Dear Diary,
Let me tell you, summer camp is nothing like you see in the movies. Not in the least bit. But I'm not lonely, though I miss pa a lot. I can't use phone or internet here, so letters are the next best thing still, I really miss the farm.
Anyways, I'm writing in this to vent my feelings, and so my stories told encase I don't make it. From what I hear, people like me don't always live long lives, so I wanna make sure someone knows, especially if it'll help them.
You know how in school you learn about greek mythology? Like how the gods would go down to earth to have children with mortals, or how these children grew up to be great heros? Well they aren't myths, legends are often lessons with grains of truth, but these legends are so much more. And the children of these gods are Demigod, half bloods, the heros of a world unseen by mortals.
You can think I'm crazy if you want, I didn't believe it either, I mean who would? Truth be told, I once thought I wanted more than an everyday life of a 13 year old schoolgirl, and now days, I'd give anything to have that life back. But I'm getting ahead of myself, so I'll start from the beginning.
It was a morning like any other, the morning sun light that shined through the window over the head board of my bed, lighting up my room with its warm glow. My alarm woke me up with a loud ring, and all I wanted to do is sleep in, after turning it off, I fell back on my pillow, and snuggled under the warmth of my covers, which smelled like a fall breeze. It was the last day of school, but my papa still felt the need to wake me up, "Up an atum, ginger snap!" he shouted happily slamming the door open, my papa's a great guy, but he's as loud as a train, and just as big. My father threw open the curtains over my window, the morning light becoming all the more bright, "Ok… ok… I'm up.." I groaned pushing my ginger colored curls out of my face, "Breakfast'll be ready soon, so get goin on gettin ready fer the day!" he laughed as he went back down the old wooden stairs, which creaked under is weight.
My pale blue eyes dilated as the sun shined into them, and as I got up and looked in the mirror, I noticed that my cream colored skin had gotten a few more freckles. "Autumn get your but down here! Your flapjacks are getting cold!"
"I'll be down in a seconds pa!" I shouted back as I slipped on a pink short sleeve, a pair of magenta cargoes, and a pair of old hiking boots. If you hadn't guessed, my names Autumn, and I like the color pink, and as I turned to leave my attic room, I couldn't help but feel as if I was being watched, but I just brushed it off and trotted down stairs.
My dad was sitting in his comfy chair, which was an old recliner, he had the same messy ginger curls I did, only his were cut short, while mine fell past my shoulders and in my face, his face was sprinkled with freckles like mine, but they were rarely seen because his face was almost always hiden my a scruffy ginger beard and mustache. I smiled at him, and he smiled back, before returning his attention to his paper. I sat in my usual spot at the table and ate my hot cakes which I always drenched in syrup and butter, me an my dad didn't talk much during the morning, he would read the morning paper, and I'd eat my breakfast.
If you've read this far, and if you're wondering about my mom, I never met her, and my dad didn't really talk about her, and I while I respect that it might be hard for him, I wish I had known something about her, even so, when I thought real hard, I could remember her pail blue eyes, and gentle hands, for now that was enough.
I let out a sigh, at the time, all I was really only worried about was having a boring summer at home, well other than the annual rodeo a few towns over. I didn't have any friends other then the people at the Artsie n' Craftsie store. I looked out side the open kitchen window, and saw the golden hay fields which stretched on over the horizon and disappeared into the tall mountains which kissed the endless blue sky, I loved the view from our front porch, it reminded me of the earlier days when I could barely walk, let alone describe the world around me.
If you looked around the living room, or looked in my sketch book, you'd see dozens of pictures, all of the same scenery, but still different at the same time.
After inishing my cakes, I washed my dishes, picked up my bag, and walked out to sit on the porch, my dad fallowed, and sat in his rocking chair as he smoked a cigar. As I stared off into space, what was only a few mintues, seemed like hours as my mind drifted, and the yellow school bus came rolling up, my dad kissed my head and we said our goodbyes, I left the comfort of the small farm house my dad an I shared, and I climbed on the bus, "Mornin Earl," I greeted the driver, "Mornin Autumn, excited for the last day?" he asked in his rusty deep voice. "More or less," I sat in my usual seat, I was the only one on the bus other then Earl, I went to a private school far from my dad's farm, I had been kicked out of other schools, most of the time not even my fault, but still, at least it was the last day.
