Chapter Three
“So it was that Persephone was abducted by the Gods of the underworld and taken to their dreadful kingdom, and while she stayed a season as a captive there, winter ruled on earth.”
It was story hour, a tradition the teachers had revived as approaching summer made school harder to bear for teachers and students alike. Today it was Tam’s turn to read for the children, a duty she enjoyed.
One of the older boys had already corrupted the heroine’s name to Preserve Phony, and insisted that it meant “fake jelly” when translated. Tam liked him, in spite of his bad puns. She no longer had any illusions about why he was there. Once she had believed that he was responding to her abilities as a storyteller. He always occupied a place on the floor directl
