This is just a little story i wrote for English class last year and i thought i should post it. Tell me what you think!
~Sapphire
Persephone, goddess of spring and flowers, tediously packed up her things and trudged miserably down to the underworld. Her visit to Hades made her mother Demeter, the goddess of harvest, so sad that the air would turn bitter, frost would bite the plants and crops, and the leaves would shrivel up and turn an ugly brown before falling to the ground. One crisp fall day, not long after Persephone’s first visit to the underworld, Demeter was helping harvest the crops when she happened to see Aristeus, a son of Apollo, teaching the curious humans beekeeping. Demeter fell in love immediately, and walked up to him to ask him to marry her.
“Marry you!” Aristeus said, his voice full of spite, “Look around. The leaves on the trees are brown and ugly. You choose to make the world dead. You kill all the flowers and plants and make it too cold for anything to grow.” Aristeus’s words stung her more than she could let on to him.
The next day came with a chill in the air and frost coating the ground. Demeter received word from the sly Hermes that Aristeus was engaged to the beautiful goddess Autonoe. Hermes had eavesdropped Demeter and Aristeus’s conversation the day before, and was looking for a way to stir things up and cause some trouble.
Tears sprang from Demeter’s eyes, and she ran away as quickly as possible. Her sadness caused the humans an extra harsh winter that year, full of frostbite and famine of destroyed crops. When Persephone finally came home that spring, she brought dainty spring flowers, sweet bird songs, and relief for the people on Earth. She skipped joyfully over to Demeter, and Demeter’s face broke into a smile, but it was a thin, wavering smile, and Persephone, the caring and observant daughter she was, noticed immediately.
“Mother, what is wrong?” She asked with her voice full of worry and concern for Demeter.
“The wonderful god Aristeus has declined to marry me!” Demeter cried out in anguish just at the thought of her lost love.
“I know what we can do,” She replied slyly, and whispered softly in her mother’s ear her plan to win Aristeus back.
Summer came hot and dry that year, for Demeter was too busy planning out Persephone’s clever idea rather than get Earth ready for harvest. She carefully thought out every little detail, Persephone supporting and guiding her the whole way. Fall finally came and this year the leaves on the trees turned glowing yellow, vivid orange and fiery red- colors of the Sun God, meant only for a son of Apollo. Demeter smiled to herself as the humans around her stared in wonder. Aristeus arrived and saw the beautiful trees. He found Demeter and asked her to marry him, only she could have turned the leaves such a beautiful color; he knew it could only be for him. Aristeus then left Autonoe and married Demeter. And still, to this day Demeter changes the trees’ colors every fall to remind Aristeus why he chose her, and to make sure he stays with the right person.
~Sapphire
Persephone, goddess of spring and flowers, tediously packed up her things and trudged miserably down to the underworld. Her visit to Hades made her mother Demeter, the goddess of harvest, so sad that the air would turn bitter, frost would bite the plants and crops, and the leaves would shrivel up and turn an ugly brown before falling to the ground. One crisp fall day, not long after Persephone’s first visit to the underworld, Demeter was helping harvest the crops when she happened to see Aristeus, a son of Apollo, teaching the curious humans beekeeping. Demeter fell in love immediately, and walked up to him to ask him to marry her.
“Marry you!” Aristeus said, his voice full of spite, “Look around. The leaves on the trees are brown and ugly. You choose to make the world dead. You kill all the flowers and plants and make it too cold for anything to grow.” Aristeus’s words stung her more than she could let on to him.
The next day came with a chill in the air and frost coating the ground. Demeter received word from the sly Hermes that Aristeus was engaged to the beautiful goddess Autonoe. Hermes had eavesdropped Demeter and Aristeus’s conversation the day before, and was looking for a way to stir things up and cause some trouble.
Tears sprang from Demeter’s eyes, and she ran away as quickly as possible. Her sadness caused the humans an extra harsh winter that year, full of frostbite and famine of destroyed crops. When Persephone finally came home that spring, she brought dainty spring flowers, sweet bird songs, and relief for the people on Earth. She skipped joyfully over to Demeter, and Demeter’s face broke into a smile, but it was a thin, wavering smile, and Persephone, the caring and observant daughter she was, noticed immediately.
“Mother, what is wrong?” She asked with her voice full of worry and concern for Demeter.
“The wonderful god Aristeus has declined to marry me!” Demeter cried out in anguish just at the thought of her lost love.
“I know what we can do,” She replied slyly, and whispered softly in her mother’s ear her plan to win Aristeus back.
Summer came hot and dry that year, for Demeter was too busy planning out Persephone’s clever idea rather than get Earth ready for harvest. She carefully thought out every little detail, Persephone supporting and guiding her the whole way. Fall finally came and this year the leaves on the trees turned glowing yellow, vivid orange and fiery red- colors of the Sun God, meant only for a son of Apollo. Demeter smiled to herself as the humans around her stared in wonder. Aristeus arrived and saw the beautiful trees. He found Demeter and asked her to marry him, only she could have turned the leaves such a beautiful color; he knew it could only be for him. Aristeus then left Autonoe and married Demeter. And still, to this day Demeter changes the trees’ colors every fall to remind Aristeus why he chose her, and to make sure he stays with the right person.
