The 13th Labor

For Hercules 13^th and final labor King Eurystheus commanded him to travel to the lost city of Atlantis and bring back the King’s journal filled with the secrets of the future. As Hercules set out all he was allowed to take with him was some unbreakable rope and a bow and arrow.

Hercules set out towards the sea traveling for 20 days and nights, only stopping to eat and sleep. When Hercules finally reached the sea shore he realized he would have to locate the spot where Atlantis would appear, which was never in the same place twice. He entered the waters and prayed for help from Poseidon to give him knowledge of where this would be. Poseidon felt gracious towards Hercules and agreed to reveal the spot where Atlantis would appear, as long as he promised to bring him a token back from the trip. Hercules promised and was then shown where he was to go, a far swim into the ocean that would take much strength and courage.

Diving into the water with a mighty leap Hercules set off to the location in the direction Poseidon have given him, using mighty strokes to cover as much distance as possible. But Hercules became tired of swimming, slowing down and losing strength. Hera, afraid Hercules would succeed in his final labor, commanded the waves to become uneasy and brutal, beating against Hercules body as if he were a cliff. Hercules fought against the merciless waves willing himself to keep moving, refusing to let the cold water steal his breathe away from him. But eventually his lungs grew tired of the beating and he began to sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Just as his consciousness threatened to leave him Hercules saw a large blue whale swimming nearby. He kicked through the waves and grabbed to whales tail painfully, commanding it to follow his every command when he wished it. The whale fought against Hercules but gave up when it saw there was no way free itself. It agreed to serve Hercules. Hercules then commanded the whale to go to the spot Poseidon had pointed him to; telling him to swim with haste, for the city would appear at sunrise.

The whale swam swiftly and delivered Hercules to his destination minutes before sun appeared. Hercules waited impatiently, staring at the sea. Just when his patience had almost worn down to nothing, the waters began to shake violently and a piercing cry filled the air chilling his bones. And slowly a great city began to rise out of the water, with fine buildings crafted out of stone. Hercules jumped from the water and ran through the city, searching for any type of book.
Reaching the entrance of a mighty castle Hercules beat down the doors with his fists. Searching through cabinets and shelves Hercules attempted to find the special book, uprooting everything in his path. Finally he eyed a small box in the corner of a study room, grabbing it desperately he opened it to find the King’s Journal, made completely out of golden plates. Overjoyed he raced for the exit, for fear of drowning with the city into the depths of the sea.

Water raced around him as ran through the abandoned city, dashing through streets and leaping into the water as the walls of the building began to shake. Curious of what could cause such a miracle Hercules swam down deep in the water to find the city on the back of a giant sea turtle. Remembering he had to return with a gift for Poseidon Hercules strung his arrow his with the unbreakable rope and shot it deep into the turtle’s back. Holding onto the rope with his iron grip Hercules swam back to the shore dragging the giant turtle and the great lost city behind him.
Poseidon accepted Hercules gift in amazement and then decided that the King should no longer have a say in his immortality. Placing Atlantis’s long lost journal deep into the earth in a far away land, Poseidon then granted Hercules immortality.

Why people have Crooked Teeth

Long ago there was a great nation that thrived, split into many kingdoms ruled by a set of brothers from the same royal family. In the city of Franciscosan a mighty king named Thio watched over his people with visions of expanding his country through the entire nation. Thio was strong and encouraging but also a little selfish and thickheaded, sometimes making rash decisions under pressure.
 One day he was in his market when he saw a young girl around seventeen or eighteen with chocolate brown hair and sky blue eyes selling apples from a shop. Immediately falling for her he asked her for to come back and be his wife for the summer. At first she declined stating that her family was too important to her, when he promised to have them taken care of by some of his own servants she reluctantly agreed. Packing up her belongings she bade her family goodbye and left with her husband-to-be.
Her first weeks at the palace were filled with luxuries and pleasure with Thio’s four other summer wives and servants attended to every need. But as time went on the girl began to miss her family and eventually planned on asking Thio if she could go home. The day she gained enough courage to inquire her husband for freedom he left for meeting in his brother’s kingdom, two weeks ride away from Franciscosan. Although the girl and the rest of the kingdom did not know that Thio was planning on taking over his brothers land while he was away, comanding his troops to go with him. Falling into despair she ran outside in the cold rain and began to cry in her apple orchard. When her tears were reduced to sniffles she stood up and was surprised to see a servant boy about her age staring at her from a distance. “Can I help you?” She asked s wiping her eyes off and walking towards him.
“I thought my lady could use a blanket.” He replied bashfully. The maiden smiled gratefully and accepted the blanket. “What is your name?” She asked. 
“William, and I am afraid the rest of the castle workers never mentioned your name to me though, my lady.” William responded with a questioning look.
“Cienna and that is because no one has bothered to ask.” Cienna replied graciously. William looked shocked. “Not even our king?” His voice was angry. Cienna just laughed and shrugged her shoulders, then invited him to dine with her.
Over the next couple weeks Cienna began to spend more and more time with William, slowly falling for the servant boy. The castle workers knew of Cienna and William but were so happy for her they didn’t bother informing Thio.
Then one day Thio returned, angry that when he arrived to his brother’s kingdom the towns and villages were empty. As he was walking down a corridor he overheard some castle workers gossiping about Cienna and the servant boy. Furious he summoned William, prepared to kill him. Cienna begged Thio to have mercy but his anger clouded his mind and he hit Cienna so hard her teeth moved in every direction. William had arrived in time to see this and became angry charging at Thio. Thio drew his sword and the two men began to fight. William was much stronger than Thio though and easily knocked his sword out of his hand. Right as William was about to deliver the final blow he dropped his sword, and looked at Thio is disbelief. “What trickery has twisted so much evil into your heart brother?” It was at that moment Thio realized that William was indeed his brother, and ruled the neighboring kingdom he planned to seize. “Why are you here?” He gasped. “I sensed trickery in your heart and evacuated my kingdom, then came to spy on your doings. But I was too late, you had left. No matter though, my region is safe and you are at my mercy.” Dropping at William’s feet Thio begged for forgiveness and asked for a second chance. “I will not kill you, only because you share my blood. But it is I who will take your kingdom, and you will be locked away for eternity.” William declared.
He then rushed to Cienna calling for nurses and shamans to help her mouth, which was bleeding and bruised. The healers worked and worked but there was nothing they could do to help her teeth. William was kind and understanding though and still very in love with her and asked her to be his only queen for all the seasons of every year. Cienna accepted. But as the years went by the happy couple noticed that every other child they had was born with Cienna’s crooked teeth, and the trait descended even until our generation.

Fireplace Damage

When I was little my family would always go over for dinner at my grandparent’s house where they have an old fireplace in their living room with a marble lining. After dinner one night I was headed into the living room when I tripped right into the fireplace and sliced my forehead into the edge of the marble. Feeling my forehead go numb I was rushed into the bathroom where I discovered a deep line in the middle of my forehead gushing blood. Then finally the pain hit me and I started bawling and bouncing up and down trying to make the stinging go away. I can still remember my aunt standing there next to me crying and dabbing at my forehead with a paper towel. I was patched up immediately but to this day I still have a thin line resting in the center of my forehead. But lucky for me as I grow older my scar fades away.