A Brooklyn Odyssey

Olympia could hardly breath as the waves landed violently on the scars of her back. It was enough that the girls back home in her Brooklyn foster home always teased her about her name, but now it was as if Poseiden himself was looking to drag her into the endless deep. Was this retribution for all the defeats he suffered at the hand of heroes? She thought they were only the tall tales of long forgotten Greek myth begrudgingly taught by teachers looking to lull their students to sleep. What quarrel did he have with an 8 year old who had accidentally found her family's salvation? All she knew was there was no way she was letting go of it.

But while she could understand sentencing the myriad of heralds acting on the behalf of Zeus to oblivion, she couldn't understand why he would want to end the journey of a little girl who had lived through poverty that made the hardest thugs cry. But then why wouldn't he? If her mother had no reservations with deepening the tortured well of her existence by leaving her an orphan then why would the gatekeeper of the seas. 

Besides, a poor black girl from Flatbush would make an easy target for the wolves of Brooklyn, let alone the carnivorous ocean which seemed to behave as extension of the deities' rancorous rage. If you asked her, Poseidon sure was acting like a typical 21st century patriarch. She didn't really know what that meant, but she had heard her mother use the phrase before divorcing her Dad. Even now, she could still see his face, and hoped the happiness she held in her hand would wedge an opening wide enough for them to enter the portal even though they carried those enormous weights on their backs.  

When she was younger, she could never quite make them out clearly. Now that she knew her ABC's, the loud barking from her parents seemed to be dreams, fear, hopes, but the one called money was the nail in the coffin. Then one Saturday morning, she woke up to go hug her dad and watch cartoons, but she was nowhere to be found. When she asked her mother where he went, she said he was never coming back. After hearing, her tears began to fall and engulfed both her and her mom for 2 fortnights. She liked that game. Her best friend Brenda always let her play whenever they hung out, and her family was happy; she envied her.

And just as the storm seemed to pass, she slipped on a puddle of tears and crashed down to the ground, bringing the cabinet her dad used with her and hitting her head in the process. As she tried to steady herself a note slid out of the floor chipped mahogany wooden cabinet. I was a note from her dad: "Olympia, I love you with all my heart, and I'm sorry that I could be there for you, but just remember that daddy loves you. I think your mom and I would have worked out if it wasn't for..... you're too young. You'll figure it out when you're older. Just remember that I love you, and believe that you can do anything you put your little heart to.

Who would have known she would embark on the quest immediately? Or furthermore that the journey would take her to Mount Helena? She liked the view at the summit, and was super proud she was able to scale the magical mountain of Queens. With the treasure in hand, she made her way back to the rubber ducky that she used to travel the Atlantic Ocean. The water on the way there was not choppy in the least and all the sea creatures had seemed to take pity on her because she was a child, even the sharks. So on the way back, she thought to take a nap.

How could she have known that he would try to make good on his failure to rebuke the ancient Greeks that defied him by bidding the waves take her captive? Looking down at the slivers of her tattered overalls and the sea soaked remains of her favorite book bag, Olympia wondered if her father was behind the unexpected gift that she was just bestowed at the top of the mountain. It was hard to cope with the gravity of the ordeal she had just survived. Just as the Kraken and her hordes of ferocious sea creatures converged, she pulled down the flap of her overalls concealing her pain, and Posieden wept. He had never beheld a human that survived the pain of the Gods, and had mercy on her. With this, he looked to protect her, bid her slumber, and blew her back to shore of Coney Island.

When she woke up, she stared at the ceiling of her father's room and as groggily made her way to get up her hands fumbled on the ground and felt the worn corners of what felt like a book. As her vision returned to her it was a little black book, When she opened the pages it was a message from her dad. It read"Dearest Olympia, I always wanted the best for you, and even though I had to leave I love you very much. Chasing this was what partially led to your mother and my divorc e, but please know that I wanted the very best for you. Please take this check and keep it in a safe place. It's enough money for you to be happy for the rest of your life, and even though working for it cost your mother and I our marriage, just remember that the key to not ending up like us is to keep the hopes and dreams at the front of your heart, and keep the fear off your back.

She sat there and could vividly remember the part of her concussed dream where she was at the top of Mount Helena, she had stared down and thought with wistful remembrance of her mother and father in happier times. If she could just get back in time, then maybe she could get them to change their minds.  But that's a portal for another time, and for now the girl from Brooklyn is gonna fly.