My day was shaping out to be pretty dang good until a lightning bolt struck my car. I had been enjoying the pleasant sunshine and cool breeze in my dad's old Mustang that he spent many years restoring himself. It was his pride and joy. Today not only had strangely beautiful weather, but my dad let me take his one true love out for a spin. I guess with next to no chance of me hitting something, except maybe a stray cat, he wasn't very concerned about me driving without my license. Then again, everyone around here usually started driving before getting an official piece of plastic.

Anyway, I had been cruising with the windows down, blasting my favorite mix CD and singing at the top of my lungs. Nothing could go wrong. I was invincible. The wind didn't roughly blow through my hair and make it a tangled mess. Instead, it seemed to caress my hair and leave it looking as though I belonged in a ridiculous commercial.

"Look how happy you could be in the car of your dreams on a deserted road in rural Missouri!"

Ah, yes. It was the kind of day that people waited all summer for. Parents would take off work to do something fun outside with their kids, and kids who were too old to play with their parents ran to the creek, either to lounge around or swim. Usually, the sun beat down harshly on the vast fields. A spot of shade and a cool drink of water would be the highlights of the day. But, those weren't necessary today.

They weren't at the forefront of my mind as I sped along the lone dirt road at close to eighty miles per hour. I was much more focused on the little things, like how I wasn't cleaning up horse manure or the fact that I had enough money in my pocket to buy three new books if I was lucky. No fear for my life was eating me away from the inside. I had nothing to worry about. Life wasn't great, but it certainly wasn't anything to weep about. I was a strong believer in focusing on the bright side of every situation, no matter how crummy.

That was before I got zapped by who knows how many volts of electricity all while zipping past fields of corn and animals. I'm sure if I was an onlooking bird, the Mustang would have looked like it was part of a Mario Kart race that got hit by lightning. A crackle made the hairs on my arm stand up in a way that was different from the wind. Just a heartbeat later, a thunderous boom louder than anything I'd ever heard filled my ears, and the car continued sliding forward while spinning so fast I thought I'd be sick. I knew I was screaming, but the only sound audible was an incessant ringing.

I thought I was a goner. The potent smell of burning metal certainly didn't help put me at ease. My seat belt held me firmly in place, but my body still fought against it painfully. Somehow, the car stopped spinning, but my vision was nowhere near normal. And, the ringing in my ears had gotten louder. With shaking hands, I searched for the buckle and successfully got out of the seat belt's grasp, but my right arm was in excruciating pain. Of course, despite all of the time and effort put into the classic car, the airbag failed to deploy. This begged the question of how I was still alive.

Before trying to get out of the car, I slowly moved each limb to make sure I hadn't broken anything. I thought I escaped serious injury until my right arm sent a shooting pain throughout my body as I tried to move it. I should have been dead, but only me right arm was giving me any trouble. My already accelerated heart rate started sky rocketing as my breathing became shallower. This couldn't be happening. Firstly, lightning shouldn't have struck on a day like this, then it couldn't have hit my car out of everything else around. I knew for a fact there were many, many trees that were more than tall enough to attract the attention of a good thunderstorm. But, looking around outside, there was no storm raging, not even any rain in sight.

"Moo!"

That was when I noticed all of the cows. They surrounded the car as if protecting me from some invisible threat. The herd nudged against each other as they casually roamed close to the car. It was as if they helped to stop the car from spinning. But, that couldn't be. They were cows.

I needed to get out of that Mustang. Whatever just happened, I wanted to be as far from that cursed car as I could. Desperately, I grabbed at the handle and attempted to jerk the door open, but a cow was in my way.

"Oh, move!" I cried shakily.

The cow looked over at me with what looked like a frown, but it moved out of my way so that I could open the door and collapse in the tall grass. Only then did I get sick. My mind was still reeling from what had just happened. I couldn't stop panicking because my hearing was not returning to normal. Yes, I heard the cows and my own voice, but it sounded murky as if I was underwater. And, the ringing hadn't faded.

As soon as I decided that I was steady enough, I stood and took slow, wobbly steps away from the car, making sure to hold my right arm close to me. When I was several safe feet away, I chanced a quick peek at the damage. My heart dropped to my feet at the sight of the gaping, sizzling hole in the roof of the car. My dad's one treasure was destroyed beyond repair. The bright red paint didn't look as sharp, and the engine was whirring and sputtering angrily. Following a hunch that it could blow up in its rage and take me with it, I stumbled backwards faster than before.

The road was close to the wreckage, but looking up and down the desolate dirt, I saw no other car in sight. The smoking car laid to the right in the fields while thick woods spanned the left side of the road. Bright sunshine hit my eyes, and I raised my hand as a visor. I needed to get home. I needed to get anywhere that was populated. Usually, I never had a problem with living in a small cow town. Everyone knew everyone. It was cozy and comforting. Sure, I might not have access to stable wifi at home, and I didn't have a cell phone. But, the people made up for it. Right now, I wanted some proof that people actually lived here.

