideas into a giant glowing ball, and threw it down to the planet earth,below Mt. Olympus, and when it finally hit, a huge ray of light blew back as the fun began to begin.

From this day on, entertainment had begun and at all of the land was happy.

The Gods

By: Grant

Long, long ago in ancient Greece, the mighty god Zeus was looking for his brother Poseidon, the god of sea. Zeus couldn't find him; he just blew it off and thought he was out somewhere in the ocean.

That night, they were having a gathering/party for the grouping of the gods but of course Hades, the god of the underworld, would not be there because of his bad action for example, robberies and other heists." Anyway he's not in our lives anymore and never will be," Zeus told himself.

The dinner was ready everyone was there all the food was ready except Poseidon was still gone, nowhere. They all just started eating like nothing happened. Zeus took a nice bite into the juice prime rib.It was savory.

When, "Hello brother", said a voice. Zeus wandered who it was. It was off the intercom on their main dining hall.

Zeus replied. "Poseidon?" The voice said,"think again" Zeus thought and said in a scared voice, "Hades what do you want." Zeus was so confused what was happening is this why Poseidon was gone did Hades take him Zeus's mind was raising all over.

Hades said, "I want my freedom and you get your brother back." Zeus replied,"you would never hurt your own brother, or would you because you're that kind of monster i'm ashamed to call you my brother." Hades argued,"you are going to do want i want our you are going to say bye bye to your brother." Zeus said," fine all release you." Zeus went to get the guards to open up the under world and let Hades go and to get Poseidon back. He couldn't even look at his own brother (Hades) Zeus told him,"if you do anything bad then i will put you right back into the underworld." Hades is gone free in the world and Poseidon is let free Zeus is happy to see his brother. Zeus knew that Hades would portray them again and Zeus had a plan. Hades secretly was going to do a heist and rob a jewelry store. Hades knew the risk if he did this and Zeus found him then Zeus would just put him right back into the underworld. But he knew he wanted to do this and he would get away from Zeus this time. Zeus was thinking he was going to pull something big but he doesn't know where,when, and what. Hades planned to have the heist tomorrow at 11:00pm. He was going to steal all of the diamonds/jewelry that he could see. Hades was shivering at night nervous for the heist tomorrow, he was in a abandoned warehouse that\ was very old.All he could feel was the cold air coming in through the broken windows. He rolled up into a ball trying to keep all of the warmth from his body on the empty floor. The next morning, Hades woke up very early to get ready for the robbery. Zeus was ready for anything robberies/kidnaps he knew his brother better than anyone in the world he would never be a good guy he would always be a conman. Zeus was going to catch him in action of his crime and throw him right back into the underworld. Zeus knew something Hades didn't know, zeus put in a tracker into Hades when he went into the underworld the first time. If Hades went into a mysterious place then Zeus would be their where Hades was. It was about 10:30 at night and Hades was getting ready dressed up in black and had his spear nice and sharp.Hades snorted through his nostril and uh moldy cheese. Hades was on his way to the jewelry store and Zeus was watching him go their. Hades got their and was ready to break the window when Zeus said,"I wouldn't do that if i were you." Hades recognized the voice it was Zeus. Hades Exclaimed,"All do what I want." and immediately threw the spear through the window with all of his might. The glass shattered like rain falling. Zeus pulled out his gun and Boom!Booom! Hades got shot in the leg. Zeus told Poseidon to come help him. Zeus said," Not today Hades." Hades screamed and then fell. Zeus put Hades right back into the underworld like he said he would. Everyone lived everly ever after.

The God of Life

By Sam Pease

Alex was starting to enjoy his life again. His parents dying and having no friends in school was all behind him. He had a loving guardian, Fydolous, god of plants, and Fydolous was the best of people. Even though Fydolous was busy most of the time giving birth to crops, Alex still got to spend some quality time with the old man. His wrinkled up old skin and white beard made him look like he was older than the dinosaurs, which he actually was. He was oldest god alive.

He first was friends with the dinosaurs first. Bringing them all the plants needed. And once they went extinct, he befriended the animals and then the humans.

After Alex's parents died, Fydolous was depressed for a while because they were his only friends, not to mention the whole family. But Fydolous ended up being Alex's Dad/Friend. The two had been living together for the past 12 years and they were pretty good roommates.

Alex's parents died in a car crash when Alex was only 2. Fydolous was the only one that really knew Alex that well so he took him into his house. He watched him for a couple of days which turned into years. And now Alex went to school while Fydolous gave the people on Earth plants.

Alex went to his room and started putting the finishing touches on his bike he was making. He was a huge fan of creating things. Instead of buying things he would make his own. With the smartest brain in his school, he was able to create a whole variety of creations. His birthday was coming up in a month and all he wanted was a pile of wood and other materials.

"What you working on there?" asked Fydolous.

Alex jumped out of his seat freaked out by the sudden booming voice from the ancient man. "I'm finishing my new bike," exclaimed Alex proud of the work he had done.

That night Alex thought about how down Fydolous looked that day. He looked that way for the following week and Alex was suspecting something.

Are you feeling okay?" Alex asked in a worried tone. Alex knew that the world would be toast without Fydolous giving crops to the people. And the way he's been acting, it didn't look like he could help the people for any longer. But there's always fish, Alex's least favorite meal. And not even them could survive for long.

Fydolous was sick and both Alex and Fydolous knew it. Every day Fydolous would get weaker and weaker. With no god to give plants or crops people had to save up their food because everything was running out. Animals would eventually lose their coral reef, throwing off the whole food chain. And their will be no plants for land animals to feast on which would also throw off the food chain.

On Alex's birthday, Fydolous would spend his last. "Son, you know some people think god's last forever. Those people are wrong. For all of the years they live, one of them is going to be there last." said Fydolous with a lifeless voice. Fydolous lay in his bed showing no sign of life. He was like a dead shriveled up flower and he looked twice his age.(Which would be 9.1 billion years old.)

And with the man's last dreadful words, he said,"Son, you need to take my place in the world and be the god of plants. If you don't a lot of people will die and most animals will die. It is the only thing we can do."

"I love you," Alex cried softly. Alex never really thanked Fydolous for everything he done. He had never said he loved Fydolous or even hugged him. What a great friend I was, Alex thought sarcastically.

And with Fydolous's only power left, he gave Alex the power to make plants.

The next couple of days, Alex just sat in grief next to the Globe of Life, is what Fydolous called it, and returned everyone's prayers with plants. That's where Fydolous sat and put down plants and crops for people in need. But it was the most boring thing Alex had ever done in his whole entire life. And the thing reminded him so much of his dear old friend.

After years of sitting alone near the globe, Alex started to think, If every living thing could be reproduced, couldn't a plant. There has to be a start to a plant's life beside getting put down in a random place from a god.

All day Alex thought of ways a plant could start off as. Then he had it. He could create an egg that would give birth to a plant. He was after all the god of plants, so couldn't he give birth to one? With a lot of power, Alex created the seed. He would show it to all farmers and get famous. No one would have to pray for plants anymore, they would just buy seeds from the local market and plant their own crops.

A few years later everyone knew about the seed and Alex owned a farm where he planted a whole variety of crops. He wasn't just the plant god anymore. The gods of Olympus named him the God of Life. He brought every organism the seed, letting there be life to not only a plant, but helping out billions of living organisms. And he lived happily ever after.

Arrow of Peace

By: Adyson

What a beautiful day in Athens, but why are Athena, goddess of battle and wisdom, Apollo, god of light and truth, and Zeus, the ruler of the gods all here?

"Help! It's coming!" someone called out. Athena looked over to see six sacrifices tied to poles on the shore of Athens, screaming in fear.

"What?! Why are there six sacrifices?!" Athena angrily questioned.

One man came up to the gods and explained, "A Scylla is coming to attack Athens, we put out the sacrifices to try to make the Scylla go away... it has come!" The gods looked over to the shore to see the Scylla rise from the water, each head with a body in its mouth. The Scylla this close to Athens is as dangerous as being trapped in a cage with a tiger.

Everyone ran from the shore, terrified from the sight that they were seeing. "This is wrong! This creature will not go away, you just wasted 6 worthy men and wo-" Athena's words were cut off by the sound of angry charging from soldiers reaching the shore of Athens.

"Charge!" each of them shouted. Soon enough, Zeus and Apollo joined, so Athena did too. Blazing swords and flashing shields raised against the beast, but nothing had worked. The Scylla did not die, in fact, no matter how hard they tried, it refused to die.

One long week had passed, and the Scylla had not gone away. Soldiers were getting extremely tired, injured, or killed. Soon, about all of Athens had lost hope. Zeus wanted to call more powerful gods and goddesses to help, but Athena didn't want them to get involved.

Athena, Apollo, and Zeus had gone out to fight once again, thinking, "How was this beast still living?" Athena looked behind her and saw her gift to Athens, the Olive Tree, the sign of peace.

"Wait..." she said, she caught her breath and quickly realized that fighting would do no good, no matter how hard they tried. Athena remembered that she had a powerful potion called "The Wisdom Potion" with her. This potion makes whatever drinks it stop fighting and show mercy. That is what she needed.

"Apollo!" Athena called out to him, running, and filled with determination.

Out of breath, Athena held up the potion and said, "We must get the Scylla to drink this."

Apollo took an enchanted arrow, mysteriously the potion seemed to be absorbed immediately. Apollo stretched his bow, and shot making direct contact with one of the heads in its mouth. The head seemed to be slowing down, sputtering, and suddenly... it stopped moving. Its lizard-like eyes were still open, but it just stood there, frozen.

Athena told the troops to stop fighting, and since she was a goddess, they did. The one head that seemed to be hypnotized started cawing and making bird like noises. Almost like they were communicating in their own language. Altogether, the heads all started cawing, like they were arguing, and Athena could see some of the soldiers start aiming their sharp arrows at the Scylla. Athena gave them a dirty look, sending them the message to hold off, then, the Scylla stopped cawing.

It was silent, not one of the Scylla's heads was attacking, same as the soldiers, they just looked up in fear. Instead, the beast just looked at the terrified men, its mouths covered with blood, same as its body, covered in arrows from being shot so much by the soldiers. At this time, Athena went up to the Scylla, thinking that it was safe.

"Athena, no!" Zeus shouted to her, like he was in a panic.

Athena responded calmly saying,"It's ok father, I think it is safe now."

She was so close to the Scylla that if it chose to attack, it could swipe her before a blink of the eye. But instead, she put her hand on one of the Scylla's heads. The beast seemed to like this action, and pushed its head forward, making her hand stroke it's sharp scaly head, the Scylla also seemed to smile at her.

When Athena looked behind her, she could see most of the army shocked at what they were seeing, even her father looked surprised! She looked back at the Scylla, but only saw waves in the sea moving away from Athens.

"Prepare a funeral for the people who died from this attack," Athena said, "The Scylla won't come back, it is now at peace."

Name: Addy Rucker  
Date: 3/7/17

Class Period: 1/2

Teacher: Mr. Graham

The Battle of Schools

"No! We won fair and square!"

"No way! Our school clearly were the winners! We deserve it more than.. You."

"Hey! Break it up! Whats going on here!"

The stunned principle of Kinard yelled over the large crowd of angry teenagers. They salty sweat dripped off of their foreheads and the burning heat was making them feel dizzy and lightheaded. "The children have worked so hard," he thought. Then a man in a big yellow coat stepped forward. You could tell he was dying of heat, the sun was bouncing off his face, then he stepped into the cool shade and cleared his throat.

"Alright listen up!" the children instantly stopped talking and angrily stared.

"Uh, wow, okay, so what is gonna happen is that you are all going to collect money for your schools, whoever gets the most money win the prise money and the money both schools have collected. And in this competition that you just tied on, we just want to say we are very proud of you. No schools did better than one another, you just each won 3 competitions each school.", the man said nervously. The man nervously stared at the ground and then at the kids and so on. The children quietly pondered this and then they loudly cheered for this brilliant man. They suddenly threw warning glances at each other, Preston and Kinard.

Now up in the sky Zeus and Hera were calmly discussing who would get the most money.

"I like the school with the horse" mighty Zeus said.

"Hmm, oh, well I like the big cat, pumas right? Yes, I like them." the noble Hera said. He will choose the Precious Pumas, thought Hera. She will choose the Mighty Mustangs, thought Zeus.

"Pumas", Hera said

"Mustangs." Zeus said.

"Fine! We will each pick a school. Whoever wins gets a statue carved from Hephaestus." Zeus agreed.

"Fine", said Hera.

"Gosh, I'm essentially being cooked alive!" a middle school kid from Preston said.

"Hey! What if we did a lemonade stand for the school!" said another Puma.

And just like that they were making some serious money.Back at Kinard they were quickly selling lemonade and donuts after school for $2 each. But one day a Preston kid secretly snuck 50 dollars from his mom's purse. They were not the only school that did that though, oh no, a Mustang would get 10 dollars for 5 days if he did his chores. He just made his brother do them and then said that he did them. They thoughtfully sold everything from food, to slime, to spinners, and even hand painted canvases.

Two weeks later the schools nervously gathered together. They gave all of their money. The principals slowly counted the money. Hmm, 512 dollars, pretty good! The Preston Pumas principal thought. Wow! 512 dollars, great job kids. The Kinard Mustangs principal thought. "512 dollars!" both the principals said at the same time. No way! The kids thought.

And at that moment Zeus and Hera descended from the sky. " We have seen we has happened." Zeus said. "We have decided, you will split the money!" Hera exclaimed. "And we each get a statue!" Hera said excitedly. The kids stared,confused, then they started cheering. They would end up getting new 3D printers, books, and even new computers! So clearly, it all ended up okay. And it's not the end, because I bet you there's definitely more fights to come between those schools.

Breezie's Journey

By: Kayla Scherer

10 years ago, on a 150 acre farm with a big, red, rusty, 12 stall barn and a giant, red house to match, there was a girl named Kaylin. She owned 7 horses, 6 goats, 2 cows, and too many chickens to count. Kaylin was a brave, young, horseback rider, she loved her horses more than anything, especially her prize jumper, Breezie. Breezie was a gorgeous 5 year old grey mustang mare who had consistently won every jumper class they had entered. That day, May 21, 2007, was a perfect day for a trail ride, it was 75 degrees and all sun.

As Kaylin walked down to the barn, she could smell the powerful scent of the oak trees. After walking for 45 seconds, she arrived in the barn and on the left side, sixth stall, Breezie was standing with her head over the dutch door, proud as ever. The girl grabbed the halter and hooked up her horse to the light pink lead rope. She calmly walked down to the cross-ties (cross-ties are where you tack up your horse). The horse's owner gathered up the bridle, the saddle, the saddle pad, the martingale, the girth, and finally, her saddle bag. That morning, Kaylin prayed that the saint of horse's, St. Eligius, would watch over them the whole ride.

When they were all set to go and the rider was mounted on her horse, they headed out north. That was the longest trail but one of the most trouble- free for the horse to climb.

About 2 hours later, they were almost ready for a break. Kaylin pulled Breezie to a halt and carefully dismounted. She scrambled around to find the food she had packed in her saddle bag. She sat down next to Breezie and ate lunch.

When she had finished and her horse had munched some yummy grass, she climbed back into the cushiony, english saddle and headed down the trail. As kaylin heard something, she looked over to her right and coming coming towards them, there was a big, ferocious mountain lion pouncing on Breezie like a puppy playing with a toy.

The big cat ran and the girl suddenly jumped off of her horse. She quickly wrapped up Breezie's leg with a rope she found in her saddlebag and twisted a pen in it to make it tight so most of the blood would stay in. She made her mustang pony lay down as she prayed softly for the saint of horses to come and assist her.

Shortly after, the saint showed up and she explained with a gloomy voice, "Kaylin, there is a cure for Breezie, but I'm afraid that we won't have enough time."

The girl said that she was willing to try anything. St. Eligius suggested that the owner should try and get her pony walking, but that wouldn't happen. Breezie had already lost too much blood and it was oozing out of her leg.Breezie could no longer walk and she wouldn't open her eyes the tiniest bit.

They quickly made the medicine. At this point they didn't know if Breezie would survive. Kaylin bent over and lightly hugged her horse not knowing if they could save her.

At that moment, the saint flew over holding the medicine in her hands. They both carefully opened Kaylin's horse's mouth and poured the medicine in. The both of them looked at each other because they could tell Breezie was able to taste the icky, gooey medicine. They waited until she opened her eyes and then the 14 year old owner, made the beautiful horse rise up to her feet.

Breezie was so happy to see Kaylin, so she gracefully pranced around in circles around them both and could not wait until she had a stall full of grain and straw waiting for her back home.

St. Eligius flew the horse and rider back to their big 150 acre farm where Kaylin put her beloved horse in the paddock where she could run and run like the mustang she is.

Suddenly, two years had passed and Kaylin was saving all different horse's all over the world with the medicine that she and St. Eligius had created. Also, Breezie had became a very strong horse, and a wonderful jumper, people from all over the world came to watch them compete. Breezie did shows everywhere from California all the way to London. Pretty soon, that horse had seen the world.

In the Belly of The Mustang

One normal day at Kinard Middle school there were 2 boys, Ethan and Caleb, who had just come from PE.

"PE was so much fun today. I loved playing Hoccer," said Ethan excitedly.

"Stop," Caleb interrupted, "Watch out for the Mustang!"

"Oh, you know that's just what the teachers say to the kids so the janitors have less to vacuum." smirked Ethan sarcastically.

"No, really," argued Caleb, "you'll get taken into another world."

"That won't happen Caleb," replied Ethan stepping on the mustang. "Watch."

At that moment, Ethan was taken into the Mustangs Belly - a calamitous place where Mr. Bergmann rules. He lay there unconscious.

When he woke up he found himself in a dirty cabin. Then he heard a voice.

"Wake up, wake up, can you hear me?" whispered the stranger.

"Huh?" replied Ethan groggily, his head ringing. He felt like he had just gone through a cycle in the washing machine.

"Oh good, you're all right," murmured the relieved stranger.

"Yeah, who are you anyways and where am I?" murmured Ethan starting to wake up.

"I'm Jesse Morrill, but everyone calls me Mr. Morrill," he answered. "To answer your next question, you're in the Mustang's Belly, where everyone who steps on the Mustang is taken."

"Can you help me get out?" Ethan wondered, sitting up.

"I can," answered Mr. Morrill, "but only if you're willing to help."

"What do I have to do?" questioned Ethan.

"Well, to exit the Mustang's Belly you have to leave through, well uh... the rump," said Mr. Morrill awkwardly. He always felt awkward telling people this.

