2025 Writing Camp Task Three

Instructions

Moonlight ========= Screaming. All I could hear was screaming. Mama and Papa, yelling over money. Just stupid money broke my family apart. Two days later, they got a divorce. "Iyla" Mama said. "Come with me, I'll keep you safe, I promise." She had a tear in her eyes. Papa didn't care. He blamed me for Asha's death. But I knew she wasn't dead, just...hiding, sorta. "Iyla, please. I don't want to put you in an orphanage." She pleaded. Rage built up inside me. "NO!" I shouted. "No, all you care about is /spending money/ to put me there! You don't care about me at all! EVERYONE loved Asha, but she was the only one who loved me." I sat down hard on the steps of the apartment, my bag beside me. Dadi had lived in a cozy little apartment in northern Pennsylvania. She let me stay with her, until she fell ill. She was moved to the hospital, and diagnosed with lung cancer. I visited her every day, until she passed. I felt her hands go cold. The last thing she said was, "Go find your real mother." What the h3ck could that mean?! After that, I found out that Mama wasn't my real mom. I pushed myself off the steps, slung my backpack on my shoulder, and walked into the woods. Two months later I was still roaming. I was probably somewhere in New York by now. Then I heard a noise. A low, growl, coming from the snowy pine trees. The moon shown over head, reflecting off the snow and gave me some light. A dark animal with red eyes looked at me. I took a step back as it took a step forward. Then it lunged at me, knocking me backwards. And licked me. "RUFF!" It barked. The huge dog panted, it drool falling onto my face. "Ew" I laughed and wiped my face. As I sat up, the dog kept barking, until a guy with black hair and a jacket ran up to us. "Mrs. O'Leary! What did I say about attacking other people!" The boy said, sheathing his black sword. He held out his hand. "Sorry about that, she's not trained." I took is hand. "It's alright. Besides, it was just a playful attack." I scratched her ear. "I'm Iyla, by the way." "Nico." We shook hands. "Follow me. I know somewhere you'll be safe." Two days later, I sat in the Hermes cabin, my brain's gears turning. I was a Greek demigod, the Greek gods are real, and other things I still don't understand! But what Dadi said makes sense now. "Mama" was my step-mom, but Dad had me with a different woman, who was a goddess. A girl with blond hair was passing by, another one walking with her. She saw me, said something to the other girl, and walk to me. Why me? Is there no alone time here? "Hey. I'm Annabeth." she said. "Iyla." She sat down next to me on my cot. "Being a new demigod at camp can be hard. I know what you feel." I chuckled. "You don't know the start of it." "Well, my boyfriend went missing a couple days back, so." "Oh." I simply said. She squeezed my shoulder. "How 'bout we find a weapon that fits you?" "Um, ok?" And together we walked a large metal shed, AKA, the armory. "No." The sword felt heavy in my arms. "Ok, maybe a dagger?" She said. I chopped off the head at the nearest dummy. "Eh, no." I replied Annabeth sighed. She looked deeper in the shed. "Ooh! Bow and arrow." She smiled hopefully, perhaps hoping she wouldn't be stuck her for the rest of the day. I drew and shot an arrow at a target. Bullseye! "I'll take it!" "Finally! Oh, it's dinner, follow me." After a good meal of pizza, I walked to the archery range with my new bow. I shot three bullseyes, and then tried to make a circle of arrows around the target. "You're good with a bow. How long have you been using one?" I turned. A girl with short, black hair, blue eyes, and a crown was behind me. "Uh, I just started today. And who are you?" I asked. "I'm Thalia. Daughter of Zeus and lieutenant of the hunters." Thalia answered. "I'm Iyla." Thalia's eyes widened. "Oh. Iyla Kumar?" "Yeah. So?" "Is your sister's name Asha by any chance." My jaw dropped. I knew she was alive! "Is she here?" I asked eagerly. "Follow me." I followed her into cabin 8, the Artemis cabin. There in the middle of a group of girls, laughing, was her. "Hey Asha! You have a visitor." She turned. "Iyla?!" I ran up and hugged her tight. "I missed you." She smiled and held me at arms length. "I know." I wiped my tears. "I always had hope that you were alive." ========= THE END!! i'll can always make a sequel if you guys want <3 AND just so you know, asha means hope in hindi SOOO