Why are you suddenly keeping secrets?”Īthena thumped one end of the scroll gently against her back. Looking suspicious, Pallas came closer, trying to see what it was. “Umm.” Athena quickly scooped it up and tucked it behind her back. “What’s that?” she asked, gesturing toward the letter on the floor. She turned as she heard her best friend Pallas come into their bedroom. To suddenly look beautiful, wise, and powerful? In other words-more like a goddess? She wasn’t sure what she’d expected to see in the glass. With a poke of one finger, she squished the end of her too-long nose up, then frowned at the piggy nose she’d made. And her long, wavy brown hair was the same too. Her determined gray eyes stared back at her, looking no different from before she’d read the letter. Rushing over to the mirror, she gazed at her reflection. A goddess!Īthena jumped to her feet, unsure if she should be happy or upset, but feeling a little of both. No question about it, this letter was from the King of Mount Olympus!įeeling dazed-and not from the electricity-she gulped. As the sizzle zinged through her, the scroll shut with a snap and rolled across the carpet. “Ow!” A burst of electricity buzzed her fingertip, and she dropped the scroll. One thing was for sure, Zeus was no artist.Ī blazing gold Z shaped like a thunderbolt-Zeus’s official seal-was embossed alongside the drawing.

It looked sort of like a caterpillar, but Athena had a feeling it was supposed to be a muscled arm. Was this for real? She could hardly believe it! Beneath his signature was the worst drawing she’d ever seen.

Her eyes raced across the rest of the letter as she continued: She’d spun endless stories in her head, imagining how they looked and what they were like.Īt last a piece of the puzzle had dropped into her lap. And for most of those years, she had yearned to know who her parents were. “Try twelve,” she mumbled under her breath. “Huh?” Athena’s knees wobbled so hard that she plopped back into her chair. She unrolled the scroll as fast as she could and began to read. What could they want? Was she being given an urgent mission to save the world? The gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus ruled Earth, but only made their powers known for important matters. She’d never gotten a message from the gods before! No human she knew ever had.

I mean-I’m Athena,” she replied in a rush.Ībruptly the breeze stilled, and the scroll dropped right in the middle of her science homework. “A message for Athena from Mount Olympus!” the wind howled. She jumped up from her desk and watched in amazement as it swirled above her. A STRANGE, GLITTERY BREEZE WHOOSHED into Athena’s bedroom window one morning, bringing a rolled-up piece of papyrus with it.

Athena the Brain by Joan Holub