"Eww!" replied Ethan, reacting strongly.

"To do that you have to answer three questions from the three main classes," Mr. Morrill said.

"English, math, and science," instructed Mr. Morrill, "Are you ready?"

"I guess so." he answered.

Then Ethan and Mr. Morrill exited the headquarters and lurked their way to the uh... exit of the Mustang's Belly.

"Alright Ethan, see Morty the mascot over there? He will be the one to ask you the questions," instructed Mr. Morrill.

"Here goes nothing," worried Ethan.

Ethan walked up to Morty, tasting the musty stench that beheld him. It smelled like Morty had gone on a twenty-mile run every day for the last month without showering.

"Trying to escape the Mustang's Belly huh? Well you have to answer a few questions first," Morty smirked.

"Alright," Ethan gulped.

"The first question... what is connotation?" asked Morty.

Ethan was relieved. He knew the answer to this one. "Connotation is what you feel," Ethan answered strongly.

"Hmm. Correct," Morty answered. "Next question... what is the rule when dividing fractions?"

"Uhh," Ethan knew this one, but what was it? "Divide by the reciprocal."

"That is also correct," Morty begrudgingly answered. "Alright, last question...what type of zone is it when one plate goes under the other?"

"Subduction zone," Ethan said proudly.

"Fine then," Morty said grumpily. Next time he would have to pick harder questions. "You may exit through the rump."

Ethan waved goodbye to Mr. Morrill as he strutted through the rump.

Ethan smelled the stench of middle schoolers and he knew he was back at Kinard.

"Ethan," yelled a familiar voice.

It was Caleb. Ethan went to join him.

"I will never ever step on the Mustang again." Ethan answered.

"That's good and all, but we are going to be late to math if you don't hurry." smirked Caleb.

"You're the only one going to be late," said Ethan walking down the hall already feeling the walls slide past his fingers as he walked. He was glad to be back.

The Civil War

By: Zach

Long ago on Mount Olympus, there lived the gods; Poseidon, god of the seas, Hades, lord of the underworld, Ares, god of war, Zeus, ruler of the gods, Athena, god of battle and wisdom, Hephaestus, god of blacksmithing, Hera, queen of Olympus, and Apollo, god of light and truth. To begin with, Ares had always strived to be the ruler of all the gods.

One afternoon Ares felt his soul pushing him to go ask Zeus. He didn't want to, but his soul broke free and he sauntered up to Zeus and said," Can I be ruler of all gods?"

"No, you cannot, and you will never be able to. That is my role," said Zeus. Ares could just see the fury in Zeus's eyes.

Later that day, Ares walked up to the gods in a bribery manner and asked if they thought he would be a better ruler than Zeus. Hades, Athena, and Hephaestus thought Ares would be a stronger leader. Poseidon, Hera, and Apollo thought that Zeus would be a more powerful leader. Ares talked to his team and told them that they should start a war.

Later that day, the gods prepared to fight in a war. Hephaestus made Ares's armor and swords. Athena and Ares prepared a battle tactic so they could defeat Zeus. Apollo was trying to help as much as possible, but war was not his thing.

On the other hand, Zeus's team was attempting to make a battle tactic. No one on their team was warlike. So, they were most likely going to get outsmarted.

At two o'clock on May 21, 1761 the gods prepared to fight.

Zeus said," You will never win," in an aggravated tone.

"Good luck, we have all the warlike gods," said Ares.

The gods got ready to fight Ares's team lined up, but Zeus's team just stood next to each other and got their weapons out. The gods charged like Spartans and started to fight. Ares effortlessly stabbed Zeus and heard a cry of pain, but since the gods are immortal it only hurt him. Zeus could taste the metal of Ares's sword in his mouth. Ares team started to dominate. They hurt Zeus, Apollo, and Hera. Hades and Athena had been hurt on Ares's team. It was Ares and Hephaestus against Poseidon. They charged toward at Poseidon from either side. Poseidon was injured and Ares's team won. The war was like ants fighting ants, because it caused so little damage because they could all heal. The gods could just smell the blood and just then realized what bad they had done. Ares's team focused on healing the other gods. Ares went up to Zeus touched his wound and said sorry, I caused all this pain but no one was killed.

Once Zeus was healed he was furious that Ares was now ruler. Zeus tried to shoot a lightning bolt at Ares but missed and hit his teammate Poseidon instead. It took Poseidon two days to recover from the bolt.

Two days later, after all the gods were healed, Ares was crowned ruler of the gods, and Zeus became the god of war. Poseidon, Hera and Apollo were disappointed that Ares was now ruler.

Zeus was still furious that Ares was now ruler but handed over his staff and said,"Well played."

The End of the World is Tomorrows, Today

by:Andrea Walser

In a city filled with people dancing to the beat, people filled with energy, kids pumping their legs with a ball at their feet trying to avoid the people around them. A city, Barcelona, Spain, with compact apartments stacked on top of each other. People waking up to a smiling sun.

Inside a hot pink apartment a young girl, Scarlett wakes up to the rattle of the street. As she starts the day she thinks to herself that she is going to have an appreciable carefree day. She steps out the door on a mushy, restful rug, to head to soccer practice.

But, she did not know what the god Alex Morgan had in store for her. The goddess, Alex Morgan, who was as beautiful as a peacock, was searching up and down, left and right for the right person to protect their beloved Spain. But it all came down to Scarlett.

Later that day, Scarlett and her team were implementation their soccer when suddenly, the sun was hiding behind a big gloomy cloud. Small pebbles of water started to strike Scarlett and her teammates, as they quickly sprint inside to get shelter.

As they charged inside they were met with the goddess Alex. As in all of their head there were in astonishment and filled with joy.

She said, "I need you Spain is under attack by robots and I need you to take the long journey and you will find that the streets as your soccer field."

The following day Scarlett and her friends began their journey, as they dribble their way through sun and rain.

Scarlett and her friends were strolling through the frightening forest and could taste the wet dew, when tree wolves, jumped out and surround them.

Scarlett ostentatiously yelled, "get your game on girls." And after that they passed and shoot their way through these tree wolves, and suddenly after, Gisele got hurt when a tree wolve bit here the girls came around her to support her, she explained the wolf's teeth to be knobbly, and they transfer her until she got better. They stopped to feel the bark, it was smooth,

Scarlett felt a tingle in her head and said, "this was sent by the robots, so we must be conscious."

There on they just followed the yellow pitted brick road. Once they arrived the robots were dominating the field, with their perfect technique, and were flawless. They stood in stupefaction and would have to be creative with their moves.

The girls warmed up and were ready as they would ever be so they screamed, "1-2-3- Arsenal" and they got in their position on the field.

Pass, Kick, and Score, it barely missed. Robots get the ball, and shoot the ball all the way into the goal from the half mark. And the robot attacks Lisa, tweet! Fawl, tears stream down Lisa's face.

"Sub please," Scarlett says, another player steps on field. You could smell the scent of sweat from all of the hard work the girls were doing.

Shoot, Score, Repeat. Until halftime the score is 0-4 and the robot are in the lead, the girls can hardly breath. The game must go on, the players think to themselves. With 2 injured players, there are no more subs, and Scarlett must play.

Scarlett says with hope," We have gone through so much together and we must not give up, we can not go down without a fight."

The game started again and score, the girls hopes lift up. Score, Score, again and again, till, tweet. That's game, and the girls won 5-4, and they have saved their beloved Spain. From that day on the girls had their mark on history.

The Birth of Ares the God of War

By : Tyler Waters

In a small town of Sweden was a man named James and he was an artist who was sad and lonely but he made it work. One day he had a bright idea he would paint a god, the god of war he thought to himself. He started painting right away , he started to paint the black outline of the character. Then he painted the skin he was red and his armor was black and yellow. James then decided to take a nap. He walked up stairs got into his pajamas and nightcap.

Just then he was woken up by a big crash. It felt like a earthquake in the underworld from the kitchen where he stumbled out of bed to only to hobble downstairs to find a dark red man covered in black and yellow shiny armor just like he had painted, Ares was born. James was amazed but didn't know how he got there. He told James to bow down before him. James quickly did what he pleased and then Ares asked where he was he was, James explained that he came alive from that canvas beside him.

Ares responded," preposterous I could not have come from that".

"But you did come from the canvas sitting right beside you fool!" James exclaimed.

Just then James and Ares felt like they were spinning around the world just then they were at Mt. Olympus to see Zeus stood before them shining and mad. James could smell roses and the olive tree from Athena when she won the city Athens. Zeus asked James how this being came to life.

James responded "he came from a canvas that I painted".

Ares shook his head "preposterous". Then Zeus explained to James that he will send Ares to the Temple of war where he will control how the wars end and who wins James agreed.

And from that point on Ares was from there on the god of war and James was walking down a path with his new dog Jackson and met a girl named Rebecca he was no longer alone, while Ares enjoyed himself watching wars as the gruesome battle went on with blood spattering on him and he was licking it. He thought to himself "this is my job I shall enjoy it." and he did.And he lived happily ever after.

Death From Above

By: Evan

In the mid 1970's Felman, a European, had just enlisted in the army. He had successfully completed eighteen missions before and not a single crew member on his B-17 had gotten an injury.

It was the 4th of August and he had just left his new mission debriefing. As he walked toward his plane the crew named "Queen of the Sky", Felman said his usual prayer to Zeus and all the gods and goddess of war and battle. He asked them "Please mighty Zeus, Ares, and goddess Athena, help me complete my nineteenth mission and keep me safe. Thank you... amen."

Felman had just reached the big B-17, which was often used for bombing and had just had its payload of four bombs loaded into the hull. He boarded the plane surprised to see the crew all ready to go.

The experienced pilot Jacob and copilot Bill were ready to taxi to the runway. The rest of the crew John, Mark, Dan, and Brian were all in their positions. The over wing gunner John and Dan were locked and loaded, While Mark, the turret gunner, got into position. Brian was the navigator that was also ready to guide the plane through enemy territory. Finally, Felman was at his seat. He was the bombardier, the man who dropped the bombs.

The plane was in the air. The four amazing engines made their grumbling sound as the plane was at full power while they climbed to cruising altitude.

An hour and a half later, the plane was over enemy territory. Felman and his crew were joking around, when suddenly TAT! TAT! TAT! We're under attack! the turret gunner screamed. The plane's 3rd engine cut out. The crew was shooting at the enemy planes taking them down one by one. Then, the 2nd engine cut out and went up in flames. The pilot hit the bail out button and called over the radio BAIL! His high pitched voice made him sound like a girl. All the crew abandoned the aircraft and went out the door.

The crew got gunned down by the planes. Everyone was killed, but Felman. Athena came down from the sky and carried Felman to safety while all the other crew members were killed in action.

Felman awoke with a terrifying sight he was in the middle of a thick forest. He had no clue where he was and the only sight to see was trees, lots of trees. Felman looked around only to find a single gift Athena had left. It was a Colt M1914. The most popular of handguns. Felman began to work on creating a shelter that would house him for as long as he was here. He cut down small trees with his knife and soon he had a small shelter.

As the next day came, he was awakened by the sound of dry leaves. It was a small rabbit that would make for a good meal. He quickly grabbed the animal and strangled it to death. The rabbit tasted so good. Felman savored it because he knew it would be long before he got a good meal.

Then Ares, god of war, came to help. "Dear Felman, I can't help you but you can help yourself. Whenever you hear a plane overhead you should light a fire and await rescue."

"How do I know if it is a friendly aircraft?" Felman asked.

"You will know." Replied Ares. Before Felman could say another word, Ares was gone. Felman spent the whole day cutting down trees so he could do as he was told.

A month in the woods still proved hard. No plane had come. He began to lose hope. Until he heard the loud sound of engines, airplane engines! Quickly he raced to the mound of wood and leaves and set fire to the objects. The smoke smelled terrible!

Felman saw a B-24 pass overhead. The beautiful aircraft circled overhead then landed in a field. Felman was so rejoiced. He sprinted like a lion to the plane with all of the power he had left in his body.

Felman boarded the plane with seven other awaiting people inside. The plane took off and landed a hour and a half later.

At base, which was named "Charlie", Felman was taken care of. He was fed a good meal and his family was notified that he was ok.

Two days later he was reunited with his family. They flew to their homeland and Felman had a honorable discharge. He lived a long life after until he died in 2013.

The Great Defeat

By:Cole

Long ago back in the time of B.C in a small village which is now mid day New York was two friends that were walking around the village. The village was a nice place in the middle of nowhere and filled with bright spirits. The guys names that were playing ball were Aaxavo and Aftepagogis They both loved to play with the bland soccer ball outside together. . They were having a wonderful time until they see Mateo and Kynigos. These men are enemies to each other. What they like to do is play football together. They each look at each other with a dark gaze. This meant war.

So the men head to the bloody battlefield and get prepared to fight. They grappled their gear and got ready. Meanwhile, the most evilest person in the village, Serpia was creating the biggest most baddest creature in the whole world. Serpia was casting the spell and said, "Come to life my child and be free... Reaper". She thought that was a good name for it. So now the spell was being created and purple lightning was being flashed everywhere and it was so blinding!

But back in the small town, the 4 men had no idea that this was happening behind their backs because they wanted to kill each other. So back at the underground set up that Serpia had, she was finally letting out the beast Reaper. At this point, if the men wouldn't stop fighting, there whole village will be destroyed. So after so much brutality, the 4 men realized that they would be stronger together than they are apart. The rumor spread through town and it got to the men. So the leader of them, Aaxavo, told them all, "let's go stop this beast once and for all".

So they run through town asking about clues of where Serpia might be hiding. They gathered every ones thoughts but it didn't come together. None of the clues made sense. So they mixed them up and got the answer. Mateo said, "I've got it, it is in the underground sewers." But the men were too late. As Aaxavo, Mateo, Kynigos, and Aftepagogis looked up, the beast was right in front of them.

The men were in pure shock. They were so focused on stopping Reaper that they had no gameplan. So they ran to a hiding spot and collaborated. They came up with a genius plan and it so happened that this plan just might work.

So what they said was, "Your creator Serpia is a genius. I wish we could be as smart as her." The reaper started to get confused. His head started spinning and he had no idea what to do.

"Will we be able to meet her so that we can be as smart as her?" So the reaper got so confused that it just told them where the small hideout was. The beast had been tricked. So the 4 men ran down to where Serpia was and stopped her once and for all. They chained her up and took her to the jail cell in the middle of nowhere. So they came back to see what the Reaper was doing to the village it was almost torn to pieces. So they released the spell and it vanished.

Now the men felt almost unstoppable. Now the city of normal people would rejoice and sing happily about the great defeat. So Aaxavo, Mateo, Kynigos, and Aftepagogis were chanting through the streets. The street was soon to be named KAMA after all of the first letter of each mens' names. The village was once a peaceful place again and came no more harm. And when everyone arrived there, it smelled like victory!

Then 20 years later, back where Serpia died, a hole and rumble started to form in the ground and some kind of object was about to be hatched out...

Miraculeuses are the Way Home

Oriane Chabenat

Once upon a time, ok no way are we starting a story about my adventures fighting off wicked guys like that! My name is Emily, and I was not unaided when fighting off all those evil people. My heart, soul, and home is in Neverland, yeah, that's correct, Neverland. I am 16 and am friends with Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. My friend, Kailyn, can hypnotize people to do what she bids. Brooklynn my other awesome friend, can fly with powerful wings. Then there's Sophia, a cool friend with the power to shape shift! This occurred in Paris (city of love yada yada yada) at midnight.

This is how it all happened, I was hanging out at my place when the delivery fairies flew in a package. It had my name on it, but there were two letters, P&T, from this person or creature who sent it to me. Who could it be? Anyways, I was so anxious to tear open the package! When I had done just that, what I discovered was a small gold and diamond box. Something shiny was reflecting off of the cute little top, it was a fingerprint pad. I told myself, "Well, it is for me."

Thus, I held carefully put my thumb up to the box and waited, a click was heard and there was a message from my mother's familiar soothing voice.

"Emily, this is your mother with some very special news no one can know about," my mother said. "Prepare to be teleported to a location across from the North Star. Ready? Good luck!"

BOOM! Just like that I was teleported from my home to the middle of Paris. I felt something cool, and rough at my side, it was a bag. Inside it there was a cool feeling silver disc with three indented golden spots. One of them formed a heart, another was a sun and the last one was a moon. The sun and the moon were at the top together and the heart was at the center.

When I looked up, I was startled to see three young girls crouching in front of me with wondering eyes that told me they have special abilities. They started speaking French and they seemed very confused. The girl with the shoulder length blond hair and blue eyes with the power to hypnotize, asked me, "Pourquoi est-ce-que vous et parterre?" That meant, why are you on the floor in French. I told them that I did not speak French. Luckily, they could speak English too so, they continued to speak English to me. I just had an epiphany! I had to get Miraculeuses, a special magical type of gem, in hard, difficult to get to, famous buildings around Paris.

In the past few weeks, we got to fight off villains and save Paris three challenging occasions, I got all the Miraculeuses back from the evilized innocent people of Paris. Miraculous' were stolen from me by Sin Maker who craved all the power to control all of Paris' people as his slaves, also known as, spreading evil. After combining all our abilities to make a ball of power, we all defeated the despicable Sin Maker.

After all the exhaustion, fighting him off, we won the gems back and out of the blue, a magic master named Pacerson gave all of us trinkets for our good deeds. "Emily, you will keep gaining these and placing them onto a box, inside it you will find out soon enough. Your mother sent you here but her messenger remains a secret." I finally put the gems onto the circuit said a long heartfelt goodbye to my hero friends, and stepped into the teleporter to return home. Brooklynn, Kailyn, and Sophia all became the Miraculous Three, the people of Paris call them their heros. As for myself, I met up with Peter Pan and Tinkerbell to see if they are the ones who sent the package to me, but, that is a different story for a different time.

John, the Remembered

By: Joseph

High above the planet of Tyrone a Hammerhead Corvette flew at the command of John a skilled and expert pilot. Everyone loved him except for the god Hades. Hades is the god of dread, rocks, and unfortiance. Hades loathed John so much that he wanted to kill him but he couldn't, so he came up with a plan on how he was to make John's life miserable.

He commanded rocks from outer space to collide into John's ship. Soon a huge storm of asteroides were pounding John's ship. The Hammerhead Corvette smashed through the atmosphere and into the dirt of Tyrone. As John stepped out of his ship he had realized that the gods were against him so he ran away from his crew and left them to die.