As the bus drove down the bumping road, I fiddled with a bracelet I always wore on my wrist, it wasn't anything fancy, just a bronze cuff bracelet with Greek writing that spelled out, 'To Protect' it was the only thing I had from my mom. I had a strange feeling soon after, like I was endanger, I looked up, an off in the distance I saw something moving though the wheat fields, I didn't really think anything of it, but even on the bus I could feel vibrations, and it wasn't until the thing burst out of the field and right through the fence that separated the fields and the road. "What The Heck!?" I shouted, because right there running along the side of the bus, its hooves dug into the hard road like it was mashing into butter. It's size was that of a prized bull, but 10 times more frightening, it was a metal bull, with bronze arrmor plating, a Colchis Bull! "Uh... Earl...?" I said not taking my eyes off the thing, "Do you see what I see...?" "All I see is a runaway bul-!" He didn't get to finish, because the bull rammed us, bashing its head against the side, and the impact of it felt like that of another car, Earl made the bus go faster and faster until the bull was far behind, and I couldn't have been more relieved.
Me and Earl didn't talk the rest of the way, we both just wanted to get away from that thing, and I couldn't have been more happy then to be at school, and far away from that metal bull. My supervisor, Ms. Marigold, a woman with long curly blonde hair was waiting for me in my first period class, she had been my supervisor since the first day of school. She was a nice woman, and always looked out for me, because of her job she followed me to every school I went to. At first I had thought I was going to be a burden on her, but Ms. Marigold seemed to enjoy being around me, and she really stood up for me when I was picked on for my ADHD and dyslexia.
"And how are you today young muse?" She asked with a smile as bright and as warm as a spring day, she smelled like flowers again, she always smelled like nature. Ms. Marigold was wearing a yellow sundress with a flower pattern imprinted on it, it suited her. "I'm good, something weird happened on the way to school though," I told her setting down my bag, "Oh?" Ms. Marigold said raising a brow, I was a little afraid to tell her, I didn't want her to dislike me, her and papa were the only people I could really rely on.
"I was... attacked... but a... metal bull..." I told her, and she had the look of someone who had just been given the worse news of they're life, she opened her mouth to say something, but the class bell rang, and the Mythology class started. Mr. Brown, a tall man with a scruffy black beard, started today's lesson. I had always loved greek mythology, it's the only thing in the world that I could really understand. As class went on, I had the funny feeling i was being watched again, I looked around, and then I saw Jenny, she was one of the prettiest girls in school, and the most rotten in my opinion, she was always looking for reason to make me miserable.
I tried to ignore her, but I could feel her staring start to burn, she was always staring at me, like she was waiting for me to do something so she could taunt me, but today it felt more intense, like the whole school was filled with a thick, and suffocating air flowing through the halls. I felt like, I was endanger, like something bad was about to happen. I could barely focus, I was so on edge, this was gonna be one sucky day, lucky me. Class ended, and I couldn't be more happy to have Jenny stop staring at me, Ms. Marigold walked with me to my next class, which was Art, and my favorite.
Art class was quiet, just how I like it, but the bull just wouldn't leave my mine, and I ended up sketching it, the details in the metal were actually really pretty. It was more interesting then the ones in the mythology books, Ms. Marigold passed me a piece of paper, which snapped me out of thought. "What's this?" I asked her and she smiled. "Its a fill out sheet for a summer camp, I talked it over with your dad," I didn't like the sound of that, "But it's your choice on whether you want to attend, all you have to do is fill it out."
"What's it like there?"
"Its a camp with many activities, and there are a lot of kids there like you, there's even a whole cabin of artistic kids." She told me, and I felt like I'd want to actually attend, so the moment my sketchbook was put away, I filled in the sheet happily, though some of the questions were a little odd. The camp sounded nice, and the more I heard of it, the more I wanted to see it, she said it had strawberry bushes and a huge lake and mountains, it sounded wonderful.
But as Ms. Marigold went on, I got that feeling again, and she seemed to feel it too, "Autumn! C'mon We have to go!" She said standing up, but before I could ask why, the ground started to vibrate again, and the one place I thought I'd be safe, was bulldozed through as the metal bull rampaged through the halls, suddenly, I wasn't too worried about my final math test, or having a boring summer. All I was worried about, was getting away from that bull!
Me and Ms. Marigold hoped out the window and hi-tailed it to the road, I couldn't believe that the bull was actually real, I didn't want to either. We were almost at the gate when something hit my side and hit it hard, sending me to the ground with a thud and a bruising pain.
"Ah.. son of a…" My vision was blurry at first, but when I stopped seeing shapes, I saw Jenny standing before me, but she was different. She had one donkey leg, and a prosthetic one, before I could react, she grabbed me by my shirt and lifted me into the air, to her, I weighed no more then a doll. "Whoa geeze!" I squeaked both surprised and shocked, this was turning out to be the weirdest, scariest, and some how most exciting day of my teenage life. "Leaving so soon?" she asked in a weird voice, it was hers but at the same time, wasn't. "The fun is just starting," as she said that, the metal bull stormed out of the school, its red eyes staring straight at us as it ran towards us.
Jenny threw me into the direction the bull was charging, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn't move at all, the only thing that snapped me out of my transe-like state was hearing a flute play, and as the music rang through the air, plants shot right out of the ground and entangled themselves around the bull, stopping the great beast in it's tracks.
