Annabeth's Odyssey **ON HOLD**

Chapter Two

I took my trip on foot because I didn't have much money. I planned to ration my meals because I could only carry the amount of food I had in my backpack. I was seven years old. I did not have a big backpack. I spent the first half of the morning thinking about how glad I was to be rid of my family but spent the second half wondering if it was really the wisest choice. It was cold out. My feet were tired. I was getting lonely. I had nowhere to stay. How was I going to get more food when I ran out? What if I couldn't? If I couldn't feed myself, it wouldn't matter whether the monsters found me or not; I wouldn't last long anyway. Did I really think I could do this? I probably would have turned around and went back home, but I had gone so far I didn't know where home was. I couldn't do this. Not anymore. I sat down, put my head in my hands, and cried.

"Why are you crying?" a voice said. "Are you all alone?" I looked up at him, still sobbing. The man was very big and very tall, over twice as tall as me. He had an unusually deep voice, which I guess made sense given his size. It was dark and I was still crying, so I couldn't make out his face very well. He seemed concerned about me, though. Maybe he could help.

"Yes," I said sadly. "I got lost and now I don't know where my family is." Well, it was sort of true.

"So sad to see a girl alone. Come with me until we find them."

He led me through the town to a large building. I think it was supposed to be a house but it looked like it had been abandoned for years. I went inside and looked around. The windows were broken, like someone had been throwing things at them. The roof looked like it was about to cave in and all the corners of the house were filled with--were those spider webs?

I stood there frozen. "P-p-please don't put me in a room with s-spiders," I begged. "I don't like s-spiders."

One spider spotted me and scuttled towards me. The man squished it under his shoe. "I don't either," he said, which made me wonder why he'd never gotten rid of them. Probably the same reason he'd never replaced the windows or the ceiling.

He showed me a room near the kitchen. "You look tired," he told me. "You can rest here."

I set down my pack and scanned the room, or as much as I could since there were no lights in the house. It was completely empty. There were no windows, no nightstand, no pictures, no decorations of any kind. There wasn't even a bed.

"So," I said. "What do I sleep--?"

He shoved me into the room, knocking me down, and slammed the door shut. I stood myself up and ran to open the door. It was locked. "Let me out!" I cried.

"Girlie is lucky," he yelled from the other side of the door. "I already had big supper today. I will not eat you until tomorrow."

I pounded on the door, shouting and screaming long after the footsteps died out. Then I sank onto the floor, sobbing again. I should have known. First, he was gigantic. It was dark in the house and it wasn't even sunrise, so I never had a good look at his eyes. Still, I should have known.

He was a Cyclops, and I was breakfast.