“Answer me!” The man shouted, stepping out of the shadows. I bit back a scream. He had a bull’s head, a white bull’s head, with black eyes and curling horns coming from his temples. The monster’s eyes rested on my face.
“Hair the color of darkness, eyes the color of the sea, and lips the color of blood.” He whispered, walking towards me. I backed up into a wall. “Skin the color of death and lashes so think they tangle...”
This thing was complimenting me.
“Does the pretty face have a name?” the monster asked.
“Fukayna, it is Egyptian for intelligent,” I croaked out, shaking in fear.
The monster threw back his head and laughed.
“I am Asterion, it means star, but most people call me the Minotaur” the monster said. “My mother is Pasiphae and my father is The White Bull.”
Then it hit me. All the rumours were true.
“Tell me more,” I whispered.
Asterion looked me in the eyes, sadness filling them, and said “King Minos ordered for Daedalus to build this labyrinth so the people they send for me to kill may not escape, for they are my prey.”
“And am I your prey?” I asked, lifting my chin slightly.
He shook his head. “No, right now, all I want is a friend.”
***
I visited Asterion more frequently, and started to teach him math and spelling. Asterion was a quick learner, and was imaginative. Sometimes we would talk about travels we would like to take one day, and the family we wished to have.
I would bring him food and flowers, to add color the cold, gray labyrinth. And I learnt something myself. I was falling in love with him.
We discovered I was pregnant not too long after. The year was almost over and the Fates had decided our happiness would not last.
One morning, the starting of the New Year, I walked into the throne room. I told everyone Zeus had fathered my child, so no suspicions would rise in the palace about Asterion.
I saw the new sacrifices sitting in the center of the throne room. Only one youth, a tall, handsome man with golden hair and blazing green eyes, stood in front of King Minos. He announced himself as Theseus, the son of King Aegeus.
“And why are you here, young prince?” asked king Minos, laughing. Ariadne was looking at Theseus with a dreamy expression.
Theseus grinned and said, “I will kill the Minotaur, and free my people!” King Minos went red, and the whole room went silent.
I threw myself to Daedalus’ feet, weeping, and begging for his aid. I had just finished telling him the story of Asterion and me, and about Theseus wanting to kill him.
“I will try to buy you time, but you are sure you love this monster?” Daedalus asked, his eyebrows pulling together.
I nodded and whispered, “He and I are one.”
***
I rushed to the labyrinth, hoping I was not too late, but then I saw Ariadne at the top of the staircase, holding a golden thread leading into the labyrinth. “Princess,” I cried “W-what are you doing?!”
Ariadne looked at me, and then beamed. “Prince Theseus promised to marry me if I helped him kill the Minotaur.”
I cried out and slapped her hard, so hard her head snapped back and she stumbled.
I rushed into the labyrinth and followed the thin trail. Soon enough, I was going to witness the Fates cutting Asterion’s life.
I saw Theseus reach up to Asterion’s neck, and heard a snap. Just beside the two men, three young women appeared. All of them had long dark hair and pale skin. One spun golden thread on a loom, another held a golden thread straight, and the last the one held a pair of scissors. The woman with the scissors cut the golden thread, and Asterion fell down in a heavy heap.
I cried out and sank to my knees beside him. Theseus cried out in victory and rushed out of the labyrinth, to take the cursed princess with him. The three Fates all looked at me, and then smiled.
“You can get revenge, you can change their fate,” they whispered in union.
I shook my head, and held Asterion close.
“You were more of a daughter to me, more than Ariadne.” I looked up at Queen Pasiphae, who also cried. We wept together.
“I wish I could just get those two to suffer...” Pasiphae whispered.
I looked at Asterion’s body, and something in me snapped. I stood up at walked out of the palace gates.
***
I strode to the shipyard, wearing a black chiton, and blood red himation. On my head rested a gold helmet, my pale face in full view. I carried a gold spear, and a gold shield with a golden face of Medusa on it, and on my shoulder rested a snow-white owl.
I knew I appeared like my mother, Athena. I watched the traitorous couple climb aboard the black sailed ship. They looked out at the ocean, where they would soon be headed for their doom.
