The Reading List Marathon

Many runners might tell this tale: after the outnumbered Greeks beat the Persians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BCE, Pheidippides sped from the battlefield to Athens with news of the victory. He died from exhaustion after running over 40 km just to shout "Nike! Nike! Nenikikamen!" That's modern mythology for you, a parcel of truth wound in slim threads of fact -- but it validates commemorating this event with long-distance races and pricey shoes.

A few ancient historians might share a different story: some other guy *maybe* did the Marathon run. In the days before the battle's conclusion, when Greek defeat seemed certain, Pheidippides actually ran almost 12 times that distance in only 4 days. He ran 245 km from Athens to Sparta in under 2 days (think 3 modern marathons a day); asked the Spartans for help in the battle; and took a nap. After 150 more miles, a chat with Pan, and a couple more days he arrived back in Athens with news that the Spartans would regrettably be delayed (per their laws) until the full moon. That information guided the Greek strategy and enabled the victory - which some argue steered the course of human events ever after.... Remarkably, he did not die from the effort.

I don't know why that seems important to me now, but it does. And I don't know what exactly it has to do with this project except this: the writer/editor Jon Winokur tweeted recently, "You can't control your legacy; it is determined by who survives. All you can control is the work. Make the best thing you know how. The world will do with it what it will."

Make the best thing you know how. And in the end we'll say along with some anonymous, long-dead and long-forgotten Greek messenger, "Victory! Victory! Rejoice, we conquer!"

The following are my entries for the Short Story Contests @WattpadShortStory for Sep -Dec 2019, aka The Reading List Marathon. They likely have nothing to do with Greek mythology, but you never know.

cover art: Panathenaic amphora, 480-460 BCE