Daughter of the tide, wind, and sea

I fist fight a fish-dog

It all started on a regular Friday afternoon, I was doing chores as I get jealous of my little brother as he does nothing. I was working on doing the dishes as I stood on a step-stool to reach the sink as I was very short in my little 9 year old body.

Now, most kids would be celebrating on a Friday afternoon, but not me. I just got my chores list for today that assured me that I would be kept busy. The list was, clean my room, clean Max's room, do dishes, do laundry, tend to our small garden on our fire escape, walk daisy (our dog), clean bathroom, clean my parents' bathroom, and cook dinner. This normally wouldn't be too much but I knew that I would be getting even more chores tomorrow and if I didn't finish my day's worth of chores that I wouldn't get dinner.

I sighed as I set the last pot in the drying rack so I could put them away after I do everybody's laundry, then I would finish my chores and hopefully find just enough time to squeeze in my homework.

I ran into the laundry room in our rather large apartment and began dumping Max's dirty laundry bin into our old washer as I know my parents like it best when his stuff is done first. I sigh as I slide down the tight wall, taking in the small break. I begin to feel frustrated and angry, no not at Max, he's only 7 years old (though much older than I when I began completing these chores that I seemed the only one fit to complete,) I got mad at my parents. I got mad at my parents for not doing anything, for never helping, for not caring about their own daughter.

I pushed myself off the ground as I knew that getting angry would do nothing. "Only nine more years then you're off to collage," I mutter to myself.

After tending to the garden, I quickly change the laundry then run the clean laundry outside to the fire escape to dry on our small clothes line. As I'm putting the now dry dishes where they belong back in our small kitchen, my mother's phone rings. "Mom your phone is ringing!" I shout to my mother who is watching TV in our cramped living room with my father and Max. "Ok, you have hands, you answer it!" She shouts back not even taking her brown eyes, that didn't match  mine, off of the TV. I click to answer and am surprised when Liam, my best friend, a boy with sandy blond hair, picks up.

"Hi, Do you want to come over to my apartment for a sleepover tonight?" He asks excitedly. "Oh-um- I'm not sure I'll have to ask my parents but after I finish my chores," I manage to stutter out. "Okay, just call me back if they say yes," and with that he hangs up.

At first I'm a little taken aback, I mean I don't normally have sleepovers as I don't really have a lot of friends and my parents don't normally let me go but tonight, something feels off, a weird voice screaming at me to go, that my life depends on it. So, I race to finish my chores, I walk Daisy half of the distance I normally would have, I shove the junk in the bathrooms into the cabinets under the sink, and prepare the quickest meal I could; microwave mac&cheese.

So now, here I am standing in front of my parents arguing my case to which I should be allowed to go. "Do they go to church?" My father asks feeding some of his dinner to Daisy. I quickly said yes, and that was all it took. Well actually it took the lie that they would be providing dinner, the fact that they would get me out of their hair, and that I'd finished my chores was all that it took. "Well, looks like we can have a family movie night," my mom says as she pinches Max's cheek, as if I'm not apart of the family. I quickly run to my tiny, closet-like room and begin shoving my belongings into my extra backpack. I know I should do my homework first, but my dyslexic brain does not feel like struggling through hunger and ADHD tonight.

I race down to the kitchen to where I left my mom's abandoned smart phone and dial Liam's number. "Can you come?" He quickly asks. "Yes, I can!! Now, where is your address?" I ask. After she tells me I head to the front door and yell goodbye to my parents, to no response.

Most parents wouldn't dream of letting their 9 year old walk alone, in New York City, at night but apparently not my parents because I swiftly glided my way through the busy city to Liam's address. But about halfway there I ran into someone I didn't expect to see here; Liam. "We need to leave, now!" He whispers before I can ask here any questions. "What are you doing here? Why do we need to leave? Should I go tell my parents? Where are your pare-," suddenly I was cut off by a loud banging and a weird monster that looked like a mix of a dog and fish (a telkhine) slithered out of the ally we were right next to.

"Ah! Sssophia Johnssson fresh meat for me to pick off, you are mossst powerful, yesss, you will tassste deliciousss!" The thing yelled as it pounced at me but luckily I ducked out of the way just in time. "Sophia catch!!" Liam yelled as she threw me a sword!! Yes you did read that right a whole freaking sword!!! I caught it and suddenly I knew exactly what to do. The second time the beast charged I swung the sword and cut it in half. It then crumpled into a pile of golden dust leaving me shaking like a leaf.

"Sophia, we need to leave now," Liam piped up, for a moment I forgot he was there, my mind was racing from what just happened. He sighed the pulled a weird golden coin from his pocket then through it into the street. I was about to go pick it up because it looked like it was important but then a taxi came speeding down faster that the speed of light then stopped right in front of us. "Well, what are you waiting for, get in!" The person driving yelled as Liam ushered me into the taxi.

"Liam, what the heck is going on!?" I speak up for the first time. "Well, you see-," then he goes to tell me something insane; the Greek gods are real. "Liam, are you okay? Did you hit your head or something?" I ask him. "No!" He bleats, like literally bleats like a goat. "I'm telling you! Look out the window, look at my legs, look at them!" He yells. I roll my eyes then turn to face the window and let out a small scream; for we were going about a million miles an hour. I glance at Liam's cargo pants that he pulled up to reveal a furry pair of goat legs! I then glance at the drivers and what I saw probably freaked me out the most; three old ladies fighting over one singular eye. "Liam, why do you have goat legs!?" I start hyperventilating. "Sophia, breath everything is going to be oka-," he gets cut off by the old lady in the middle "okay we're here, pay up," she demands as Liam hands her a handful more of those gold coins. We shove ourselves out of the backseat and onto solid ground which I am thankful for. "Sophia, welcome to camp Half-Blood."

(Just so you know, I will not be posting regularly but as often as I can. Love you besties!!💙💙)