Calliope the Muse

by Joan Holub

  Terpsichore nudged her and nodded toward the carousel. “Want to ride it?”

  “Sure, why not?” said Calliope. The carousel had picked up speed and become a whirl of jewels, mirrors, and colors. Homer would probably never agree to ride a carousel, she thought as her big sis bought the tickets. He’d think it was a silly thing to do, or a waste of time, and say he had writing to do if she asked him. But if Laodice asked . . . Calliope sighed again, knowing his answer to her might be different.

  When the carousel slowed to a stop, Calliope waved to Artemis and Aphrodite and their crushes as they climbed down from their mounts and exited into the atrium. Then, choosing a jumper, she climbed onto the back of a lion, and her sister boarded a sheep right behind her.

  As the carousel turned and their mounts went up and down on their poles, Calliope’s spirits lifted. She gazed at the shops whizzing by. Each one held a different collection of goods, from scrollbooks to clothing to weapons and more. Yet all the shops were housed inside one marketplace. In her mind this spinning vision of the IM somehow blurred and slowly fused with her current ideas for her Architecture-ology project.

  Suddenly a whole new idea for her project popped into her head. Like many of her best inspirations for others, it had come from blending two separate ideas together.

  A giddy excitement filled her. Because, wonder of wonders, for once she had inspired herself. And she knew in her heart of hearts that this inspiration was both fresh and doable!

  10

  More Inspiration

  BACK IN HER DORM ROOM that night, Calliope excitedly jotted notes about the big idea she’d gotten while spinning around on the carousel, so that she wouldn’t accidentally forget anything before morning.

  As she changed into her pink, musical-note pj’s, she caught sight of the painting of Homer on her wall. She waited for a wave of sadness to wash over her, knowing they’d never be an “item” like Artemis and Actaeon or Aphrodite and Ares, or any of the other crush-friendships at MOA.

  The sadness did come, but it was softened by the certainty that dumping him was absolutely the right thing to do. Well, maybe “dumping” wasn’t exactly the best word to describe what she’d done. She wasn’t sure if you could actually dump someone if you’d never had a romantic relationship with them in the first place. But whatever.

  Homer was talented, famous, eccentric, and intriguing. But he wasn’t fun unless you were helping him work. So maybe she’d never really been as into him as she’d thought. Maybe it was only the idea of having a crush that she’d liked. After all, as a Muse, she was all about ideas!

  “Farewell, my crush,” she told the Homer painting. Then she took it down and retired it to the bottom drawer of her desk. Hopping into bed, she snuggled under her covers, thinking of her project. The only crush on her mind right now was whether Mr. Libon or the other students in class would crush her new idea once they heard it. She hoped not!

  • • •

  When the lyrebell pinged to signal the start of Architecture-ology class the next day, Mr. Libon stood up from his desk and made an announcement. “I’ve become aware that not all of you had time to get brainstorming help on your projects yesterday,” he said, twirling his compass on two fingers.

  While he was saying this, Amphitrite grinned at Calliope from a few chairs away, raising her eyebrows up and down. I told him. To be fair, the girl mouthed silently.

  Calliope smiled back. That was awfully nice of her, she thought. In a way, Amphitrite reminded her of her sister Terpsichore. Both were thoughtful, sweet, and kind. Thinking about some of Amphitrite’s undersea garden ideas, Calliope added “clever” to the two girls’ similarities.

  “Therefore, please divide into the same groups as yesterday to continue sharing,” Mr. Libon finished. “I’ll come around and check in with each group.”

  As she picked up her chair and moved to where her group was meeting at the back of the room, Calliope was suddenly glad she hadn’t had a chance to share on Monday. Because now she’d be able to share the new project idea she’d thought of. But as excited as she was to do so, she was also nervous. What if it wasn’t as good as she thought? There would be no time to come up with anything else. It was now or never.

  “All right,” said Poseidon once he, Dionysus, Amphitrite, and Calliope were all seated together. “I think Calliope’s the only one of us who didn’t get to share. Want to go ahead?” He nodded at her.

  “Sure. Thanks,” Calliope said. Gazing around at the faces in her group, she asked, “So, have you heard about the Museum in Alexandria?”

