The blanket of blue above the forest canopy disappears as clouds begin to gather. Like splashes of gray paint, they swallow the grand canvas that we call “sky.” The forest becomes eerily silent as the air falls into a telltale gloom. Without warning, a streak of blinding light splits the sky in two. A rumble of thunder shivers within a storm cloud looming in the distance.

A bluebird sweeps in from its perch on the outstretched arm of an oak tree. Burrowing into the shelter beneath the small dwarf-like shrub, the bird soon disappears.

Not too far away, a brown tail flickers as the sparrow descends into the undergrowth, vanishing into a little green bush.

Upon the cavity of a pine tree, the black head of a chickadee withdraws sharply as another draft of frigid wind scrapes by.

The birds are fading away.

All except for the eagle. Unlike the others, this magnificent creature perches atop the tallest pine tree, towering above the rest of the forest. It surveys the world below with its keen eyes, unfaltering as another vein of lightning snaps with another clap of thunder.

A droplet of water lands on its beak. The downpour begins.

Crystalline balls of small droplets cascade from the sky; first a drop, then two more. Splashing and dripping, they slowly wash off the months of gathered dust upon the leaves. Heavier and heavier, the rainfall presses down. In the distance, the windows of a lonely house rattle and quake as the wailing wind slams into the feeble glass panes.

There is not a single trace of the small birds. As if frozen in time, they hide in utter stillness and silence underneath the bushes.

However, one lone silhouette is soaring in solitude through the dark skies.

Gallantly, the eagle ascends, shooting into the gray heavens. The brilliant beast flies straight ahead as another torrent of wind clashes against its feathers. Its majestic wings only spread further, catching the draft and sailing into the tempestuous clouds themselves.

Higher and higher until the rain fades away; until the bird glides above the clouds. The eagle is beyond the rage of the storm, beyond the lightning and the thunder, beyond the calamity that overrules all other feathers.

This bird, chose altitude over escape.

One lovely day in a city near Mount Olympus called Bronze lived I, Marilyn. I was celebrating my eleventh birthday with my friend Jessalyn who was also turning eleven. Many people were complementing our hair and eyes. My eyes are golden brown and hers are sapphire green, while my hair is midnight black and hers is a rich brown. Everyday we stand and wonder what we could find in the deepest cave on Mount Olympus, the mountain of the gods.

In my house my family had prepared a birthday dinner. My one wish was that Jessalyn and I get the strength to go into the deepest cave on Mont Olympus. The next morning Jessalyn came up to me and said, “Let’s go up Mount Olympus!” I don’t know why or how but I said, “Ok, let’s go!” We packed up and said we were going to play in the city center. An hour later, we found ourselves halfway up Mount Olympus. We had passed five caves, all not deep enough for our adventurous ways!

We had passed every cave, and were almost at the top of mount Olympus. When we had lost hope, we found one last cave at the top. As we entered the cave, we had found it, the deepest cave on Mount Olympus! Inside there was a faint glow. Had someone come before us? As we went deeper we found Zeus, the God of Thunder, with fire. We tried to sneak past him because he looked angry. Unfortunately, Jessalyn stepped on a twig. The god roared, “Who goes there? I demand you reveal yourself!” Luckily there was a goat wandering outside that he got distracted with. Then we were able to tiptoe into a tunnel to just explore.

Sooner or later at the end of the tunnel, we found keys and a place that looked like a dungeon. A giant cage was locked. We were very curious so we unlocked it and entered, We looked around and saw what looked like human skeletons. We were terrified at the sight! Then a thundering voice boomed “Mmmm... yummy. Is this a special dinner?” We looked up and saw a giant Cyclops. We ran for our lives into a random tunnel. We went into a room and closed the door. We found a globe.

No sooner did we find it, the globe showed poor Prometheus being tortured on a rock. Then a voice was coming from a tunnel, “Come back, you’re mine now!” We began to run again. Then we bumped into a god named Hercules. We told him a god named Prometheus was being tortured. He said he would try to help him escape. As we kept running, the Cyclops came from a tunnel only a little ways. So we turned around and began to run again. Finally We saw Zeus and the fire. We ran past him. Unfortunately he heard and held us back asking us what we were doing. Then we all heard the Cyclops storming his way towards us. Zeus, for some reason, let us go. We ran to the exit of the mountain. Then I slipped, but luckily Jessalyn gabbed my hand and helped me climb the mountain.

We arrived home, our lesson learned. We regretted going up Mount Olympus. We will never wish a wish like that again. This memory will never fade away for as long as we live. But we wondered where Hercules is? Has Prometheus escaped? We will always wonder. We were lucky, thankful, and joyful to get home before anyone noticed we were gone.