Outer Edge By Samantha Nelson
Hey, I’m Tetulla of the Derfunk clan, but you mortal Earthlings can call me Supreme Lord of the universe...No? Fine. If you want to be a party pooper, just call me Bob. You Earthlings are no fun. Anyway, I will be your tour guide through this collection of pieces, so feel free to follow me to the next page! Well, come on! The mystical Table of Contents awaits!
Watch for a few pages of Greek Constellations that are in this magazine!
This magazine’s about space! Hey, has anyone seen my rocket anywhere?
Here’s one! It doesn’t count, so you’ll have to find the other five!
Challenge: Hey there explorers! If you can find five rockets in this magazine you’re eligible for our awesome prize! Here’s a hint: They’re as much of explorers as you are, so you won’t find two in the same place!
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Table of Contents Stargazing Poem: Page 3 Space Character Sheet: Page 4 Space Story: Pages 5-7 Some Greek Myths Constellation Guide: Pages 13-18 Bibliography/Author’s Thanks: Page 19
Mystical? I’m really confused! This is just a bunch of words and numbers telling you were everything is in this magazine!
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Stargazing
Samantha+Nelson
Oh great. The human sees me. Now I’ll have to wipe his memories. Oh well, at least you can read this poem.
That+velvet+cloth, Of+the+space, Speckled,+forever+growing, With+stars. The+stars, Wishing,+to+move, Like+the+rare+few, Who+dance+across+the+sky. There! To+the+right! Across+the+sky, Taunting, Always+staying+out+of+sight. Another,+to+the+left+this+time, They+are+partners, Paired, In+this+high+stakes+dance.+ Leap+and+sprint! Again+and+again, To+get+it+just+right. Laying+down+a+trail, Of+the+precious+dust, Silver+and+gold, Compare+nothing, Not+to+the+stardust+trail, That+lay+before+me. And+as+you+delve+in+to+the+depths, Of+this+thick+night, Your+adoring+fans, Applauding, In+awe+I+say+goodbye. But+I+know,+someday, I+will+see+you+again.
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Here’s a page to get you to know the characters in the next story better!
Maya. Kind of a nerd and a know-it-all, but she is friendly at heart.
Sarah. Resident cool girl, but is lazy and forgetful sometimes.
Hey, I know the Commander! We went out for bloglork one time! His wife can make a mean stroodle!
Cmdr. Johnson. Picture not available. Last we heard, he was on a mission and has gone off the grid for a while. He’s a big boss when it comes to training the troops but has a soft spot for Sarah and Maya. They were his best students, after all. P.4
Ooh, goody! the story! I love this part of the magazine! After all, my brother’s in it! Well, anyway, here’s the space story, hope you enjoy!
Sarah Here’s the story—Maya and I have never gotten along well. We’re like opposites, but somehow, we got stuck on a mission together. I never thought I would ever like Maya, but that all changed last year… “Come on we have to go!” Maya yelled. She yanked my hand from the control panel of the ship. “But I can fix it!” “We don’t have the time! Sarah, it’s too late to save the ship and you know it! So let’s just go!” Without waiting for an answer, she dragged me towards the hanger. I have to admit, I would have done the same thing if I were her. I’m not exactly known for being cooperative. But then again, neither was she. I was starting to wonder how we got assigned this mission together. She was punching the code into the door now. All I could do was listen to the click of the keypad while I watched a large object crash through the ceiling from the level above.+ Wait a minute, I thought. What is that, a meteorite? I was too shocked to say anything at first; I couldn’t believe I was seeing one so close. I was about to say something to Maya when the thing started to glow. I don’t remember meteorites glowing in NASA training, I thought. The metal floor shook. “What is taking so lo—what is that?” Maya leaped back, putting me in between her and the glowing green object. “We have to take it with us,” I said. “What?” “I said we have to take it with us.” It looked like my curiosity had gotten the better of me. The ground shook again, moving the thing this time. I stood up. “We have to get out of here! And we’re going to take it, too.” “Fine!” Maya huffed. “But when we get into the pod, I’m locking that thing in the examination room!” We used some scraps of cloth from a faded rug and made a device to carry it in, and then waddled through the hangar doors, all the while avoiding falling debris. “Go right, no my right!” “I am!” I grunted.