  Poseidon and Dionysus gave her puzzled looks. However, Amphitrite nodded. “I’ve read about it. Wasn’t it named after you and your sisters?”

  “Huh?” said Dionysus. Then his violet eyes lit up. “Oh! I get it. MUSE-ee-um.”

  “Yeah, but what is it?” asked Poseidon.

  “One of those libraries where you go to look at scrollbooks,” Amphitrite supplied.

  “Then why isn’t it just called a library?” asked Poseidon.

  “I don’t know,” Calliope said, a little exasperated. She just wanted to get on with telling them about her new project idea! Still, after a moment’s thought, she said, “Maybe ‘museum’ makes it seem special? After all, it’s not just a place to store really old and important scrollbooks. It’s also a place to read them, think about them, and talk about them with other thinkers. It’s the most popular library—or museum, I mean—for scholars who want to do important research.”

  Amphitrite cocked her head at Calliope. “So what’s this got to do with your project?”

  Calliope took a deep breath. “Well . . . my idea for a project is to create a museum that’s more than just a collection of scrollbooks. Think of it like the IM, which has lots of fascinating shops, each with a different kind of collection of things to sell. So my museum would have a bunch of rooms instead of shops, each with a different collection of things to study.”

  “Collection of what?” asked Dionysus.

  “You name it,” said Calliope. Getting excited, she shaped her idea in the air using both hands, inviting them to “see” what she envisioned. “Picture a room for jewelry, and another room for artwork, and another room for pottery.”

  “I bet scholars and philosophers would love to do research in a place like that,” Amphitrite said to her. “Is that who would use your museum?”

  Calliope stared at her, stumped. “Well, I . . .” She halted, unsure what to say. The question of who her museum was for was something she hadn’t really considered yet. So far, she’d mostly been focused on the museum’s design. Amphitrite’s question was a good one, however—one that Mr. Libon had asked everyone to answer in their project write-ups.

  Suddenly Calliope remembered something she’d said to Apollo before his contest with Marsyas last Saturday. Namely, that mortals and other Earth creatures were fascinated by the gods. “We’re like pop stars to them,” she’d told him. And just like that, a new inspiration sparked in her brain.

  “My museum would be for everyday mortals!” she declared. “It would be chock-full of artifacts such as jewelry, artwork, and pottery like I said, but those would all relate to the gods.” Then she added something that she knew would capture Poseidon’s and Dionysus’s interest. “There could even be a room with a collection of weapons.”

  “Cool!” the boys chorused.

  “But where in Zeus’s name would you get all the artifacts?” Dionysus asked her.

  At once a new idea zinged into Calliope’s head. “Zeus! That’s it!” She snapped her fingers. “I’d get them from donations. The other day I saw Zeus donating his old Temple Digest and Great Principals Quarterly scrollazines to MOA’s library. But he had other stuff he wanted to donate that wasn’t appropriate for the library. Like some scorched cushions, and you know that Pegasus painting behind his desk?”

  “Pegasus in Flight?” Poseidon said, his turquoise eyes going wide. “I can’t believe he’d get rid of that. He pai
nted it himself. It’s classic Zeus.”

  “Yeah, so be sure to put it in the very back of your museum,” Dionysus suggested in a deadpan voice. Everyone cracked up. They’d all seen the painting and knew Zeus was no judge of art. No artist, either.

  Calliope explained further. “While I was in the library, Zeus told Mr. Eratosthenes that Hera had convinced him to clean out his office. She was the one who suggested that he get new chair cushions and replace the artwork on his walls.”

  “Mortals would be awed by those old cushions if they could see them,” said Amphitrite. “The scorch marks are powerful evidence of Zeus’s might.”

  As if he’d forgotten that Calliope’s museum wasn’t real but just a project design, Poseidon piped up with an offer. “If you want, I could donate a couple of tridents from when I was little for your weapons collection.”

  “That would be fantastic!” Calliope enthused. She pulled a notescroll and feather pen from her schoolbag and made a note of Poseidon’s suggestion. Everyone in her group—herself included—was talking as if her museum were actually going to be built.

