Alice lurched forwards as the car stopped. Sadly, it was stopped by another car. She could feel metal against her stomach. Did she crash into the seat in front of her?
No.
She looked down and saw that Sparky had made her a dog seatbelt by pulling himself across her body.
"Oh!"
Alice saw that he had a dent in his head and he was missing an ear. Yet, somehow he managed to look back at her and smile with his usual pep.
It took Alice a while to realize that the car was sideways because the Sparky seatbelt kept her in place so well. When she did notice, she unbuckled her normal seatbelt and fell to the bottom side of the car. She hadn't heard her mom at all. She thought she should see how her mom was doing.
The car shifted upright, and Alice fell back onto the seat. The door closest to her head opened.
"I thought we were meeting at the airport," said a man's deep voice.
"Dad?"
Alice went out the open door.
"How's your mom?"
"I . . . don't know," Alice answered as she looked at the front of the car. The crash made it look like an accordion. The front doors were crushed in such a manner that they couldn't be opened. The little red car was beyond ruined.
The man walked over to the front door on the passenger's side. He used his big hands to pry it open. Alice peered past him. Mrs. Stone was lying with her face on the steering wheel. Her seatbelt was still buckled, but it wasn't enough to protect her. The man reached in and pulled her out. He set her down on the hood of the car.
"Mom!" Alice shouted as tears started to stream from her eyes. Mrs. Stone had blood trickling from her open mouth. Her face was pale and her eyes were slightly glazed, but she was still breathing.
Alice sat down on the road and looked up at the darkening sky. She prayed. Please let my mom live.
The man looked a little angry. "Alice. You don't need to pray. I'M RIGHT HERE!" he boomed. "Besides, I thought you weren't religious."
"God? Oh, I though you were my dad . . ." her voice shrunk. "Sorry."
"There's no need to be sorry," he laughed. "I am your dad!"
Alice was speechless. Her dad was huge! Every part of him seemed bigger and tougher than a normal human. Alice's mom was right when she said that Alice looked a little like him. They both had blonde hair (they'd both be curly, but Alice straightened her hair often) and soft blue eyes. The calmness of her father's eyes seemed out of place on his sturdy body.
"I probably have some explaining to do," Alice's father sighed. "But I can't just yet. Hermes will be on his way soon, and we need to move your mom now if you want to save her."
Her dad whistled, summoning horses and a chariot that was just like what the ancient Greeks would've used, only it was longer to fit more people. The horses were big and muscular, much like Alice's dad. They had brilliant white coats that glowed like stars in the night sky. He picked up Alice's mom.
"We have to leave something of hers behind to fool Hermes."
"But besides her clothes, all she has is her wedding ring," Alice said. "Are you really going to leave it behind?"
Her dad sighed, "I'll just have to make her a new one."
He took off the wedding ring, and set it gently on the hood of the car where Alice's mother had been a while before. Alice could swear the diamond faded.
"Sparky!" Alice called. Sparky hopped out of the car. He was looking as good as new. He trailed along behind her as she stood up and got on the chariot with her dad.
Her dad took hold of the reigns with one hand and held Mrs. Stone with his other. The horses took off. Their speed made them seem like they were floating on air. Soon, they were.
Alice looked down at the shrinking car. The ring they'd left behind had been so precious to her mom. Maybe because it was all she had to remember her husband by. Alice decided to stop. The height made her nauseous.
Her dad seemed like he wanted to say something. He kept opening his mouth to speak, but then closing it like the words wouldn't come. What words could he possibly use to explain what he needed to explain? He decided to just talk.
"Alice . . . you've probably noticed that there's something odd about me. I guess you could say that I'm not your average dad. I'd understand if you don't like me. I've been rejected my whole life, especially by my parents. I'm sorry if it ever seemed like I didn't want you. I just couldn't stick around . . . I had to go back."
"Back where?" Alice asked with slight irritation in her tone. She was angry that it took her dad so long to show his face again. And yet, she felt like she could forgive him . . . but not yet.
"Back to my forge," he answered. "I just had to build again. I'd spent too much time away. How I yearned for that warmth again . . . I couldn't take it any longer. I thought that I could make it up to you if I sent Sparky."
Sparky looked up cheerfully at the sound of his name. His tail whipped back and forth.
"What a good invention."
