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Cronus, the mighty Titan, flexed his massive arms. “Zeus, I will destroy you and all of your god family. I unleash my army to crush you!”

Zeus, high up on Mount Olympus, surveyed the scene below him. Monsters, created by Cronus, advanced on Mount Olympus by land, through the air, and across the sea.

“I will catch and devour all humans who side with you.” Cronus sneered. He waved his army of monsters onward.

The human army formed by Ares, Zeus’ god of war, stood steadfast to approaching onslaught at the base of Mount Olympus. Warriors behind the line prayed to Zeus and his fellow gods to give them strength in the fight.

Zeus looked to Ares and burped. Ares giggled and farted. Both laughed hard until Zeus became serious and pointed down. Ares then jumped from Mount Olympus to the earth. He took his hammer and slammed it into the ground. The resultant earthquake knocked down the army of monsters.

Zeus took that opportunity to declare, “It is time to …”

“Release the T-Rexes!” Jack pointed to the dinosaurs and looked at his friend, Greg.

“What? That’s wrong, Jack.” Greg responded annoyed. “Don’t you mean release the Kraken?”

“This is my house and I can play it how I want to. The T-Rexes can be the land terror and the Kraken can be the water terror.”

Jack moved three T-Rex replicas to the base of the loveseat, which served as Mount Olympus.

“Oh, oh, Greg,” Jack said. “I forgot, we filled the bathtub and left the ship and the Kraken in it.”

“Did you turn off the water?” Greg asked worried.

“I can’t remember.” Jack replied in a hushed voice.

The two ran into the bathroom. They found Jack’s mother, Clara, sitting on the edge of the bathtub.

“Didn’t I tell you to not use the tub?” Clara said.

“Yes, Mother. Yes, Mrs. Belmont.”

“You need to keep a better eye on things when you’re playing. Now, get ready for dinner.”

“No, we want to watch Clash of the Titans,” Jack protested.

“You have already seen that movie a hundred times.” Clara arched her eyebrows for effect.

“What’s for dinner, Mom?” Jack’s attention turned to food.

“Pizza.”

“Yea!” shouted the boys.

“And peas,” she added.

“No,” Jack groaned. “Not those awful peas.”

“I fixed frozen peas this time and not the canned peas. You will like them.”

“No, I won’t – yuck!”

“Guys, come in here.” Jack’s father, Tom, called distractedly from the dining room as he sent

his brother, Peter, a text.

Jack and Greg walked slowly into the dining room. Jack grumbled the entire way.

“Can we watch Clash of the Titans after dinner, Mom – Dad?”

“You know tonight is the night I watch my TV shows,” Clara raised her voice.

“Yes, kids,” Tom noted. “We have just one TV. Tonight is your mother’s night to control the

remote to watch Gray’s Anatomy and those other shows. That’s why I am going to Uncle Peter’s house to watch the football game. The Packers are on Thursday Night Football tonight.”

“Noooo…,” whined Jack.

“Jack your behavior needs to improve. Shape up or go to your room. Greg doesn’t seem to have a problem with our plans.”

Tom glanced briefly at the boys as he read a reply text from Peter.

Jack looked over at Greg, whose face showed no emotion, and sighed.

“The gods won’t like you, Dad, for not letting us watch their movie.”

“That is some studio’s poorly done movie, and not a movie made by make believe gods. Now it’s dinner time. Jack, how you behave from now on will determine if you get dessert.”

“What’s for dessert, Mom?” Jack moved past the peas and Clash of the Titans as visions of chocolate chip cookies materialized in his head.

“Delicious rhubarb pie, kids.”

“Nooooo…,” Jack moaned.

“That’s it for you, son. Go to your room. Come out when you can show your mother and me that you can act like a ten year old young man and not like a three year old little child.”

Jack moped off to his room. As he did, he grabbed his Zeus and Kraken figurines and muttered, “Gods, I hope you saw this disaster.”

In a different place, a hand swept away the haze that covered the large crystal ball. Faces peered through the crystal.

“I do not care for either that father or mother of Jack. I pity that other boy too.” Ares stood back from the glass and glared.

“I am displeased as well.” Zeus nodded at Ares. “They did not even get to conclude their war games. We were going to triumph over Cronus again.”

“They are just humans,” Hera joined in. “We have more important issues to discuss.”

Ares slammed his hand on a table. “Those parents must be punished. Not only did they send our apprentice, Jack, into exile, they would not let the boys watch our heroic story.”

“I will send lightning bolts down and reduce that mother and father to ashes. That will teach them a lesson. They will no longer insult the gods.”

“Stop this talk of incineration and punishment you two. The mother and father did nothing wrong. They disciplined a disrespectful son. I think children should respect their parents and husbands should respect their wives – don’t you?” Hera looked coolly and directly at her husband, Zeus – a known philanderer, and then at her unpleasant son.

“But…”

Hera’s steely glare cut Zeus off. “I will manage the punishment for those two human parents. However, the punishment shall fit the offense. There will be no more talk about this incident. I have spoken,” she declared.

Zeus and Ares moved on to other matters. As they did, Hera ordered Ate, god of mischief, to her side. Hera spoke into her ear and Ate disappeared.

Jack apologized to his parents. The boys had a quiet dinner and then went to Greg’s house to play Risk.

After the boys had left, Tom placed the Clash of the Titans DVD on the top shelf of the book stand.

“I don’t think we should let Jack watch this movie again until he learns to be more respectful. We can talk to him tomorrow,” Tom announced. Clara nodded in agreement.

Clara sat down to watch her favorite Thursday evening television shows. The television screen went blank when her program started. Nothing she tried could get the television to work. Yet, the power was on in the house and all other appliances functioned. Why just the TV and at that exact moment? This makes no sense.

Tom started to drive to his brother’s house. On the way, he stopped at the local convenience store to pick up beer. When he returned to his car less than two minutes later, all the tires had gone completely flat. In the driver’s seat, the front cover of the Clash of the Titans DVD looked up at him. The name “Jack Belmont” had been printed on the cover. That’s impossible!

Hera smiled. Ate performed her tasks well. In the future, may those parents be less quick to infringe on their children’s expressions of appreciation to the gods.

Clara called Tom on his cell phone and told him of the television blackout. Tom explained the flat tires and the DVD. He asked Clara to check for the Clash of the Titans DVD.

Clara looked on top of the bookshelf. “Tom, the DVD - it’s not there!”

“Clara, it is sitting next to me in the car. It’s Jack’s! I don’t understand what has happened to us tonight. Why?”

“Thinking about tonight, Tom, we may have been too hard on Jack,” Clara offered.

“Perhaps, we angered someone, something.” Tom’s voice conveyed nervousness about the unknown.

“Tom, I have a suggestion. Tomorrow, let’s have movie night and watch Clash of the Titans together as a family. I predict the television will work.”

“Yes. Good idea. Hopefully there will be no more of these unexplainable occurrences.”

Hera nodded at the scene that played out through the crystal. That went how I hoped it would. Lesson learned.

She looked at Zeus and Ares arguing about a trivial matter. Too bad we cannot be a family like the Belmont’s.

Author Scott Prill Blog