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Maya couldn’t be any less cooperative. We set the thing down on the floor of the escape pod. The ragged brown scraps of cloth looked out of place among the gleaming silver and white interior of the shuttle. I panted, pounding my chest with my hand. “Oh my god. We almost just died!” Maya was oblivious to my stress. She was completely in the tech zone. She typed away on the controls, and the door closed, the airlock blocking out the sound of the collapsing hangar around it. The world could be coming to an end out there, and we wouldn’t know it, I thought. But then again, it kind of is. She kept typing, and the pod was pushed out of the hangar. Maya’s really good at this. Maybe she isn’t as bad as she seems. “Hey, what are you doing just standing there? Help me!” Maya was trying to drag the thing into the examination room, just like she said. Or maybe she’s not. I chuckled, kneeling down to take part of the canvas in my hands. Together we dragged the presumed meteorite into the examination room, where Maya didn’t hesitate to start blasting it with lasers, pricking it with needles, and doing a whole bunch of scientific things I’ve never been able to understand. Since I didn’t know much about science, she kicked me out of the lab to wait in the waiting room until she was done. It took forever. Seconds passed into hours, and my foot got sore from tapping the floor. I paced the hall, whistled, and did everything I could to pass the time. I eventually started to drift to sleep in the chair from boredom when she came out with the results of the testing. I had to grip the seat in order to keep from tackling her. I was really excited. She held up the clipboard and waved it in my face, grinning. I was about to convince myself to really let her have it for teasing me like this when she began talking. “That thing you found, it is a comet… except without the fire! It’s absolutely amazing! I found these luminescent crystals inside it, and I took some samples. I made them into necklaces for us! They’re harmless, but I think they’re beautiful!” I took a small green crystal from Maya’s hand. Dangling it from the leather string, I held it up to the light. I looked over at the spectrum it made on the wall. “Interesting,” Maya mumbled. “All different shades of green.” I could tell she wanted to take the necklace back to do more tests, so I put it on. Usually someone doesn’t try to take back a necklace that you’re wearing. But with Maya, you never know. She took something out of her pocket, and I saw she was putting on a necklace just like mine. “Thanks, I like it,” I said. “But I really need to get some rest after almost dying, ‘kay?” Maya nodded, then stretched. “Yeah those tests really strained my brain, I think I’ll hit the sack, too.” We dispersed for the night—or at least twenty minutes or so. “Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!” the tinny sound of the computer alarm woke me up.
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“Power cells depleted. Ship now running on reserve power. Cutting off engine power and diverting to life support now. The recommendation is that you replace the power cell immediately.” “Who forgot to power up the cells?” I asked myself, gritting my teeth. I knew very well I had neglected my duty of replacing the batteries because I was watching movies on the couch in our old ship. There, it was like the Titanic. Guess we were both bigheaded. I thought. We…I was so confidant we wouldn’t need the escape pods, I didn’t run the daily check on them. I hopped out of bed, brushing myself off. “Better late than never, I guess,” I said, grabbing a plasma cylinder from a case on the wall. I jogged down the halls that lead to mission control. I started to wheeze. The system must be more depleted than I thought if life support is already starting to fail. “’Ya think?” I asked my inner voice sarcastically. “I didn’t notice.” I picked up my pace to a run, following the twists and turns down the hallway. “Ugh!” Maya and I both grunted and yelled in unison as we bumped into each other head on. I felt my crystal bump into hers, and all of a sudden if felt like I was on fire. “AHH!” Maya yelled, and I knew how she felt. I was biting my tongue to keep from showing that I felt the pain, too. I looked up. “Are you okay?” I asked, lisping a little. “Yeah, you?” “I’m good.” I replied. I looked around, looking for the plasma cylinder. “There it is,” I said, picking it up off of the smooth floor. Wait, weren’t we just in the hall? I looked around the room, and sure enough, we were in mission control. I walked over to the battery cell and replaced it. I waved my hand, fanning my necklace. It was surprisingly hot. It really hurt. On this mission, I have to be the strong one. I can never show that I’m scared, hurt, or have any other weakness: the commander made that more than clear. In real life, my necklace was burning me so badly I wanted to scream, but I had to be strong, for Maya’s sake. She isn’t exactly tough. “Do you think that had something to do with the gems?” Maya asked. I looked up at her. She may be hard to get along with, but I had to admit that she is much smarter than I am, and I was starting to have some respect for her. “I mean, when we crashed into each other, it was kind of like the crystal exploded, or burned, or something.” “You mean I’m wearing a bomb?” I yelled, tugging at the necklace. “Err! Why…won’t…this…come…off?” I yelled, waving my hands, and started blowing on them. The string was giving me blisters from pulling it so hard. Not to mention that it was getting hot from contact with the crystal. “COME ON!” Maya said smugly. “If you can’t get a stupid necklace off,” she said as she grabbed her string, “Then maybe you aren’t as tough as you say you are.” She pulled up, but the crystal stopped just below her face.
