Forever Your Mother,

Entry IV | The Cyclops

My Dear Lysandros,

The repetitiveness of the rocking our boat creates as every wave of the ocean passes has nagged me for days. As much as I have wished for this prolonged journey to come to an end, I believe it all to be worth it in order to see you again. My days on the ship have not been the most pleasant, and there are moments that come and go that cause my mind to wander to the possibility of whether I will ever get to see you again. I wish your mornings and nights have come by easily. I wish that every road you come across leads you down the path that your soul so desperately longs for. If you ever come to face a difficult decision, I wish that you chose the choice that means the most to you, the one dearest to your heart. There will always be times in your decades of living when it may seem there is no other place to go, but I wish that you remain with perseverance, walking until you find a window in a place of closed doors. I wish this world of mayhem never hinders the determination of your heart and that the beams of your smile warm the hostile cold of the world around you. However, my greatest wish is that you be blessed with the knowledge that, in times when your being finds itself to be alone or lost, I am always with you and I am always loving you, no matter how long the sea between us may be. Recently, the nagging bobbing of the ship had come to a stop, as our men encountered yet another island. Our ration of wine had soon overcome the amount of food we had left in our storage, leading great King Odysseus to lead us to land, hoping to trade our drink for more meals. The fog that the island entailed invaded most of my vision, however, it was not before long until our king, my companion, and the rest of the other men had come upon a large opening within a rock. Remembering our actions now, I also wish that we had not been so naive as we ventured into the cave, taking food and making ourselves at home within. Looking back, my companion always did have a knack for getting himself and others into trouble, although I cannot fully blame him. If only we had known we had gotten comfortable in the cave belonging to a great monstrosity.

    Fear and regret, two emotions even I have become accustomed to, filled my being to the brim as soon as I had thrown a gaze toward the giant. His singular protruding iris and large frame frightened myself and the men accompanying me. To cope, I had found my mind wandering to when you as a boy would pretend to be a one-eyed monster after I would scold you. You would always attempt to get a rise out of me, but it had always made me break out into laughter, making me forget why I had been mad in the first place. Still, no matter how much the cyclopes made me reminisce of simpler times, I had no desire to laugh in the face of the creature. As every word the giant conversed with our brave king, my heart sunk deeper into my stomach, my face pale. My close friend had taken note of my discomfort as he gently held my arm, signaling for me to listen to how our witty king would respond to the creature. I had admired how diligent with words our King had been, not giving up who we truly were, but my enthrallment had been brief, as the giant one-eyed being would snatch and devour two of our men. Had I not been frozen in shock, an echoing scream would have escaped from me at the petrifying sight. As the creature thrashed the both of them, their cries had very quickly diminished, invaded by the noise of their own cracking bones. Two men I had once gotten close to, two men who I conversed with on the way here, were now gone, their bloody remains spilling into the mouth of the Cyclops. After I had caught notice of how the huge rock door entrapped us, my body went cold, for I started to wonder if we would ever escape from the cave with our lives intact.

Eyelids growing heavier and heavier, Dee had been trying his hardest to not fall asleep until the end. The boy almost didn't believe the appearance of a giant cyclops, wondering if he had been drifting to sleep and imagining the words. Reading about the gruesome death of two men had surely startled Dee, but not enough to prevent his eyes from growing tired. Dee begged his mind to not fall asleep, as he believed the second he started to dream he would see the terrifying eye of the cyclops. Unfortunately, his body had other plans, as he got comfortable in the warm sand, a cozy contrast from the freezing air. He had made sure to gently stuff the rest of the letters under his shirt, providing safety for the paper and more warmth for himself. Dee had been so scared for Thaleia, wondering how she would ever escape. The amount of letters that were left for him to read did provide him with a small sense of comfort, knowing that the writer and the other men will escape. Still, Dee had so much more to read but so little energy left. He concluded to himself that rest was well deserved as he began to drift off, questions coming and going from his mind. How will Thaleia escape? Will the rest of the men survive? What will happen to the cyclops? Before falling asleep completely, the boy could have sworn he had heard the parking of a car not too far from the beach, along with the call of his name.