THE SEA OF MONSTERS
Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians – Book 2)
ONE
MY BEST FRIEND SHOPS FOR A WEDDING DRESS
My nightmare started like this.
I was standing on a deserted street in some little beach town. It was the middle of the night. A storm
Was blowing. Wind and rain ripped at the palm trees along the sidewalk. Pink and yellow stucco buildings
Lined the street, their win-dows boarded up. A block away, past a line of hibiscus bushes, the ocean
Churned.
Florida, I thought. Though I wasn’t sure how I knew that. I’d never been to Florida.
Then I heard hooves clattering against the pavement. I turned and saw my friend Grover running for his
Life.
Yeah, I said hooves.
Grover is a satyr. From the waist up, he looks like a typical gangly teenager with a peach-fuzz goatee
And a bad case of acne. He walks with a strange limp, but unless you happen to catch him without his pants
On (which I don’t recommend), you’d never know there was anything un-human about him. Baggy jeans and
Fake feet hide the fact that he’s got furry hindquarters and hooves.
Grover had been my best friend in sixth grade. He’d gone on this adventure with me and a girl named
Annabeth to save the world, but I hadn’t seen him since last July, when he set off alone on a dangerous
Quest – a quest no satyr had ever returned from.
Anyway, in my dream, Grover was hauling goat tail, holding his human shoes in his hands the way he
Does when he needs to move fast. He clopped past the little tourist shops and surfboard rental places. The
Wind bent the palm trees almost to the ground.
Grover was terrified of something behind him. He must’ve just come from the beach. Wet sand was
Caked in his fur. He’d escaped from somewhere. He was trying to get away from… something.
A bone-rattling
growl cut through the storm. Behind Grover, at the far end of the block, a shadowy
Figure loomed. It swatted aside a street lamp, which burst in a shower of sparks.
Grover stumbled, whimpering in fear. He muttered to himself, Have to get away. Have to warn them!
I couldn’t see what was chasing him, but I could hear it muttering and cursing. The ground shook as it
Got closer. Grover dashed around a street corner and faltered. He’d run into a dead-end courtyard full of
Shops. No time to back up. The nearest door had been blown open by the storm. The sign above the
Darkened display window read: ST. AUGUSTINE BRIDAL BOUTIQUE.
Grover dashed inside. He dove behind a rack of wed-ding dresses.
The monster’s shadow passed in front of the shop. I could smell the thing – a sickening combination of
Wet sheep wool and rotten meat and that weird sour body odor only monsters have, like a skunk that’s been
Living off Mexican food.
Grover trembled behind the wedding dresses. The monster’s shadow passed on.
Silence except for the rain. Grover took a deep breath. Maybe the thing was gone.
Then lightning flashed. The entire front of the store exploded, and a monstrous voice bellowed:
“MIIIIINE!”I sat bolt upright, shivering in my bed.
There was no storm. No monster.
Morning sunlight filtered through my bedroom win-dow.
I thought I saw a shadow flicker across the glass – a humanlike shape. But then there was a knock on
My bed-room door – my mom called: “Percy, you’re going to be late” – and the shadow at the window
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