As John flew, he heard a scream from his crew. He ran back to the wreck, when he got there he watched Jen and the rest of the crew be taken away by the natives of Tyrone. John hid in a bush near by then he met Harry and Barry, two of the natives. Harry and Barry took him to their hut and told him they were helping him, but at a cost. They wanted him to build a translation droid. Later that day John had finished building the droid for the twins. Later that night Harry, Barry, and John went creeping around the camp. They were only able to break out Jen and one other crew member....

"Come on," John said, "we have to get out of here." The group rushed through the forest till they came to a swamp, with deadly poison tree flowers. Without thinking, every one dashed into the swamp, then abruptly, John and the other crewmember (that John, Harry, and Barry rescued) were sinking in quicksand. Suddenly John was given a surge of strength and pulled himself out of the bitter sand, and just in time too, because the other crew member was swallowed up by the quick sand. Soon the team came upon a cave and then decided to stay a little while....

Then they spotted a talking frog named Nut. John knew that the frog lives off of fuel of working spaceships, he is very dull, and super annoying, so he told Nut that if he gave us his ship he would give him three small space cruisers. Without a doubt Nut gave him his ship. So with John's promise Nut tagged along with John and his crew to John's home world Trivia, one of the most beautiful and rich planets in the solar system.

Hades watched in anger as John excapes his doom and flies away back to Trivia. Surged with anger, Hades comes up with another plan. When the crew gets back to Trivia, their horrid, excited faces change dramatically to a weeping grignot. They find out that fire was rained across the burning world.

Suddenly, 10 members of the Rebellion popped up out of nowhere and shot the team with sleeping darts including the frog, "Nut."

When John woke up he found himself in a interrogation room. Then the blinding light popped on and someone came into the room and they asked him many questions like "who are you," " where do you come from," and "what was that talking frog doing with you." Then mysteriously, the prophet of Hades said to John "Hades is the one who has brought this upon you, the only way to fix this is to kill Sini (a giant, six headed vulture)."

Sulked, with this news John retreated to his room that the Rebellion has assigned him. Then the air whirled around him, then he was at the garden of opportunity. Only the gods were allowed here. Then it was over.

John woke up and knew what to do. He gathered the Rebellion and told them now is the time to strike Sini's palace. Then someone in the crowd said "Break a leg." Then he was teleported to his location, Sini's palace. Hades knew there was going to be a fight and told Sini to create a stone army.

When the Rebellion went to Sini's place to bye John some time.

In the palace courtroom Sini waited patiently, for John to come. But John was already there. Then all of a sudden John was seen, he hopped out of his hiding spot and prepared for the battle.

First it was Sini's time to battle but John dodged all six of her heads. Then he sunk his sword into Sini's heart, as he watched Sini fall with a loud "Thud," he knew his task was complete. So he went into the smoky woods and no one ever caught sight of him again and his story inspires many generations to come.

The Artanian Plague

By Ben Decker

I was looking through the trees. Artanious was yelling at my elderly father. We went back to work on our farm after their argument. I did my job in taking care of crops as my sister fed the animals. Artanious came back with a basket holding something I couldn't make out, he was too far away. I strolled over to him. He was apologizing to my father about the pandemonium he had caused earlier. The basket he was wielding was a fruit basket.

Later that night after an amicable day on our farm, we went to the table to have dinner. My father was snacking on one of the fruits he had received while my mother carried the delectable looking roast pig out. The aroma of this succulent looking dinner filled my nose with a great scent.

After dinner we sat outside to tell stories by our campfire, then headed to our rooms for a good night's rest. Later that night my mother came in and said to follow her as she jolted away. I sensed something was wrong. My adrenaline kicked in and I shot straight to the room. My father was pale and sweaty. About half an hour later his pulse stopped. I tried to wake myself up, thinking it was a nightmare but it wasn't this was reality, this had really happened. When I awoke from the long night the goddess of health, Feraye (fer- Arr- yay) told me she checked his deceased body, and what she had came out was the most deadly poison we halve records of. I knew it had something to do with Artanious. We went back to work and around mid-day it hit me so hard.

"Why haven't I thought of it!," I stressed. " It was the fruit in the basket he was presented with!". I communicated with Feraye that he that he had eaten a fruit that Artanious gave him and it was poisoned. She told me that he will see what it's like to mess with deadly potions.

Not long after she spread a cumulonimbus sized gas over his city of Artanian. I saw chaos was happening down there. Soon I heard moans and lots of footsteps. They came over the hill with flesh and body parts missing. The pale grey skin and the look on their faces was haunting. They came after my family. I outran them, too caught up with myself living that I didn't realize they were being surrounded. I ran to save them but I failed again. The disgustingly bloody mess horrified me. Their entrails were spilled and the people, wait I can't even called them that. The things were shoving the flesh into their mouths like it was the best thing they had ever tasted. I ran far, not being able to live with myself anymore, knowing that I had failed my whole family. Artanious yelled my name. "Perseus!!!",

I turned and said "Your town deserves this. You played with Potions so a friend of my is doing the same.". He told me he was sorry and if we could work together. I knew something was wrong. He said "Ok, bud?". As he stood to a different position, I saw the end of a knife he was wielding. I charged, and as I did he pushed he pushed his knife into me. I grabbed him. "Jokes on you" I spoke. He looked shocked as I drove my dagger into him. He whimpered

He spat out "You'll pay for this" then he gagged one last breath as we both fell. I must've hit one of his major arteries because he had no pulse. I guess I was lucky to manage until Feraye came to save me. She released the plague off the city and wiped the citizens memories of the horrible incident. In which I would would think they wouldn't know much about because at the time they were creatures. She said that since Artanious wasn't alive anymore the city would be mine and would be named Perseus.

The Whimper in the Woods

By Haley

"Get up!" Vanessa said "We should go explore!" Vanessa's friend Abby got up as slow as a snail. Vanessa was up already and darting ahead, but Abby was trudged very slowly.

"Can we just stroll back to the tent please it is cold and scary outside?" Abby said.

"No, I want adventure and yesterday we spent the entire day in the tent so let's go." Vanessa insisted. After several minutes, Abby stopped sulking and hiked faster, enjoying the beautiful woods.

They came across a shadowy and mysterious cave. They heard a loud whimpering noise as if an animal was hurt but I thought that it was just Abby whining again. As they stepped closer they saw a green shimmer inside of the cave and smelled something horrible that reminded them of manure. Moments later, they felt a jerk on their waists as they were emerged into the darkness. They were perplexed and terrified at the same time. Abby shuddered in fear while Vanessa charged for the opening. They saw a huge, green, and creepy monster creeping towards them. As it got closer they saw that it was no small creature but it was a enormous dragon!

As Vanessa sprinted straight for the opening she realized that Abby was not behind her! But by the time she got back to Abby so she could snag her, but the dragon had already blocked their path. His colossal sized scaly tail was in the way he had smacked it on the ground and blocked the entrance. They screamed so loud, but no one else was there so no one could hear them. They were all alone.

They took a step back and thought about what to do because sprinting for their lives obviously did not work. Vanessa, and Abby then decided that they should try to persuade the dragon.

"Please, we just want to leave we will do anything just let us leave!" They said roughly at the same time. Soon enough the dragon signaled to his oversized claws and we all noticed that he had some sort of thorn in his claw.

They thought back to earlier that morning when they heard loud whining noises and realized it was him. So, they grabbed to thorn and yanked and yanked until it came out. They celebrated for a moment but then remembered they could leave so they said goodbye to the dragon and left with the taste of rocks and rubble in their mouth from when they fell, but as they walked out they suddenly got a strange feeling . They felt as if they wanted to stay. So, they decided to leave and come back every Saturday and visit.

So, every Saturday the dragon would sit outside his cave and wait for them to come back.

The War of Solis

By Mason

Long ago there was a city called Solis, on an island off in the Mediterranean Sea. The city was named after the God Apollo because solis means sunlight and Apollo is the God of the sun, whom they worshipped everyday. There lived a dad, Parrok, and his son, Cybus. They were a very peaceful tribe and didn't like war. They had a jungle covering the whole top of the buildings which made it so from an aerial view, it is almost invisible. Parrok and his son were both soldiers and fought side by side.

One fateful day, Hermes came to share a dreadful message for the people.

He stated that, " Athenian troops are heading your way. At least 20,000 well trained troops. They wish to take over your city, not destroy it." That was it. No details for what direction they were coming from or anything. The people of Solis had to figure out plan immediately. The Athenians were coming with a better army, more troops, and no one would fight with the Solis troops because it would just be a hopeless cause. They had a general who went by the name of Gen. Cerbus who would come up with one of the greatest plans of all time. There was a miniature island just a little distance away that had giants all over it. Gen. Cerbus had the plan to capture these giants and make them fight. The people all gathered to hear his plan.

"We will capture the giants and put them all around the island," he stated, " once we have them in place we will hide in the trees above our city. When the Athenians are in the city we will have them surrounded. All of our soldiers will have bows and arrows to rain down on them when they are surrounded. There are several groups of soldiers that will move in at different times after we shoot them. We will win this battle!"

"Yeah!" the scared crowd cheered.

The next week the Athenians were sailing to Solis. The giants hurled huge rocks at the Athenians and took out at least 10 ships. When the Athenians made it to the city they had to fight off the giants until they were either dead or they had retreated. They entered the city and found all of the gold in one big pile in the center of the city. Now the people of Solis came out and rained arrows down on the Athenian warriors. Parrok and Cybus led one group of soldiers down to flank the enemies. They fought back to back battling the Athenians. Once the Athenians had lost too many people they tried to retreat. Parrok was convinced there were no more left but one Athenian soldier came from behind and stabbed him in the back. Parrok fell to the ground dying. Cybus saw his father bleeding and rushed to his side. It was inevitable, Parrok was going to die. Cybus was fuelled with anger and was stronger than ever. He definitely finished the job and drove the invaders out.

Most of the surviving Athenians made it out but at least 150 were captured and put into the Solis army. Cybus got married and he went on expeditions to new unexplored areas. He lived a happy life with his family and never forgot about his dad.

Heroes of Egypt

Camden

A very long time ago, in Ancient Egypt there lived heroes who helped the gods retrieve lost items. The god Ra, the Egyption sun god, got in a huge argument with the god of the underworld and death, Anubis. Anubis stole Ra's golden staff and now Ra has summoned 2 of the best heroes he can to retrieve his staff.

Ace and Alara are best friends who have dedicated their lives to being a hero. They have retrieved many lost items for the gods and were chosen as two of the best heroes in egypt. As they were walking home from school one day when they received a letter.

"I wonder who it's from?" said Alara. Once they got home they read the letter together and immediately started to pack. They walked outside as yellow dust sprayed everywhere as they were summoned to Ra's palace. Ra told them all about what needed to be done. Ra gave both of them a magical item that will help them during their journey. Ace got a map that showed where everyone was and Alara got a flask that held unlimited water. Ra told them one final thought,

"Anubis has a weak spot, the knuckle that is missing three fingers." Ra exclaimed. They started their journey while going to get the key to the underworld. The key is located in the tomb of Anubis' first self. They walked 17 miles until they were found to be in the middle of the desert a huge scorpion emerged from the ground.

They had no weapons to fight except a shovel so they ran. They ran as far as they could until Alara collapsed to the floor. Then a fire bolt came from the sky. Ra had saved them.

"Drink the water!" Ra said in a mysterious voice.

Thankfully the water saved Alara and walked to the tomb. The door was open and was easy to enter. They saw the key and ran. They had got the key! One room over was the doorway to the underworld. The key unlocked the room but a legendary beast beside them encaged but as soon as it saw them it broke the cage and came sprinting at them.

"A Manticore!" Yelled Ace. The gateway was right behind the manticore but how would they get to it? Bones,skeletons, and spiders hanging on the wall the realized there was an eagle that came screaming through the doorway. It was huge! It came down and grabbed them both in its huge talons and were thrown into the gateway. Standing there was Anubis with huge wings and a golden staff.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!" he boomed. Alara and Ace said nothing and started to run towards his weak spot, Anubis' knuckle. Alara climbed up the stone wall and Ace started to distract Anubis. He led Anubis into the treasure room where Ace found a knife. He stabbed Anubis in the foot and a loud scream came from Anubis.

"Now!" Ace screamed as Alara jumped of the wall onto Anubis' knuckle she took the shovel and stuck it into Anubis' hand. Anubis screamed in pain and shrunk to the Size of a mouse. The staff came falling down and clanged on the floor. They took the staff! Ra summoned them back to his temple. He repaid them with fortunes and fortunes of gold.

 |   
 |

---|---|---

 |   
 |

 |   
 |

 |   
 |

 |   
 |

Wild Flower

By:Jenny Griffith

Long ago in a forest far away in Greece lived a young girl named Erin that was as courageous as a flower in a scorching hot desert. Erin had blonde hair and big blue eyes and she has the power of healing and growing things at her command.She always felt the urge of wanting to explore and was very curious.The one thing in the world that made her sad was that she had lost her family long ago. Every day Erin set out on a journey looking for them.

Erin was living in a forest and could hear birds chirping and the dripping water hitting the ground and a strong scent of fresh rainfall in the forest. All of a sudden, she heard a noise coming from under the tree that she was sitting in practicing growing blossoms when Zeus,ruler of all gods and goddess', and Persephone,goddess of spring came by and were talking about how there had been a drought,"There is a terrible drought and all of the plants are dying in Thebes," Persephone argued against Zeus.

"I understand your need of help, but there is no god in the land that can bring back the plants and animals lives," Zeus said to her in a calm low voice. Then the little noise came from the tree of a twig loudly snapping and startled the gods and caught their attention.Erin was frightened when they looked up into the tree and she tried to get higher in the tree to listen to them talking, but they told her to come out in a commanding voice. Then Erin came out of the tree and the gods were surprised that she was not a curious Nymph, but a beautiful little girl around the age of 12 and 13. She walked out of the bushes near the tree and the gods noticed that she grew a flower everywhere she stepped.They noticed she had power, and were confused because they had never seen a girl on earth that had powers. The gods asked her where she was from and she said she didn't know. She told them that she had a stubborn power.

Zeus and Persephone asked her a serious question, "Would you ,little girl, be willing to help us and be willing to help us fix the city of Thebes with your powers?" she did not reply but looked at them confused and considering their true identity.

"You are gods and you do not fool me," Erin told them. The gods were concerned because only true gods can tell if a god is behind a disguise and asked her what her name was. "I am Erin you startled me."Erin asked them some questions and finally agreed to help them.

Later on that day,she took the long and miserable journey to the city of Thebes and noticed why they needed her help.It looked very berrin and very abandoned.She could almost not taste the water when you drank it. They finally got to the field and she sat in the middle of the field, and the dirt felt hard as rock and the grass was crunchy and dry.She was told to grow one flower and she couldn't grow one on the field and kept trying.She felt like the job was helpless and looked over at one of the families and she was encouraged to try once more and use her power up for good for the people of Thebes. Finally, Erin gained so much confidence, she looked at the gods and smiled then used her power.The field changed in a flash. The gods couldn't see her or anything. She was gone nowhere to be seen. In her spot laid her favorite flower a sunflower. The gods were sad and heartbroken that she saved everyone and everything and didn't get to live to see it. The gods went back to Olympus and told everybody about Erin and relieved the other gods and told them the drought was over, but Erin was gone and a single flower laid in her spot.

In the end the flower from Erin remained in the spot that she cast the spell and saved everyone with her life.The gods went back to Olympus and grew sunflowers in the garden of Persephone to remember Erin and what she did for them. When you see a flower remember that was a place where she walked when she was on earth looking for her family.

Nadies the Diamond

By: Matthew

5000 years ago in a jungle in Central America Nadies was exploring in the neighboring villages land and saw a mountain and started to climb up it. Once she got to the top, she sat and looked over the jungle for a while then Nadies started to make a sword and bow. Nadies could taste the fresh air in her mouth as she was making them. Hephaestus saw what she was doing and wanted her to teach him how to make those kinds of weapons.

While Nadies was making the weapons Hephaestus thought of chasing her but he couldn't decide. After Nadies was don't making the sword he saw how beautiful it was and started thinking faster. He still couldn't decide. Nadies was halfway through making the bow when Hephaestus made up his mind and decided to chase her and catch her and teach him how to make these wonderful weapons. Nadies smelt a hint of odor. Suddenly, Nadies heard a rustling in the trees behind her and looked. It was Hephaestus and she saw him. She screamed and started to run toward her father's land.

Nadies ran straight through weeds, poison ivy, and branches. After 5 miles of running she saw her father's land. Nadies started screaming before she got into his land, "Help, a crazy man is chasing me!"

"Stop screaming my lady." Hephaestus said trying to sooth her. "I am Hephaestus the god of fire and forge don't be frightened."

Nadies got into her father's land and screamed "I don't care who you are you dull man! Father help me!"

At once Nadies started to turn to stone first her feet then up to her knees than waist and lastly her head. Hephaestus grew so mad smoke came out of his ears and he shouted, "Why!" He grew mader every second and finally he dumped a lot of lava on her. Then he turned from mad to sad and gravely left. Because Hephaestus got so sad it started to rain. Nadies father came and saw what had happened and grew sad also so it rained more. Sone after that the village came to see what had happened.

After the ceremony happened everyone want back to the village and died from depression except for Nadies father because he stayed at his daughter's side. He scraped off the ashes with a rock and saw what was underneath the ash. Nadies turned into a type of mineral human statue. As sone as he saw what she was he called it diamond then he finished scraping the ash off as quickly as he could. He started to make golden city around her. Once he finished he hugged Nadies.

The result is Nadies got turned to diamond and Hephaestus is both mad and sad about her. As for Nadies' father, he died because he stayed with Nadies for 1000 years. Some people think he died from love.

6,000 years later an explorer comes and finds the golden city. He walked around and saw the diamond statue in the middle of the city with a really old skeleton hugging the statue.

Living on a Rainbow

By Sandy Apples

A long time ago in a land far away, there lived a handsome unicorn named Fluffy and his friends, Charlie the big dog, and Shelly the turtle. This unicorn was very unique. He could change his horn to any style that he wanted, and was also the most beautiful animal that you have ever seen. Fluffy the unicorn and his friends liked to play on rainbows and observe the appealing surroundings. Fluffy really wanted to fly back into the clouds. But Charlie the dog did not want to leave.

Fluffy was getting annoyed so he said in a mischievous way. "Why stay here when there is way more things to do on the clouds?"

Charlie didn't listen. He ignored Fluffy and kept on playing.

Shelly was very shy, but didn't want to say anything. The butterflies were fluttering around the rainbow. It was so peaceful watching their wings flutter around. Shelly had always wished that she could be a butterfly. She examined their every move, wishing that she could fly and soar like them. "I wish that I could be free like them." Why do I have to be a turtle, I'm the slowest animal on the rainbow." Shelly thinks.

