Demi-God and Dry heat

How it began

 

Melody, who was ‘seven and three-quarters’ she so boldly liked to proclaim, was walking with her father and sisters in a nearby park. Wearing a blue blouse with an orange skirt, she was excited to go play on the swings or at least climb the low hanging trees. She loved to go on adventures and would pretend to find treasures, collecting some interesting objects on the way. Like the time she found a rock that looked like a shell or even when she found an ancient-looking key. 

Melody wasn’t afraid to be messy when it comes to finding things. Her sisters would scowl at her or whine about her clothes getting muddy and gross. Though her father would always be interested, glad Melody was still a child, rather than his other daughters who wanted to grow up so bad. But of course, they had a talk with her about being careful of the mud to make sure what she finds doesn’t get her sick.

She was an odd child, considering the rest of her sisters were into makeup and feminine things. Though she wasn’t alone all the time since Ariel was the one who got her into collecting things. Like hairpins or bottle caps and corks. But Ariel was changing bit by bit, she was getting more interested in boys, much like her sisters. So now Melody was on her own aside from the watchful eye of her father. 

The odd child hardly had any friends due to her being an odd one out, too rich to make friends, and too strange for anyone outside of her family to care.  Her father forbade any of her siblings to be near boys since he knew what they were capable of. Melody almost believed what he taught them. 

Most of the boys at school would bully Melody for her eccentricities and strange aloofness to other people. Girls were no better, with her being much more of a tomboy than a traditional girl her age. She always found bugs much more fun to play with than dolls. Most of the time she spent in her youth was with her sisters since they were the only ones protecting her.

Once they got to the park, the girls didn’t waste any time as they began playing, all while their father tried to remind them of the outside rules and playing . He clutched Melody’s hand tightly, scared to let go, as it was her first full outing.

“Just promise me you won’t stray too far or climb up any high trees.” he fidgeted with her tiny digits in his overpowering palms. 

“And don’t go near any boys.” she finished. Trident nodded and patted her head. 

“Good. Now go play.” 

“Yes, papa.” She wandered away, as fast as her tiny legs could take her. There were many children on the grounds even though most of her sisters were in groups with each other and small groups of female friends.

As Ariel’s friends started playing hide and seek, Melody joined in. So, young Melody went to hide in some trees that weren’t far from the park. Waiting to be found or win, she heard something from the distance, something like the trampling of grass. She tried hard not to focus on it, trying to fit in and win a game for once. Then she heard an unfamiliar voice coming towards her. 

Melody saw a high flying frisbee slamming against the tree she sat beneath, watching it get stuck in the branches. It was far too high to grab, especially for a child her size and stature. She turned to see some boys, causing her to skitter to another tree close by, peeking out as slow as possible.

Four prepubescent boys came groaning towards the tree that the frisbee got stuck in. One of them even tried to climb the tree but couldn’t, since there weren't enough branches that were low hanging. Being flustered, one of them called out towards the play structure. 

“Nice going, Jerkulse! The frisbee got stuck again!” 

Melody saw a gingery young boy, he seemed to be around the same age as her, running towards the small group of boys. He didn’t look familiar to her. He panted holding his knees a bit before speaking.