  Only a few days ago she would have been happy just to pass Architecture-ology with a decent grade, but now she found herself wishing for more. Wouldn’t it be great if Principal Zeus and Mr. Libon decided on her museum as the most creative and interesting project design? Then her museum could become a reality, just like Amphitrite’s undersea garden.

  “How about a musical instruments room?” Dionysus said suddenly, drawing her attention back to the present. “I’ve got an aulos you could have.”

  “And how about a seashell collection?” Amphitrite added. “My sisters and I have tons of them, mostly cute or rare specimens.”

  Calliope was so busy jotting down their ideas that she didn’t notice that Mr. Libon had been standing behind them, listening in. He looked intrigued. A good sign.

  “Great work, Calliope!” he said with a smile. “Keep going.” Then he moved on to another group.

  Her heart leaped with joy. She was going to have to work superhard this afternoon and evening if she wanted to finish her design in time to turn it in tomorrow. But at long last she’d found a project she believed in and really wanted to do. She felt mega-inspired. Hooray!

  Back in her dorm room after class, Calliope worked on drawing her museum. She kept the temple-like exterior she’d sketched when she’d first decided to design a library. However, as a tribute to her sister Muses, she now added statues of all of them across the top edge of the building’s peaked roof. She hoped it wasn’t showing off to include a statue of herself, but this was a MUSEum after all, and she was a Muse.

  Each of the statues held a symbol of the art they represented. For example, she gave her sister Clio, the historian, a scroll; Urania, a celestial globe; and Polyhymnia, who wrote hymns, a veil. She hummed happily as she unrolled more of her planscroll and began to sketch the interiors of various rooms, labeling the collections they’d contain.

  When her stomach started growling, she realized hours had passed. She’d been so absorbed in her project that she’d totally forgotten to go downstairs for dinner. Just then someone knocked on her door. “Come in!” she called from her desk. “Especially if you have food!” she joked, wondering who it could be.

  The door opened, and Amphitrite poked her head in. “Actually, I do have food,” she said cheerfully. She’d brought Calliope a dinner tray from the cafeteria.

  “You’re a mind reader!” Calliope said appreciatively as Amphitrite set the tray on her desk. It held a plate with heaping portions of nectaroni and cheese, ambrosia salad, and two pieces of delicious rosemary-olive bread.

  “Didn’t see you at dinner,” Amphitrite said with a smile. “I figured you were probably working on your Architecture-ology project and might need something to keep you going.”

  “Your timing couldn’t be more perfect,” said Calliope. “I’m starving!” Again she marveled at how alike her sister Terpsichore and Amphitrite were. Both were just so thoughtful!

  Taking a break from her homework, Calliope motioned for Amphitrite to sit on her spare bed. As she dug into her nectaroni, she asked, “So how was your water park tour with Poseidon yesterday?”

  Amphitrite grinned. “Superfun. I got to swim in every single one of the dozen water parks we visited. I wish my sisters could’ve come along. They would have loved it too!”

  Calliope swallowed a bite of nectaroni. “How many sisters do you have?”

  “Forty-nine.”

  “Wow,” said Calliope, her eyes going round. “And I thought I had a lot of sisters! But I’ve just got eight.”

  Amphitrite laughed. “Believe it or not, I miss all of them. So I’m really happy I’ll be going home to visit next weekend.” She glanced curiously around Calliope’s room. “Don’t you have a roommate either?” she asked, her gaze lingering on the unused desk by the bed she was sitting on.

  Calliope shook her head. “Ms. Hydra didn’t give me one.”

  “Me neither,” said Amphitrite. She sighed. “Back home under the sea my sisters and I each had our own rooms. Only, I liked that they were tiny and scrunched tight together within our cave. I can hardly work sometimes without the sounds of my sisters around me.”

  “I know what you mean,” Calliope said. “I’m the same way.” A feeling of excitement was rising within her. What if Amphitrite was thinking the same thing she was? But what about that sleeping fountain the mergirl had talked about building? Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, Calliope thought. She smiled at Amphitrite. “I’ve been wondering . . .”

  “I’ve been wondering . . . ,” Amphitrite said at the exact same moment.

