It was the early morning, probably around 2 hours before sunrise. I was sitting up, brooding my family. I had been away from my wife for more than twenty years. I am sure that she has sat alone in our house grieving over my death for many, many years. Maybe she has even moved on without me and remarried a suitor. If this is so, I will return home and slay the man who has loved my wife. How dare he even consider loving the wife, or, I should say widow, of the great King of Ithaca. If I am ever to return home to Ithaca, that man shall cower in the corner of immoral doings and take my wrath like the worthless human being he is. I hope she still waits for me. I love her more than the great isle of Ithaca. Is it wrong of me to ever say such a thing, that I love my wife more than my land? I should not think such thoughts of unconstructiveness and negativity. What about my mother? How has she dealt with my journey? Has my mother died? I mustn't ponder on such things. I have to focus on what lies ahead.
What does lie ahead? How should I know? I pray to the Gods every night. I ask them for my safe return home. I ask them for strength, wisdom and wit to continue, until I reach my final destination. Home. I hate the Gods so much for not letting me return home to my wife, Penelope, my mother, Anticleia and my son, Telemachus. But I must love the Gods and worship them so they may consider granting my prayers.
As quick as my last thought, I heard the sounds of my men shouting and scuttling about in the early morning, "Land ho!!!" was the first thing that I heard. "My lord, we have seemed to spot a large island, 17 degrees west of our current path". This remark came from my fine mate Eurylochus. Eurylochus was a good man to me. He was the second-in-command on the ship. We were related by marriage, I believe he was my 3rd or 4th cousin. He was one of my finest men. 20 minutes had passed and we docked the ship. I had to calm my men. " Men, you understand the seriousness of the situation here. I know you do. We may all fall under siege and be bombarded with death. But we mustn't think such horrible thoughts. We need to be, stealthy, agile and careful. If you deny my orders, you will be killed. Not by me, but by your own stupidity." The tone of my voice changed from stern to encouraging. "Do you know how many anonymous islands we have docked and been successful on? No? Lets just say many!? Lets do this men!!!" We were all ready.
Eurylochus asked me, "Why have we stopped on this here island Odysseus? We are only delaying our arrival, to our, home. Why?" I just shrugged off this question with, "Why do you question me Eurylochus? Have I no purpose? Do you think that I would want to delay our arrival?" I knew that the only real reason why we stopped on this island was to find food and water. Eurylochus looked at his feet in apology. "Eurylochus, take 22 of our men and explore the island, be back by nightfall." "Yes sir." Was his remark.