“I curse you!” I screeched. The couple jumped and looked at me. The wind began to blow hard, and the dark moon grew slightly brighter. I knew Hecate, the goddess of magic, the dark side of the moon, and blood was helping me. I set my helmet on the sand.
“I curse you, Princess Ariadne, daughter of Minos and Pasiphae, with grief for Theseus will abandon you!” My voice rang strong and echoed slightly.
I turned to Theseus. “And I curse you, Prince Theseus; son of Aegeus, with eternal grief, for everyone you love will die!” Power pumped through my veins. My owl flew towards Theseus and scratched along his arm, then flew back to me.
The wind blew harder, gripping at my clothes like sharp talons, as it pushed the black sailed boat into the open ocean, carrying the pale couple away.
***
I lit Asterion’s funeral pyre, and stood next to Pasiphae, watching the body turn to ashes.
“Dear, you must leave, for my husband will soon find out the child is Asterion’s” Queen Pasiphae had warned me. I kissed both of her cheeks and walked towards the beach.
The White Bull stood there, waiting for me. His eyes were full of sorrow, but he playfully nudged my round stomach. I giggled and climbed onto his back. He waded into the sea, towards Athens, so I may go into the comfort of my mother, so I may watch Theseus die of grief, and so I may raise my child in my mother’s temple, where he will never face the cruel treatment that his father received.
My son, who I would name Lucifer (a Habiru name); destined to grow powerful and legendary.
***
Attack of the Skeletons
Logan Kennedy
As I stepped into the room, I was greeted with a smell. A smell of death. The room was lined with skeletons wearing leather armor. I thought nothing of them, thinking this was just an old tomb. I was sadly mistaken. As I took a step forward, their cold, lifeless eyes popped open, glaring into my soul. When the skeletons simultaneously lifted their arms, I knew I was in for a fight.
All of the skeletons slowly advanced on me, surrounding me. I had my trusty sword in my hand, ready for battle. I heard shuffling behind me and turned around just in time to see one of the skeletons come at me with an iron mace. I sidestepped, dropping to one knee, in a whirlwind. The attacking skeleton, along with four of his buddies, were sliced clean in half.
This might be easier then I thought.
As I stood up, trying to regain my balance, two more skeletons come towards me. I didn’t have enough time to deflect the butt end of one of their swords. It caught me right in the stomach.
The other skeleton grabbed me. I was being beaten to a pulp. The repeated blows to my head and stomach were really taking a toll on me. I crumpled to the ground, unable to fight back. The skeletons let out a mighty roar, hit me one more time for good measure, and retreated into the dungeon behind the room in which I was surely going to die. I remember staring into the dead eyes of a skeleton. Then everything went black.
When I woke up, I didn’t want to open my eyes. My head throbbed. My stomach felt like it had imploded in on itself. I never wanted to move again in my life, but I am a warrior. I would not back down from any challenge.
I was determined to defeat these skeletons once and for all.
“All right, I may be outnumbered, but I will not go down without a fight!” I stood up with my sword in my hand.
But it wasn’t a sword. It was a foam flotation device.
“Uhm, excuse me? Sir?” I heard a voice behind me. I turned and saw a woman, wearing which looked to be a Wal-Mart employee’s vest. “Hello, my name is Susan,” read the pin over her heart.
“Yes?” I said.
“You have been passed out on the floor for three hours, thrashing about, screaming AHHH SKELETONS! We were not sure if we should call an ambulance or not.”
“No, that should be fine. Did I hurt anyone while I was thrashing around?”
“Well, at one point you stood up and started hitting a guy with that foam floaty, other then that, I think you only scarred a couple of children for life.”
“Well. I think I’m fine now. Can I go buy a drink or should I just leave?”
“As long as you don’t pass out again, you should be okay.”
I went up to the cold beverages section, grabbed a drink, went to the counter and purchased it. As I walked back to my car, I saw someone sitting in my passenger seat. I tapped his shoulder when I sat in the driver’s seat. His head slowly turned around. It was a skeleton. I only saw an arm lash out at my face before the world went black.