  The two girls broke off. Then they giggled. Calliope and her sisters were always saying the same thing at the same time too. It was almost like she and Amphitrite were sisters! Soul sisters, anyway. Calliope set down her fork. “Sorry. You go first,” she said.

  “No, you go,” said Amphitrite.

  So Calliope popped the question. “Um . . . I was wondering if you . . . um . . . want to be my roommate?”

  Amphitrite beamed at her and jumped to her feet. “Yes! I do!”

  “But what about your sleeping fountain?” Calliope asked, jumping up too.

  Amphitrite looked confused for a minute, then shrugged. “Oh, that. When Poseidon and I were out looking at water parks, I decided I didn’t really need one. After all, I can swim in the MOA pool anytime. Or swim with my sisters undersea when I go home for visits. Sleeping in a fountain all by myself seemed even lonelier than having a room to myself in the dorm. At least when you want some company in the dorm, you can just open your door and go out into the hall.”

  “Yeah,” Calliope agreed. “But us being roommates will be a gazillion times better.”

  “You bet!” said Amphitrite.

  They reached their hands high in the air and did a giddy high-five. Whap!

  11

  Collecting

  WANT TO SEE THE POSTER I’m making?” Calliope asked a week later, glancing over her shoulder at Amphitrite. The sea nymph had moved into Calliope’s room the day after Calliope had popped the roommate question. Now the girls were working at the two built-in desks on opposite sides of their room.

  Just as Calliope had hoped, having a roommate had steadied her and made it easier to concentrate on important stuff. Like homework. When her roomie studied, Calliope studied too. Like now. They’d both been at their desks for an hour, quietly working.

  “Sure,” Amphitrite replied, crossing to Calliope’s desk. Her turquoise hair fell forward as she bent to read aloud from the poster:

  WANTED: Donations for the MUSEUM OF THE GODS

  Desired items:

  —Monster parts (griffon talons, dragon teeth, serpent tongues, boar tusks, etc.)

  —Battle armor (shields, helmets, breastplates, chain mail, etc.)

  —Clothing (anything unusual or fantastic, or with historical significance)

  —Awards (trophies, medals,
ribbons, wreaths)

  Amphitrite nodded. “I like it. You should say where they’re supposed to deliver donations, though,” she suggested.

  “Good idea,” said Calliope, quickly adding that information. “Once the poster’s finished, I’m going to hang it in the entry to the Academy.”

  Amphitrite went over and studied the pile of newly donated items on the floor at the end of Calliope’s bed.

  “It’s so mega-cool that Mr. Libon and Principal Zeus chose your museum project.”

  “Isn’t it?” said Calliope. “Now we’ll both get to see our Architecture-ology projects built!”

  It was only two days ago that Mr. Libon had announced in class that Calliope’s project had been chosen. She’d also earned an A plus on it!

  Above her desk she’d pinned the congratulatory notes her sisters had sent upon hearing of her success: “Good job, Little Sis! We’re proud of you!” said one note. Another said, “Great news, Muse! We knew you could do it!”

  And just this morning Principal Zeus had stopped her in the hallway to congratulate her too. He’d told her that Hera was especially happy to hear about Calliope’s museum, since it would “kill two birds with one stone,” also helping Zeus out with his office-cleaning project.

  “It’s amazing how much stuff you’ve collected already,” Amphitrite commented now. “Good thing I moved over here and left my room empty. Instant storeroom!”

  “Yeah,” Calliope agreed. “That was handy.” Amphitrite’s former room was perfect as temporary storage. However, today Principal Zeus had also given her another, bigger storage room at the back of the gym for large donations—such as an ancient chariot with a broken wheel that had once belonged to Helios. After she cataloged the items at the end of her bed, Calliope planned to take them to Amphitrite’s old room. And then on the weekend she’d move everything to the storage room at the back of the gym.

  Among the many items that Principal Zeus had donated so far were three scorched chair cushions, his Pegasus painting, and a model of the temple that had been built in his honor in Athens. Plus several tunics, including the gold one with the flowing cape that he’d worn when he and Hera had gotten married. He’d also promised Calliope an old jeweled throne of his. And Hera had located some tunics he had worn when he was a little godboy. Calliope had enough of his stuff for an entire Zeus wing!