Instead, I got nothing. I saw a small scattering of storm clouds raging over the wreckage of the car that I hadn't noticed before, but no more random lightning strikes attacked. In fact, the clouds whirled around, but they were getting weaker. They hung around for another moment before they faded before my eyes. I blinked several times to make sure that I hadn't imagined the clouds. If they had been there, they were certainly gone now.

My arm didn't stop burning, and I knew I needed medical attention sooner rather than later. But, no one was out on the road this fine Thursday afternoon. Something fell in front of my left eye in a sticky glob. When I touched my hand to my forehead, I was horrified to find that I had a gash stretching across half of my head. I hadn't even realized how much trouble I was in. Trying to remember some survival skills, I ripped at the bottom of my T-shirt so that I could tie the piece of fabric around my wound. Hopefully, it would slow the bleeding until I got some real help.

Now, I had to decide whether it would be faster to head back home or continue on until I reached town. My dad would be at home at this time of day, working hard out in the fields, but I worried I was too far away for him to help me. Maybe now he would finally agree to get me a cell phone. Even though we lived in a rural area, mostly everyone my age already had cell phones. Whenever I asked for one, he would tell me no without even hearing my argument. It was unlike him to be so adamant with something without listening to me.

Sometimes, I wondered if we were even related. I was headstrong and argumentative while he was always calm, a great mediator. Despite our differences, we got along well. We had to. We were all each other had. Mom had never been in the picture, and I knew not to ask. After years of seeing the sadness in my dad's eyes at the mention of her, I lost interest. Well, I didn't completely lose interest in who my mom was, but I valued my dad's happiness above my curiosity.

But, I figured that at this point I had to be closer to town that my house. So, with tears blurring my vision, I headed towards help. The sun seemed to heat from comfortably warm to blazing hot. Within minutes, I was sweating. All of nature seemed to have turned against me. It was so hot that I felt as though my skin would melt off. But, I was exaggerating in my shock of the events of today. The sun would never be able to cause that much damage, but I was afraid that I was getting major sunburns.

I followed a curve in the dirt road, and to my amazement, a woman stood in the middle of the two lane path. Before calling out to her, I blinked several times to make sure that she wasn't a hallucination. I didn't want to get my hopes up only for her to be a trick of the heat waves. But, she was a real, living woman in a beautiful deep purple colored dress that flowed all the way to the ground with brown curls down to her waist.

"Hello?" I asked cautiously, using my left hand to cradle my right arm.

"Yes, dear?"

Her voice was musical and definitely real. A shaky smile slid onto my face, and I quickened my pace. As I got closer to her, I realized how beautiful she was. I had seen some pretty people in my time, and almost every celebrity was stunning beyond compare these days. But, she was something more than the typical bomb shell. She was beautiful in a dazzling, mysterious way. I knew she wouldn't leave me on my own.

"Oh my," she said with such caring that I felt relieved to be just two feet away from her. "You look hurt, my child. I imagine you don't always look so worse for wear."

I shook my head somberly. She radiated this comfort that only a motherly figure could give. Her eyes were a captivating green. They were so bright, like city hall's lawn that was kept constantly watered.

"What happened, my child?"

"I don't know." My lip quivered. I was not one to break down, but this woman made me feel like I could without being labeled a weakling. "I got into a car accident. My arm might be broken."

She tutted sadly. "Oh, yes. You are in trouble, my child."

Looking around, I started to notice that there was no car or bike near the woman. I wanted her to help me, to comfort me. I wanted to feel better and let her hold me in her arms.

"Where's your car?" I asked. "I need to get to a hospital."

"I don't have a car," she told me calmly, her smile never fading; in fact, her lips curled even further upwards.

"Who are you?" I asked.

This woman was extremely nice, but I was starting to realize that she was a stranger. I knew everybody in town. I couldn't not know this woman. She appeared out of nowhere, without any means of transportation. My guard started coming up, but her smile but me at ease again.

"You can call me Mia," she said kindly.

"Mia, I need to get to a hospital. I think my arm is broken."

"Of course I'll help you, my child," she assured me. "Let's not act too quickly."

My mind felt fuzzy. My arm still hurt like crazy, but it didn't seem as important or desperate as it did a couple of minutes ago. I knew my situation needed to be handled, but I felt like Mia would handle it. There wasn't any real reason to be concerned with her around. She would take care of me. But, something was off about her.

"Why do you keep calling me your child?"

I slowly brought my hand to the strip of T-shirt wrapped around my head. It was soaked through. I tried not to think about how the red liquid used to be in my body. Maybe I was losing too much blood. I could be going crazy without realizing it. That happened to people sometimes.

"Because, dear, you will be my child."

Her voice was so sweet that I wanted to trust her, but her actual words were wrong. They made my stomach twist in urgency.

