{BOOK 2} Percy Jackson's Sister

It's Impossible to Find the Dam Snackbar

       The canoe began to slow to a stop. We looked up and saw why.

      "Hoover Dam," Thalia said. "It's huge."

      The dam extended to about the size of a football field. Tiny dots moved along the top of the dam. I squinted my eyes and realized that those were people up there. Compared to the dam, they looked like ants.  

      The naiads left with a lot of grumbling which just sounded like someone gurgling water. Our canoes floated next to each other, swirling in the dam's discharge vents.

    "Seven hundred feet tall," Percy said.

    "Built in the 1930s," I added.

    "Five million cubic acres of water," Thalia continued.

     Graver sighed. "Largest construction project in the United States."

     Zoë stared at us. "How do you know all that?"

     "Annabeth," Percy said. "She liked architecture."

     "She was nuts about monuments," Thalia said.

     "Spouted facts all the time." Grover sniffled.

     "So annoying," I smiled sadly.

     "I wish she were here," Percy said.

     We all nodded in agreement. The Fates were cruel to have brought us to one of Annabeth's favorite monuments, without Annabeth. It just made us want to be over with this quest that much quicker.

    "We should go up there," Percy suggested. "For her sake. Just to say we've been."

    "You are mad," Zoë scoffed. "But that's where the road is." She pointed to a huge parking garage next to the top of the dam. "And so, sightseeing it is."

-

     We walked about an hour before we found a path that led us to the road. It was extremely windy, making my hair fly into my face so much that I couldn't see. I did my best to tie up my hair with a pencil someone had left on the floor. They had written J + R 4EVER on the side of the dam.

     I looked over the edge and saw how far up we were. I wanted to throw something down there just to see how long it would take for it to hit the ground but I had nothing to throw except Percy.

    I looked over to him and Grover who was sniffing the air nervously.

    "How close are they?" Percy asked him, probably referring to monsters.

     He shook his head. "Maybe not close. The wind on the dam, the desert all around us... the scent can probably carry for miles. But it's coming from several directions. I don't like that."

    I don't think any of us liked that idea. I was starting to think we shouldn't have come here, but then I got an idea.

     I plucked the pencil out of my hair and went to where people had written their initials. I wrote down an A. Percy looked at it and smiled.

    "She can come finish it when she comes," I said.

    I put the pencil back in my hair and walked back to the group.

    "There's a snack bar in the visitor center," Thalia was saying.

    "You've been here before?" Percy asked.

    "Once. To see the guardians." She pointed to two huge bronze statues at the far end of the dam. They stood up tall and had wings on either side of them.