I hate Hades. As much as I like the underworld, I still blame him for this whole mess. Perhaps an explanation would be better than my reflections. The day started out wonderfully... My friends and I were out picking flowers. I wanted only the best lilies so I wandered off and soon became lost. Suddenly a terrible noise rent the air. I glanced up and say Hades' chariot passing overhead. Frightened, I slid under a bush, hoping he wouldn’t notice me. But I was what he wanted. He swooped down on his chariot and snatched me up, never once slackening his pace. I gripped the side of the chariot to keep my balance but quickly pulled back. His chariot was as colder than the disdain of the powerful. A large crack tore the ground. Hades dove straight down into it. My stomach rose to my throat. I had never been one for fast drops. As we got lower the temperature started to drop. Rapidly. I suddenly felt like my arms couldn’t move. I glanced down and saw that ice coated my arms. Frantic, I started beating my arms up and down, hoping to break the ice. Hades had been ignoring me up until this point, but now he rasped, “There are fires in my palace. You will be warm soon.” His voice was as frosty as his chariot felt. It sent shivers up and down my spine. I crouched down low and hugged myself, trying to get warm. Hades drove on.
I don’t remember much after that. We did not land smoothly and I lost my balance. I put my hand out to save myself and grabbed the side of his chariot. The cold seared my hand and I drew back with a cry of pain. I glanced at my hand and saw the cold was so extreme that it had burned my hand. Hades glanced at me momentarily then snapped his fingers. Two hideous creatures stepped out of the shadows. They were humanoid but all similarities stopped there. Their skin was scaly and they had claws for finger nails. Their eyes stuck out of their heads and their feet had only three toes. They advanced toward me and I drew back.
“Their aim is not to hurt you. They only want to bandage your wound,” Hades said from the shadows. I turned towards him.
“What did they do to deserve this?” I asked Hades, very familiar with his tendency to punish people.
“They have committed sins. They cannot talk but they will obey you if I allow them.” I still had my doubts, but I let the creatures come forward and bandage my hand. They did it with surprising care. Then Hades showed me to my room. It was massive, with black walls and Hades’ symbol over the door. The only furnishings were a black bed in the corner and a wardrobe. Hades promptly left and I was alone. My foremost worry was the cold so I pulled open the wardrobe. Inside I found several long black dresses without any adornment. There were also several cloaks hanging next to the dresses. They were also black although one of them was fastened with a brooch in the shape of a pomegranate. My guess was that that cloak was for special occasions. I pulled out a dress and one of the plain cloaks and changed into them. I decided I wanted to explore. I went to the door and tried the handle. It was locked. I was stuck inside like a prisoner. Some time later one of the scaly servants came to give me food. I refused it because I knew that if I ate anything I would be stuck in the underworld forever. After several attempts to make me eat the servant left. He gave the lock a poisonous look, but left the door unlocked, so I slipped out. I found myself in a vast garden filled with pomegranate trees and strangely black flowers. I tried to coax color out of them but they stubbornly refused. If anything they turned blacker. Giving up, I walked to the nearest pomegranate trees. I tried to walk through the grove to see more but found an invisible barrier stopped me. I could see what was behind the barrier but I couldn’t touch it. So I was confined to the garden. I roamed the garden for a bit but soon tired of that and returned to my black chambers.
I was confined like that for seven days and seven nights. I did not eat or drink anything. On the eighth horrid day of my stay I couldn’t take it any longer. I snuck out into the garden and stole over to the pomegranate trees. I picked a fruit and swallowed a few of the seeds to sooth my parched throat. I failed to see the ghostly gardener who was watching me. I thought I would be fine because no one had seen me eat the seeds. It was a deadly mistake.
After some time I lost track of how many days I’d been under the earth. I was beginning to accept that I was stuck in the underworld forever. I was near my breaking point when Hermes arrived. On that day Hades had allowed me out of the garden and I was standing in the throne room, trying to coax color into some flowers planted near the walls. Hermes appeared suddenly and caused me to nearly lose my balance. Hades stood up abruptly and asked Hermes why he was here. Hermes told him that he was here to take me home. After a lengthy argument Hades agreed to let me go if I had not eaten or drunk anything. Suddenly I found myself as the center of attention. I replied shakily that I had not.
A voice came floating out of the corner like the faint voices you hear carried on a gentle breeze. “That is not true. She has eaten a pomegranate from the garden.” It was the gardener!
“Please,” I cried, “I only swallowed some seeds!”
“That is enough!” Hades thundered. Hermes began to argue with Hades, telling him the world was crumbling because Demeter, my mother, was neglecting her duties out of sadness. I just sat there dazed.
After some more time I felt Hermes’ touch on my arm. He told me I was going home, but in half a year I had to return here. Then I could go home after another half a year. The cycle would repeat for all eternity.
When I returned home my mother was delighted to see me but greatly saddened when I told her this. But she was happy while I was home despite the fact that I would have to leave her soon. And I was happy too, for the time being.
Because Hades keeps me in the underworld for half the year, mortals now have seasons. Summer and spring come when I am above the Earth because Demeter is happy and doing her job. But when I am in the underworld fall and winter come because Demeter is sad and doesn’t do her duties. I would come to like the cycle, relishing my time in the underworld, loving my time in the heavens. But at the same time I would never be completely happy. Whichever world I was in, I would always long for the other.
But just because you are my friend doesn't mean I'm going to go any lighter on you then I do when I reveiw other people. So, here goes the nitpicks. Also, genrally the sentences are all the same lenght. This makes for a slow pace. Change the sentence structure to make them all different lenghts. 