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I could see the worried look starting to take form. She tried harder and harder to tug off the necklace, getting more desperate every second. “Um, no offense, but I’m pretty sure mine made it up higher.” I giggled, lying back on the couch. I kicked my feet up on the table. “Are you kidding me?” Maya screamed. Her face was red now. “You’re always SO relaxed and chilled out, but it’s not going help now! Being a slacker isn’t going to solve anything! I mean, it’s a miracle you’re even here right now!” Now my face was red. I felt something heavy creeping up my throat, and I knew I was going to cry. Shoving my hands in my jean pockets, I trudged to my room to get some privacy. I slammed the door and felt my knees buckle under me. I fell onto the bed. The commander, Cmdr. Johnson, would kill me if he knew that his “Sarah the Strong” was about to cry like a little girl. “Man up, or get out.” That was Cmdr. Johnson’s favorite phrase to use with the newbies. Even when she was, like in my case, a girl. He didn’t tolerate slackers. “Maya’s wrong,” my inner self said. “If he didn’t tolerate slackers, why are you here?” “Why am I here?” I mumbled. I pulled the quilted covers over my head and tried to fall asleep. As I was lying there, I heard the clunk of the lights turning on. They were designed to keep time with the time on Earth, but they woke me up at three in the morning sometimes. I groaned. I had slept like a rock, but I felt like I was up all night. I was about to roll over and sleep some more when I realized that it was noon. I had slept in big time. I lurched up and slipped on my camouflage uniform, then ran into the kitchen to start my chores. Maybe Maya hasn’t noticed I wasn’t up yet, I thought, but I knew it would never work out like that. Maya was a perfect worker; she woke up at the crack of dawn, did all of her chores, and then went to organize and clean her room! Compared to her, you are a slacker. I walked to the sink. “Good morning to you, too, inner voice.” I mumbled, and then heaved a giant breath. I ran a washcloth under the water from the faucet and sighed. “Great, now even my brain is trying to get me down.” I plunged my hand into the murky water to retrieve the dropped washcloth. Wincing, I pulled it out. That’s some hot water, I thought, and started wringing all of the water out of the washcloth. Shutting the faucet off, I walked over to the counter and started to wipe it. I watched the towel run over the marble and drifted from the moment for a second. All I could see was the steaming water rising from the smooth stone and my reflection. It looked as though my necklace was glowing for a second. I shook my head, red-brown hair smacking my face. Why am I so off this morning? It doesn’t make any sense. I dropped the cloth into a hamper. “It’s…It’s really hot in here… I don’t know…” That’s all I said before I blacked out.
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Maya I had only woken up for a minute, and then the red lights and blaring sirens started. A giant flashing sign in the hallway said it was dangerous here, and I had to go somewhere else. I pictured a map of the pod. Two rights and a left… no maybe that was a right… A thought hit me. I wasn’t alone on this ship. Sara was with me. I checked her bunk first —I know she likes to sleep in—but she wasn’t there. I ran through the hallway, desperately shouting her name. “Sarah! Sarah where are you? If you’re asleep in some other room, WAKE UP!” Panting, I stopped for breath. The air in my lungs felt like fire. I was thirsty, so I headed towards the kitchen for a drink of water. “Whaaaaat...Ungh!” I pushed myself upward with my hands, rubbing my face. It was suddenly very hot. Too hot. The pain on my face subsided. But it was starting to boil in here. Then I remembered. I had tripped over something, but what was it? I looked back to where I had tripped to find Sarah passed out on the floor. Okay, Maya, stay calm. You can fix this. I dragged Sarah into the control room and activated the life support. I could feel the pneumatic jets blasting cold air against my face. In order to keep from falling, I planted my boots firmly on the smooth metal. Then I found the most comfortable place I could and laid Sarah down there. Now to find out what’s going on here, I thought. A giant holographic computer screen appeared. Drenched in the blue glow, I accessed one of the pod’s cameras and looked around. I felt my heart stop. A sun. A SUN! We were heading straight for a SUN! I felt surprisingly cold sweat trickle down my spine. This was the end! I looked over at Sarah. I would never get to tell her how sorry I was about our fight, and I would have to live with it for the rest of my now probably short life. Too bad, I thought. She would have made a great friend if I had tried to get to know her better. I tried to pull the shuttle away, but the gravitational pull was too strong for our small engines to handle. “Come on, work with me here!” I said, exasperated. I was clutching the steering mechanism so tightly my knuckles were white. I could feel the heat beat down on me mercilessly. Even with the air conditioning, the room felt hot.
