14Tatiana Cox

Mrs. Paris

English 9/2A, Period 3

Nov 28, 2008

Poseidon Takes a Chill-Pill

Part 1: The Goddess

Have you ever wondered what really caused the terrible hurricane Katrina? Well my friend, you're about to find out because this is the real-deal. I was there, and believe me; once my tale is finished you may never think of that incident the same again.

It all started one night when my brother, Buck, and I were watching the news. The meteorologist reported that a huge hurricane was forming in the Gulf of Mexico. Apparently it would be heading straight for us! All citizens were being urged to evacuate the coast in the next four days.

Sufficed to say, Buck and I began to panic. Our whole way of life was based in Florida. (Never became a fisherman.) If our two boats were destroyed, there went our lively-hood! And what about our homes? Neither Buck nor I could afford to repair or buy a house.

Then suddenly a bright, silver light appeared. I shielded my eyes and grabbed a stoker. An intense sense of peace and silence enveloped the room for what seemed like hours. Finally the light faded and in the middle of the room stood a beautiful woman. She stood strikingly straight and her eyes were a cool gray.

For a moment no one spoke; then the woman gestured for us to sit. "Greetings mortals," boomed her lovely voice. "I am Athena, goddess of wisdom. I have come to speak with you about this incoming disaster."

Now our people have always believed in the god's existence, but few people ever actually saw them! This was unbelievable.

"Your grace we thank you for your concern," Buck managed to spit out. "Tell us what we must do and it shall be done."

"Well said sir. Now listen, should this hurricane reach Florida it will cause serious chaos. Therefore I'm charging you both with the task to make sure that this doesn't occur. My uncle, Poseidon, has been besieged by the worst migraine possible. I have my suspensions as to what, or rather whom, has be ailed him, but I cannot say for sure now."

"Okay, so what do you need us for?" I asked.

"I need you Allen, and your brother," she replied, "to journey to my uncle's underwater palace and deliver these to him." She then handed me two bottles.

"Ibuprofen and Finigren", I said questioningly. "Why can't you or another god take them to him?"

"Because," she replied, "someone has put up a barrier keeping away all immortals away from Poseidon's palace."

"Wow. Someone must really want your uncle and the entire Gulf of Mexico to suffer. But goddess, if you don't mind, why us?" asked Buck.

"You were chosen by fate, "said Athena. "The oracle has prophesized this: Two mortal beings, Buck and Allen, shall this curse be broken by. They will search across the gulf to save their home and family. A great sea serpent shall they encounter, but journey on they will. The end of their journey will end in Patrick's Dream."

"What does the rest of it mean? Wait a minute, did you just say giant sea-serpent?" asked Buck.

"Indeed I did. And as for the rest of the prophecy, no one can ever really know, only guess," Athena replied.

Finally I had to ask," So where is Poseidon's palace anyway?"

"Ah, a good question," she remarked, "My uncle's palace lies hidden underwater in an area called the Devil's Triangle. You've heard of it I presume?"

Heard of it! Why we were fishermen! The most mysterious fishing tales occurred there. Not many ever returned from there, and the ones that did were always too frightened to tell much of their experience. Not many would dare venture there.

"Now go heroes, with my blessing. Know that I will try to help you as much as I can on your journey." And with a wave of her hand, she disappeared in a shimmering, blue light.

Part 2: The Quest

Immediately afterwards Buck and I gathered what provisions we would need for our journey. Then we called our family and told them of our journey. Afterwards we went down to the docks and chose our most trustworthy boat, the Wavebreaker.

We set our course for the Devil's Triangle, all the while praying to the gods for our safe return. As we neared our destination a thought occurred to me.

"Hey Buck. Athena didn't tell us how to find the palace did she?" I asked with a touch of skepticism.

"Come to think of it, she didn't. All she said was that it was under the sea in the Devil's Triangle." He paused for a moment. "Maybe there'll be a sign."

A day into our journey saw us lost in a thick mist, somewhere in the Devil's Triangle. Buck and I began to panic. Every splash made us jump and the fog sent a chill down our spines. Suddenly we heard a splash. We turned to the starboard side and saw a huge wave collapsing into the sea.

"Maybe it was a whale," I suggested. But we both secretly feared that it had really been the dreaded sea serpent that we had been prophesized to run into.

About an hour later our fears were confirmed. At first all we heard was a weird sort of splashing noise. Then we felt the boat rock as though it had bumped into something. Then, on the port side, a huge snake-like head reared out of the water.

It was a greenish blue with indigo fans spread out on the sides of its head. At first it just stared at us, and we at it. Then with an unexpectedly beautiful voice it said, "Ah, visitors. I haven't had company in almost twenty years. Tell me what brings you here. I've been watching you for some time now."

Buck and I were speechless. Here was a monstrous creature, quite capable of eating ten men, and she was talking to us like a stranger met on the street.

"I understand. Most men are intimidated by me at first, but once you get to know me, you'll realize that I'm quite kind. Here I'll start. My name is Syrie and don't worry I've no interest in eating humans," she said with a toothy smile.

Amazingly I was the first to find my voice. "Greetings Syrie. My name is Allen, and this is my brother Buck." Buck managed a slight nod.

"Well, Buck and Allen. I like those names. You can tell me all about yourselves when we get there."

"Where are we going?" asked Buck.

