Read Online The Heir of Olympus and the Forest Realm by Zachary Howe - Free Book Online
Authors: Zachary Howe
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it.”
“Don’t worry, we’re gonna have to retrieve it sooner than later.” Atalo’s smile widened at the look on their faces.
The prospect of traveling to Greece in search of Hercules’s iconic adornment, the Nemean Lion Skin, propelled Gordie into a state of pure fantasy in which he battled the Minotaur and wrestled Cyclopes. Then a whole new idea sprang to life, and he began to wonder if such creatures existed and if he would meet them on his quest for glory.
“We are not shipping off to Europe to go gallivanting with gods.” Ellie dragged Gordie out of his daydream with another disapproving look. “This is getting out of hand! Dad, you need to stop putting these ideas in his head!” Her temper was rising as she spoke.
“But, Mom—”
“No!” she snapped at him. “It is out of the question! I won’t allow it!” Gordie’s pipedreams of befriending mythological beings and slaying evil creatures were slipping away from him, dissolving into rainbow colored mist in his mind’s eye.
“Ellie—”
“NO!” Ellie threw her father’s consoling hands off of her. “This can’t be happening! I lost my husband today! I will not lose my son!” Her eyes were brimming with tears, bulging out of her head with a look of severity bordering on the depraved. Again her breathing was heavy, intense.
Meanwhile, Gordie was hurled into a state of renewed devastation and crushing guilt as he thought about his father again. He had been so busy imagining adventures that he had nearly forgotten the pain of losing his dad just hours earlier. His heart sank as he recalled the other painful experiences. How could I have been so thoughtless? At the very least he felt he should have masked his excitement for his mother’s sake. She at least had the decency to mourn for more than two hours.
Lost in his conscience, Gordie did not notice his mom sobbing in her dad’s embrace. He put his head down and continued the internal berating of himself for the lack of compassion he had shown. He forced himself to relive the horror of finding his dad’s body because he felt it was an insult to his memory to be thinking of anything else at the moment. He closed his eyes and let fresh tears roll down his face while he shuddered. For the second time that day, the strong arm of his grandfather pulled him in close as he wept next to his mother.
After a few minutes, Atalo suggested they go back inside, and Gordie nodded his assent. When they broke apart, he grabbed his mother’s hand and looked her in the eye. “I’m sorry, Mom. I should have been thinking about Dad, not pretending to be a hero.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I just can’t do this today.”
They traipsed back to the kitchen and reformed their seating arrangement from earlier. They sat in silence for some time before Atalo broke it with yet another apology. “I’m sorry, Ellie. I lost my head. I was acting like a child pretending to be in a fairy tale.”
“It’s okay, Dad,” Ellie said. “I think a little break from this stuff would do us all some good.”
With this proclamation came a new session of quiet reflection. They sipped their drinks alternatingly, staring into their cups as if they contained the answers they sought. Gordie was only drinking his lukewarm cocoa because he didn’t know what else to do, and he knew that was what his mom and grandpa were doing. Only slurping broke the silence.
The day had been so confusing, and the gamut of emotions Gordie had experienced would qualify him for a place in a psychiatric ward. The wound of losing his dad was still gaping, despite his recent preoccupations with fantasy. But right then he felt the need to push everything from his head except for the memory of his father.
The silence lasted for a long time. Gordie took to watching the clock as a substitute to more introspection. It was shortly after noon, and he was shocked it had only been three hours since his classmates were blasted from their seats.
“Don’t worry, we’re gonna have to retrieve it sooner than later.” Atalo’s smile widened at the look on their faces.
The prospect of traveling to Greece in search of Hercules’s iconic adornment, the Nemean Lion Skin, propelled Gordie into a state of pure fantasy in which he battled the Minotaur and wrestled Cyclopes. Then a whole new idea sprang to life, and he began to wonder if such creatures existed and if he would meet them on his quest for glory.
“We are not shipping off to Europe to go gallivanting with gods.” Ellie dragged Gordie out of his daydream with another disapproving look. “This is getting out of hand! Dad, you need to stop putting these ideas in his head!” Her temper was rising as she spoke.
“But, Mom—”
“No!” she snapped at him. “It is out of the question! I won’t allow it!” Gordie’s pipedreams of befriending mythological beings and slaying evil creatures were slipping away from him, dissolving into rainbow colored mist in his mind’s eye.
“Ellie—”
“NO!” Ellie threw her father’s consoling hands off of her. “This can’t be happening! I lost my husband today! I will not lose my son!” Her eyes were brimming with tears, bulging out of her head with a look of severity bordering on the depraved. Again her breathing was heavy, intense.
Meanwhile, Gordie was hurled into a state of renewed devastation and crushing guilt as he thought about his father again. He had been so busy imagining adventures that he had nearly forgotten the pain of losing his dad just hours earlier. His heart sank as he recalled the other painful experiences. How could I have been so thoughtless? At the very least he felt he should have masked his excitement for his mother’s sake. She at least had the decency to mourn for more than two hours.
Lost in his conscience, Gordie did not notice his mom sobbing in her dad’s embrace. He put his head down and continued the internal berating of himself for the lack of compassion he had shown. He forced himself to relive the horror of finding his dad’s body because he felt it was an insult to his memory to be thinking of anything else at the moment. He closed his eyes and let fresh tears roll down his face while he shuddered. For the second time that day, the strong arm of his grandfather pulled him in close as he wept next to his mother.
After a few minutes, Atalo suggested they go back inside, and Gordie nodded his assent. When they broke apart, he grabbed his mother’s hand and looked her in the eye. “I’m sorry, Mom. I should have been thinking about Dad, not pretending to be a hero.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I just can’t do this today.”
They traipsed back to the kitchen and reformed their seating arrangement from earlier. They sat in silence for some time before Atalo broke it with yet another apology. “I’m sorry, Ellie. I lost my head. I was acting like a child pretending to be in a fairy tale.”
“It’s okay, Dad,” Ellie said. “I think a little break from this stuff would do us all some good.”
With this proclamation came a new session of quiet reflection. They sipped their drinks alternatingly, staring into their cups as if they contained the answers they sought. Gordie was only drinking his lukewarm cocoa because he didn’t know what else to do, and he knew that was what his mom and grandpa were doing. Only slurping broke the silence.
The day had been so confusing, and the gamut of emotions Gordie had experienced would qualify him for a place in a psychiatric ward. The wound of losing his dad was still gaping, despite his recent preoccupations with fantasy. But right then he felt the need to push everything from his head except for the memory of his father.
The silence lasted for a long time. Gordie took to watching the clock as a substitute to more introspection. It was shortly after noon, and he was shocked it had only been three hours since his classmates were blasted from their seats.
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