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I couldn’t even think about how hot it must be outside. I was suddenly glad I had woken up when I did. I heard a shuffle beside me. “Where am I? Um…is this real life?” asked Sarah, sitting up. She looked woozy, exhausted, and more than a little miffed. Aside from that, her necklace was glowing. I looked down at mine. Sure enough, it was glowing too. The lights from the screen might have washed it out. I thought. I raised my hands to eye level. They were burning, mostly my fingertips. Suddenly I remembered the one thing that could get us out of this mess. It was risky, but it just might work. The heat was getting so intense it was frying my brain. Already my vision was beginning to blur. We had to act quickly if we wanted to live. I ran over to where Sarah was lying and crouched. “Sarah, I need you to listen to me. We’re on a collision course with a sun and unless we do something about it, we’re going to fry, you hear me?” She nodded in agreement, unsure what to say. “You see your crystal? It’s glowing. I’m going to take mine and you’re going to take yours. We need to put them together and don’t let go until I say so, got it? No matter how much it hurts, you can’t let go.” The words were streaming out now, and for once I felt like I was Sarah, in charge, tough as nails, and ready to go. But with all the good things, I could feel bad possibilities creeping up from the corners of my mind. What if we couldn’t do it, and we died? What if we fried before we got to do it? It would be all my fault if we died—right now, I am the leader. I wasn’t even sure what was going to happen when we put the crystals together anyway. What if the pain killed us? Suddenly, it didn’t feel so good to be in charge. But I shook these thoughts from my head. Fear didn’t matter now. I gulped. “On the count of three,” I said nervously. “One…” I reached towards my crystal and saw Sarah do the same. “Two…” I was scared, more scared than I would probably ever be in my life, but if I backed out now, both Sarah and I would get toasted. “Three!” In an instant we both grabbed our necklaces and shoved them together. I shut my eyes to keep from looking at the blinding green light that surged from the very center of the crystals, feeling the raw power that I clasped in my hands. Suddenly, I gasped, collapsed and heard Sarah hit the floor beside me. The light grew dimmer, and I saw the darkness encroachinge on my vision. I sighed. And with that my thoughts faded away into the darkness.
Cmdr. Johnson “Don’t know how they got here, sir,” Cmdr. Johnson said to the reporter, acting puzzled. “They just showed up in the parking lot last night, both of them unconscious with a hunk of rock lying next to ‘em with major heatstroke and sunburn. One of ‘em even had a burnt arm. They’re currently in the ICU recuperating. We lost contact with them a few days ago when their ship collided with an asteroid belt. It’s a miracle they’re alive.” To a reporter, this meant the discussion was over. He hoped they wouldn’t push his story. There was so much more to it than what he said, but that was for him to know, and them not to find out. He remembered when he found the girls. P.10
The story was an odd one. The girls just showed up on the parking lot. At first he didn’t even know if they were alive, but he called 911 anyway. After they got shipped off to the hospital, the doctors came out saying they would be fine with a good night’s rest. Cmdr. Johnson was relieved— more than he could show. But when he talked to them, he could hardly wrap his mind around the story of how they got here, much less believe it. He was a scientist—he needed evidence to believe a fairytale like that—but he had some. Everything in their story was backed up by evidence: the meteorite, the necklaces, and most of all, how they got here from deep space without a ship.
