2500 years ago in a city called Athens, there was a crowded agora. It was a boiling hot day and people were covered in sweat. The smell of fresh wood spread through the entire agora. It was a raucous day. A sneaky donkey stole some food. The fragrance of a slave’s perfume was foul and odious. A customer was yelling to the fishmonger because the price was too high. One rich lady’s jewellery shimmered in the sunlight. It was a great day but no one knew about the dread coming their way…
Chive was the most frightening monster in Ancient Greece. She had two scary eagle eyes, a lion mane, shark teeth a heart of a human and a cheetah body. Her teeth were pointy soldiers spear ready for battle. A garbage dump festering for years was what her ears looked like. If you came near her, she would paralyse you with fear. She hated the people of Athens because she had laid her eggs near Athens and they had eaten them.
As Chive approached, a wave of fear washed over people in Athens. Everyone ran around like headless chickens. Chive knocked down one hundred people at once with a deafening roar. When a family three was running away, they lost their kid and accidently ran into the monster’s mouth. Chive knocked down lots of houses and temples. Lots of people knocked each other down and ran into colonnades and died. The monster picked up a screaming lady and put her in her mouth. They screamed with horror and tried to escape from Chive. A fat man started to run away, but he kept rolling all over. There were bits everywhere, rivers of blood, dead people lying on the road and lots of debris on all over the streets. A beautiful city was now destroyed.
The survivors sent lots of messages all over Greece to look for a hero or heroine. Luckily, there was a heroine who wanted to help because Athens was where she was born and she now lived in Sparta. Her name was Esmeralda. She had fire hands, a yellow and orange dress, a shiny shield, a helmet with feathers and a sharp pointed spear. When she arrived in Athens, she spoke to the survivors and announced, “I have heard what has happened and now I want to help.”
“What! A girl can’t defeat a huge monster!” they exclaimed
“I have defeated many monsters before in Sparta, now I can save Athens.” Esmeralda replied.
“Those monsters must have been tiny” they laughed together.
“Watch me fight!” shouted Esmeralda
As Esmeralda walked around, she heard screaming. She walked closer and closer, then she heard it louder. She ran to the agora. There the monster stood chasing a lady. Then Esmeralda grabbed her spear and charged at Chive but missed. Chive tried to hypnotise her, but Esmeralda blocked with her gleaming shield. Chive bit Esmeralda’s arm. Esmeralda fell to the ground. She burned Chive’s mane and stabbed Chive’s arm. Esmeralda stood up and shouted,“Yes I won!” then she grabbed Chive’s heart. Tired and weak, she took the heart to the survivors and gasped, “Here is the monsters heart. I killed it.”
“Thank you and we are very sorry that we doubted you. We will reward you,” they answered.
They held a symposium for her. They surprised her with salad, olives, roosted pig on a spit and lots and lots of dessert. A man, who had drunk too much alcohol, was dancing like crazy. One slave did a handstand tick tock. A musician, who had a flute, played beautiful music. Two men were toasting to a wonderful party. One man, who was drinking wine, was falling asleep. A girl slave was very upset because she had to serve drinks. Everyone had fun and thanked Esmeralda. This day is celebrated on July 14th with a big parade.