"Autumn!" I heard Ms. Marigold call out, "Run!" I did as told and jumped to my feet before taking off, but I couldn't help but worry about Ms. Marigold, and my sanity. I ran and ran, but as I was running, I thought of my mom, I always seemed to think about her at weird times. When I tried really hard, I could see her smile, and her blue eyes, and I could hear her voice. But then it hit me, and I started remembering memories I either pushed back deep in my mind, or was too young to really remember, but the memories came back, and i remembered how weird things had been happening for awhile now, I just didn't want to believe they were real.
I remembered how when I was little, I had told my teacher I had seen a monster with a lions body, a goats head beside the lions, and a snake for a tail, but he told me it was just a big dog, than there was the day when an ugly lady kept falling me and pa around at the country fair. Or how when ever I saw flowers, I always felt like someone was watching me, protecting me from the bad things, and i felt safe and at easy whenever i took a nap in the green grass and bushel of flowers that seemed to be everywhere, then I remembered Ms. Marigold. I couldn't believe I had left her, so with a sharp turn, I turned around and ran straight for where Ms. Marigold was. I couldn't help but feel like I had known her my whole life the day we met, but it was only until now I realized, I had known her my entire life.
With that filling my mind, my blood started to boil, my blood always boiled when ever we played doge ball in P.E. but it had never given me such a burning sensation, my leg ran faster then ever before, and my heart raced.
She had always been there, at the fair, when I had ran away fro the ugly woman who seemed to turn into a bird monster, a tree that was in full bloom, had kept me safe within it's branches until pa came to my aid. And when the two headed lion goat monster chased me, the flower bushes hid me from its monstrous gaze. Ms. Marigold had always been there, now it was my turn, so much of it didn't make sense, but this rushing feeling that flooded my vains did make sense.
'You were born to be a hero'
A voice said, and my head felt so much more clear.
'Live, fight! Be the demigod hero you were born to be Autumn!'
Ms. Marigold, the metal bull, and Jenny came into view, and something in me seemed to click, I put my hand on my bracelet, and with a warm sensation, the bronze bracelet, turned into a bronze shield with the symbol of the oldest of the nine muses engraved on it, the sign of Calliope, the muse of epic stories and poetry. The bull charged once more, and with all my strength, I slammed my shield into the bulls head, sending it into the ground, I kept hiding it, more and more. But the bull wasn't going down as easy as that, its armor only suffering minor scratches and dents.
Ms. Marigold played her flute once more, and the plants sent the beast flying, something told me only the outside was so durable, but the inside, for any manner of beast that's still weak.
Just as the bull opened it's mouth to breath fire at us, I made it just in time to shield Ms. Marigold from the flames, and just as the bull was turning off the fire, I hurled my shield into its open mouth, like it was a huge frizbee, and as the shield tore through the metal armor of the bull, the mechanical monster exploded. The impact from the explosion threw use to the ground, and my head felt numb.
I don't remember much of what happened next, I just remember seeing a gentle smile and a warm glow as i passed out, and I knew everything would be alright.
I woke up a few days later in an infirmary, which just so happened to belong to Camp Half-blood, a camp for kids like me, demigods, and natural born hero's of god descendants. My mother had claimed me the day I defeated the bull, if you hadn't already guessed, my moms Calliope the fair voiced, and the muse of epic stories and poetry.
As the days passed, I became accustom to camp life, I especially loved training, even though my passion was art, I still had a hard time staying still, and training was the work out I needed. I got along with my brothers and sisters who lived with me in the cabin, some pained, some wrong music, others sung, each had a story to tell in they're own way.
Outside of the cabin, I had two other friends, other then Ms. Marigold I mean. There was Reggie Ronald, son of Aries God of War. Reggie was a big guy in general, who looked older than he was, his mother was a marine when she met his dad. He dressed like a military trainee, from the camo paints, to the dog tags around his neck, but he was nicer than he lead on.
Than there was Milly Anderson, daughter of Hephaestus, her mom was an auto shop worker, and she was a chatter box, once you got her going, good luck getting her to stop, she was always crafting weapons, and constantly tried to get her hands on my shield, but I never let her, unless it was for repairs.
These two were my best friends, we always trained together, and always took Quests together.
And if you're wondering about my dad, he sure gave me an earful, but he was happy that I was ok, I visit him on holidays, being Ms. Marigold, and a few of my friends with me. Everyone loves his Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. I still love my farm, but I also love camp, and while the life of a demigod isn't easy, with being attacked by monsters and all, I do pretty ok, so even though I miss my old boring life, I cant say I'd want to give this one up either, after all it's a part of who I am, and who I'll become, but hey, that's just me.
I'm Autumn Grimshaw, and I'm the daughter of a Muse, a demigod hero in the making, if you don't believe me, that's your problem.