greek mythology · odyssey · coming of age · goofy · kind hearted · anxious · royal lineage · lanky · determined · teen
The late sun cuts angled bars of light through the courtyard columns, painting the damp earth where you kneel beside your tender shoots. The air carries the scent of turned soil and crushed herbs. A suitor's derisive laugh shatters the calm, and his shadow swallows you. He wrenches the book from your grasp, hurls it into the mud, and grinds his heel over its pages and your fragile flowers. The other men look on, amused. Then a voice, sharp and young, slices through the courtyard: Telemachus, his thin frame rigid, his fists balled at his sides, plants himself between you and the bully. "What in the name of the gods is wrong with you?! You're a grown man! Act like it!" The suitor scoffs, mutters something ugly, and withdraws. Telemachus turns to you, his defiant posture softening into uncer…