Sarah We had been in the hospital for weeks now. Even though I had a T.V. in my room and Maya next to me, I was starting to get really bored. Staring at the same whitewashed wall for a while gets really old. We began to talk about what happened on the shuttle, and we seemed to be getting closer the more we talked. To hear how sorry Maya was about what she said helped me. Even though she apologized, it had affected me. It was the truth. I’ve changed my ways. No more slacker for me. Anyway, we’ve become close friends now, and I actually like her and I think she likes me. I think being in mortal danger really did help us bond. We are a real team now, not two girls who work together. “Sarah?” Maya asked, shifting on her hospital bed. “What do you think happened when we put them together anyway?” She stifled a yawn. Both of us were exhausted. “What?” I asked, twirling my hair around my finger. I was suddenly glad Cmdr. Johnson had left. I could now be girly when I felt like it. It was a good feeling. “You know, the crystals.” I blinked. I had never thought about how we got here, only that we were alive and not burned to a crisp. I looked down at my necklace. Maya reached for hers slowly. This was one scientific test I did understand. I didn’t need a degree in science to figure out what she had in mind. But I was on Earth, and on Earth I planned to stay— at least for a while, anyway. I cracked a smile. “Don’t even think about it.”
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Some Greek Constellations: Your guide to the sky. #1. Orion and Scorpio There are many different versions of the legend of Orion. The one I researched was that Orion was a famous beast killer. He Became so famous that he went to be with the hunting goddess Artemis, who had sworn she would never be married. She became smitten with him soon after, despite her vows, and her brother Apollo was very jealous. He was so afraid of losing his sister, he sent a giant scorpion, Scorpio, to kill Orion. Orion battled the beast, but he died of the poisonous sting soon after. Artemis shot the beast dead, and became furious at Apollo. As consolation, her father Zeus placed both Orion and Scorpio in the sky as constellations to be remembered for all eternity.
Yay! Oh, sorry. My father is an astronomer on Space Station Pluto, so his love of stars rubbed off!
Some people believe that Orion and Scorpio are still fighting in the sky because of the star’s rotations.
Artemis
Scorpio Apollo and his lyre
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#2. Perseus and Andromeda Perseus was a demi-god. He was the son of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Danae. when he was born in Argos, the king consulted the oracle of delphi, who told him his son would one day kill him. But the child was born, so the king, acrisius, sealed her and her son in a wooden box and set them adrift in the ocean. After a while, they washed up on the island seriphos, where they were taken in by a kind fisherman. The fisherman was the king’s brother, but was treated like scum by him. The king was a very spoiled man, and when he saw Perseus’s mother, he wanted her for a wife. Perseus saw he wasn’t a good man, so he protected his mother from The king, But king polydectes was plotting to send him away so he could marry his mother. He soon held a large banquet were everyone on the island would come and bring a gift. He said that the gift should be a horse, but when Perseus came, he had no horse to give. Instead, he offered the king a favor, one that he could not refuse, because he did not know the king was trying to get rid of him. The king held him to his promise and sent him after the only mortal gorgon--medusa-- and told him to bring back the head. The king considered this a suicide mission since medusa’s gaze turned people to stone, and a very effective way to rid himself of perseus. But perseus had the gods on his side. He soon received help from Athena who gave him her shield, and Hermes who have him winged slippers and a bag that could hold anything. Also, the god Hades gave him a cap of invisibility. He soon vanquished medusa and was flying back to his home island seriphos, when he saw a beautiful girl chained to a cliff above the sea side. This was andromeda, daughter of cassiopea. Casseopea was a very vain and beautiful queen, but When andromeda’s mother boasted that they were both prettier than all sea nymphs, or poseidon’s daughters, poseidon sent a sea monster to starve the city by eating every fish in the harbor. The only way to stop the monster was to feed andromeda to it, so the king ordered her chained to the cliff. This was around when Perseus was flying by, and he saw her chained to the cliff with the sea monster heading straight for her, and decided to save her. He shouted to her to close her eyes, and used medusa’s head to turn the monster to stone. He then unchained her and flew back to seriphos with her to be married, where he freed his mother and took control of the kingdom. when he was older, he participated in olympic games, were he threw a discus and accidentally hit and old man in the stands, killing him. This man was the king who set him adrift, so the prophecy was fulfilled. And when perseus died, Zeus placed Perseus and andromeda in the sky as constellations so they could be recognized as heroes forever.
