Birthday surprise

'Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!' Lara grinned as her family sang, rather out of tune and Granma carried in a dark blue birthday cake with electric blue icing decorated in wave shapes with a trident in the middle.

'Wow Granma!' cried Lara, blowing out the candles which were specially made to burn blue flames.

'Keeping the tradition,' Dad laughed hugged his mum. He and Mum, Lara's two younger siblings Harry and Emma, Granma and Grandpa were all gathered around the kitchen table. 'I've had blue birthday cake since I was about seven.'

'Twelve years old, and only been chucked out of three schools!' Grandpa laughed. He wasn't actually a relation of Lara's, being Granma's second love, but he felt like one. It was a family joke about the number of times the kids had been expelled. Harry was much worse than Lara; he was two years younger than her and had been to five schools. Mum and Dad were no better, they had been to the maximum amount of schools there were.

Lara picked up the knife and cut a big piece before passing it to Harry. 'Biggest to you!' He shoved most of it in his mouth immediately.

'Presents! Presents!' seven year old Emma bounced on her chair, her blond hair in bunches and her sea green eyes shining. She pointed to the mountain of presents balanced on the table.

'First, from Granddad Chase,' Lara opened a big box. Inside was a pair of remote control planes, one a Spitfire, and the other Granddad's old favourite, the Sopwith Camel. Both of them had little guns attached which fired tiny plastic pellets. 'Cool!'

'We have to try this out!' Harry picked up the Sopwith and spun the propeller.

'From Granma and Grandpa,' Granma passed over a couple of small boxes. Inside one was a delicate silver necklace with a trident charm, and in the other, a thick gold ring set with a sea green jewel.

'Thanks Granma, Grandpa!' cried Lara as Mum secured the necklace around her neck.

'You're getting so big now, sweetie,' Mum stepped back and looked at her, smiling. 'My little girl.'

'Aw, Mum!' groaned Lara.

'This cake is good!' said Harry, spraying crumbs all over Emma. Everyone laughed as Emma flicked her crumbs at him, until suddenly a deafening bark shattered the moment.

A huge black dog leaped through the window, its fangs bared. It was huge, and barely fit inside the room. Emma screamed as it snapped at her head, Mum dragged her away from its jaws.

'A hellhound!' shouted Dad, pulling out a biro.

'Dad, a biro? Really? What're you gonna do, write on it?' said Harry incredulously, backing away. Dad uncapped the lid and it grew into a bronze sword. 'Wow, a bronze sword!'

'Celestial bronze, actually. Hiya!' Dad stabbed and it disintegrated into dust. But it was followed by two more, and then a third. Mum pulled out her own sword from inside a kitchen cupboard, and stood next to him. But there were too many, and they kept coming. Finally one closed its jaws on Lara's arm just before Mum slashed it to sand, leaving a gash in her arm.

'Mrs O'Leary!' roared Dad. The kids looked at him like he was mad, until another hellhound, bigger than the rest, jumped in next to Lara. It gently but firmly flicked her onto it's back. 'Lara, stay on Mrs O'Leary, she'll take you to Camp Half-blood.'

'I'm not leaving you!' sobbed Lara.

'Mum, Dad take Emma and Harry, get them out of here!' cried Dad.

'How?'

'Look!' shouted Mum, aiming for a hellhound's neck. Two more hellhounds, smaller than the rest, jumped into the already packed kitchen. 'Mrs O'Leary's puppies!' Emma and Harry climbed aboard, clinging on. Dad pressed something into Lara's good hand, and suddenly Mrs O'Leary jerked away, impossibly fast. The pups went in the opposite direction, and looking back, Lara had a glimpse of Mum and Dad still battling the hellhounds, before she turned away and clung on.

Either Mrs O'Leary was Superdog, or Lara lost track of the time, because the journey barely seemed to last five minutes, until Lara tumbled onto the ground, clutching her arm and wincing. Looking up, she saw a middle-aged man in a wheelchair with a scraggly brown beard, and a tall dark haired guy. Then her vision blacked out and she fainted.