Fluffy the Unicorn gets frustrated and yells at Charlie, "WE ARE GOING TO THE CLOUDS NO MATTER WHAT! I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY!" Fluffy picks up Shelly and grabs Charlie by the hand and pulls him to the Rainbow Bus.

Charlie got angry and tugged his arm away but was too slow. Fluffy caught him and rolled his eyes. He thought about the times that this has happened before and laughed thinking about it. Charlie did not like to listen, but Fluffy was always in charge. The unicorn tended to be bossy and not always nice.

As they started approaching the clouds, Charlie saw a huge huddle of unicorns in the distance. They appeared to be planning something. Fluffy galloped over to his family, grabbing a tasty apple on the way.

When no one was watching, Charlie ran into Fluffy's house. He wanted revenge on that unicorn. He searched the room and came across the unicorn's favorite horns. He looked around and found Fluffy's most prized horn and picked it up. Little did Charlie know that Fluffy was watching this whole time.

The next day when everyone was gone from the clouds. Fluffy went to the rainbow and found Charlie. Charlie was trying to act like nothing happened the night before.

All three of the "friends" were playing rainbow soccer. Fluffy was so angry that he grabbed the collar off of Charlie.

This was how the fight began. Charlie jumped on the unicorn's back and tugged the back of his neck, choking him. He fell to the ground, so close that he smelled the bright candy on the rainbow.

Shelly had no clue of what was happening and for the first time in forever... "GET OFF OF EACH OTHER!" she screamed, and was so alarmed that she actually spoke. Charlie looked at her, astonished.

Then, a big thud sound blasted on the ground. The Goddess of friendship, Philotes appeared. She looked around astonished by the behavior that was happening. By this time, Charlie had gotten his collar back and was sprinting home.

"Stoppppppp!" she yelled, "Why do this to each other?" Charlie looked back and froze. Unfortunately she couldn't get them to stop fighting.

Without warning a wild shock went into all three of their heads. They all forgot everything that had happened.

She made it so that Fluffy the unicorn will never be as bossy and mean as he was before, Charlie the big dog will be more respectful of what his friends want to do, and Shelly the turtle will have more confidence to speak and stand up for herself. This will help them to never fight and appreciate each other's friendship. The Goddess leaves and the three friends start playing forgetting everything that happened.

The Fairy Wish

By Soleil Henrickson

Once upon a time, there lived a little fairy boy named John. He was in love with this girl named Elli. He wanted to marry this special fairy because when he first saw her face at the pixy party, he instantly fell in love.

In the evening, at Fairy Ville, John called to the goddess, Aphrodite for help. He turned into a flower!

This started when John wished at the blue sparkling water for Elli to be his, but it did not work how he wanted. King Corso made a law that appears to be that, you can only wish three times in your life. He wished four in a row. John respected that law but did not want to follow it. Before he knew it, he was a flower, stuck on the top of Mont Hilly, the highest mountain in Fairy Vill. There were vishes bees buzzing, big, black crows, blue monkeys, and dragons that would come after anything that came their way even the tiniest flower. John had never been more scared in his life. John was brave thought, he was in this for Elli.

After a few hours, John got bored. He tried jumping and holding his breath, but nothing happend. Soon enough, John felt alone.

Days and weeks passed, too and turned into years. John was loosing hope on himself and Elli. He tried more though. Bending, scratching, leaping, crying, and sleeping. He had no hope on getting out.

The season turned into winter. Snow was falling and so was John's petals. He knew that he was growing old in this flower for many, many years. His heart was slowly breaking and he lost his bright, flower color. John kept trying though. John wished that he did not wish his four wishes. If he did not wish all those thing, he would have wished to be himself again, the way he was when he was a real life fairy. He lightly closed his eyes and cried softly. John thought of how handsome he used to look like and loved the way he was. He laughed and and felt like he was a grown man. There was a bright sparkling light that he never saw before. In a blink of an eye, John was the man he wished all along to be, himself. John was free at last! He sprinted down the hill.

Then, he took a big whiff of the bright sky filled his lungs with air and selt fresher than ever. He cried with tears of joy. "I'm free, I'm free." John yelled so loud. As John looked down the grassy hill, there was a beautiful small young lady, Elli, holding a basket of flowers with her blond flowy hair drifting with the cool breeze. His heart filled with love and happiness. John was nervous to go talk to her. " Would if she thinks I'm a weird or ugly guy. I don't think Iew should go talk to her," said John. John thought to himself, "I'm handsome the way I am, I don't care if Elli thinks I'm weird, because I like weird." John grew strong everytime he said he loved himself.

Soon enough, John took a shot at going to talk to Elli. "Hello, John said with is bravest voice, I think that you are the most beautiful fairy in this village. Do you want to have lunch with me?" Elli replied back, "Oh, I would love to John." Little did John know, Elli loved him the same way he loved her. Elli and John lived happily ever after in Fairy Vill together.

The Final Fight

By Jack Houldsworth

This was no ordinary day. I woke up, looked out the window and saw enormous flying ships that I had never seen before and they had green lights and the rest was black. They were shooting at innocent people. "My name is Lykaon, I am 15 years old and I live with my mom. I have never met my dad. My mom tells me he is in the military and is still on the same mission. I think she is not telling the truth because he has never come home.

While looking out of the window, I saw these things flying out of the ships and they were moving around. Sprinting down the stairs, I heard my mom scream "Oh No, please tell me this is not happening!"

I asked my mom "Why are you saying that?"

She replied "Look sweetie, your dad wasn't really in the military. He is what created these monsters and he gave me a stone that holds the power of a Titan. He wanted me to give it to you when you are ready. I feel like now is as good of a time as any."

"Why?" I asked

"You have to be courageous."

Yes, the one time you meet him you will have to kill him. Let me get the stone." she stood up and got it. "Stab this into your stomach." I took the stone it felt like it was the smoothest thing ever, and stabbed it into me. I screamed out in pain for a second. "Now hold your hand up." I held my hand up and I transformed into this hero with a giant axe made of Iron in seconds and it was on flames. "Go now, fight for your life, just do not die." She said as she ran outside and disappeared into dust.

"No!" I screamed. I thought what killed my mother I will kill. I ran outside swinging the axe as if it were a rag doll. I killed every Alien that was in sight. Then dust and bright lights swirled around me like I was in a tornado. I fell to the ground and everything went black.

"Hello anyone!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I was in a very deep, dark cave and no movement to be seen.

"Lykaon, my son!" Lights turned on and I saw my mom and dad. I ran towards them smiling and tearing up. I hugged them tight and they hugged me back. I knew that nothing bad would happen anymore and I would not have to kill any more aliens. Just as I thought that another stone appeared in front of me. This time it was purple. As I looked back my parents were gone? Then black smoke swarmed at me like a tsunami. I charged as fast as I could, but the smoke was faster. The smoke slowly disappeared and I saw ghosts of my parents. "Son come join us and take over the galaxy.

"Why would I, I like it just the way it is." I said

"You had your chance." My father said. My father appeared in front of me but as a different figure. He has one bright green eye and he looked like a giant but made of wood, he smelled as if he were a wet dog. He chucked a green flaming ball at me. I dodged it as if I were playing dodge ball. I stabbed the stone into my chest. When I stood up I have a purple glowing bow and arrow. I still had the power of the axe as well. I did not want to do this but I shot the bow at my dad and attacked him with my axe when he came near. I thought in my head while he got me pinned on the ground. The fate of the universe is in my hands. I could not give up, I threw my axe at him and he fell backwards. I shot my arrow at his eye.

"Ahhhhhhh! Son you are a good fighter." He said this as he transformed back into his human form. Son I am the god Vextor, the god of darkness.

"So that means that I am a demigod and have evil in me?" I said as I prepared to finish him.

"Yes, you will pay for this." He said this as he teleported away. I was sent back to my home and everything was back to normal except I was home alone.

"Hello!" I said as no one answered. "Well I have no more parents." I said sadly. "Well at least the world is the same and I am alone."

The Canada Flag

In a place called Quebec Canada, In 2018, there lived the citizens. The gods and goddesses were watching the people carefully. Something was awaiting for them.

The people of Quebec, were building a beautiful shopping area.They wanted it to be so pretty, and smell good like a feeling that makes you feel good. They wanted to get the place to smell like fresh flowers and water. They have been working on it for a kids field trip coming up, and for the people to enjoy ( of course).. The kids of Kinard have arrived, and everything was perfect. The whole town knew they were coming.

The french kids, went to the museum, they went to the cafe downtown, and then everyone heard a big boooommmm. Coming up the border of the hills, a big puppy came running for his treat.

Everyone was so scared except the kids from Colorado. They were so confused, but so satisfied. The people noticed that from a distance, there was a cannon shot with treats that someone shot randomly. The tour guide, and everyone else ignores it until..... The dog wrecks all the progress before the kids get to see the work. It smelt like concrete, and ashe. The kids picked up some of the remaining pieces.It felt like sandpaper, and rocks, and wet concrete from All the water from the fountains explosion.

The dog noticed he was going the wrong way, and went the other way, and then noticed that there were no more treats. Everyone was super mad at the puppy, and the puppy soon ran away. All the people were so relieved. The puppy ran away because the treats were all gone, and because the dog was scared of the people because they were trying to keep him away. The puppy was meaning no harm.

The people were pleased with all the history they could have if they made something memorable. They ended up making a huge statue of the puppy, and even gave the statue a name. " Coal" The puppy. The gods and Goddesses came down and celebrated for the new history, and so the puppy wouldn't wreck anything else. Everybody had new stories, and the Kinard French Team, ended up coming the next summer. They wanted to see the new progress on the city. They ended up building a new city hall shopping area, and all the people were so happy and very careful about what they do. They wanted to make sure that the dog wouldn't come back of course.

The Crash

By Jay Nelson

CRACK! The tree went as Jack hit it with the plane. Jack was on his way to his house from the beach with his friend Tom when he ran out of gas and down he went. He was ten feet above the ground when the wings were ripped off the plane. Five feet above the ground, two feet and then it hit. The plane was dragging on the ground and Jack couldn't do anything about it. He tried to duck down but branches from trees kept raining down on him. The plane went another fifteen feet before it came to a stop.

Jack got up, or at least tried to, and looked at himself. Most of his clothes were ripped and his arms were bruised with blood gushing out of his shoulder. He looked at his pants and he saw the blood stain. He lifted his pant leg up and saw that a piece of metal came loose of the plain and sliced his leg. He had splinters everywhere so he picked most of them out. He tried to get out again and started to sit upright when he saw it.

Not twenty yards away there was an ugly, green creature that seemed to be mumbling "GROG!" "GROG!" over and over again. Jack pounced back down into the footrest of the plane and waited until the voice disappeared into the trees. That was when Jack noticed he was lost in the middle of the forest with nothing but some torn up clothes and a knife that Tom gave to him for a birthday present.

He saw Tom's plane cross over him and he knew he would tell people to come get him but it would take over two days before they would reach Jack. He sat up and crawled out of the plane when he noticed his shirt was caught in the aluminum plate of the seat. He reached for his knife and cut his shirt where it was caught. He turned around and saw a small pond with dozens of fish swimming and jumping. He moved his eyes to the left when he saw a giant pine tree with some pinecones on the branches and scattered around under it. Since Jack knew he would be there for at least forty eight hours he went in search for a good shelter in case it rains. He found that the pine tree was his best bet so he started to cut off the branches avoiding the pine needles from hitting his eyes.

About an hour later he had a little hut cut out from the side of the tree. He heard his stomach growl when he stood up. He looked at the fish in the pond and thought of him and his dad fishing.

"That's it!" he thought. "I will go fishing and eat every fish in that pond if I have to."

Little did Jack know that the pond that he was going to fish in was the pond of the grogs, really slimy green creatures with black eyes that will attack with their nature made weapons, and anyone who eats the fish out of it will have a consequence. So Jack spent the rest of his afternoon catching fish with a wooden spear he had made with a branch he cut off his shelter tree.

He watched the fish crisp over a fire he made by rubbing two sticks together. Just before he went to bed he took the last fish down his throat and wished he was back home in his bed with the down comforter over him, that was the last thing he thought of before he dozed off.

He woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of footsteps walking slowly. He tried to see what it was but it was too dark. The sound drifted away when he saw the red, orange, and yellow of the sunrise. He crawled out of his tree shelter and cleared the grass out of the way so he could step out. He looked to the left and then the right and tried to locate footprints but found out the god's consequence. He looked up and just across the pond was an army of evil, green, slimy grogs all staring at him. One of them started running towards Jack which Jack dodged and it fell into the fire in Jack's hut and burst into flames. The slime on it caught on fire like gasoline and it smelled like rotting, burning, flesh. After five seconds of being torched, the grog started growing and blew up. There were guts everywhere. This was when Jack took his spear and shoved it into a pile of green slime from the grog that just blew up. Jack touched the slime covered spear into the fire and smelled the burning flesh. He raised the spear and charged into the hoard of grogs. The grogs started sprinting towards Jack as well. The gap was getting smaller and smaller between them as the flaming spear tip was forced through the first grog's neck. Jack ripped the spear out of the grogs neck with the following sound of a grenade blowing up.

The next thing Jack saw was the green slime everywhere he did this with the rest of the grogs until there was one left. He turned around with his flame ready and saw the flame of his spear slide through the eye of the grog and exit with so much power he saw the flame inside the Grog's head. The grog blew up twice as big as the others and made the deafening sound of a bomb. When Jack opened his eyes he saw Athena standing right where the grog used to be. And that was when she spoke.

"You, Jack have beaten the unbeatable and deserve a reward for this great defeat."

And with that she disappeared into smoke and blew away. Jack just stood there watching the smoke go into the distance where it finally shot straight up into the sky. Jack was standing there wondering what the reward would be when he heard the same footsteps he heard last night. They were coming closer and closer every second until the barrel of a gun was visible from the side of a tree, then an arm, then then the leg, and he saw him. It was a soldier, staring right at him.

"Hello" the soldier said.

"Your friend told us you went down and your mother is worried sick because of it so let's get home."

Jack ran towards the soldier and walked with him to a helicopter waiting in the forest about a mile away.

They climbed onto the helicopter and took off. He was dropped off at the airport where his parents picked him up. He was so happy to be back with his family and safe in his home.

Aphrodite's Troubles with Poseidon

By Tru

The world had just begun, everyone was celebrating the tenth anniversary of the first day of earth on the sandy beach. Off the shore of Athens, Poseidon was keeping the seas calm when a huge heart shaped clam rose from the ocean in a bed of sea foam . Athena and Zeus were talking when they looked down and saw what was happening. Finally, the clam opened and there was a young teen inside, her hair blew in the warm, salty, breeze. All the doves and lovebirds flew down to meet her. She did not understand why but greeted them kindly and told them that her name was Aphrodite. Poseidon went to meet her. It was now that she decided to ask why she had the power of love.

Poseidon forenamed "Who told you that you have the power of love?"

" Well," said Aphrodite," these little men told me so." It was then that Poseidon saw all the little men that were formerly the distributors of love more commonly known as the cupids.

"Well all bother these little men, you must meet Zeus now!" ordered Poseidon firmly.

Now Aphrodite was upset, who was he to order her around like an emperor. "You cannot tell me what I must do for you, are not my father. I have no father and my mother is the kind mother earth."

"Now, now dear child," stated Poseidon "what do you know I am your father because you came out of the sea and I am king of the sea."

"Well I knew you were king of the sea. Your mother is beautiful mother earth, and she is my caring mother, Correct?" asked Aphrodite.

"Correct" answered Poseidon confused.

"Well that makes you my brother, Correct?" She said.

"Correct" sighed Poseidon.

By the way," Aphrodite mentioned," do you know a good place to stay."

Even though this new goddess had proven him wrong, the god of the sea was kind and knew she needed a place to live and so he let her stay in the seas for a while. Now Zeus and Athena saw it all and they decided to keep an eye on the both of them. Aphrodite was thankful to Poseidon but she still did not understand her powers, so she decided the best way to get Poseidon to answer her was to bug him about it, since he would not answer her anyway else. This was not a good idea however, this made Poseidon very angry.

Finally, Poseidon yelled, "Will you please stop that racket."

But Aphrodite did not want to stop until she got her answer. In the end, Poseidon finally blew. No ship was safe when Poseidon roared like an angry lion with bad breath. Ultimately Zeus had to come down to calm his brother and rescue Aphrodite. Zeus decided to bring the shivering, confused, nervous girl to the wisest god of all, Athena. There Athena calmed her with her soothing, motherly ways.

"Calm down, calm down young girl," Athena mentioned soothingly. "It was a bad idea to bother Poseidon so why Did you do this?"

"Well, "answered Aphrodite, "he would not answer me and then we both got upset." Zeus heard these words and went to talk to Poseidon. That went surprisingly well. Poseidon felt sorry and apologized. Now Aphrodite was finally calm and she and Athena showed the humans how to worship the goddess of love.

Of Fowl And Foul

Years ago, soon after Prometheus delivered fire to man,when Athens was won over by Athena, goddess of wisdom, and Greece was still young, Avius god of birds was creating many birds like the powerful falcon, the hungry vulture, the average goose, the large ostrich, and many more in his magnificent cave near Olympus.

He had just completed the mighty eagle for Zeus, king of the gods and ruler of the Earth, when he had an idea to create a bird to represent himself. It would exist as a bird even more sophisticated than the eagle. He would call it the chakron and it would be bigger than the andean condor, more powerful than the ostrich, and faster than the peregrine falcon.

He began right away. He made the wings around 18 feet long, its talons as long as bananas that could heft over 200 pounds, and its beak able to completely mutilate solid bronze. He gave it the beauty of an eagle combined with a peacock and the intelligence of a crow. He made it stark white and a beautiful red crest on its head, and brilliant yellow eyes.

He stood back and wistfully admired the beautiful bird. He knew he had forgotten something, but he couldn't figure it out. He wouldn't bring the fabulous bird to life until it had the absent piece. He decided to go to mount Olympus and ask great Athena, goddess of wisdom what he was missing. He turned into the average swallow and flew to Olympus.

As soon as he got to Mount Olympus he exclaimed as he burst through the marble doors lined with gold:

"I need wise Athena's counselling, for I have created a magnificent bird, but I have forgotten something!" every god and goddess looked at this powerfully built god with his hooked nose and his feathered head. Athena stood.

"Alright, Avius I will try to assist you. Come with me." they went into a room in the back of the magnificent palace.

