Joseph Mierek: The Beginning Part I

 It all started on a normal day in August. I was in my room watching TV when my mom knocked on my door which I always keep locked. “Joseph.” She said.



 I jumped off my bed and opened the door. My mom was standing there in jeans her slippers and a long sleeve shirt. Her blonde, shoulder length hair was pulled back in a pony tail. She was wearing the necklace my dad had given her. She always wore it; in fact she designed her entire wardrobe around it. It was a small golden eagle. She said it was the last thing my dad had given her.



 “Hey mom, what do you need?” I asked



 “Can you head out back and go check on the heard?” She asked. “Mrs. Smith called and said they were running along the fence and she thinks they may get out.”



 At this I groaned. The herd had been getting out almost once a week and I was getting sick of running them back in and fixing the fence.



 But I just sighed and said “Alright mom, I’ll go check it out.”



 She gave me a sympathetic smile which could guilt me into anything. She was in her forties but looked older. She had been going to college when she met my dad. That was eighteen years ago. She had been going to school for business hoping to graduate and become a CEO. She met my dad in her last year of college and had me right after she graduated. My dad stuck around a month after I was born. He helped my mom buy our house and the farm. A month later he was in a plane crash and supposedly died since they never found his body.



 My mom hadn’t been able to get a job as a CEO since she was busy raising me. She started a small farm and got a part time job at a tax company. My neighbor helped raise me and taught me about Greek myths.



<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> I put on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, my favorite hat and headed out. I grabbed a metal pipe that was leaning against the wall of the garage. It still had a little bit of blood on it when I smashed a coyote in the head but it was intact. I started the 4-Wheeler and headed out.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> I got to the top of the hill in the meadow and looked for the herd. I couldn’t see any sight of them so I decided to head down and check the fence line and make sure they hadn’t gotten loose. I pushed the button to start the Four-Wheeler but the engine made a sound like a choking dog, sputtered and died.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> “Great.” I yelled. “Just freaking great, couldn’t have waited a half hour.”

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> No response, the engine was dead, and I would have to check the fence line on foot. I hopped off and started walking. I got about half way to the fence when a shadow passed over head. I thought it was one of the red-tailed hawks that hung out in the woods so I looked up to try and spot it.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> What I saw was no hawk. The thing landed next to the 4-Wheeler but even from there I could tell what it was. From the waist up it was a lion with ram’s horns. From the waist down it was a goat. If that wasn’t scary enough the tail was a dragon’s neck and head. If Frankenstein wanted a new pet this thing would’ve been perfect.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> It eyed the Four-Wheeler and for a second I thought it would pick it up and start playing with it. Unfortunately it saw me and there wasn’t much cover in an open field. It blew flames at me and I jumped fifty yards back. I’m not exaggerating I jumped half the length of a football field. The monster ran after me but some how I kept dodging taking a few swings at the beast when it got within striking distance but never doing any damage. I dodged again and my foot landed in a rabbit hole.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> Pain shot up my leg and I knew I broke my ankle. The monster roared and sprang into the air. “Great.” I thought. “This thing likes to be dramatic.”

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> It circled once and dove at me. I stood there stock still I had never been this scared even we I was walking through the woods at night and that pack of coyotes attacked me I wasn’t that scared.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> The monster got within ten feet of me I closed my eyes and waited for the end. Suddenly it made a sound like someone stepped on a cat’s tail and was yanked back. I opened my eyes and saw the monster dangling five feet off the ground wrapped in vines and thorns roaring in pain.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> Standing around it was a herd of golden cows I realized that was my herd!

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> A figure knelt next to me. “You ok Bud?”

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> A wave of relief washed over me I knew it was my neighbor Karen Smith. She looked down at me with an amused smile on her face. She was in her late fifties but she still had dark brown hair and only a few wrinkles. Her green eyes studied me with half amusement half concern.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> “I-I think I’m fine.” I stammered. “My ankle may be broken. And I think I hit my head ‘cause I’m seeing things.”

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> She let out a laugh. “No Bud, you’re not seeing things.”

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> At that point the monster let out a roar but the cows bellowed in return and I noticed each of them had wicked sharp horns.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> “Then explain that!” I protested.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> Karen let out another laugh “You should know these things Bud; I told you stories about these creatures when you were little. That’s the Chimera and those are a few of Apollo’s Golden Sun Cows.”

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> She said it like she was pointing out animals at a zoo. I was stunned how calm she was, like she had seen these things before. The stories started telling themselves in my mind and I remembered everything.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> “So you’re telling me that the Chimera tried to kill me. I thought those stories were just… stories! That thing should be dead! Didn’t Bellerphon shove an iron ball down its throat?!” I yelled.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> “No.” She said, “It was a lead ball. And I thought I explained that too. Monsters never really die. They are creatures of chaos and will reform after a period of time.”

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> The Chimera started struggling and Karen snapped her fingers and the vines tightened.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> “And other thing how can you do that?” I asked.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> She stared to look tired like she was running a marathon. “I’m a daughter of Demeter I have control over plants. Why do you think my garden is always perfect? I haven’t done this kind of magic in a while. I’m out of practice. Right know we need to get back to the house.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> “Did she say magic?” I thought.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> Before I could ask the Chimera broke the vines. The herd stepped forward but the chimera shot into the air.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> “Joseph!” Karen exclaimed. “Do you think you can shoot him down?”

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> “What am I supposed to hit it with?” I asked. “All I’ve got is a pipe!”

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> “That should work.” She said. “Just close your eyes and focus. You should know what you have to do.”

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> I didn’t even argue. I closed my eyes and felt a tug in my gut. My fingers tightened around the pipe and I my whole arm started to tingle. I opened my eyes and the pipe was glowing like a fluorescent tube.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> The Chimera dove towards me. I raised the pipe and aimed it at the Chimera’s face. It got inches from the pipe and I unleashed the energy. A white lightning bolt shot from the end of the pipe. The Chimera went wide eyed and tried to turn but it was too late. It exploded in a cloud of dust.

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> Karen was smiling from ear to ear. “Good job Bud. I couldn’t have done it better my self.”

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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt"> I smiled then I blacked out.