"Why we're going to my cave and your future home." Before either of us could respond she had grabbed us gently in her jaws. Though we thoroughly protested she simply swam away from The Wavebreaker while carefully keeping her head above the water.
After another thirty minutes or so, Syrie dove headfirst into the depths. Just when I thought my lungs would burst, we emerged into an undersea cave. This cave acted like an air pocket allowing us to breathe. She then put us down on the cavern floor.

The cave was a large cavern that started at a pool where Syrie now resided. The cavern held just about what you'd expect. However Syrie had also stored about five treasure chests, and a couple food and clothing storage units. Also she had somehow made a human-sized bed out of kelp and sea sponge.

After we'd taken in our surroundings we turned back to Syrie. She was staring at us, almost in a comical way. "Why did you bring us here" I asked.

Syrie chuckled and replied, "I already told you, I brought you here to live with me. I get so lonely here. And I knew that if I left you alone you would soon be eaten. Many other giant creatures live in these waters, and most are not friendly towards humans."

"Well that's a really kind gesture and all but we really have to go," Buck stated.

"And where, pray tell, is it that you must go and why?" retorted Syrie.

Syrie listened as Buck and I stated our quest and our destination. After we had explained everything, Syrie sat contemplating our conversation. Finally she said, "I have a proposition for you. I will let one of you continue your journey and will even help you. However, one of you must stay behind and live with me forever."

Buck and I began to protest, stating that the goddess and the prophecy had said that we must both take this quest. She, in turn, argued that they had, and that she could just as easily keep them both there.

In the end we told her that we would have to think about, and that we would give her our answer in the morning. She agreed, and gave us instructions as to what we could get from her chests. Inside them we found candles, bread, clothes, and even salted meat. When we asked her how she obtained all of this, she merely stated that she had her sources.

After Syrie had left to go hunting, we prayed to Athena for her guidance in our decision. Almost immediately she responded.

"You must wait for her to fall asleep. Once she has you must quietly climb on her back. When she awakes she will leave looking for you. Once she reaches the surface, you must quietly get off of her back while you're underwater."

"What shall we do then?" I asked. She responded that help would arrive shortly afterward. Everything went as planned. Once we'd climbed off of her back Syrie just kept swimming, calling our names in a mournful voice. I almost felt bad for her.

However that feeling shortly went away once I felt something bump my leg. I looked down. Something was swimming directly beneath us. I quickly alerted Buck. We were about to decide what to do when, suddenly, a horse's head sprung out of the water next to me.

I'll admit it freaked me out; but then I noticed that under the water I could see that the horse has a fish's tail instead of hind legs. It was a hippocampus. All of a sudden another hippocampus appeared next to Buck.

They whinnied at us and turned around. I quickly jumped on its back and Buck did also with his. Then the hippocampi began swimming towards the east. All in all, it wasn't much different than riding an actual horse. Well, except for the whole riding in the ocean thing.

About three hours later the hippocampi dived under and low and behold I saw the most beautiful thing that I've ever seen. It was a huge underwater castle surrounded by gardens of coral and covered in shining pearls.

Soon we were near enough to see that we were under a huge, almost transparent, dome. It was at that moment that I finally noticed that I was actually breathing.

I was brought back to the moment when I noticed two large tiger sharks cruising by. They seemed calm so I just kept an eye on them until they'd gone by.

Finally we arrived at the gates of the palace. I heard a trumpet sound and the gates opened. Then to my amazement merpeople were there to greet us. Some mermaids gestured for us to follow them so I got off the hippocampus. Weirdly we were actually able to walk, not swim there. They led us through a long corridor which finally opened up into a humongous throne room.

And there, on a throne of pure white gold and the finest pearls, sat Poseidon, the sea god. We approached humbly and bowed. After a few uneasy minutes he looked up at us with pain in his eyes.

"What is it that you want mortals?" he asked tersely. Buck stood up and told of our adventures and our quest. After he'd finished I offered up the medicine that Athena had given us. Poseidon gladly took them. Apparently gods have an extremely fast digestive system because the medicine seemed to work in a matter of minutes.

Relieved from his suffering he said, "Thank you. It is not often that a god would ask a mortal for help, but you have done what no one else could." Standing up he continued, "From this day forward I will see to it that your fishing company thrives with the harvest from my bounty."

By now you realize that I just had to say something. "Sir we don't have an actual fishing company." "You will soon," he replied. Now, I've got to tell you, my heart soared at that, but then I thought about the hurricane.

"My lord, what about the hurricane? Shall you stop it?" I asked.

"I am afraid that it is too late to fully stop it, however, I will steer it off course of the main land as much as possible," he replied.

Part 3: Epilogue

After our conversation with Poseidon he sent us back to the surface on the hippocampi. Before we'd left Poseidon had promised transportation home once we were out of the Devil's Triangle. Half-way through our journey leaving, I could have sworn that I had seen Syrie in the distance still searching for us.

Once we were out of the mist the hippocampi left us and we drifted for a while towards home. Suddenly a bright light shone in my face and I looked up. A man was flashing his beacon at us from his boat. Once it had gotten closer I could read the name on the side of the boat. It said Dream.

At last he helped haul us on-board and we were safe. He asked us our names and we in turn asked his. He told us his name was Patrick and that he could drop us off at the very docks that we had left from.

Once home we were excited to find that our boat was back at the dock; a gift from Poseidon I supposed. Also our homes and families were completely unharmed and safe. We had fulfilled the prophecy and saved our homes.

THE END