Envy, goddess of jealousy was angry that wise Athena had helped him. There was no reason to be angry, but being the goddess of jealousy went to her head. And she stormed away. She was thinking of a plan when she spotted Wilt, the goddess of deformation. She had an evil idea forming in her head. She lifted her finger and as Eris shoots his arrow of love, she sent a purple bolt of jealousy straight into Wilt's pure heart. Wilt suddenly became very envious. 'Why did Avius go boasting of his creation in front of me? I can only ruin things.' Then she had an idea. She would go to his cave and make the bird deform itself before he makes it live. But this like the other thoughts were placed in there by Envy She dashed away.

A few minutes later she sat gawking at the bird. Envy had followed her there. She sent another bolt of jealousy into her. Wilt blinked remembering her false anger. She started to make it deform. The magnificent crest on it's head started to droop.it liquified and fell on its chin. It shrunk to the size of a cat. It's beautiful call was reduced to a croak. Avius had returned. He saw Wilt. "What have you done!" he cried. He jumped on her, stopping her. He became an ostrich and his powerful kick rendered her sprawled on the ground. He turned into an eagle and picked her up and flew to Olympus. There, he told Zeus. while he was talking, Envy slipped out of Olympus and returned to her dwelling.

Meanwhile, an angry Zeus stared daggers at the now waking form of Wilt. When she woke fully, he sent a thunderbolt straight at her. She screamed, then all was silent. Wilt had been banished under the Earth. Every time a flower grew after, it had some of her soul in it, which is why flowers wilt. Sad, Avius returned to his cave. He brought the bird to life anyway. "This doesn't deserve the name Chakron. It shall be called Chicken, for it is not magnificent but a clumsy fowl." He sent it to the people, for he had no use for a flightless bird that croaked like a frog and had a sad crest and a wattle. But there was still hope. when he returned after a few years, the people had made him a temple.

"Thank you for bringing this magnificent bird!" said a citizen.

"But why do you like it?" Avius asked, puzzled.

"It lays eggs every day and provides us with it's delicious eggs, and when it's young grow, they provide meat. And the feathers can do many things like add decoration, and we can stuff pieces of cloth with them and they make a comfortable resting place for your head."

Avius smiled "Well then," he said with a twinkle in his eye. "Maybe this wasn't a useless bird after all." And that is how the chicken and the pillow were created, and why flowers wilt.

How Death Came to Be

By: Asiye

Long ago, when the earth was still young and the world was still growing there was a God whose name was Zoi. He was elegant,young, and was always exploring the life below Mount Olympus, where he stayed with his brother Zeus.

One day Zoi was exploring the grounds of Greece when he came upon a beautiful young lady who was singing high above the city streets. It sounded like Goddess Aphrodite was singing it herself. Her music flowed through the empty streets. Zoi was instantly madly in love with her so he dashed into the woods. About five minutes later he came running back with a Narcissus; the flower that grew after the death of Narcissus. He looked around the streets of Greece but he could not find her. Sadly he went back to Olympus with his head drooped still holding the flower.

Once Zoi reached Olympus he saw his brother, Zeus outside, "Where have you been Zoi and why such the long face?" Zoi told him everything about the lovely maiden, and Zeus listened very carefully with a very serious face.

After the story Zeus stood over Zoi and spoke with a stern voice, "You must never go near that mortal again it would be devastating if you fall in love with her, you shame me to even talk about this." Zeus had forbidden Zoi to go near the mortal because it was wrong for a God to fall in love with a human. For days Zoi stayed hidden away in Mount Olympus not eating or drinking. A sour dryness filled his mouth longing to see the beautiful maiden one more time.

After two months Zoi made up his mind. Quietly like a black cat he snuck out making his way back to Greece where he found her in the same place as before singing her lovely song. He went up to her and introduced himself giving her the flower of Narcissus.

Several nights later Zeus went to go say goodnight to Zoi but he wasn't there. For Zoi had decided that, that night he would leave Mount Olympus and stay with his love forever and ever.

Zeus was furious, and he would have to lay a punishment on him. Back and forth Zeus watched Zoi and the Maiden play together in the night. Finally, Zeus came up with a horrible punishment; he called Rhamnousia Goddess of revenge to help him.

First, Zeus grabbed one of his lightning bolts and threw it at the maiden. She gasped for air once it hit her. Falling to the ground blood spewed out her eyes and mouth. She turned completely white and curled up into a ball twitching her bloody body until her eyes closed.

Zoi was watching the whole thing with a pale face. Once she closed her eyes he dropped to the ground on top of her body sobbing.

He lifted his head and up from the body and took the last thing he had to remember her, the Narcissus flower. All of a sudden a dark mist appeared that formed into the goddess Rhamnousia.

She spoke in a soft but stern voice. "Zoi, Zeus has sent me to lay a punishment on you. He told me to tell you that because of your actions, disobeying him, that he had no choice." The Narcissus turned pitch black. A strange feeling ran thru Zoi's head and all off a sudden everything went black around him.

He woke up in the darkest place on earth where no light would ever be seen again. Where the smell of dried blood lurched the air. Where the soul of the maiden forever moaned, the Underworld.

Zoi never saw life again and only heard the moans of the dead souls. He remained in there forever and never saw his love again. Since he had no life, Zoi meaning life, disappeared for he was now Hades Lord of the Underworld where he held the Narcissus forever and ever.

The Arts vs. Sports

By: Luke Soosle

In ancient England, many years before one was born, there lived an athletic boy named, "Brantley." Brantley was tall with light blond hair and his eyes were as blue as the sky. He had amazing athleticism given to him by the god, "Calvin," of athletes and sports. Brantley in fact was the fastest sprinter in his school and the best soccer player. Calvin, the god that gave Brantley amazing athleticism, was one of the taller, broader gods, with his muscles being as strong as a three roaring, bears combined. Calvin cherished Brantley's athleticism more than all the stars in the sky.

One day at school, Brantley was studying when he heard a peculiar sound. The sound was beautiful and he became intrigued by what it was and soon figured out that it was a piano.

Meanwhile, when Calvin heard the horrid news that Brantley fell in love with the sound of the piano, he cursed. For he and the goddess, "Pietra," did not get along because Pietra was the goddess of the arts and he was the god of sports and those two are the exact opposite from each other. Neither of them wanted their mortals in which they gave their talents to, to begin enjoying the other one more. But when the god of athletes and sports thought about how Brantley loved sports and how devoted he was to them, he laughed and said,

"Ha, why must I worry? My favorite athlete in which I gave the gift of athleticism to, will not turn against me for music!" And with that being said, Calvin fell asleep.

"Happy birthday!" said Brantly's parents. Had his birthday already come. He leapt out of his bed as fast as an antelope and hoped that he had gotten what he longed for. A piano. As Brantley rushed down the stairs he saw a gigantic box. He ran towards it and began to rip through it. He could hear the, "Crackle," sound of the box as he tore through it. When Brantley finished ripping through the box, he saw a piano that was crafted as well as a sword. It smelt like brand new furniture. Brantley sat down in front of his new piano and began to play. All Brantley did for the rest of the day was play the piano and eventually decided to give up on sports for all he needed was his piano.

When Calvin found out that Brantley gave up sports he became furious and went marching down to the palace where Pietra lived.

"Pietra goddess of the arts, I command you to make Brantley despise of the piano and of all the arts!" said Calvin sharply.

Pietra then replied,

"Calvin, how foolish you must be. To take away one's love of something is to put them in grave danger of falling into a deep depression. But I will grant your yearning." Pietra took out her wand and with a single wave of her hand a huge stream of scintillation shot up to the sky and exploded, as if fireworks. Calvin was pleased.

The following day,

The sun was shining, the birds were singing, but Brantley was weeping. For he had realized he would never enjoy the piano again and he had no idea why! He sighed for he was in a great depression with nothing to do. All he did was lay on his bed weeping.

Calvin couldn't believe it! He had not realized that taking away Brantley's love of the piano would place him into an everlasting depression! And for the first time in forever Calvin had a guilty conscience. So he decided it was time to confront Pietra about how Brantley was feeling and when he got to her palace he asked,

"May you make Brantley love the piano once more? I have realized the harm that I have caused Brantley!"

But Pietra only shook her head sadly.

"I am truly sorry Calvin! But I do not have the power to make Brantley love something that has already been taken from him. The only god that does is, 'Zeus.'"

"We must find Zeus then!" said Calvin.

So both the god of athletics and the goddess of the arts ventured out to find Zeus.

"Why should I make Brantley love something that is already taken from him?" asked Zeus.

"This boy is suffering and it is all my fault! I should have thought more before I took away his love of the piano!" said Calvin.

"Hmmmm." hummed Zeus. "I see that you are very sorry and regretful for what you have done. Therefore, I will grant your boon." Zeus pointed his finger towards the sky and an enormous lightning bolt shot up to the sky, illuminating it.

Brantley gratefully received his love of the piano once more and as he got older, he became a famous pianist and everyone loved his musical talent. It is said,

"When Brantley played the piano, all of the notes would flow together, making a soft beautiful sound to all closeby listening ears." Calvin and Pietra now work together to encourage humans to try both the arts and sports, so we may be well-rounded and find a love in both of them. So this is why today at, "Kinard," we must do both the arts and sports.

The Grave Mistake of Bavnorea

By Austin Washam

One day in Greece a peaceful cattle farmer Bavnorea (BAV-NOR-YA) was minding his business feeding his favorite cow named Jeffy.

Then Mrs.Yolk came in and said to Bavnorea "You have been chosen to sacrifice a cattle your favorite to be exact."

Bavnorea then thought that if he gets rid of Jeffy then he has no joy, but he can't get rid of any other, he loved all of his cattle. So then he thought to make puppets of all of his cattle so he does not have to sacrifice his cattle.

So later that night he was making all the cattle's puppet copy.

When he was done the next day, he hid all the cattle in his basement and put a sign saying No cattle in here folks on his door.

At night when all the people of his town and the ones he knows like Bill, Jose, Ms Lemon, Mr pear, and Mr and Mrs.Yolk all came to watch, then Bavnorea came out with the altar and a giant knife as big as his arm. He strapped Jeffy's fake puppet to the altar and stabbed it 200 times on it's whole fake body. Lots of pig blood and gore he filled it with, spewed out of the puppet, on to everything and it covered Mr and Mrs.Yolks son all over also a towel absorbed all of it.

Then the sky turned grey and blood rained from the sky and Jose fell to the ground screaming in wretched pain crying for mercy. Legs started coming out of his back and pincers out of his mouth then Mr. Pear and Mrs. Lemon then Mr.Yolk but Mrs.Yolk covered her face and ran so did Bavnorea. They reached a shed but it had already infected all the people in town then Bavnorea saw a scroll that mysteriously popped out of nowhere.

He read it outloud to Mrs. Yolk. It said "Whenever someone does not do a sacrifice correct the god Zeus turns the people of the town into what we know are called Crawlers. The only way to cure this is to get the sap from the tree of life in the center of town. Then once you feed it to one person it will cure the rest. But be careful on your journey crawlers love the taste of flesh and blood."

Later that same night Bavnorea and Mrs. Yolk went to the center of town. Bavnorea stuck his knife into the tree and then the sap came out. Then a crawler jumped up onto Mrs.Yolk and ate her. She was screaming and screaming in pain then he saw that the crawler was Jose. Bavnorea quickly put the Sap in his mouth then he changed. He slowly changed back his mandibles, legs body all went back to normal he became normal Jose.

Then the rest until the town was normal again the sky turned blue and everyone in the town was back to the way they are. But the towns folk grabbed Bavnorea and tossed him into the volcano of Gyali. Later they discovered the cattle in his old basement and tossed them in too. As for the rest of the of them well Ms. Lemon and Mr. Pear got married, Bill and Jose became best friends, and both Mr. and Mrs.Yolk and their son got eaten.

The Colossal Wall

By Maya

Once there was a time when giants resided on the same land Greeks lived on. As one can probably tell, the arrangement didn't turn out too well. The Greeks thought that the giants took up too much land and ate too much livestock, plus they smelled like rotten eggs. The giants thought they were superior to except the gods, so they wanted the Greeks to be their slaves.

The Greeks finally had enough of the giants, so they inquired the gods how to get rid of them. Hermes, the messenger god, came down in a couple of weeks, what felt like forever to the Greeks, after the gods had received their message. He explained that the gods held a counsel to find the answer to their dilemma.

"Since they like the giants and the Greeks, they had to find a way for the two to both get what they want," the messenger revealed rapidly, "They decided that having a war between the two would be the best way to solve the problem. They chose the young prince of Sparta, Jacoban, to lead you in the war. They wish you the best of luck." Before the Greeks could ask any questions, Hermes flew away, his shoes fluttering madly.

"I suppose he means we attack right away," Jacoban roared, confidence in his voice.

Weeks occurred, and with heroic Jacoban at the lead, the giants stood no chance. They almost became extinct, the few that endured fled. The Greeks could almost taste victory.

The gods were furious. Seething Zeus and soothing Erica, goddess of giants, deliberately elected Jacoban because they didn't like him and thought he didn't stand a chance.

"How dare they!" Zeus yelled, clenching his fists. "We must find a way to get revenge!"

"I have been thinking about this," murmured Erica calmly,"Let's build a wall out of the giants. Of course we should add rocks and grass to live atop it to so the Greeks don't expect it was us who put it there."

"That's actually a great idea. Let's send someone to gather all the bodies so we can begin work quickly," Zeus admitted.

A few months later, after all the Greeks thought their problems with the giants were over, they woke up to find a colossal wall outside their homes.

Jacoban walked outside and marveled at the sight before him. The wall was uneven, and some parts reached high into the sky. As he looked closely, he realized it wasn't just a jagged wall, it also had tree and animals on the peaks.

"It's ok, I'm sure there is a way to get rid of this huge wall, or at least get over it," Jacoban said. He tried to look confident, but he was actually worried there would be no way to get over it.

They spent weeks trying to sabotage it, but they eventually gave up and decided they had to get over it. They had only made a little dent when they tried to make a tunnel, and it was impossible for them to penetrate under it because the rock the wall was made from was too hard. It felt uneven and rough, and the Greeks hands when they tried to cut it. Hence mountains were created, an everlasting obstacle to the Greeks.

Peach and the Tree

By Jackson Smith

A long time ago, in a world far, far from ours, existed a place of magic. In this world, dwelled nymphs, gods and other wondrous creatures.

At the entrance to this forest humans would put offerings to the gods. They would sacrifice things from intricate jewelry and exquisite weavings to the best of cattle and even ones of their own blood.

One day, the people of a small town called Haleons had decided to sacrifice a young girl to Otisea, the goddess of vain, hoping this would soothe her anger at their small town. Though the offering never made it to Otisea as the child was found by nymphs. The nymphs had fallen in love with the small human. So, they had taken the young girl with them and had dubbed her Peach.

Eighteen years had passed and Peach had grown into a fine young woman, she had become a sight to behold, for her beauty had rivaled the god's. She had the grace of a petal swaying in the wind, her eyes were light green, with flowing hair of silky gold, her skin as soft and fair as the clouds themselves and rosy pink cheeks that complimented her soft smile. Though looks were not the only thing she had, she was very smart, she knew the different types of plants and if they were poisonous or not. She was very energetic too, bouncing off the walls crazy. Her voice was soft and it melted into song each time she spoke. She was charming to the nymphs and they had loved her dearly.

The nymphs had hidden her from the goddess Otisea as long as possible, but they couldn't stop Otisea from finding out, she was enraged by the trickery that the nymphs had pulled, so she had set out a plan.

She had called the goddess Hemalia, the Daughter of Sleep and Emperor of Dreams. Hemalia had owed Otisea a favor, and Otisea planned to use it. She had Hemalia hypnotize Peach. She had fallen into a trance and leisurely wandered the forest in a dazed state till she eventually plummeted to her doom from a high cliff.

Once the nymphs found Peach's dead body, they had forgotten everything else in their lives and started to weep. They had wept as they knew that they would never see Peach's sweet smile, or that they would never hear her honey voice, or even her soft gaze again. The nymph who had raised Peach had cried out, "Without her, what meaning does life have? Without my sweet Peach with us, the skies shall be gray and no smiles shalt be seen, for we have lost our sunlight."

This had went gone on for four days and nights and Otisea had grown restless, "How long do they dare mourn the death of a useless human?" she had asked herself.

Time had slowly passed on, the body of Peach decayed away and in its spot, grew a tree with a short, stocky trunk, with long, thick branches and curved green leaves, from this tree came soft pink fruits that had the sweetest flesh, that tasted of pure joy and happiness, and softest skin, like cotton fluff and llama fur, the smell was intoxicating it was if the fruit was a flower.

The nymphs never left the tree, as it was the only thing left of their sweet little Peach. After so many long years of waiting the nymphs had turned to spiritless stones, the faces of their pain engraved into them. They were hollow shells filled with sadness.

To this day, they still sit at the base of their beloved Peach's tree, hoping one day that their sweet Peach would be returned to them.

This was the creation of the now loved peach tree and the reason nymphs no longer frolick in the land.

Once there was a time when giants resided on the same land Greeks lived on. As one can probably tell, the arrangement didn't turn out too well. The Greeks thought that the giants took up too much land and ate too much livestock, plus they smelled like rotten eggs. The giants thought they were superior to except the gods, so they wanted the Greeks to be their slaves.

The Greeks finally had enough of the giants, so they inquired the gods how to get rid of them. Hermes, the messenger god, came down in a couple of weeks, what felt like forever to the Greeks, after the gods had received their message. He explained that the gods held a counsel to find the answer to their dilemma.

"Since they like the giants and the Greeks, they had to find a way for the two to both get what they want," the messenger revealed rapidly, "They decided that having a war between the two would be the best way to solve the problem. They chose the young prince of Sparta, Jacoban, to lead you in the war. They wish you the best of luck." Before the Greeks could ask any questions, Hermes flew away, his shoes fluttering madly.

"I suppose he means we attack right away," Jacoban roared, confidence in his voice.

Weeks occurred, and with heroic Jacoban at the lead, the giants stood no chance. They almost became extinct, the few that endured fled. The Greeks could almost taste victory.

The gods were furious. Seething Zeus and soothing Erica, goddess of giants, deliberately elected Jacoban because they didn't like him and thought he didn't stand a chance.

"How dare they!" Zeus yelled, clenching his fists. "We must find a way to get revenge!"

"I have been thinking about this," murmured Erica calmly,"Let's build a wall out of the giants. Of course we should add rocks and grass to live atop it to so the Greeks don't expect it was us who put it there."