***
The “It Crowd”
Maria Ferguson
It all started the summer of grade eight. My best friend forever and ever, Emma, got her first boyfriend, Evan. Emma and I were just normal girls, we liked to go shopping, text and gossip about the popular kids all night long. We were just average girls, we weren’t geeks that’s for sure. We weren’t popular though, either. We always had this theory that everyone was jealous of us, that’s why we weren’t always in the “It Crowd”. After all, my mom was a model and Emma’s mom was too! We certainly got our looks from our parent, that’s for sure. Emma was a beautiful petite brunette with stunning turquoise eyes that pierced right through you. And me, I was tall, skinny and people told me I was a gorgeous girl. My best feature for sure were my luscious goldilocks that the boys drooled over when I walked down the hallway. Now you see why we were never popular. None could compare to how beautiful and how extraordinary our lives were. We were basically drawn to each other at birth, meant to be best friends because we just had such a similar life.
Now I’ll get to the point.
My mom, Amy, (she always wanted me to call her Amy, not Mom because she wanted to be more “hip”. Yes weird. That’s my mom) picked me up in her smokin’ red porche, on a Friday afternoon, the start of summer break, and announced that we were going to Fiji for the summer on a trip! That meant, of course, Emma would be coming too, because when our parents went on trips that meant they had to work. Emma and I would always stick together and have fun at the beach getting tans, or checking out what was “in” for their country at the mall. But things felt different this time. My mom actually looked excited not stressed, and she had a little spark in her eye like she was hopeful and trying her best to impress me. It was sort of odd because my mom usually always has a routine when she picks me up after school. This is how it goes.
“Hey Ashleypooh, how was school?”
“Good,” I’d answer.
“Great. Well I should head to work soon or I’ll be late, I’ll drop you off at your Nanny’s. (FYI baby sitters. Uggh. I’m thirteen and, yes, I still go to the babysitters. Mom calls her Nanny so I’m not embarrassed.)
She didn’t say that this time though.
“Ashleypooh, I’ve been thinking. I realized I’m not spending enough time with you. I’m always sending you to your nanny and you’re probably closer to her, than me. Unfortunately, I’m just realizing this now when you’re thirteen. It’s been tough for me though ever since your dad left. I had to work so much to pay the bills. Now that I have some extra money in the bank, I took two months off and I thought we could take a trip! Just you and me, mother and daughter. Doesn’t that sound fun?”
“Umm, sure I guess, but can Emma come too? Pretty please with a cherry on top?”
“Please, Ashley. I really want to spend some quality time just with you. Emma sees you 24/7. I think it would be a good thing to do something without each other for once.”
Ashley crosses her arms over her chest and pouts for what seems like five hours long. After a while, her mom not budging at all on her decision, she gives in.
“Fine then, but it better not be like a trip when you’re working.”
“Trust your mother, Ashleypooh, it’ll be fun! Anyway, I got the tickets for tonight, we’re leaving for the airport in an hour, I don’t want to waste my precious vacation time.”
Emma stares at her mom frustrated and bug eyed she can’t believe it! It’s like her mom changed completely over night!
“But Mom! I need to say goodbye to Emma!”
“But Amy,” she corrected sternly. “ And I already left a message with Emma’s mom. She’ll know when she gets home from summer cheerleading tryouts. It’s only two months Ashleypooh. It’s not like we’re going for the whole year! I think you’ll survive.”
So that’s how it happened, I was swooped off to Fiji in the company of Amy for the whole summer. Yay!
I’m being sarcastic, I hope you know.
Part 2
It turns out Fiji was sort of fun. I got to know my mom, oops Amy, a lot better. We were much closer and we made a promise that we’d always do something together for an hour a week once we returned home. I got a better tan too than I’d ever get back in L.A. But our little excursion came to an end. School started the next day and we were arriving home late and getting unpacked, so I guessed I would just see Emma at school the next morning.
“RING, RING, RING” screeched my alarm clock.
“Shoot!” I yelled.
