Hera's Idea

Father/Daughter Talks and Campfire Songs

The rest of the day went by slow. We didn't do anything! The only person who did something slightly productive is Emmy, who took a nap. Well, Aidan and I reprogrammed the TTT's mobiles, so at least that was that. 

I sat on the front steps of our cabin, Emmy running around in front of me when Leo came out of our cabin and sat down.

"Hey, Madalena." 

I waved, "'Sup, Leo."

"A lot to take in, eh?"

I nodded. "It's probably worse for you. I mean, I still have it bad. I woke up and estoy en el pasado." 

"It's just unrealistic that I have three children."

I turned towards him, "Mom's taking this better than you?"

Leo's cheeks reddened, and he shrugged, "We talked about it," he admitted. "She's less troubled by it than I am."

I made a small fireball appear in my hand, and tossed it up and down gently, before handing it to Leo. He took it cautiously. "It could be the fact Mom was immortal a long time."

He shrugged. "Could be."

"I have a question." I worded it so it was a statement not a question. I've made that mistake before. And Papà would always respond with, 'You already did.'

"Go ahead."

"What do I call you and Mom? Or the little versions of you at least. You'll have to deal with Emmy calling you Momma and Papà like she does at home, but you'll have a little more leeway with me. Don't ask me about Aidan, though."

Leo didn't answer for a while, just bit his lip and looked up, "I'm not sure, really. I'm only 16. I never really thought about what my future-time-traveling children should call me."

"I get that. I don't think anyone thinks much of this stuff either."

I stood up, and held out my hand to help Leo, "I think cena is almost ready," my stomach growled, "We'll continue this after the campfire. I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I mean more than I do already."

"No one can make the Supreme Captain of the Argo II uncomfortable. I've seen it all, baby," he joked.

I smiled, "That's good, because for better or worse, I've got your personality."

After dinner, I sat on the edge of the firepit with Leo and Aidan, helping to light the fire. Calypso, Emmy, and the rest of the Hephaestus cabin sat on the logs in the Amphitheatre. I placed the logs in standard log cabin position. (For anyone who's never made a campfire, this position is pretty easy. You take two logs and put them parallel to each other, before putting two more logs parallel from each other, but perpendicular to the first two logs. Like your playing with those toy logs to build the houses and wild west stuff. Remember those toys? Anyway, back on topic, this created a whole in the middle to channel heat.) Aidan put some firestarters in. (It's just petroleum jelly on cotton balls that some little kids made during arts and crafts. It's really flammable, and really great at starting fire). Leo and I leaned some tinder and kindling over the cotton balls, the tinder underneath. (Tinder and kindling are types of fuel or sticks. Tinder is the smaller of the two, it burns fast, but doesn't stay lit for a long time. It's classified as being smaller than your pinky finger. Kindling is larger than your pinky finger. It takes more energy to light, but stays lit longer. To make a good campfire, you need an equal amount of both.

"You can start it, Madalena." Leo said.

"You can call me Lena. Or Esperanza, I don't care."

"What do I call you in your time."

"Usually Esperanza, or Espe." You know, since in some Spanish cultures people go by their middle name, Papà always called me by mine. I'm the only one, though. He always calls Aidan and Emmy, well, Aidan and Emmy. 

"Alright — Espe." He said, "Are you going to light it up or not?"

I put my finger on the cotton ball and it caught immediately, "Gods," I rubbed my hand down my shorts, "Vaseline on my finger."

I picked up more sticks, and fed them to the fire, gradually getting bigger with each stick before we had a sufficient fire. I sat on the edge of the firepit, and watched as the other cabins filled up the Amphitheatre. The Apollo Cabin, which currently included an overly excited Naomi, and Maria trying to hide behind her sister, to lead the songs.

They started energetically, I clapped and followed along in between adding more sticks to the fire. 

"Have you ever seen 

A satyr come to tea

Take a look at me

A satyr you will see.

Satyrs attention. Satyrs unite.

Right arm, Left arm, Right hoof, Left hoof, Shake your horns, Wag your tail."

I couldn't do the movements from my spot, neither could Leo and Aidan, but it was funny to watch everyone else moving. Emmy was just dancing like crazy, ignoring the choreographed dance. 

By the end, I was laughing like crazy, unable to continue singing. That's what I love about being set to do the fire, I get to watch everyone, and stay with the fire the entire time. Win win situation.

All in all it was a great end to the day, even if I time traveled.

A/N: The Campfire song they sing was made by me right now. It's to the tune of "Penguins come to tea" which is a popular Girl Scout song.

Also, all the fire information is completely factual. I make campfires all the time, I know what I'm doing. Cotton balls and Vaseline really is a great fire starter. I suggested. Another good one is Doritos, which sounds weird but really is flammable. I started a fire with just Doritos once.

Also, I just volunteer to keep the fire going at my sleepaway camp. Last year, everyone was singing at the campfire, and I was just sitting next to the fire, feeding it wood. Really satisfying.