"I'm not your child," I told her firmly, even though my thoughts were still swimming.

Her vibrant green eyes flashed dangerously, and she hissed at me. That definitely wasn't right. I swear that when she stuck her tongue out, it was long and forked.

"Then, you shall be my meal!" she cried.

Suddenly, she was less beautiful be the second. Her facial features contorted strangely. Her eyes widened and tilted upwards slightly, the green making them look even more serpentine. Her nose shrunk into her face, and when she hissed at me again, I saw that her tongue was indeed forked. Her appearance was so unreal that I wanted to laugh. Jokes about being Voldemort's gross love child with Nagina came to mind, but none of them left my mouth. I was too terrified. I thought that was as scary as she could get, but then a snake whipped around from behind her. No. The snake was attached to her. Her whole bottom half had transformed to sickeningly shiny green scales.

"Come to me, my child," she urged me, grinning with razor sharp teeth.

Even though I could see that I should go no closer – in fact, I needed to run in the opposite direction – something powerful about her voice still made me want to get near her. Her aura of maternal comfort almost made me forget that she was half snake and wanted to eat me. Almost.

I stumbled backwards but didn't fall. I refused to emulate the ditz in every scary movie who runs for her life while the walking monster somehow catches up to her after she trips. But, Mia was no lumbering zombie. She slithered as quickly as if she had legs. I ran back down the road without looking behind me; I didn't need to. I could hear her angry hissing closing in. If I could just out run her, maybe I could... I didn't know what I could do. There was nowhere to run to and no one to call out to. I couldn't out run her forever. Eventually, I'd get tired. And eventually was coming up pretty quickly. My arm still ached and burned. I wouldn't survive this monster woman.

Through no fault of my own, I was sent tumbling to the dirt and landed on my already hurt arm. A cry of pain left my lips. Mia had used her tail to whip my feet out from under me. I managed to roll over onto my back despite my body hurting all over. If I was going to die, I wanted to stare her in the eyes while I did. No one would believe how I died. A crazy snake lady devoured her after she survived a lightning bolt striking her car? Somehow I didn't think that would be my legacy. In fact, I kind of hoped it wouldn't be. Then, people would think I died a nut case. This is all if my dead body is even discovered.

"Now, I will eat, my child," Mia told me happily, as if she had just informed me that I won the lottery.

My cheeks were wet with tears, and I was scared witless as she lowered her head with her dangerous fangs towards my broken body. But, I didn't look away. I stared at her stupid green eyes defiantly. I couldn't believe that I thought she was motherly in any aspect.

"Sssay goodbye, demigod." The snake lady cackled hysterically.

"MOO!"

Before she could sink her teeth into me, a ninja cow tackled her. I wish I was joking, but I sat up and saw the group of cows that had been by the mustang pummeling Mia. She was screaming in outrage and was able to get a bite out of a few of the cows. But, for the most part, she was helpless to the sheer force of the kicking cattle.

I would have thought I was dreaming except the pain of my injuries still flared. I had to settle with the belief that I was insane. I could kiss any dreams of college goodbye with this traumatic experience. As if my day couldn't get any crazier, three kids hopped out of the woods and started shooting arrows into the chaos.

"Don't hurt the cows!" I croaked.

The cows hadn't done anything wrong. They were protecting me. I didn't understand it, but I didn't want them to suffer because they saved my life. The kids' arrows didn't hit any of the cows though. Their accuracy was startling. Every arrow managed to hit Mia; I could tell from her constant cries of pain. At some point though, she stopped screaming. The cows dispersed and started roaming back towards the fields frighteningly calmly, as if they hadn't just helped defeat a snake demon lady. I couldn't even see the snake lady. All that was left of her was her tattered, purple dress and a pile of dust.

Nothing made sense anymore. Snake ladies, ninja cows, and star archers? Not to mention my dad's lightning stricken car. Now that the snake lady was gone, the kids turned towards me. Instinctively, I raised my good arm in front of my face in case they wanted to shoot some arrows at me. My strength was fading faster by the second. I didn't know how much longer I'd be able to hold onto consciousness. My injuries were taking over.

"Come on, we've got to get her to camp!" one of them called, racing towards me.

The two others followed. That was when I realized that one of them wasn't a kid. Last I checked, having furry legs with hooves were not a normal part of puberty.

"Please don't hurt me," I whispered hoarsely.

My body collapsed back to the dirt. I couldn't hold myself up in a sitting position any longer. My consciousness was sure to lose its hold any second. I was at the mercy of the Three Weird Musketeers.

So, this is my first fan fiction on this website. I'm not too hip with how this all exactly works, but this isn't my first rodeo. I'd appreciate it if you would leave feedback though. I love knowing what people think about my writing. Technically, this falls under Percy Jackson, but this story will focus on my original characters, not Rick Riordan's. But, they will make appearances.

Much love,

Glen