Medusa’s hair is made of snakes.
Sea nymphs are similar to mermaids because they have fish’s tails and are all girls.
Poseidon
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#3. Hercules Hercules was a demigod: a Son of zeus and Princess Alcmena, the granddaughter of perseus and andromeda. He was amazingly strong and was almost invincible. people called him the strongest man on earth. But he had a miserable life. Hera, zeus’s wife, was a jealous goddess and vowed to make Hercules' life awful. She started when he was a baby, and sent two poisonous snakes into his crib, but Hercules strangled them to death. Since hercules was a royal man, he had to take singing and music lessons, but he would rather fight and conquer. His music teacher scolded him one day and hercules, not knowing his own strength, banged his lyre over the teacher’s head. His family sent him up into the mountains, and he met a king and won over his daughter. He settled down and had a family, but hera refused to give up. one day, hera made hercules insane, causing him to kill his family. When he regained his senses, he was overcome with grief and wanted to prove himself to the gods. Hera took this opportunity to try and rid herself of hercules--sending him on ten-which she later changed to twelve-- impossible tasks. These deeds included defeating the Neman lion, an offspring of echidna that had an impenetrable hide, which he killed with his bare hands. More were the hydra, a multi-headed dragon, a wild sharp-tusked boar, metallic birds with feathers so sharp that they killed the people they touched, and etc. Hera had expected hercules to die on one of these tasks, but he somehow succeeded. eventually he finished the tasks. but hera was angry that hercules was free, so She once again made him insane and he killed more people, so zeus came up with a punishment. He would spend three years being a slave to queen Omphale, who dressed him like a woman and made him knit sitting at her feet. She also wore his lion skin. After three years of the tasks, he had learned the lesson of humility. Zeus was so impressed with hercules that he called him up to olympus, which he came by rising on his neman lion skin on a column of fire.
The neman Lion had an impenetrable hide and was undefeated until hercules killed it.
Hera
Zeus is the thunder god, king of the skies and all of the other gods. He was considered the most powerful. P.14
#4. Pegasus Pegasus was a magical and wild untamed horse who sprang from the neck of medusa when perseus severed her head. He has wings and is often said to be white. When he sprang from her head, he flew to greece and was found and tended to by the nine muses. Since the muses were very gentle, they were the only ones that could get close enough to care for him. One day, a man named bellerophon, a famous horse tamer, fell asleep in Athena’s temple, and he dreamed that she gave him a golden bridle that could tame the pegasus. When he woke, he found himself holding the bridle. Soon he found the pegasus, and managed to tame it so that he could ride it. On pegasus’s back to rid his homeland of monsters, and soon caught wind of the chimera. many heroes had set out to kill the mighty Chimera, an offspring of echidna that had a lion’s head, a goat’s body and head, and a serpent’s head and neck for a tail. It also had an impenetrable hide that no weapon could pierce. So Bellerophon, a hero at heart, set off to Asia Minor to slay the it. Bellerophon was a smart man, and dipped the end of his spear in molten lead and plunged it down the chimera’s throat when it was inhaling to breath fire at him. He had killed the chimera, and the king of the land was so grateful he gave Bellerophon his daughter’s hand in marriage. He became a great king, but vanity was his downfall. Literally. He considered himself a god and compared himself to Zeus, and decided to fly up to olympus to “Claim his place” among the gods. but pegasus bucked when he was almost all the way up and he fell into a thorn bush, lost his kingdom, and spent the rest of his life a lame and unknown beggar. Pegasus, on the other hand, flew up to Olympus and Zeus made him his lightning bolt carrier.
The Muses There are nine muses: Erato, muse of lyrics, Euterpe, muse of music, Thalia, muse of comedy, Melpomene, muse of tragedy, Tersichore, muse of dance, Urania, muse of astromomy, Clio, muse of history, Polyhymnia, muse of hymns, and Calliode, muse of epics. Orpheus was sometimes seen with them. P.15
#5. Ursa Major + Ursa Minor Sometimes known as the Big dipper and the little dipper, or the big bear and the little Bear. Ursa major and ursa minor is the story of a mother and son. Before she was Ursa major, Callisto was a nymph of artemis. Zeus liked her, but Hera was jealous and turned her into a bear. Callisto, now a bear, wandered through the forest and later ran into her son. She was overjoyed to see him and forgot her new form. She ran to give him a hug. Her son, Arcas, was afraid when he saw the bear lumbering toward him, and took out his bow and arrow. He had no idea the bear he was about to shoot was his mother, so Zeus prevents the tragedy by turning him into a bear Cub. Now that he was a bear, he could not grasp his weapon and he and his mother could communicate. Soon, Zeus placed them in the sky as constellations. This is how Ursa Major and Ursa Minor were created.
