Anything but Ordinary

From where I was standing in front of the kitchen sink I could see my mom in the next room folding laundry as she hummed an ancient Greco tune to herself. I smiled at the scene and continued to scrub at the dishes we had just used during lunch.

“Malia, when you’re done with those dishes, go check on babas in the stables,” she said, taking care to hang our sundresses on the clothesline outside the window behind her.

I nodded in acknowledgement of her request and moved on to the last dirty dish. Before I could start scrubbing it, however, I found myself in a hazy dream state. Suddenly, the volume of the tune my mom had been humming increased dramatically and when I looked up at her, all I saw was a ball of fire outside the window behind her. I tried to move towards her to pull her out of harm’s way, but I couldn’t lift either one of my feet.

I dropped the plate I was holding into the sink and the loud clatter it made woke me up from the trance I was in. I let out a shaky breath and turned to look at my mom in order to reassure myself that everything was alright. It wasn’t.

My mom lifted her head and smiled at me. Behind her, through the open window and lines of clothing, all I saw was a ball of fire being catapulted through the air towards our home. I lunged out from behind the sink and grabbed my mom’s hand, toppling a few dining room chairs in the process.

“Mama, don’t look back, we have to run!”

“Malia, now is no time for your jokes, I’m not done folding yet,” my mom said, struggling to get out of my grasp. When she turned around, the orange of the fire was almost blinding and she understood immediately, allowing me to drag her out of the room.

We were almost to the front door when the ball of fire struck the house, throwing us towards the opposite wall with such force that we fell to the ground with a thud. My body was telling me to stay down and rest, but my ADHD and my gut instincts were telling me otherwise. I crawled over to my mother’s body on the floor and checked her pulse; it was still there but it was weak.

Before I could register what was happening, there were loud knocks on the front door. I grabbed the closest item to me, which was a long candelabrum, and made my way cautiously towards the door. The knocks became louder and stronger until suddenly, the person on the other side barged through the door, breaking it in half in the process.

“Babas!” I screamed, running to my father and hugging him.

“Where’s your foster mother?”

I turned around and pointed towards the opposite wall. He ran over and checked her pulse just as I had done.

“Listen, you need to go to the harbor and look for Bastiaan’s boat. He will take care of you,” my father instructed. “Now is not the time for questions Malia, just trust me and go.”

I laughed incredulously when I realized my foster father was completely serious.

“Bastiaan? Are you referring to the milkman? But… he’s a cripple!”

“Malia, go!”

Another ball of fire struck further down the hill, making the ground shake so that it felt like an earthquake. I held onto the banister for support and nodded to my father in understanding before quickly hugging him again. I knelt down beside my mother’s body and kissed her on the forehead before running out of the door.

The first thing I noticed when I stepped outside of the front gates was that chaos had erupted throughout the streets of Santorini, Greece. Whereas everyone was heading up the hill, I was the only person fighting to go down it. I shoved my way through the throng of crazed people, countless unattended mules, and crying lost children until I was near the bottom of the hill.

When I got to the harbor, I hurriedly scanned the masts of the boats, looking for Bastiaan’s vessel. My breathing slowed down and I realized that I still had the brass candelabrum in my hand. I laughed at the state of panic I was in and continued to calm myself down.

In the middle of my laughing fit, a hand was placed on my shoulder. I spazzed out and struck whoever it was with the candelabrum. Unfortunately, it was Bastiaan himself. I just beat a cripple.

“Oh, no… are you alright? I’m so sorry… here, let me help you,” I said, bending over to pick up one of his crutches.

“Quick! We don’t have much time. My boat is at the end of the dock, already loaded and ready for sail. I had my nephew prepare it this morning. Come along,” he said, scurrying along perfectly well with only one crutch. It didn’t even look like he needed his crutches! It’s amazing what adrenaline does to your body in times of need…

I ran after him along the dock and hopped into the boat. Bastiaan and his nephew were manning the sails and soon enough, we were out at sea. I turned around to look at the calamity and saw half of the hillside in flames. What was going on?

“Bastiaan!” I yelled, walking to the other side of the boat where the steering wheel was located. His nephew was at the wheel and offered me a smile, but I was in no mood for striking up a friendly conversation. “Bastiaan!”
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“Over here,” I heard a voice respond from inside the cabin. I opened the door and walked in to find Bastiaan sitting down on an old brown couch. As soon as the door slammed shut, I started in with the questions.

“What was all of… that?!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms in the air for added emphasis.

“That, Malia, was an ambush. But you saw it coming, didn’t you?”

I opened my mouth to respond but then closed it when I realized what he meant. I did see it coming.

“An ambush? For what?”

“For you, I’m afraid. I was assigned to protect you.”

“Protect me from what?”

“Whatever that was throwing balls of fire at your house!”

I harrumphed at his sarcastic know-it-all answer and looked out the window. The hillside was reduced to a thick tower of smoke.

“How are you supposed to protect me?”

“Well, I got you out of there safe and sound, didn’t I? How else would you have gotten off that island? Now it’s just up to the Gods to get us there safely,” he said, before sticking a pipe between his lips.

“Get us where, exactly?”

“Camp Half-Blood.”