played a lyre before, I found that if I plucked the right strings in the right order, I could charm people and objects to do pretty much whatever I wanted them to do.
But I wasn’t sure about this time.
“The Cyclopes are so huge,” I said. “They might not hear the strings correctly. Maybe I can just distract them?”
“They’re turning toward downtown,” Sydney said. “This could get a whole lot worse.”
“Let’s draw them into the woods,” said Dana, glancing toward the forest behind the school. It was only suppertime, but the woods were already dark. “Owen, give the lyre a try.”
“Earplugs for everyone,” whispered Sydney, always practical. She pulled a plastic bag from her pocket. She, Dana, and Jon twisted the plugs into their ears as the lyre’s strings jangled loudly under my fingers.
As soon as the melody blossomed into the air, time seemed to slow down for a moment. I felt dizzy. This had been happening more and more when I played the lyre. I didn’t like the feeling, but the magic worked. The two giants paused in mid-mayhem and turned toward the trash bin we were hiding behind.
“Oh, I love being live bait!” Jon screeched, and we bolted to our feet. As we raced toward the forest, the wind lashed us with cold, heavy rain. The Cyclopes gathered up the wreckage in their massive sack — the bike racks, the basketball poles, even the compact cars — and stomped after us.
I kept slamming the strings as we entered the woods, and the melody coiled up through the rain like fingers, drawing the giants across the school yard. The Cyclopes were huge and lumbering, but they were charging like a couple of mad elephants.
Dana was a fast runner and she sprinted between the trees. I tried to keep up, but no sooner did I hit the woods than branches crashed behind us. Jon and Sydney scrambled quickly up a rock ledge and hurled stones at the bald Cyclops, when the ground thundered suddenly at my heels.
Dana turned. “Owen, behind you!”
The hairy Cyclops lunged at me.
Luckily, he caught his foot on a tree trunk and went down.
Unluckily, he fell right at me.
I threw myself down on the ground, cradling the lyre beneath me as the giant fell on top of me, his huge jaw inches from my face.
I couldn’t bear to stare into his gross, milky eyeball. When I glanced away, I saw a round stone the size of a cheeseburger dangling from a chain aroundhis neck. The stone was marked with strange intersecting lines.
“De-stroy!” The Cyclops raised his great fist over my head, then suddenly bellowed, “AHHHHH!” and rolled away, clutching his giant foot — which had the point of Jon’s umbrella sticking out of it.
Meanwhile, the bald giant was nursing a big bruise on his nose from where Sydney had beaned him with a rock.
“And now — we get out of here!” said Dana, pulling me to my feet.
We’d only made it a few steps when the giants grunted some strange words. A freezing wind sliced through the trees, nearly knocking us to the ground. Then the wind was gone. When it left and the trees settled, the two Cyclopes were gone, too.
We all stared at the empty space in front of us.
“Where did they go?” asked Dana. “How could they just … vanish? We can’t lose track of them —”
“I wouldn’t mind if they lost track of us ,” said Jon, staring all around.
“So what just happened?” asked Sydney. “Do the Cyclopes have magical powers or something?”
“No,” said Dana. “Not in the usual myths, anyway.”
“Monsters don’t usually escape from the Underworld, either,” Sydney groaned.
“Maybe this is a new myth,” I said. “Either way, we have to know where they went. We need to be someplace where we can see the whole town.” I stared through the trees to the coast.
Dana turned to see what I was looking at. “You don’t mean …?”
“I think I do.”
“Are you kidding?” said Jon. “All the way up there? That’s … dangerous!”
But my friends followed me
But I wasn’t sure about this time.
“The Cyclopes are so huge,” I said. “They might not hear the strings correctly. Maybe I can just distract them?”
“They’re turning toward downtown,” Sydney said. “This could get a whole lot worse.”
“Let’s draw them into the woods,” said Dana, glancing toward the forest behind the school. It was only suppertime, but the woods were already dark. “Owen, give the lyre a try.”
“Earplugs for everyone,” whispered Sydney, always practical. She pulled a plastic bag from her pocket. She, Dana, and Jon twisted the plugs into their ears as the lyre’s strings jangled loudly under my fingers.
As soon as the melody blossomed into the air, time seemed to slow down for a moment. I felt dizzy. This had been happening more and more when I played the lyre. I didn’t like the feeling, but the magic worked. The two giants paused in mid-mayhem and turned toward the trash bin we were hiding behind.
“Oh, I love being live bait!” Jon screeched, and we bolted to our feet. As we raced toward the forest, the wind lashed us with cold, heavy rain. The Cyclopes gathered up the wreckage in their massive sack — the bike racks, the basketball poles, even the compact cars — and stomped after us.
I kept slamming the strings as we entered the woods, and the melody coiled up through the rain like fingers, drawing the giants across the school yard. The Cyclopes were huge and lumbering, but they were charging like a couple of mad elephants.
Dana was a fast runner and she sprinted between the trees. I tried to keep up, but no sooner did I hit the woods than branches crashed behind us. Jon and Sydney scrambled quickly up a rock ledge and hurled stones at the bald Cyclops, when the ground thundered suddenly at my heels.
Dana turned. “Owen, behind you!”
The hairy Cyclops lunged at me.
Luckily, he caught his foot on a tree trunk and went down.
Unluckily, he fell right at me.
I threw myself down on the ground, cradling the lyre beneath me as the giant fell on top of me, his huge jaw inches from my face.
I couldn’t bear to stare into his gross, milky eyeball. When I glanced away, I saw a round stone the size of a cheeseburger dangling from a chain aroundhis neck. The stone was marked with strange intersecting lines.
“De-stroy!” The Cyclops raised his great fist over my head, then suddenly bellowed, “AHHHHH!” and rolled away, clutching his giant foot — which had the point of Jon’s umbrella sticking out of it.
Meanwhile, the bald giant was nursing a big bruise on his nose from where Sydney had beaned him with a rock.
“And now — we get out of here!” said Dana, pulling me to my feet.
We’d only made it a few steps when the giants grunted some strange words. A freezing wind sliced through the trees, nearly knocking us to the ground. Then the wind was gone. When it left and the trees settled, the two Cyclopes were gone, too.
We all stared at the empty space in front of us.
“Where did they go?” asked Dana. “How could they just … vanish? We can’t lose track of them —”
“I wouldn’t mind if they lost track of us ,” said Jon, staring all around.
“So what just happened?” asked Sydney. “Do the Cyclopes have magical powers or something?”
“No,” said Dana. “Not in the usual myths, anyway.”
“Monsters don’t usually escape from the Underworld, either,” Sydney groaned.
“Maybe this is a new myth,” I said. “Either way, we have to know where they went. We need to be someplace where we can see the whole town.” I stared through the trees to the coast.
Dana turned to see what I was looking at. “You don’t mean …?”
“I think I do.”
“Are you kidding?” said Jon. “All the way up there? That’s … dangerous!”
But my friends followed me
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