The dippers were sometimes referred to as “The Drinking Gourds.” during the civil rights period. Many runaway slaves used them to navigate without a map at night. They were the basis for the song “Follow the Drinking Gourd.”
Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are made up of the Big and Little Dippers
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#6. Theseus and the minotaur
Crete was an island ruled by King Minos and Queen Pasiphae, who were descendants of the gods Zeus and Helios. Both were accustomed to great and wonderful things, so the king ordered the great architect, Daedalus, to build a castle fit for the gods for him and his wife. Daedalus soon impressed them with a marvelous castle with winding stairways and hallways of columns. Since the King and Queen were descended from Zeus and Helios, those gods were worshiped with great splendor and festivities. But Poseidon, the sea god, wanted to be worshiped just as much. He thought that he should be the most worshipped since the kingdom was an island and was surrounded by his domain. Also, he figured, they were at his mercy. So he sent a beautiful white bull to Crete, and ordered King Minos to sacrifice it in only his honor. But the queen was so taken by the beauty of the bull she persuaded the king to let it live. Now, poseidon was very angry with this and for a punishment to crete he made the bull mad so it rampaged throughout the whole kingdom. The beast was so wild no one could tame it until Hercules came to subdue it for one of his labors. Again poseidon felt he had to give them a punishment, so this time he caused the queen to give birth to a monster like the bull she loved so much. it had the body of a man and the strength, brains, and head of a bull. It also only ate human flesh. The king and Queen were horrified by their child and hid him away in a labyrinth that the architect daedalus constructed for them. The labyrinth was so long and cleverly constructed that no one could ever hope to find their way out. The minotaur was kept down there, and as long as he had his meals, he kept quiet. But because he was a monster, he couldn’t talk, so when he was hungry, the minotaur shook the palace with his roaring from down below. His meals were war prisoners from neighboring islands-- mainly the one that housed athens. But a savior was about to come. The king of athens received word that a young man named theseus was coming down to them destroying every trace of evil in his path. Eventually Theseus made his way to Athens were he consorted to the king, or his father, to be on one of the prison ships that carried the seven Athenian girls and seven Athenian boys to the minotaur every seven years. He went on one of the ships adorned with black sails for mourning and said if he returned he would have white sails raised high. After a long trip, He and the thirteen other teens were jailed until the minotaur was hungry. But the king of the island with the minotaur had a daughter named Ariadne who instantly fell in love with theseus. She was a sorceress, so she gave him an enchanted ball of yarn that would follow him into the labyrinth so he would not get lost. She did this on the condition that if Theseus succeeded in killing the minotaur, he would carry her away with him. Theseus was insistent on being the first one to face the minotaur, and he crept into the labarinyth and killed the minotaur. Soon after he freed the other teens, But he was in such a hurry he forgot to raise the white sails when they sailed out of the harbor. After days of sailing, Theseus came to rest on an island, but while he was asleep, the god dionisus, god of wine, came to him and told him that Theseus was forbidden from leaving with Ariadne because he had chosen her to be his bride. So Theseus left the island early in the morning, but again forgot to raise the white sails. When he was in sight of his home, his father, the king, threw himself off of the cliff on the far side of the island in despair. When he pulled in, he was immideatley crowned king, for he was the king’s son, and lived a good life after.
P.17
Thank you to Microsoft Clipart for all of my pictures! And thank you to Gabby, my photo consultant and practice reader, Mrs. Finkenkeller, my chief editor, and Mr. McGinnis, my technology helper, and everyone else who helped me with this project! I really appreciate it!
Well, this is where we say goodbye. It’s been fun showing you around, and I hope you found all of the rockets! I helped pick the prize, and it really is awesome! I mean it’s really amazing!
Bye! Space P.18