"That's actually a great idea. Let's send someone to gather all the bodies so we can begin work quickly," Zeus admitted.

A few months later, after all the Greeks thought their problems with the giants were over, they woke up to find a colossal wall outside their homes.

Jacoban walked outside and marveled at the sight before him. The wall was uneven, and some parts reached high into the sky. As he looked closely, he realized it wasn't just a jagged wall, it also had tree and animals on the peaks.

"It's ok, I'm sure there is a way to get rid of this huge wall, or at least get over it," Jacoban said. He tried to look confident, but he was actually worried there would be no way to get over it.

They spent weeks trying to sabotage it, but they eventually gave up and decided they had to get over it. They had only made a little dent when they tried to make a tunnel, and it was impossible for them to penetrate under it because the rock the wall was made from was too hard. It felt uneven and rough, and the Greeks hands when they tried to cut it. Hence mountains were created, an everlasting obstacle to the Greeks.

Peach and the Tree

By Jackson Smith

A long time ago, in a world far, far from ours, existed a place of magic. In this world, dwelled nymphs, gods and other wondrous creatures.

At the entrance to this forest humans would put offerings to the gods. They would sacrifice things from intricate jewelry and exquisite weavings to the best of cattle and even ones of their own blood.

One day, the people of a small town called Haleons had decided to sacrifice a young girl to Otisea, the goddess of vain, hoping this would soothe her anger at their small town. Though the offering never made it to Otisea as the child was found by nymphs. The nymphs had fallen in love with the small human. So, they had taken the young girl with them and had dubbed her Peach.

Eighteen years had passed and Peach had grown into a fine young woman, she had become a sight to behold, for her beauty had rivaled the god's. She had the grace of a petal swaying in the wind, her eyes were light green, with flowing hair of silky gold, her skin as soft and fair as the clouds themselves and rosy pink cheeks that complimented her soft smile. Though looks were not the only thing she had, she was very smart, she knew the different types of plants and if they were poisonous or not. She was very energetic too, bouncing off the walls crazy. Her voice was soft and it melted into song each time she spoke. She was charming to the nymphs and they had loved her dearly.

The nymphs had hidden her from the goddess Otisea as long as possible, but they couldn't stop Otisea from finding out, she was enraged by the trickery that the nymphs had pulled, so she had set out a plan.

She had called the goddess Hemalia, the Daughter of Sleep and Emperor of Dreams. Hemalia had owed Otisea a favor, and Otisea planned to use it. She had Hemalia hypnotize Peach. She had fallen into a trance and leisurely wandered the forest in a dazed state till she eventually plummeted to her doom from a high cliff.

Once the nymphs found Peach's dead body, they had forgotten everything else in their lives and started to weep. They had wept as they knew that they would never see Peach's sweet smile, or that they would never hear her honey voice, or even her soft gaze again. The nymph who had raised Peach had cried out, "Without her, what meaning does life have? Without my sweet Peach with us, the skies shall be gray and no smiles shalt be seen, for we have lost our sunlight."

This had went gone on for four days and nights and Otisea had grown restless, "How long do they dare mourn the death of a useless human?" she had asked herself.

Time had slowly passed on, the body of Peach decayed away and in its spot, grew a tree with a short, stocky trunk, with long, thick branches and curved green leaves, from this tree came soft pink fruits that had the sweetest flesh, that tasted of pure joy and happiness, and softest skin, like cotton fluff and llama fur, the smell was intoxicating it was if the fruit was a flower.

The nymphs never left the tree, as it was the only thing left of their sweet little Peach. After so many long years of waiting the nymphs had turned to spiritless stones, the faces of their pain engraved into them. They were hollow shells filled with sadness.

To this day, they still sit at the base of their beloved Peach's tree, hoping one day that their sweet Peach would be returned to them.

This was the creation of the now loved peach tree and the reason nymphs no longer frolick in the land.

The Origin of a Unicorn

Makenna

In Ancient Greece, the ruler of all gods, Zeus, woke up in his King-sized bed and as he sat up, the sun shone through the window and on his large intimidating face. His mouth dropped and he sucked in a huge breath then seconds later exhaled it. He gazed down at earth through is big window just to see Penelope running with a populace of horses. He threw his clothes on because he felt a tickle in how horses looked.

He magically and mysteriously appeared in front of Penelope as her mouth dropped and her eyes grew with great shock. Zeus gave Penelope a deed to somehow create a new creature similiar to the horse, but to make it a magical, prodigious, and eyeful. With this command, Penelope decided to pray to the goddess of love and beauty to help her create a stunning beast. Aphrodite came down to earth to see Penelope and help her with her task.

"I can make something unbelievable and beautiful, but to do that, I will need rainbow dust from a Hawaiian rainbow, and an ice cream cone." Penelope took on the task and headed to Hawaii for the rainbow dust.

She arrived in Hawaii and quickly caught a glimpse of a double rainbow in the corner of her eye. She ran as fast as possible to the end of the rainbow. She held out her hands and in them, magically appeared rainbow dust filled with glitter and rainbow coloring. She reached toward her back jean pocket to pull out a draw string bag to store the dust in. Now she only needed and ice cream cone.

She returned home and had the idea to go to the ice cream shop. She entered the happy, cold, and colorful shop where she knew she could find an ice cream cone. While Penelope was at it, she also decided to get an ice cream to enjoy for herself. She saved the cone in her other jean pocket and enjoyed her delicious ice cream.

When she returned back home Aphrodite was waiting in the kitchen and was pleased with what she saw. Penelope handed the items over to the stunning goddess, and Aphrodite sat the cone upside-down on the dining chair with the rainbow dust an inch behind it.

"With these items of magical things I shall make a magical beast," yelled the gorgeous goddess. And with that one sentence the chair and table slid and the dining room rumbled and shook, after a bit the room settled down and in the middle of the room sat and magical looking horse with rainbow hair and horn. It smelt like cupcakes and it was the softest thing Penelope had ever felt. He had shiny dreamy eyes and a long perfectly curled rainbow colored tail.

Penelope led the new looking horse outside along with Aphrodite. Aphrodite wondered what the magical creature should be called. Then right before her eyes Zeus appeared and was attracted to the appealing horse figure.

"This is precisely the creature I was looking for, you have both done a fantastic job, so I reward Aphrodite with the choosing of the name for the living being."

Aphrodite bowed, "Thanks you ruler, I shall name this creation a unicorn for its fine horn that sits on top of his head."

"Well then welcome a unicorn to this world," replied Zeus.

"And now Penelope, I shall most certainly reward you as well, you are now the highly paid owner of your very own unicorn barn."

Penelope bowed down to the large god. "Thank you ruler."

Zeus rose out of bed the next morning just to see Penelope riding a unicorn with beam on her face outside of his bedroom window.

Cinderelliott

By Dylan Croce

Once upon a time there was a boy in Qoultra's forest, whose name was Elliott, and he had a very quiet life until one day he had received news that his father had died from Ice Cream disease. From that day forth he didn't have the same life as before. His work and chores were different and he never understood what his purpose was, for he was a lost bird. Eventually, one day something extraordinary happened. His mother decided to re-marry and brought home a stepfather Crockett and two stepbrothers named Galen and Ebenezer. However, Elliott did not like them at all. And as time went on anger piled upon frustration and hatred until he decided to run away, and then he met Saffron the love of his life.

Later that night when he was cleaning the stove he got soot on his face when he heard a voice say, "Hey Cinderelliot!"

And as Ebenezer said it, they heard the doorbell ring, and they all went to answer it. To their surprise, it was an invitation to the party. They opened it and a bunch of flashing colors and party horns appeared, giving Elliott's mother a seizure, and of course they had no clue what it was so they buried her alive.

That day Elliott said, "What am I to do?"

The next morning was the big day for everyone in the house, and they prepared all day for the party that the great god of wine, Dionysus, was hosting. At the time, Elliot, did not know but, he would be going too. So, that night when everyone was getting ready, Elliot came down looking great and started out the door when he felt a piercing gaze looking at him as he turned around to the surprise of his stepfather.

"Where do you think, you are going?" he yelled. "You, young man isn't going to ruin our chances with your hideous cheesy pants!"

As Ebenezer and Galen scurried out the door, they smirked at Elliott, telling him that he is a failure. Elliott closed the door behind them, and started crying. After a while, he saw a flash in the backyard and he grabbed his trusty broom to go investigate.

A man appeared, "I am your Fairy Godmother Father." he said, and as he said that, Elliott found himself engulfed in pixie dust and dressed up, with a carriage of cheese, and charioteers of stone. Elliott was speechless, so speechless that he hugged his Fairy Godmother Father.

As the Fairy began to disappear, he said, "Just don't drink any wine until after 12 o'clock."

So off they drove in their different directions, and Elliott soon arrived at the castle, where he was immediately let in. The party was already chaotic, with drunks everywhere. He wondered how people could be like this at only 10 o'clock. So, he went down and saw the princess, Saffron meeting different people as the party continued. Once the line shortened, he went to meet her, but Dionysus dunked his head in scrumptious wine, as he realized he needed to leave. He darted toward the door, just as they met eyes. His buckle and pants fell as he frantically rushed home, thinking what a fool he was.

The next day the princess ordered the royal loyal to find the person who wore the pants, who she truly loved. So throughout that day, many people tried on the pants and they fit no one, but the last house was still in sight. When they knocked on the door, Elliott answered and they fitted the pants on him, and they fit!

Alleluia!" one of the loyal said. Elliott realized what this meant to him, and proposed that day. What must we say anymore? They eventually ended up getting married with a honeymoon to his old house where the stepfamily were the servants, and they had wine to the point where they never knew whether they happily lived ever after or not.

A Fairytale Life

By: Naomi Dornfeld

Jay and Kaylee (his younger sister) lived in Apache, Arizona. To them it was the most boring place to live. They highly envied Aurora and Prince Philip, who lived in lush and beautiful fairytale lands. As they thought about this, an elf appeared. "Hello children!! I am the one sent to take you to fairy tale world!" With no questions answered, the desert seemed to spin around and form into a tornado with Kaylee, Jay and the Dwarf in the middle. They walked forward to find that there was a huge celebration in the small town in front of them. The baby princess had been born.

Both of them had always wanted to see inside a castle, so they found entryways to the ball room. There was a soft whisper flowing through the hall. When they neared the middle, there was a small slender woman with a beautiful red dress with sparkling wings holding a beautiful baby girl. She whispered to the baby, "And now Aurora, for my blessing I will give you-..." She was interrupted by a great earthquake with black thick smoke swirling around the baby. A witch appeared with a wand pointed at the baby.

She smiled wickedly and looked at the King and Queen, "Someone wasn't invited to the baby shower, and her feeling were hurt." The king and queen drew back in terror. They knew who she was: she was Maleficent the deadly witch. Kaylee jumped forward.

"Wait! There was a-" She was cut off by the guards as they jumped on her. Jay ran after them.

The angry guards had no compassion, and they snarled at him, "Go away you dog." Jay continued running. But then all of a sudden the clouds swirled and there was a crack of thunder. Then, all was deathly quiet. The dwarf was standing beside Jay holding his wand. He got right to the point. "Hello, young sir. There has been a lapse in time. The witch gave the curse that Aurora will touch a spindle then die. Now it is 18 years later, you see, and you must find Prince Philip soon... or else!!!" With that he disappeared into thin air. Jay stood and glanced around. Kaylee was nowhere to be seen.

Kaylee raced up the castle steps, for the dwarf had appeared to her also, and she knew that Aurora had pricked her finger on a spindle when she was 18, so it would happen soon. Kaylee stepped into the castle entrance and scurried to the attic staircase and started up the windy stairs. She heard a door shut at the top. She knew that she was too late. She started to race back down the stairs to get outside before the spell fell on her also.

Jay had wandered about the forest for hours, but about this same time had found what he was looking for- Prince Philip. He quickly told him what had happened and asked if he could help him. When they got to the castle, there was already a dense thicket of thorns surrounding the kingdom. Prince Philip stood for a minute, but not for long, as a swirling cloud of blackness came toward him carrying Maleficent. The witch rumbled toward him in her black cloud of ash and smoke.

She bent down to the prince and hissed at him, "What is your business, and why are you here with that awful child who seems to have brought you to me?"

Prince Philip drew back while pulling out his sword. "Maleficent, you won't get past me. This day shall be your last day!"

Maleficent slithered forward. "Ahh so you think! Hmmm... I think it is vice versa." With that, she flipped her head and turned into a dreadful beast like a dragon. The prince rushed at her and dove under the fiery breath. When he did so his sword sliced her leg off. The witch roared with pain and fell over. The prince fell back also from the impact. Jay ran over to the prince and grabbed his sword. He ran at the dragon and killed her by stabbing her in the heart. When her blood reached the edge of the thicket of thorns, the thorns one by one shriveled up one by one. Upon reaching the castle gates they became bewildered. Everyone looked like they were dead - all the animals, the people, the guards, everything. Even Kaylee was laying on the ground looking as dead as everyone else. They found the princess was sleeping on a bed of roses

in the attic. Prince Philip immediately fell in love and kissed the princess. After he did, the clouds broke, and the sun came out. Kaylee woke up, along with rest of the kingdom. She looked at Jay and immediately questioned, "Where were you?" Jay answered, "Well... it is a long story. Although as for you, I'm guessing that you were just asleep this whole time... right?"

Kaylee laughed, "Once Aurora pricked her finger, everyone seemed to die before my eyes. Then, the spell came over me and I blacked out also. Last news was that you came here!" As Kaylee finished she looked over to Prince Philip and Princess Aurora who were making wedding preparations.

"I think they will live happily ever after." With that everything swirled around them and they were back at their home in Arizona. Jay sighed and looked at the now dark sky "Kaylee, I think that I like our life more than fairy tale life."

Kaylee nodded her head. "I fully agree. Our life is a perfectly perfect fit for us."

They learned a very important lesson: Don't ever regret or wish for something else than what was put before you.

Name Jacob Hanson Clt-f type |

Date 3/6-10/17

Class Period 7/8

Teacher graham

The Banana

Long ago there lived a man named Xander. He lived on earth but had no house but lots of food and he liked to travel and hike. Then there was Bob the minion, who was spastic and liked bananas and he was from the minion planet. One day Bob asked Demeter to get food so she took Xander's food and gave it to Bob. Xander started to get hungry so he started constructing a home and searched for food.Over time Xander got hungrier and started eating bark and grass or anything he could get a hold of that was edible. A week paced and he had a little pile of edible plants. Bob realized that Xander was hungry and he was not, so he asked Demeter if he could do anything and she said, " I can turn one of you or an item into a fruit for Xander other wise go away."

So Bob got his friend David and gave him to Demeter she asked him what he wanted to be and the only thing he said was "Banana."

Then the minion was turned into a banana and sent to earth. The next morning Demeter told Xander food has landed near by and he had to find it. Xander took the day sluggishly, trotting, and starving to look for the food but he couldn't find it> Later when he got home there was a note on his bed, Demeter gave him a small hint and It had said "Dear Xander, Tomorrow you will have a map or guide, Sincerely Demeter"

So he slept so he would be ready for the next day. When Xander awoke Bob was there making a map and Xander freaked but Bob showed the map and said "Banana Food"

To Xander and he started packing for the journey. They had to travel through a chirping forest around two mountains and down a cave. Xander asked around half way there if they were almost there. It was a long perilous journey for xander.Eventually they found it in the cave and what he saw was amazing it was golden , it smelled like heaven and it was soft and squishy like a big stress ball, so as they walk as they brought it home, they thought about what it would taste like. So when he got home and he planted it and Bob sprinkled magic growing dust from demeter and the next day it grew so, Xander ate it and it tasted like life. The next year Xander was the banana king and he had enough bananas to grow them over the world and he was no longer starving. After that Xander lived happily on his plantation and Bob became Demeter's lovely yellow minion.

The Floating Island.

Sophia Jacqueline de Dunn

One day in the delightful forest of Delphi, there was a isolated Minatare named Szxtile and his best friend was Jack the Jack Rabbit.

On a stroll in the forest, Jack was thinking about how no one wanted to be his friend because he was with a frightening minatare. In the middle of the amble, Jack saw another Jack Rabbit that he wanted to be friends with so he would get more recognition, so he chased the rabbit down his rabbit hole. However, Szxtile couldn't fit in the hole, so his only option was to find another friend. Though this sounds easy, it wasn't easy for an alarming Minatare to do, but the only thing he could do was to try to ascertain a friend.

Though there were many animals in the forest of Delhi, all the animals in the forest were too scared of him. The animals all ran and hid from Szxtile. When Szxtile was done searching through the forest, he decided that they would look in the towns to find a friend. So, the first town he looked in was the town of Aris a town named after Ares the god of war. The townsfolk didn't admire the Minatare, so they made him depart the town. The Minatare went to several other towns, but the same thing happened to him, he wasn't excepted for who he was, so he went back home.

Later that day Jack saw Szxtile crying in the forest, but what Jack did was worse than what he did in the beginning. Jack called up all the animals in the forest, and told him how Szxtile was crying for attention, and that if anyone took the smallest glance at him, they would make fun of how he doesn't have any friends. But the real reason that he did this was because he didn't want anyone to notice he didn't have friends.

"Ha ha! You don't have any friends," said the squirrels.

"Look it's Mr. Lonesome Pants," said the deer.

The animals of the forest started talking trash to him making fun of how he doesn't have any friends. So, when the goddess Gaia, goddess of earth and nature saw the minotaur crying, she decided to send him a friend. So later that day, another minotaur saw him. That miniature's name was Tykle. Tykle stood up to Jack, and reviled what Jack had done to Szxtile. The animals felt apologetic for what Jack did to Szxtile, so they banished Jack from the forest.

The next morning when Szxtile to a deep breath of the crisp pine scented air. He looked around at the blanch blue sky, and knew that that day would be great. So, the joyfully jumped out of bed to meet his new friend Tykle by the ocean, and you won't believe what he saw, he saw new island filled with his own kind. Tykle was there to meet him there with the scent of the salty air that Szxtile adored so much.

All the Minotaur's were rejoiced to see Tykle, and they threw a celebration. Know that whenever you visit a ocean, you might see a big island out in the middle of the sea.

Goddess of Hate

Cal Hunsinger

In Ancient Greece a long time ago the goddess known as Aphrodite wasn't always goddess of love. At one point she was the goddess of hate. She was very rude . In fact she had many servants that she treated very mean and they did not appreciate this so they got into a group and went to see Zeus and told him how she was treating them. He did not appreciate this so he went to talk to her. The two met and it didn't go well. Aphrodite denied everything Zeus said, but he knew everything he got told was true so he said,

"Do you think that it is easy to be your servant?"

