The Demigod Files - Boulder Size

The dude on the other side was not pretty, and he was not happy. He looked like one of those troll dolls with orange skin, a pot belly, scrawny legs and arms, and a big loincloth/diaper thing around his waist. His ratty hair stuck up like a torch. He was hopping around, cursing and kicking a boulder that was twice as big as he was.

“I won’t!” he screamed. “No, no, no!” Then he launched into a string of cuss words in several different languages. If I’d had one of those jars where you put a quarter in for each bad word, I would’ve made around five hundred dollars.

He started to walk away from the boulder, but after ten feet he lurched backward, like some invisible force had pulled him. He staggered back to the boulder and started banging his head against it.

“All right!” he screamed. “All right, curse you!”

He rubbed his head and muttered some more cuss words. “But this is the last time. Do you hear me?”

Nico looked at us. “Come on. While he’s between attempts.”

We scrambled down the hill.

“Sisyphus!” Nico called.

The troll guy looked up in surprise. Then he scrambled behind his rock. “Oh, no! You’re not fooling me with those disguises! I know you’re the Furies!”


- The Demigod Files: The Sword of Hades