Percy Jackson, the Son of Olympus: The Lightning Thief

| Chapter I || Running and Hiding |

*August 18 XXXX*

*Percy's Point of View*

***

Roar!

The loud roar scared me and I squeezed mommy's arm tighter. I held Mr. Fluffy, my teddy bear, closer to me.

The sky was cloudy and rainy as mommy and I hid behind a big tree. We were being chased by big scary monsters. Mommy bent down so she could look at me. I could feel the wetness of tears on my face, so I was probably all wet and snotty and gross. Mommy didn't care; she wiped my tears away gently.

"Hush now Percy. It's all right. I want you to run, okay sweetie? Can you do that?" she asked.

My eyes widened as I realized what she was about to do. "No mommy! I won't leave you behind!" I shouted, wrapping my tiny arms around her middle. 'I won't let her go! I won't!' I thought.

She chuckled sadly and hugged me back, squeezing me. "It's okay my love. I just want you to run. Run until you can't run any farther. Please," she pleaded.

I heard the roar again. It was closer this time. A flash of lightning lit up the dark cloudy sky and I saw the outlines of all the monsters. They were big and mean looking. Creepy faces covered in scary marks and gross-looking red drippy stuff. I almost screamed, but held it back for mommy's sake. I didn't want her to know that I was scared! I was a big boy!

Mommy turned to me again. "Just run Percy," she pleaded once more. This time, I agreed. Mommy looked really scared.

I didn't want to leave her behind, but I knew she wouldn't give me a choice. I gave her one last hug and dashed away.

As I ran, I couldn't help but think of what might happen to mommy. More tears ran down my face as I thought of the horrible things they might do to her. I didn't know what the mean people wanted, but it all started this morning...

***

I woke up very excited. It was finally my fourth birthday! I jumped up and down on my small bed, happiness filling me. Once I'd jumped my last jump, I got out of bed and looked in my mirror, fixing my hair. I had to look my best today!

I then left my room and down the hall. Once I reached mommy's room, I stood on my tiptoes to reach the handle. Success! Opening the door, I ran inside.

I climbed up onto her bed, with a few problems. Once I was on the squishy softness of her mattress, I crawled over to her and shook her shoulder. "Mommy! Wake up! Wake up!" I yelled.

She yawned and opened her eyes. Once she saw me, she smiled. She still looked sleepy though. "Percy, it's the weekend. Just let me sleep for five more minutes..." she muttered, closing her eyes again.

"But mommy, I'm four today! It's a very special day!" I yelled again.

She opened her eyes again. "That's right. Just let me get ready. I'll be up in a minute," she said.

I smiled and jumped off of her bed, running out of the room. I ran into the living room and sat, playing with my toys until mommy came out. I was just putting the finishing touches on my super-awesome supreme tower when mommy came out in her favorite blue t-shirt. The shirt had seashells and little fishies all over it.

She was holding three boxes in her arms. Each one of the boxes was a different size, but they were all wrapped in pretty paper. As soon as I saw them, I jumped up. "Yay! Presents! You're the best mommy!" I yelled, running up to her, my tower forgotten. I'd play with it later－after opening my presents.

She laughed her amazing laugh and put the presents down on the table at my spot. Then, she went into the kitchen and started baking her amazing blue chocolate chip cookies－my favorite! I'm glad that she made the cookie dough last night, because it meant that I didn't have to wait as long!

I climbed up into my high chair and started tugging at the wrapping paper. It was hard to rip, but eventually, I got it off. The first present was an awesome new teddy－the brown one with a blue spotted bowtie that I had wanted for weeks! I got a box of chocolates from my Auntie, the stuff that melts in your mouth. And last I opened the smallest box. Inside was a cool silver ring. It had a silver trident on it; the symbol of Poseidon. He was my favorite god from mommy's bedtime stories.

I slipped the ring on my finger and picked up the wrapping paper and my teddy, jumping off my chair. I put the paper in the garbage and ran up to mommy, giving her a big hug. "Thanks mommy!" I said.

She hugged me back. "Anything for my baby," she said with a smile.

"Mom," I whined, "I'm not a baby anymore! I'm a big kid now! I'm four!"

She just laughed and messed up my hair, causing me to pout. I hugged my teddy close. I decided to call him Mr. Fluffy. Just then, the oven dinged. That meant the cookies were done! I jumped up in excitement and climbed back in my chair as mommy took the cookies out of the oven.

She went to put them on the table but moved them away when I reached for them. "Careful, they're hot," she said and I nodded.

We waited ten minutes before she said, "They should be okay now."

I grabbed as many cookies as I could and mommy just laughed. "Share Percy," she said.

"But mommy, they're so good!" I whined. I put a few of the cookies back on the plate anyway.

She laughed, but it was interrupted by a loud bang! I got up, pulling Mr. Fluffy with me, and ran to the window. I pulled myself up on the windowsill, my feet dangling above the floor. Pulling back the curtains, I saw big creepy people coming towards our house.

I screamed when I saw them. They were each really tall－taller than anyone I've ever seen－and had large metal bowling balls in their hands. Their faces were covered in large white marks and their hair was greasy and tangled. I saw one that had a weird picture on his arm. It was a heart with words around it. Did someone colour on him? He didn't seem like someone who'd let someone else do that to him.

I jumped down from the windowsill and mommy looked outside. Once she spotted the scary men, she quickly closed the curtains. Turning away from them, she picked me up and ran out the back door with me in her arms, not bothering to close it.

As soon as we were out the door, we were met with tall trees. There was a large forest behind our house. We lived on a lonely farm road in Brooklyn, away from the busy streets of Manhattan. It was usually nice and quiet, so I didn't know why there were men outside of our house today of all days. Why couldn't they have at least waited until tomorrow? I really wanted those cookies...

Mommy ran past the trees with a scared look on her face. Branches hit the back of my head as mommy pulled my face into her chest, keeping it from getting hurt.

When she finally stopped, she crouched behind a large tree and put me down. It had started raining as she had run, and lightning was flashing. And that's how I got to running away with mommy...

***

Published: October 8, 2016

~CSP2708~