She mumbled, "Yeah, a monkey can do it."

"Fine then see what they see with you."

With a dash of his hands he had turned her into a servant of her own. This meant she would see her version of herself as a servant. Servant Aphrodite walked into her hall and asked what she had wanted something. She had said that she wants her gone in the rudest possible way. Servant Aphrodite walked off holding a grip on her tears. She dragged herself into the place were the servants sleep a small space with old ripped up blankets. The next morning she had formulated a plan to get herself to like her. She thought about her favorite thing in the world. What she got was going to get a carnations a whole bouquet of them. She got them all and dashed over to her castle. She put on in her hair feeling better about herself. She walked eagerly in the haul and asked if she had required anything and she had said no. "But i like that flower in your hair."

"Thanks she said do you want a bouquet of them." Sure she replied. I`ll fetch and get them."

She thought to herself wow if i can be very nice. She had brought the bouquet to her and she was amazed. What is your name she had asked she studders to say something so she just said,''Can i tell you something? Zeus had punished me and turned me into a servant of I am you just in different form."

"Wait so zeus has punished you i mean us like this, asking confused."

"Yes he has and you need to start acting nicer to all the servants or he will have me I mean us vanished."

When she had heard the word vanished she was paranoid about it. She had to go to Zeus right away. When she had arrived she had looked at Zeus and said i'm changing who i am i am going to be the goddess of love!"

Zeus was surprised at what he had just her and said that could use some help so with his hand he waved it over her head and he said Agapios (love). She went back to her haul and said to every single servant she loved them and she would treat them better. After that everyone was happy with there job and everyone was happy with everything.

How Zeus Was Dethroned

By: Kaiden Ilg

Once upon a time, four gods lived atop Mount Olympus: Zeus, Ares, Athena, and Dionysus. Every god and goddess did their part with their own special abilities to either benefit people or make them live normal lives.

Well of course, every god did their part every day, but Zeus felt his part getting a little too repetitive and he wasn't allowed to switch positions with anyone so, he announced to everyone, "I've hidden a map somewhere on Mount Olympus."

The next day Zeus was nowhere to be found... Every god and goddess heard him say that he had hidden a map somewhere on Mount Olympus, which lead them to believe that the map must lead to where Zeus is. Everyone started carefully searching without a trace of the map. Dionysus, god of wine, obviously was pretending to inspect around in the wine cabinet when he felt something unlike a wine glass. As soon as he nervously touched the thing with a shaky hand, which looked like a scroll, he was slammed against the wall without his own force. Something mysteriously pushed him toward the wall. At the same time, an ear piercing screech came from the scroll like souls being raised from the dead. While Dionysus was on the ground with his ears still ringing and also in agony, the scroll mysteriously started floating with nothing under it. The scroll slowly opened up as Dionysus started to get up. It looked like a map of some kind. Every god and goddess rushed into the room where they heard the screech. There Dionysus was studying the map. All the gods and goddesses crowded around the still floating, map. Everyone looked amazed.

Athena came forth without hesitation saying, "This must be the map Zeus left us to find him."

All the gods and goddesses realized the map lead to Egypt. Athena acted quickly, and with a snap of her fingers Athena, Ares, and Dionysus warped to Egypt only to find mass destruction all around them. Almost everywhere they looked was sand and small destroyed buildings. The smell in the air, to everyone was like a bonfire made out of plastic. Athena happened to look at the exact point where Zeus was. Zeus was right in front of them so, Ares reacted for him and Zeus backed away and started talking.

Zeus said, "There's a twist to getting me back to the mountain. You all have to go through 3 different stages alone testing your individual abilities to the max."

They all turned around and seen three gigantic obstacles one for each god and goddess. Ares started first. Three giant cyclopes appeared and were ready to fight.

"On the count of 3" Zeus said, "1...2...3!" He exclaimed extending the three. The 3 cyclops started charging toward Ares. Once the first one got to him, he turned around and backflipped on top of him and stabbed his neck leaving the cyclopes without a head. The second one picked Ares up and he sliced directly through the cyclops's hand and was free. Ares made the final move on the second cyclopes and sliced him in half in rapid yet fluent motion. The third cyclopes actually got a hit on Ares which made him fly across the arena. Ares got up and put his sword down. Ares sprinted full speed toward the cyclopes and headbutted him, which made his brain fall out the back of his head with Ares as the winner of the battle.

Dionysus was up next. When he got in the arena, there was a table with a bunch of wine on it. The challenge was to beat Zeus in a wine off where whoever drinks the amount set out for them wins.

"3!" Zeus said immediately, while starting to drink. Dionysus instantly used a trick that no one knew that he could do. He snapped and all the wine was gone. Dionysus was left with his mouth drenched with the taste of wine.

"It's all in my stomach." he said while burping. Dionysus had won.

Athena was next. In the arena, there was an army and the challenge was to battle, and beat, the army Zeus had laid out. Athena got to work. It was done very fast considering that she was the goddess of battle. Athena won the battle in the first 10 seconds. And from that point, the gods went back to Mount Olympus.

All of the gods and goddesses went back to their normal jobs. But there was one thing out of place, Zeus wasn't the ruler of the gods anymore. 'Then who was' you might ask. Athena was now ruler of the gods because of being able to think under pressure, her smarts, and her battle strategy.

The Creations

By Quinn Kelley

Once upon a time there was a group of kids that were genetically engineered by a mad scientist, he wanted to have revenge on the humankind for always rejecting him in many situations, like when he went at a board meeting and these men love inventions one of them even came up with the word invention. Like I was going to say the mad scientist was rejected and one of his inventions was the jetpack it worked it just always needed refueling every 5 minutes. But when he showed it to the men they said that they already came up with the invention.He obviously wanted proof and he asked they said that they weren't ready to show humankind. So he kept asking and the third time he asked he was kicked out.

That's when it started and a couple years later he made the creations, they had started a rampage through town tearing up shops, breaking homes, and smashing restaurants. So these kids were criminals obviously, and the signs said these four names Alastor, Kronos, Helios, and finally Hypnos. These were names of gods and they were very powerful like gods. These creations were supposed to take over China(you're probably wondering why the first place is China like, why not Las Vegas well the scientist wanted China because of the Great Wall of China so that's why, it all makes sense now) but when they were made only one creation had the order to take China Alastor. The rest of the creations didn't listen to Alastor they just wanted break stuff(Like Hulk).So the Creations went to North America instead. When they get to North America they go to the empire state building and claim it as the Scientist's. Then the creations go to the 7 wonders of the world while the scientist tries to control them. Then the scientist finds 4 people to help him they're names are Macgyver, Mr.T, Quicksilver, and Wolverine. One of these 4 people(Quicksilver)can't run fast, but he has his senses increased by 85%. Then these 4 people make a plan to take down the creations the plan is that Quicksilver listens to find the creations then when he finds them the 4 go to them and take them down one by one.

Macgyver exclaimed curiously ," That's your plan?"

Wolverine blurted," Yeah, it's pretty good huh?

Macgyver mentioned," No that's a horrible plan."

Mr.t yelled madly, " Will you fools be quiet I'm going to come up with a plan!" Minutes later.

Mr.t continued,"Alright here is how my plan is going to work, Quicksilver will intensely listen to figure out where the creations are..

Wolverine interrupts smoking on a cigarette,"I said that in my plan."

Mr.t," To continue, the creations will probably see us so we are going to go under the sewers and then Macgyver and I will make a catapult to launch us in the creations to defeat them, everybody get it?"

Everybody says,"Yeah we got it."Time is Money so let's go."

A couple of hours later.

Mr.t exclaimed,"Alright get to work."Busy as bee's were they. A couple more hours later

.Macgyver said,"Finished."

Mr.t said,"This is how it works, Quicksilver will go on the circle and he gets a sword to fling at the line to launch him, then we all go and that's how it works."

Macgyver said," Come on Quicksilver get on."

Quicksilver exclaimed,"I'm coming relax. Here I go...!" Mr.t stated,"Let's go." They all pile on.

Wolverine said," Hit it." They go into the creations one by one and they take out the circuit board and destroy them. The 4 heroes move to a town somewhere in Miami and start a new career.

Quicksilver's new career was investigator and Mr.t's was well he went into anger management and Wolverine's was lumberjack he really cut out for it. Last but certainly least Macgyver was a police he really could find the criminals.

Solar Eclipse

By: Gillian

Long ago, in ancient Greece, there were two twins named Apollo and Artemis. These weren't just any twins, they were the children of Zeus, king of the gods. Apollo was the god of light and the sun, truth and prophecy, music and healing. Artemis was the goddess of the moon, the hunt and the natural world.

One year, after a particularly bountiful harvest with lots of good hunting, the Greeks constructed a huge edifice in honor of Artemis that was so beautiful, it made all of Apollo's temples look like shabby little houses. Apollo, of course, was infuriated, so he decided to do something about it.

Artemis was hunting down a very handsome stag when she heard the news of her new shrine, and after she had caught him, she decided to go check it out. When she arrived, though, there was no temple to check out, just a ton of rubble and a lone raven, the animal of Apollo, circling overhead.

The raging huntress stormed off to Mount Olympus to speak with her father, Zeus, knocking over two of Apollo's most beloved temples in her fury. When she arrived, Zeus told her to scold Apollo herself, anxious to see how the twins would settle this. Obeying his command, she marched off in search of her prey. Being a skilled huntress, she quickly found him swinging on a hammock, playing his lyre while basking in the sunlight of the bright summer day.

"I'd guess we're even," he said with a grin, "huh, sis."

She walked up to his hammock and sat down, "Yeah, two for the price of one quite seems the way to do it."

His smile faded, "What have you done now?"

"Oh, nothing," she giggled slyly, "just repaid a favor."

"Oh no you didn't."

"Oh, yes I did, dear brother."

With that, Apollo transformed himself into a raven and flew into the sky. He flew and searched until he found it: where two magnificent monuments once stood, worthless, collapsed pieces of junk now lay. In his anger, he sent a terrible plague of hornworms to all the surrounding fields and burst into the sky like a comet.

Artemis, now laying on her brother's deserted hammock, witnessed his outburst and thought to herself, Whoa, he needs to cool down, then smiled at her unintended joke.

Over the next few days, several dozen temples were wiped off the face of the Earth by both sides, until Apollo had had enough.

"This isn't working anymore!" he paced outside his most recently devastated temple, trying to think through his dilemma, when he finally decided to take the fight directly to his sister.

Apollo rounded up all the Greeks that worshiped him, while Artemis, who had heard news of his plan, did the same. The next day, they met at the battleground that Demeter, goddess of harvest, had prepared for them out of an unused field.

Apollo was dressed in his best armor for the occasion. He wielded a towering sword and a golden shield embedded with the sun that glowed like the symbol it beared. Artemis, also wearing her best armor, had painted her face for camouflage and, as her weapon, held a mighty bow carved with the faces of the moon.

It was a tense moment. Some of the Greeks dropped their weapons and fled in fright. The pure sound of a horn echoed throughout the field. Apollo and Artemis stood, glaring at each other for what seemed like an eternity, but was only a few moments. They charged. Apollo raised his sword. Artemis raised her bow. Just as they were about to clash, they stopped dead in their tracks.

An elderly woman dressed in rags and an olive tree pendant stood directly between the two opposing forces.

"Now why would you two possibly be fighting? Great gods like yourself, I wouldn't have expected you going to war over some little thing."

"Yes," Apollo cleared his throat, "Great gods like us shouldn't..."

"Knock down each other's temples," Artemis scowled angrily at her brother, "So, why exactly did you obliterate my newest one?" All eyes turned to Apollo, even the trees swaying in the wind seemed to lean closer to listen to how this all started.

"Well, err...," Apollo ran his fingers through his hair as he searched for the right words, "After the harvest and the hunt were done, which turned out twice as bountiful as last year, the Greeks built you a, well, a pretty impressive temple, and I guess I was a little bit..." his words trailed off.

"A little bit what?" Artemis demanded.

"Jealous."

"Jealous? Of me? You've always gotten everything you wanted and more. Why would you be jealous of me?"

"Well, your temple outshined all of mine a thousand to one, and all the Greeks were focused on you, so I kinda just wanted to make it even."

"Well, what are you fighting for now?" the old woman asked.

The twins exchanged a glance then shrugged.

"It seems my work here is done." She gave a satisfied nod, then transformed herself into a snowy owl, then flew off toward Mount Olympus.

"Thanks, Athena."

The very next day, the twins woke to see a new temple towering over Greece. It was a temple of both Artemis and Apollo. The two siblings in their delight soared up, higher than even Mount Olympus, and on that day, the moon passed in front of the sun, creating a beautiful harmony, night and day together, the solar eclipse.

The Gods: A Great Civil War

By: Cooper M

Long ago, in ancient times, there lived the powerful gods of Olympus. They were ruled by the great god of the sky, Zeus. Zeus had two brothers, Poseidon and Hades. Hades dwelled in the underworld like a bear during hibernation, so he was never seen, but Poseidon was different. He was the god of the sea, water, and earthquakes. He wanted power, and enjoyed teasing Zeus. One day, Poseidon was sick of all the power that Zeus had and decided to make a move.

"Well hello brother, done anything special today?" smirked Poseidon.

"No brother, just ruling the land and the skies," replied the ruler.

" That's enough! I am sick of you ruling us like creatures and not allowing us to do anything," yelled Poseidon.

"I do not, besides I am stronger, braver, tougher than-" but that was all Zeus could say before he was punched by the angry sea god. And with that action, the gods cleared out of Olympus, taking sides. Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Hades, Aphrodite, Hestia, Artemis, and Demeter all took sides. While Zeus, Hephaestus, Hera, Persephone, Hermes, Demeter, and Hebe on the other. Poseidon's army took cover in the fields of Greece, while Zeus' army hid in the mountains.

Without any hesitation, Poseidon's army charged the mountains with one goal, kill Zeus. The battle broke out, with punches thrown, swords clanging, arrows being shot. Poseidon ran to the mountain, dodging every sword, punch, and arrow. When Ares saw Poseidon, he charged with his spear in hand. Poseidon simply moved his hand where a wave of water took Ares.

"It's time that you give me the throne, or I kill you, brother," screamed Poseidon. " Give me everything you got," replied Zeus.

With two swift movements, there was a huge flash of blue and green. Zeus summoned a bolt of lightning and Poseidon threw a wave. Zeus was knocked off his feet, while Poseidon remained. Poseidon had the chance to kill his brother, but as he picked up his sword, Zeus was gone, he had picked up by a big eagle, his animal representing him. The battle was over, but the war was not.

Poseidon sent Athena undercover to check on the camp, Athena was quiet, smart, and experienced . Athena learned that Zeus' troops would never stop fighting, neither would Poseidon.

The next day, Zeus had an idea, but it would require the knowledge of Hephaestus. Zeus quickly wanted a weapon that would symbolize his power and have strength. The two men decided that a lightning bolt would be perfect, having the ability to kill any mortal or god in a split second. It took Hephaestus four days of nonstop work, but he finally completed his job. Zeus was pleased with Hephaestus' worked and was ready to test his new weapon, on Poseidon. Zeus gathered his tiny army and told them that he needed a one-on-one opportunity with Poseidon.

Down on the hot plains, Poseidon and his troops decided that the war was over, and Olympus should be theirs. As the eight gods began their short trek, they heard a faint noise in the distance. Apollo, next to Poseidon, turned to see the other gods running at them, it was time for battle.

The battle started with the gods staring each other down.

It began when Artemis shot her bow, yelling, "For the throne!" The fighting was brutal, blood spilling,loud, the smell of war, but they fought on. Poseidon ran back to camp to refill on arrows for Apollo, he did not see Zeus follow him. When Poseidon saw his brother, he knew he was trapped. Zeus slowly walked up and kicked Poseidon right in the gut. Zeus quickly grabbed his bolt and pointed it at his wounded brother, he would have to kill him.

"Kill me brother, just do it now, the world is better without me," cried Poseidon

"I- I- can do this- I can't do this, I can't kill my brother," whimpered the god of the sky.

"But you must swear on the River Styx that you will never try to overthrow me again," yelled Zeus.

"I swear on the River Styx I will not try to overthrow you, brother," replied Poseidon. The bloody civil war was over, and it was time for the others to know.

Back in Olympus, all the gods were given their same duties, In truth, the gods will always remember this war, the selfishness of Poseidon and the courage of Zeus. Deep down inside,the gods knew there would still be times like this, but for now, let there be peace in Olympus.

The Day Olympus Fell

By: Bennett P. Rison

Thunder boomed, I looked everywhere but there was nothing to be found. Mt. Olympus was on the ground, the gods in cages, ashes of a once great civilization, and the titans were cackling at them. Finally the table had turned and Kronos was victorious. It all started when Dan Pludmort, influenced by Y'nzot, was trying to lead an army of almost six hundred thousand troops across the world to take over Earth. Clair Y. Hilltonn, however, did not want a tyrant as a leader, was able to gather an army of anyone else in the world that would follow, a good three hundred thousand. The world was preparing for war. There was even trouble afoot in Mt. Olympus, as all of the gods took a vote.

Y'nzot had something to say, "Those silly mortals are useless, we help them and they start wars.

Why, again Zeus should we have them here?"

Immediately after, Poseidon spoke in agreement, "I second that!"

"If you are quite serious about this, we, the council shall have a vote." grumbled Zeus. The gods were split straight down the middle, Dionysus, Hera, even Ares were against the humans. There were those that voted for them, such as Aphrodite, Apollo, and Demeter. Eventually, the final vote had to be put in, half of the gods were for the humans and the other half against.

Zeus' voice boomed throughout the halls. "On this day, I agree, the humans shall stay, the vote goes to the mortals."

Y'nzot looked straight at Zeus, "You idiot." All of the gods were in amazement, no one had ever insulted Zeus the way that the god of hatred just had. Zeus showed no expression, but the next moment was even crazier, Y'nzot ran into Zeus flailing his arms in an attempt to attack Zeus, and in the next moment, Zeus stood over the poor god, who now lay on the ground on front of him, knocked back from impact.

Zeus' voice could have been heard by Hades, and the words he spoke were even nastier, "Y'nzot, you are banished to the lowest depths of Tartarus for insulting and attacking another god." Y'nzot, frozen with fear, faded away, most likely never to be seen by mankind again, but what he had started that day had created a war between the entire council of gods. Nearby in the small town of Avadale, a beautiful place free of war, striving, and containing as much natural life as possible, the Avadalyns watched speech of ClairY. Hilltonn as she attempted to gather troops for a resistance against the despicable Dan Pludmort, and his gigantic army of six hundred thousand troops.The world was preparing for war.

