"Nappy time, Percy."
The soothing, lulling voice of Mrs. Parker in preschool still rung in my ears. My eyes drooped down, and my small mouth yawned as my meaty little hands rubbed my eyes. Mrs. Parker scooped me up and gently set me down onto a bean bag chair. I slumped down in the chair and my breathing evened out slowly. Mrs. Parker left to put some other sleepy little toddlers into bean bag chairs. I felt something small crawling under me…
"Toy…" I muttered in my sleep. The slithering grew into a hiss. I opened my eyes, and when no one was looking I clumsily stood up to find the "toy" on my beanbag chair. If I had known better I would have taken a stick or something and whacked the snake, but no, I picked it up and started to, to twist it. The hissing grew louder, and the snake wriggled its head, trying to bite me.
"Stay," I commanded. The snake reluctantly obeyed as I twisted its head, and tied it into a pretzel knot. The snake turned limp, as its tiny head dropped down, its forked tongue hanging out.
"All better." I said. The doorknob turned, and my mother walked in. When she saw the snake in my hand she screamed. All of the sleeping toddlers woke up from their peaceful sleep and started bawling. Mrs. Parker said "shhhhhhhh," and all of the toddlers, except for me, fell into a deep sleep. Then Mrs. Parker faced my mother.
"Is Percy a demigod?"
For a minute, mom gawked at her. Then she yawned.
"You're…you're a daughter of…of…"
Mrs. Parker snapped, and mom fell to the floor, snoring. Then she faced Percy.
"Percy, toy."
She held out her hand. I placed the snake in her palm. She smiled.
"What, what did you do to mommy!"
"Mommy's ok, Percy. She's just sleeping. You should too, you know."
She snapped her fingers, and I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
