Excerpt
andlt;bandgt;andlt;/bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;
A STRANGE, GLITTERY BREEZE WHOOSHED into Athena's bedroom window one morning, bringing a rolled-up piece of papyrus with it. She jumped up from her desk and watched in amazement as it swirled above her.
"A message for Athena from Mount Olympus!" the wind howled. "Art thou present?"
"Yes, I'm thou. I'm present. I mean-I'm Athena," she replied in a rush.
Abruptly the breeze stilled, and the scroll dropped right in the middle of her science homework. A thrill swept over her. She'd never gotten a message from the gods before! No human she knew ever had. The gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus ruled Earth, but only made their powers known for important matters. What could they want? Was she being given an urgent mission to save the world?
She unrolled the scroll as fast as she could and began to read.
DEAR ATHENA,
THIS MAY COME AS A SHOCK TO YOU,
BUT I, ZEUS-KING OF THE GODS
AND RULER OF THE HEAVENS-AM
YOUR FATHER. AND THAT, OF COURSE,
MAKES YOU A GODDESS.
"Huh?" Athena's knees wobbled so hard that she plopped back into her chair. She read on:
YOU MUST BE, WHAT . . . NINE YEARS
OLD NOW?
"Try twelve," she mumbled under her breath. And for most of those years, she had yearned to know who her parents were. She'd spun endless stories in her head, imagining how they looked and what they were like.
At last a piece of the puzzle had dropped into her lap. Or onto her desk, anyway. Her eyes raced across the rest of the letter as she continued:
AT ANY RATE, YOU'RE PLENTY OLD
ENOUGH NOW TO CONTINUE YOUR
SCHOOLING AT MOUNT OLYMPUS
ACADEMY, WHERE I-YOUR DEAR
OL-- DAD-AM THE PRINCIPAL. I HEREBY
COMMAND YOU TO PREPARE AT
ONCE FOR THE JOURNEY TO MOUNT
OLYMPUS. HERMES DELIVERY SERVICE
WILL PICK YOU UP TOMORROW MORNING.
YOURS IN THUNDER,
ZEUS
*