Deep under the realm of Hades, trouble was stirring. Poseidon and Ares, influenced by the goddess of hypnotism, Citirius, had travelled to the depths of Tartarus and released Y'nzot just soon enough, for Y'nzot was dying in that cruel place. Once returned to Earth Y'nzot felt better. The four travelled to a forsaken planet in Apollo's stolen chariot and found the Titans led by Kronos, father of the gods and goddesses. Together, the gods along with four Titans and their leader Kronos, prepared for a siege that they would lay on the Earth.

By the time the gods and titans reached Earth the war had started. On Dan Pludmort's awful side there were goblins, orcs, and even cyclops (and humans of course). But Clair was not going down without a fight. She had dwarves, humans, and even elves on her side. The gods, still arguing, did not notice the abundance of COMPLETE AND UTTER DESTRUCTION! The titans and gods were rampaging and destroying anything that got in their way. The other humans seeing these nine wicked creatures ran in tears along with everyone else on Earth.

Eventually the gods and goddesses noticed but it was too late.

In the words of a survivor, "I ran screaming through the other people. Thunder boomed, I looked everywhere but there was nothing to be found. Mt. Olympus was on the ground, the gods in cages, and the titans were cackling at them, finally, the table had turned, and Kronos was winning."

Zeus would not have it. He used all of the power that he could and every last lightning bolt that he had, all striking the ground. All of the gods broke out and were ready to fight. The gods threw the crates at Citirius and Y'nzot and they were knocked out. Ares and Poseidon were back and ready to fight. There was only one god missing, Zeus. He had given his life to save the others. The gods and goddesses realized what had happened, and, they were not happy, and most know that, anger usually is pretty powerful in a fight. The titans were sent to the bottom of the sea and the gods and goddess both were sent to Tartarus, never to be heard of again.The gods were very sad about the death of their dear friend, but not only Zeus had been lost. Dragons, half bloods, Artemis' team, everyone on Earth was gone, and the gods knew that it was their fault. The gods began to feel worse and worse. All of the bodies under rain, were buried and lost, only stones of their fossilized belongings to remember them by near their bodies. The three fates then floated out of the shadows and made a decree, that all who died in the war should be brought back and that even included Zeus.

With the world whole again, the gods made an agreement for the day had been been so grave that whenever someone perished, their bodies would be buried and then came the new idea of graves. Without the god of hate, the world was once again happy and peaceful.

Why the Sky is Blue

By Jacob

Once upon a time on Mount Olympus, Poseidon, the god of water, and Zeus, the king of gods, were supervising the mortals that worshiped them. Suddenly, Poseidon couldn't stop coughing.

He admitted, "Sorry Zeus, but I think I have to take a sick day."

After dark, his followers were puzzled why Poseidon didn't help them. He almost always had given them guidance before, so why would he stop now? The next morning, Poseidon was relieved of his sickness - since gods' immunities are stronger than mortals - so he could concentrate on his followers. He offered them gifts, but they for some reason didn't acknowledge them. Poseidon thought that maybe they didn't realize he felt better. The next day, Poseidon gave the mortals a better gift, one they couldn't reject. But they didn't accept them either. Just then, he saw Zeus leading Poseidon's followers, completely ignoring the gifts.

Poseidon pulled his hair out. He wanted revenge on Zeus, his brother who always gets what he wants. He knew he couldn't hurt Zeus because he was immortal, but he could hurt his followers, therefore hurting Zeus emotionally. He started considering ways to get revenge.

A little while later, the mortals screamed frantically as the endless supply of water started closing in on them. Poseidon felt a little bad for the people, but he didn't care. All he wanted was them to be his people, but Zeus took them from him.

The wall of water was so terrifying, Zeus almost hid from it. But then he realized what he had to do.

He shouted to his followers, "Don't worry, I'll stop it!" He flew over to the quickly moving water and summoned a force field that stopped the water in its tracks.

"Hooray! We're safe! But what caused that?" the mortals questioned.

Zeus replied, "I don't know, but I might have an idea." He found Poseidon on Mount Olympus, burying his face in his hands. "Why did you want to destroy your followers?"

Poseidon replied, "You took them from me."

Zeus explained, "I didn't mean to take them from you, I was just watching them while you were sick."

Poseidon was embarrassed. "Oh, no. I guess I just wasn't paying attention. But why didn't they accept my gifts?"

"They thought you stopped paying attention to them, so they started following me. Don't worry, I'll send a messenger telling them about the misunderstanding."

An hour later, Poseidon received sacrifices from his followers. He learned to not react until he knew everything about the situation, and the mortals learned that their god wouldn't just stop helping them for no reason. In conclusion, the sky is blue because water is blue, which is surrounding the sky.

Long Lost Love

By: Baylee

Long long ago -when talking fruit was a thing of course- there was a lonely pineapple sitting on a beach waiting for love. He had only been there for a few hours since the tide dropped him off earlier that day. He would wait there for hours and hours that day wishing there was someone to share his old stories with.

One day the tide came up to the beach and the pineapple had high hopes he would be able to catch the tide and find love, but sadly he failed and was stuck on the beach.

Two weeks later, the pineapple had woken up and next to him was a pineapple sitting next to him, her beautiful green skin was glistening in the sun. Immediately the pineapple fell in love with her beauty, and her glowing, green skin.

The next morning the pineapple woke up in hopes to see the watermelon but she was nowhere to be found. The pineapple figured she left that night with the tide, the pineapple just went back to sitting on the beach in sadness hoping one day his lovely watermelon would come back to him. Days passed as he watched couples go by and happy families laughing together as he was just sitting there saddened. It took two weeks but one day the tide came back and there she was sitting across the beach, his watermelon love. He was so happy to see her, there was just one problem was that he couldn't get to her which was the tide but that would never worked. The pineapple was so happy but so sad. He needed to figure out a way to get him and the pineapple closer together, but how? When it was time the tide splashed up throwing the watermelon across the beach like a jet slamming right into the sand next to the pineapple. The watermelon looked at the pineapple, and the pineapple looked at the watermelon, they were so happy no words came out. While they were by each other on the beach they enjoyed each other's company while it lasted.

As the time went on they kept spreading farther and farther apart. About a month later the watermelon and pineapple had been moved around quite a bit across the beach by the tide, they eventually got tired of it. They both every once in awhile would glance across the beach at each other and each and everyday they would get smaller and smaller to each other's eyes. One day they made it to a part of the beach where there were rocks and a nice place to call "home". Later that afternoon, the tide had carried them to a rocky shelter, they decided to stay there and make that their "home". Time passed by and after a month or so they had combined and made a fruit salad and lived happily ever after with their fruit salad family.

The Story of How the Ocean Got its Currents

By Toren

One foggy day when the sun was rising on a sky blue boat in the middle of the Atlantic ocean Fred, George,and Poseidon or And were fishing on the deck of the boat they caught tons of fish because their is nothing to startle them and that is how they make a living. A few hours later their bucket was full of fish and the smell of fish was in the air.The hard part was deciding which to keep or which to threw back into the calm ocean once they had their fun they decided to name some of the fish while they made breakfast of off toast and eggs from their pet chicken that they named Larry only after he lay four eggs and they all hatched into tiny yellow fluff balls that were named Gary, Fed, Kary,and Clumsy. They loved to sprint around the hen house except Clumsy which rather watch while he carefully navigating his way to the door without knocking something over. At the door sat Fred,George,and And watching the cool animals in the water which included their personal favorite the octopus an eight legged animal with a beck for a mouth that eat clams and oysters. Poseidon was fascinated that they all liked fish but that was not why he was sent to do sadly.

He closely watched them from a distance as Fred and George were drawing a stingray in that they saw in the water. Then he walked over to them and scared the stingray away from them.

''What did you do that for And?" said Fred and George at the same time.

Poseidon said nothing. They were so mad that Poseidon was thrown overboard into the water with the chum bucket hoping he would become shark food. Poseidon was so mad that even his fellow gods were laughing. Then Poseidon decided they needed to be a punishment and from the deep came a sea monster that grabbed them and dragged them under to be trapped in the water until they learned their lesson but he quietly climbed back onto the boat. He showed Fred and George a bottle that looked like it had some sort of paper in it when they finally yanked it out they figured out that it was the map of the world unlike what he had planned.

He said,''you must not tell anyone of this map or I will be very displeased."

Little did they know they were given the best thing in the world there and then but instead decided they did not know that this map was real so they decided to go down stairs and secretly tell their parents but Poseidon was very, very disappointed Zeus was fascinated that Poseidon had actually became friends with two human boys but little did they realize the map was stolen for Mount Olympus itself nor did he know that this was a plan to spoil Zeus's fun and put him in the water forever.

The battle later to come would end all the gods including Poseidon himself. This was not just any fight but the battle of many began the long war between people later to be called arguing but this is how evil took over. One day the two boys accidently blurted that they had a map of the world which led to great disaster and the boys ran outside to see that sea monsters were popping up everywhere. Just then a sea monster grabbed the boat and gave it a vicious tug then slowly it was being pulled under they scrambled to the top of the boat the monster shook the boat viciously . George fell into the water and was pulled under as for the boat now had a hole in it luckily the sea monster left or they would have been done for but this was just the beginning a giant whirlpool sprang up out of nowhere and the boat was sucked under the water were poseidon traped them under water and where they would wandered aimlessly trying to find a way out that created currents behind them. Searching high and low for an exit. As soon as Zeus heard of this was he was furious and he rallied an army of gods and prepared for battle they fought hard but poseidon's army was too strong even for Zeus. They were too weak and the sea monsters pulled them all under including poseidon ending the gods rule of the earth.

How the Hump Formed

By Chris P. Bacon

Once upon a time, there lived a very simple man who lived a very simple life. He owned the title of a merchant, and he lived in the Sahara Desert in Ancient Egypt.

He owned a "horse" that looked very ugly, deformed, and weak that he rarely used it. He found it abandoned in the middle of the desert. One day, he decided to ride it to town to go to bargain some spices to trade.

As soon as he stepped into the gates of the city, instantly everyone shamed the poor man.

"Get a real horse," said a wealthy nobleman.

"Get something that can at least be looked at without gagging!" expressed the sheep herder.

So many terrible comments he heard. He started to just keep moving quickly, ignoring everything that he heard.

He saw the spice merchant's stand when he was suddenly startled by the king of the city, riding on a majestic elephant.

He exclaimed to the innocent man, "If you cannot fix that...thing...then you will never come back to your home. From now until you can deal with that, you are banished from the city!"

The guards kicked him out of the city with his ugly horse and told him never to come back until he got it fixed. He knew that his horse needed to be fixed as soon as possible.

Then, with his horse, He started to venture along the vast desert. His horse walked so slow that he thought that he would never find hope.

He had been traveling for almost one day, and was about to find somewhere to settle down, when he found a small shack outside of a town. After he checked that his ugly horse has stable in place, he studied it for a moment taking in all the terrible features that it possessed. He knocked on the old clay door. A strange lady opened the door and he realized that she was a gypsy. He told her his story and the lady said that there is no possible way that his horse will ever become better.

She then told them there is another solution. She says that if he goes to town, all his problems will be solved. The man thanked the gypsy and then headed toward the town to find a place to rest for the night.

He found a small motel to spend the night in. He mounted the ugly horse on the outside of the motel.

While he was sleeping, the gods watched the horse. they were all ashamed of this creature, but the most ashamed was the god of brick and stone. He decides that nobody else should have to see this creature anymore. He makes a decision to make a brick fall from the motel's wall. The god made a miscalculation and the brick fell out of the wall and hit the horse's back and made a huge lump on it.

The next day, being as refreshed as newly watered grass, the man decided to head back across the desert, not finding any luck in the town.

As soon as he stepped out of the motel, he noticed this creature with a bump on its back. He looks closer at it and realizes that it is his horse! he did not know how this hump came to be, but did realize its fact of being so interesting that this creature stood out as beautiful. There was no other creature in the world like it. He thanked the gods a billion times, jumped on the hump of his horse, and then rushed back to city to be accepted back in as an honorable man.

He goes through the village gates and rushes straight to the palace. The king gratefully accepts him back in with his new interesting creature. All the people in the city now respect him and his beautiful horse. The king rewarded the man with riches.

They decided that they needed a new name for this new creature, so they decided to call it a camel. Also, the gods decided that this creature was already beautiful enough, so they had to add something disgusting to balance it out. That is why they decided to make its method of defense spitting.

All in all, the man and everyone else lived happily ever after.

Name  
Date

Class Period

Teacher

Fillia and the Boys

Once upon a time in ancient Greece there lived a lovely young girl, named Fillia. Fillia turned heads everywhere she went. There wasn't anyone who did not marvel at her beauty. She had long red hair, striking blue eyes and rosy cheeks.

One day when she was returning home from the library, two men happened to gaze upon her. One of the men was a scrawny, unsightly boy with small beady eyes and a nose and teeth that stuck out of his thin pale face. The other was a strong man, with bulging muscles and a handlebar mustache. Both men approached her at once, tripping over each other clumsily to get to her as fast as the could. When the beautiful Fillia saw the two men walking like ducks towards her she quickly turned the other way and started walking as fast as she could away.

The scrawny boy approached her, however, before she could slip away. "Why, hello there," he said smirking and leaning clumsily against a pillar, "you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen." he said with a scratchy voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Fillia thanked him quickly and started walking at twice her normal speed, but by the time she reached the end of the street the second man had caught up to her.

"Did it hurt," he said in a fake, deep masculine voice. "When you fell from heaven?" He puffed out his chest with every word. Fillia only rolled her eyes. The scrawny boy finally caught up to them.

"Who are you?" He panted.

"I am Achillios," said Achillios, placing his hands proudly on his hips. "And who are you?"

"I," said the scrawny boy, out of breath, "am Costa."

Now that the young men had met each other, they only sat and glared at each other, hardly noticing that Fillia had slipped away. Noticing this, both of them began to yell at eachother, blaming one another for letting this beautiful girl out of their sight. They both did this until they were both tired and so they agreed to settle this like men. And so it was decided that they would meet in front of Filia's home the next morning and fight, well until the other one gave up.

Well, with such a decision being made, the Gods could not help but interfere. Both Ares and Athena heard this agreement and decided to show up to the fight the next day. Ares was inspired by Achillios' size and strength while Athena respected Costa's courage and bravery against his superior oponent.

The next day, Costa and Achillios met outside of Fillia's home, where they called up to her to see her next husband. The Gods were watching fromthe clouds and the men cricled around each other bearing wimpyfloppy fencing swords.Costa and Achillios fought until they were to weak to even stand. The gods apalled by this went down to FIllia and asked her to make a dicision.

Fillia laughed at this whole expeirence and replied, "I choose no one!"

The Underworld

By Sam Whitcomb

Jack, a retired American soldier, has no clue what test is about to be upon him.

"Man this storm is crazy," Jack said. As he turned up the radio.

"We are reporting a tornado warning please stay indoors," the weather man said. I heard a crack then a huge lightning bolt zoomed across the sky and hit the Mount Olympus size hill above him.

"Wow," Jack said. Then in the blink of an eye a boulder came crashing down. "It's going to hit me!," he cried out. "Bam!" a boulder smashes his door in as he tries to open, but it won't budge. He looks down, a cliff and his car starts to spin off it. Everything went dark. He woke with a sudden startle. He then turned his head to noticed that his car was hanging from vines."Ah, I got to get out of here now," Jack muttered. He then climbed through the back of his car put his hand on a vine that his car was hanging by. He slid down and turned on his phone and touched the Google Maps app. He looked at it for a second and realized that he was know where on the map, he dropped his phone. Took a deep breath and stood there for a second. "I need to find a way out of here," he said. He still did not know that he was in the layer of Hades. He looked up with a sudden jerk and saw smoke in the air.

"I can go there. hey will hopefully help me," he said. He started running and wasn't watching where he was going, and took a wrong step into what looked like a ditch . He fell and his knee went one way, his leg went the other. "Ah," he shrieked. He put his hand on the injured leg and the bone had broken. Jack still had to get to the fire. "Maybe they have supplies," he said. He started to pick a figure out in the distance."Hey" he said. The person turned around stared at him for a second, reached for a big wooden stick. Put its foot back like it was ready to charge like a bull, he ran back and ducked behind a log. He started to see its hair wave in the wind and she turned. Jack snapped a stick, she turned her feet first then the rest of her body, he tried to get under the log, but she was too quick. She raised her arms up and swung her arms down with the stick. He felt woozy for a second, and then he closed his eyes, and everything went dark. He woke with a startle, she had tied ropes around his arms and legs. "Get me out of here," he yelled.

"Shh you're going to wake them," she said. Jack stared for a second.

"What's your name," Jack said with a stern voice.

"Lily," she said rudely. "What's yours."

"Jack," he said. After that she turned and started to walk out.

"Wait before you go," he said, "Where am I."

"The underworld," Lily said with a stutter. Jack shut his lips and stared at the ground. Lily turned and walked out.

"This is crazy," Jack sighed. He saw a shiny thing, that was sharp with a long blade, that was in Lilies

hand. For a second Jack thought that she was going to use it on him.

"Turn around," Lily whispered.

"Why," Jack whispered

"I'm gonna cut you free,"she said, "there here." Jack dug his heels into the ground and grabbed on to the wooden pole for momentum to turn.

"Who's here?" he snarled.

"Hades army,"Lily said. "Grab a spear," she said in a rush. Jack grabbed a spear. He looked for a second and hopped into the ditch,that lily was already in. Lily reached down into a bin of sticks with string, she picked one and grabbed a handful of arrows. She started to jog step by step. He turned and saw thing running in the forest.

"That must be Hades army," he whispered

"Ya," she said. "Put these in your quiver." As she pointed to it.

"Here's your bow," she said, "shoot straight." Jack turned put his hand to his back, and grabbed an arrow, strung it, pulled it back, and let go. Direct hit. While Jack was shooting Lily was out of the ditch using her spear.

"There's Hades," Lily yelled. She charged, but Hades out of nowhere made a fireball, and threw it at Lily. She was thrown back to the ditch.

"We've got to get out of here," Jack yelled. He strung his bow again, wiped sweat from his head, pulled back, and released. The arrow Hit Hades.

"Retreat," Hades army said.

"Does he have transport?" he said.

"Ya," Lily sighed. They both ran towards the flying canoe that Hades brought. They both stepped into the raggedy old wooden canoe, and started to go up to the Hollywood sign.

"I guess this is bye," Jack said.

"Yeah," She said

