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The Odyssey: A Short Story

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It all started when the war ended and all of the soldiers returned. It was a joyous occasion and I was told story after story about how my husband was the one who won the war for us. I was overjoyed when I heard this and couldn’t wait to celebrate this victory with Odysseus, but ship after ship came and he never showed up. Slowly less ships started to return from the war and as the days, months passed I began to lose hope that I would ever see my husband again. Slowly it became abundantly clear to both the people of Ithaca and I that our king would most likely not be returning. For me this was a solemn time, but the noble men of Ithaca seemed to be ecstatic. They trickled into my home slowly like water seeping through the roof of a house. …show more content…

They were selfish and expected me to pick from one of them. I couldn’t support myself on my own, but I refused to give up on Odysseus. Telemachus, my son, was the only thing keeping me from submitting myself to marriage. Sadly, I feared for his life seeing as the suitors were realizing that I was using him as an anchor for my survival. We got by day by day though by appeasing to their wants for the time being. They grew tired after a while since I put off giving them answer on who I was to marry. This made them start to plan behind my back on ways to get rid of my son which would force me to make a decision. Their planning forced me to make drastic measures and send my son away until it was safe for him. It sickened me to know that not even my own family was safe in my house with these suitors around to threaten them. So with Telemachus safe and far away from this place I was left alone to my own devices. Soon it became harder and harder to avoid the suitors and their insistent stares. They were banding together to force me to choose one of them and I knew that sometime soon they wouldn’t take no for an answer. I had gone years waiting for my rightful husband to return to me, but now it seemed almost impossible. An answer would be needed soon and an answer is what I gave

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