"Anna, come on! You have to come with us!"
"Um, actually, I do not. There is nothing stating that I do."
Shelly places a hand on her hip and sighs, glaring at me with her piercing blue eyes before replying. "Anna. You cannot be serious right now! We're going hiking to a romantic waterfall with cute guys and they actually asked us to go with them. There is no way you're turning this down."

"Michelle, please. I really do not think you understand why I can't go on this hike with you." I'm not entirely sure how to explain anything to this friend I've made down here in the mortal world. She wouldn't understand, seeing as she's never been exposed to anything other than the mundane and ordinary. I mean, I am a goddess.

Well, maybe not a major one, but my job is important. Perhaps you've heard of me? My name is Annalyia, and I'm the goddess of animals and nature. After Pan passed on, his power was given to me – a mere afterthought in the womb of my mother Demeter.

Anyways, enough back story for now.

"Anna, please come with me! Peter's cute and likes you, so what's the harm?"

I almost laugh in her face. The harm? The fact is that I'm a goddess and having a mortal love is not worth it, no matter what the other gods or goddesses say. Why love something that is fleeting? Not to mention the fact that my being in the forest could attract all the animals from miles around. "I'm, uh, not really one for the outdoors."
Once again, those ice-blue eyes can see right through my lies. Part of me is beginning to wonder if Michelle is not all that she seems. "Anna, are you seriously going to try and pull that one on me? I so know you're lying. You're the one who insists that we go outside and converse with nature all the time!"

I bite my lip, a nervous habit I have gained since interacting with the people of this world. "It's just better if I don't, Shelly," I say, using her nickname to see if that gains me any sympathy.

"Um, I don't really care, Anna," she answers, the sass apparent in her voice. "You're going, and that's that. We'll be fine. Just let Peter hold your hand and act all cute so that he dotes on you, okay?"

I sigh, knowing that I have been defeated. "Alright, alright. Just stop your incessant nagging."

Michelle throws her arms around me. "Oh Anna this is going to be the best day you've ever had!"

That Saturday Michelle wakes me up bright and early – an easy task for her seeing as I am sleeping at her house. "Alright, now let's see what we're gonna wear. I think that these shorts—" she pulls out a pair of black running shorts "—and this shirt—" she reveals an electric blue tank top "—will go well. And just lace up your bright green running shoes and you'll be fine, okay?"

I sigh and accept the clothing she throws at me. "I believe that this is acceptable. I'll do my best to wear these correctly, as you say." I stick my tongue out at her.

Michelle glares at me, but I can tell she is only joking. "Come on, Anna. This is serious! Boys are a very important topic. Can't live our lives without them."
I snort, but, if she notices, Michelle doesn't comment. Instead, she glances at her digital clock and sighs. "They'll be here in about half an hour. That's enough time to eat and get ourselves water bottles, right?"

"It should be. I see no reason why it wouldn't." Turning to her, I place my hand on Michelle's arm. "Michelle. Please calm down. Everything will be fine. They're just boys. Nothing to worry too much about, alright?"

Michelle lets out a small sigh. "I suppose you're right. It's just…I've liked Adam for a really long time and I just want things to work out for once."

I pull her into a hug, thinking this is a job better suited for Aphrodite than myself. Once I let go, I make Michelle face me. "Don't worry, okay? Please promise me that you'll 'play it cool' or whatever it is that people do?"

Laughing, Shelly nods. "Gotcha. I think that I can manage that."

"Good! Now get ready, they'll be here soon."

Adam is already panting and we haven't even made it half of the way up the mountain. "Are you sure we don't need to stop?" Michelle asks for the third or so time.

"What? No! I'm fine, thanks though," Adam replies, the red in his cheeks making his freckles less noticeable.

"No, really, I don't mind. I'm a little tired, and, besides, it looks like Anna and Peter could keep going for forever, so why don't we let them trudge on?"

"You guys sure about this?" It's one of the first things Peter has actually said, choosing to remain quiet most of the hike. "I'm not saying I mind," he adds, shooting a quick glance at me, "but I just want to be sure."

"Yeah, it's fine!" Michelle says, flashing a bright smile. "But can we have a bottle of water?"

"Sure thing!" I reach into my backpack and toss them a bottle before turning back to the path and heading up the slope.

After a few minutes, Peter turns to me. "You think it was a good idea to leave them there alone? Adam really likes Michelle, so who knows what could happen?"

I laugh. "Considering Michelle really likes Adam, who knows? Maybe they'll be happy with each other or something."

Peter smiles, but then turns his attention back to hiking. Stopping, he stares at the trees above his heads, the sunlight shining through the leaves and lighting his face in the right way.

Wait.

Why would this mortal be this attractive to me? His life is nothing compared to mine.

Without thinking about it, I let out a sigh and smile at Peter. But then I realize what I just did. "Oh no," I whisper.

Peter turns to me, the trees forgotten. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, um, nothing. Don't worry about it. I just, um, messed up, is all," I say nervously and looking down. But I sense their presences, all around me. They know I'm here, and they want to find me. They call me their queen as they search for me. There's no way they won't see me, so I glance at Peter. "Can you, um, keep a secret?"

Peter tilts his head to the side, but nods. "Sure." He pauses. "Well it depends on what kind of secret you're referring to. If you killed someone, I'll have to turn you in. But, if you're secretly afraid of trees, I won't tell."

"No, it's nothing like that. Although, I wish it were. Actually, I—" Of course, however, just as I decide to say something, a small black bear pokes its head through the bushes next to Peter.

He jumps about five feet in the air and races over to stand next to me. "Oh my goodness it's a bear. Okay we need to stay calm. We need to not do anything to aggravate it."

"Peter."

"We need to step back slowly and – oh crap look there's another one! And a bunch of squirrels and birds and is that a deer—"

"Peter."

"What?" He turns to me, panic in his eyes.

"Calm down, okay? This is sort of the secret I was trying to tell you about."

"Secret? How are all of these animals being here a secret?"

"Well, you see, I accidentally called them." He stares at me, confused. "I promise it wasn't on purpose, it just happened. I'd been trying to hide my presence from them, but I let my guard down for a moment and then they sensed me and now they're all here and I'm really, really, really sorry." I'm breathless by the end, and I can tell Peter still doesn't believe me. He backs away. "Peter, I…I'm the goddess of animals."

"No you're not."

"What – yes I am."

"How on earth would that be possible?"

"Well how else do you explain all of these animals?" I place my hands on my hips, letting my annoyance with Peter show. Unfortunately, all of the animals notice my discomfort and begin to growl and chatter angrily at the poor boy. "Stop," I say, and they do. "Good. Now, could you all please leave?" The animals stare at me warily, refusing to leave me with what seemed to them as a potential threat. "Go," I say again, only this time in the language of the wilds, disregarding everything my mother and father had taught me about acting around mortals.

All of the animals immediately depart.

So I make the decision to check on Peter. His blue eyes are very wide and his lips are moving, yet no words are said.

"Peter?"

Hearing this appears to bring him back to reality. "Sorry, I'm just determining if that was really hot or really scary."

"Hot? You do realize that I'm about two thousand years older than you, right?"

"Well, you sure don't look it."

My efforts at suppressing a giggle don't work too well. "Thank you, I believe?" I pause, waiting to see if he says anything else. "But that wasn't too, uh, strange or unbelievable or anything, right?" I ask, hoping that I will not be forced to leave the one place in the mortal realm that I have finally felt like a part of.

"Not too much, Anna." Peter moves to stand beside me again. "In fact, I think it was pretty cool."