Prologue: Hephaestus, god of forgery, was thrown out the window by his father, Zeus from their home on Mount Olympus. Zeus was extremely strong, so Hephaestus was in the air for quite awhile. He landed on an island so heavily that the island was split in half, and Hephaestus broke both of his legs. After landing he was revived by sea nymphs. This is what he was thinking:
What just happened? A second I was at home and now I'm flying! My mother, Hera, and my father, Zeus, were fighting and I defended my mother. Then I think I was thrown out the window. This is really weird! I just went straight through a cloud, and now I'm flying over the ocean. Oh no, the ground is getting closer and closer and… OW!
Where am I? Who are these people? Somebody's hovering over me. My eyelids open wide. I try to sit up, but oh, my legs hurt. I feel warm sand under me and the sun is shining bright. Finally, I gather all my strength, and sit up. I look up at a group of sea nymphs. Where did they come from? All I can remember is falling over an island, and then everything went black. I must have injured my legs, and the nymphs must have taken care of me while I was knocked out. There are a couple trees towering over me, blocking some sunlight from the clear blue sky. The nymphs stare at me, then help me to my feet and sit me down against a tree. They give me water which feels wonderful on my parched throat. Then feed me something, I don't know what, and then I drifted off to sleep.
Sunrise: delicate pink clouds clear to reveal a glowing, orange, semicircle. Like curtains opening on a stage, the day begins. Immediately the nymphs rush to my side. They hand me two knobby sticks to help me walk. I slowly rise to me feet. Shakily, I walk around the island, glad to be able to move myself. The nymphs now realize that I do not need their assistance anymore. They slowly, gracefully, make their way back towards the shimmering sea. I am extremely grateful for their care, but now I must learn to survive on my own. With difficulty, I explore the island. I hobble towards the shore. A small wave splashes down, leaving a tiny delicate line in the sand. The island is a beautiful place no matter the circumstances, and I am grateful for such a wonderful place.
I wake up the next morning and right in front of me is an anvil and hammers. It was not there last night. The anvil is hot from the sun and my hand jerks back from the hot metal. Not after a long search of the island on my sticks, I found some scraps of metal. Somehow, my hands grab the hammers and began to pound the metal. Thump, thump, thump, the steady pounding of my hands. I'm not sure how long I have been pounding for, and then I stop and look at what I have forged. A silver man stands in front of me, his metal skin gleaming in the sunlight. Then I realize that I have made myself a worker.
Thump, thump, thump. I have been steadily pounding for days now. I created another man, identical to the silver one, but gold! My two workers pound with me, our pounding seems to form a rhythm, a beat, music to my ears. I have created so many different things. I am proud of my work, and I enjoy doing. It feels good to have a talent.
As I wake up this morning, I feel that my legs are healing. I still can't walk, but my legs feel stronger. So do my arms from all the work I have been doing. My men help me like the nymphs, though
they aren't exactly as gentle. This morning though, they have a surprise for me. Two metal braces. I strap them to my legs and stand up. I wobble a bit, catch my balance and do something on my own that I haven't done for days. I took a step!
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