written by Erica, class 8e
I lie on my bed, confused and hopeless. I can’t forget the conversation with this creepy Mr. Ades. ”It’s all your mother’s fault.” This sentence torments me. Although it’s late in the night, I can’t sleep. I keep asking myself: ”What did you do, mom? And why did you leave us?” As I am lost in thoughts, I don’t notice that I am no longer alone. I only become aware of my father’s fiancée, when she clears her throat. I look up.
„We didn’t finish our conversation this morning“, she says with a strictness which I don’t know yet. Usually Charlotte is determined, but friendly and has those warm earth-brown eyes which look so kind, that you can’t believe that she ever could do anything bad. But now! Her eyes are rigid and no longer brown, but ice blue. I look closer... Indeed! Her eyes are blue!
Her tone is urgent. ”Audrey, you have to trust me now! No matter what will happen in a minute, you mustn’t believe him. He can be very convincing in this condition…“
We are interrupted abruptly. A kind of portal opens in the middle of my room and out comes Mr. Ades, followed by a guy whose skin is covered with blue stars. But the most creepy thing is that this guy somehow is there and at the same time isn’t there. His appearance changes continuously. First he looks like a mighty swirl of pure black darkness and then he seems to be like… DAD?
Horrified I look at him. „DAD?! What…? Why…? For heaven‘s sake, who or WHAT are you, dad?”
”If you could stop talking for a moment, I would explain it to you.” Mr. Ades looks contemptously at me. ”Your father is just a normal human being, unlike your mother by the way, who is the goddess Aphrodite. Don’t stare at me so unbelievingly, girl. You are Aphrodite’s daughter. That’s a fact.”
”But mom behaves ... well... like a normal mom. Whereas dad or whatever he is…“
„He is your dad. He is just under the influence of some very old deities, Uranos and Chaos who support the Titans against the Olympian gods in a ... well... interesting affair. That’s why your mother panicked and disappeared. To protect you and your brother and sister, I think.”
The guy with the star covered skin interrupts him. His voice is strange and mechanic. „Come to our side, child. Then I won’t harm you. I will give you whatever you want. But get away from here. Never come back! Come with us!”
„Why should I come with you? If you really are my dad, you should become normal again. You should think about Carl, Stella and me. We have already lost mom.”
Dad seems to hesitate. The darkness around his head is less thick now, the tattoos on his skin more faded. Then with a jerk he moves towards me, with movements like a marionette’s.
I’m horrified. I close my eyes. I notice that Charlotte approaches my father. A loud bang makes me open my eyes again. The nightmare is gone. Nevertheless I can’t contain myself any longer. I start crying and have no idea what I shall do – with a goddess as mother, a father with a black swirling head and all these persons appearing from nowhere and disappearing again. Charlotte pats my back while I’m crying my eyes out.