It was the first day of school and I over slept! I only had half an hour to get ready. It was tradition every year on our first day of school for, Emma and I to wear pink and of course look absolutely fabulous. How was I supposed to do that when I had a half an hour and my skin was peeling from my sunburn!
“Amy! Come upstairs, I have a fashion emergency!” I scream at the top of my lungs. There was no answer, so I ran downstairs and into the kitchen. Just my luck there was a note on the fridge from mom explaining that she had to go to work early and she was so sorry she couldn’t help me get ready for the first day of school.
Then she told me to walk to school. This could not have happened to me, seriously! On my first day of school, great! I was using sarcasm again just to let you know.
I ran back upstairs as fast as I could. I went to the bathroom and debated whether I should get a shower or not. I ended up getting one but I didn’t have time to dry my hair, so I just left it be. I applied lipstick to my lips and put on a pink sundress, pink sandals and my signature Gucci pink and black polka dot purse. Then I looked around for my contacts and just my luck, I was all out. It was either be blind and look stupid or to be ugly and be able to see. I wanted good marks so I threw on my disgusting old-fashioned glasses so I could see the board and also how my best friend looked.
I turn around and look in the mirror!
“Why me?” I screamed.
I started to cry and my mascara started to look droopy.
I took one last look in the mirror and it sank in that I look like a lobster, my eyebrows were starting to form a slight unibrow and I didn’t have enough time to get waxed off. My mascara sucked and I had huge purple bags under my eyes from not getting enough sleep. To top it all off, it started to pour outside so my hair would not only look greasy it’d look like a bush too!
When I arrived at school, I looked at my class list. Oh my gosh, my eyes bulged! Emma wasn’t in my class this year. I was in 8B and she was in 8E.
Wait, how could that be if we both requested each other to be in the same class? It’s always a guarantee we would. The truth sank in. Emma
must not have requested me. She requested someone else.
No, that couldn’t happen, there must be a screw up!
I sat through all my classes lonely and bored. I barely knew anyone in my class, they’re mostly all geeks anyways. Finally the bell rang for lunch. I raced up to the cafeteria. It took me a little while to find Emma. Usually we sat alone, but this time there were a whole bunch of POPULAR people crowding around her. Well I guessed that was where I’ll be sitting for lunch. I made my way over.
“Emma! Hey! I missed you. Did you miss me?” I ask her.
“Uh, hi Ashley. You look umm different.”
Emma completely ignored my question.
“You’re not wearing pink, Emma! That’s a tradition! Were not in each other’s classes either. They must have made a mistake.” I said practically yelling at her.
“Calm your horse! Ya, Ashley it’s kind of babyish to do that now, we made that up in grade one. I also noticed that were not in the same class. Oh well! When you were gone I found other friends, better friends. Friends that would actually send me a postcard or a letter if they went away on a trip without me,” says Emma glancing over at Evan, “And FYI I requested my boyfriend Evan to be in my class.”
All the popular kids snickered, rolled their eyes then turned their backs in the other direction and ignored me like I wasn’t even there!
As soon as she said “my boyfriend, Evan,” I froze, then my body filled with anger and confusion. We were supposed to hate him. In grade 3 he overheard my mom calling me Ashleypooh and then he started a rumour that I pooh my pants. So now everybody called me Pooh except Emma. At least Emma still calls me by my first name.
Then Evan chipped in “Ya, Pooh you look sort of desperate, you don’t look to hot either and I think you forgot to spray yourself with perfume because we smell your pooh,” Everyone at the table starts laugh. To top if off Emma said “ Pooh, get going. I’m a cheerleader. I can’t have my past (cough cough) getting in my way. Don’t come over here again.”
So then the tears started dripping down my face like a downpour. I turned around and left. I found myself eating lunch in a bathroom stall.
That lunch I made a promise to myself that I’d never be hurt like that again. Emma helped me in a way, as she made me stronger and she also helped me find my true friends Kate, Lily and a lot more too. We aren’t popular but we are happy and we always have a lot more fun! I’m glad I found a variety of friends, so I’m not obsessing over one person all the time.