Excerpt of the story:
"My uncle used to say Hades left the Underworld for Persephone, and I thought how stupid was that, like why would he leave for a girl? And I think I finally got why he did it." His eyebrows furrow, making him appear deep in his...
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Φωτογραφία (Photograph)
"Once upon a time, there were two young children, a girl and a boy. The girl was in her bed, waiting for her parents to tell her, her favourite bedtime story, and the boy was in his uncle's lap waiting for his own bedtime story to be told."
I peer down at the audience that consisted of the other groups listening to our presentation attentively as they eye our sculpture that stood proudly on the stage. There was a timer of 10 minutes in between where the judges were seated, they appeared to be taking notes and then there was Rio, my boyfriend, my more-than-just-like person. I'm at the stage where I think it's love and yet it was too early to say, mostly I was afraid of whether he felt the same way I did.
"The girl and the boy were both told two very different myths and yet they were similar in many ways. The myth of Hades and Persephone were told to these two children in two different perspectives, and when these two children met..." I looked at Rio who had a heart-warming smile on his face as he watches me, "They merged their stories into one, hence the understanding of the underrated tale of Hades and Persephone. Mr. Alexander once explained that myths are like stories, and every story has a beginning, and I believe that this was our beginning. People believe in myths all the time, but no one actually knows if it they were real, what if we're interpreting the love story of Hades and Persephone wrong?"
Rio continues on from there, "You know, I've always hated cliches, in books or in movies, I've always found them cheesy and unnecessary. So when I tell you, meeting the girl who had the other perspective to my bedtime story felt like fate, I couldn't help but notice the irony." A slight burst of laughter erupted from the audience.
"So, what exactly was the beginning? Was it love at first sight? Did Hades actually rape Persephone. Did they actually fall in love with each other? Those are questions that will always be left unanswered, until maybe any one of you would like to take a trip to the Underworld to have a chat with the old man, Hades." Another round of laughter commences and I see Rio stand in between the sculpture where the heart was, but his eyes were on me, as he says his next words, "My girlfriend once said, her favourite part of the bedtime story her parents used to tell her, were these exact words, 'Persephone saw the good in Hades, and gradually fell in love with him.'"
"Here's why I think it was fate though," He winks at me, and my lips tug into a smile, "When my uncle told me the Hades version of the myth, I always thought all Hades needed was someone to see the good in him, someone to fall in love with him, which turned out to be Persephone. Guess our stories match huh, Bella?"
I bite the corner my lip to hide the overly bright smile waiting to escape me when he walks over to place a kiss on my temple. He whispers in ear, "Stage is yours, girlfriend."
