I have one week to save the world.

My friends and I were walking through an alleyway beside the coffee shop when a man appeared out of the shadows, from nothingness. He wasn’t just hiding in there, he materialized from the shadow. He walked out and said to me,

“Jamie I am your father. Come, we have a lot to talk about”.

When he said that, I was shocked, and a lot of thoughts went racing through my head. If he was my father, then where has he been for the last 13 years? Why did he leave my mother to raise me by herself?

I scoffed, “I’m sorry, what?”

He stared at me with an intense look on his face. Did he just say what I think he said? All the colour started to drain from my face.

“I am your father,” he repeated.

His words, I could hear. Comprehend them? I was unable to. He continued:

“I know that it must come to a shock to you but it's true.” Moments from my past started to cross my mind.

“Okay, so if you're my father then why did you leave?”

“Jamie trust me I would love to tell you, but we do not have time for this. Come on, we need to go somewhere private so we can talk.”

Something inside of me burst like a balloon. How could he say that? Just because he shows up out of nowhere, and out of the blue says that I am his son, doesn’t mean that he’s entitled to boss me around.

“NO! Whatever you so desperately have to say, you can say in front of my friends because they have been around for much longer than you!”

“Fine. In exactly one week the world as you know it will be wiped from memory and everyone will be forced to hide or die. Someone has stolen my magic fishing rod that is used to catch lost souls. They wandered into Satan's dimension and were turned into his horrible Demon servants and gave it to Satan who has hidden it. In exactly one week he will have enough demons to be able to come to this dimension, kill everyone, then turn them into demons.”

Okay, so that’s big. He’s basically just reached out to me because he needs me. Obviously not because he felt he should spend time with his son.

“Ummm ok, so why can’t you just go and get it your special fishing rod yourself?”

“First of all, it is not my special fishing rod, it's really important and second…” A terrible chill ran down my spine. I don't care what he had to say.

“What's more important than helping my mum look after me?”

“No, look. I’m sorry ok? Not sticking around was the biggest mistake I made, but there are rules and I had to obey them. If we survive the next week, I will sit down with you and will explain everything. However, I can’t go into Satan’s dimension, only demigods and humans can.”

Well, that made my brain skid to a halt.

“Slow down so you're saying that you're not human?”

“No, I am not, and neither are you, but your mother is. I am a god and my name is Aphrostis, the god of the lost souls and shadows. You, my son, are a demigod, half-god, half-human.”

OK, now that got me thinking. That explains a lot like why lately I have been drawn to the shadows, (I think that my friends were a little freaked out by that). That was one of the reasons to go through the alleyway, and because it's a shortcut to the park.

“Hey, I’ve read Percy Jackson and Magnus Chases. Are they all real?”

I inhaled deeply with wonder and excitement as if I was a little kid on Christmas day.

“Hold up, do I have powers?”

‘Please, please, please say yes’ I thought to myself.

“Yes, but you might not have them yet. They develop as you grow.”

I feel like I have just been given the best birthday present ever, apart from the fact that there’s still this scary ‘end of the world thing’.

“What are my powers, you have to tell me!” I pleaded

“I don’t know, I just know that you will have them. You are my only child.”

Well, that’s intriguing and disappointing.

What should I do now? Do I just pretend that this didn’t happen (although that’s kind of hard)? Do I go home and tell mum, or do I just leave her a letter and go without telling her?

“ If you choose to save the world, go to the edge of the forest, where the bush meets the lake and under a meter of sand you will find the things that you need to get my fishing rod back.”

Without a warning, he took a step back and faded into the shadows saying

“Goodbye son, we will meet again soon.”

“Whoa that was creepy,” said Jack.

I forgot about my friends, what do I say to them? Then as if they could read my mind, Andrew said,

“Don’t worry about it we’ll help you, aye Jack?”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll help you” he replied.

A wave of guilt washes over me, why did I have to let them stay? An exasperated sigh escapes my mouth.

“Oh thanks, guys, honestly if we survive the next week, I’ll shout you to the movies”

Even though I said that, I don’t feel like it's enough. I mean, I am asking them to risk their lives to help me.
“You don’t need to, we’re helping you because we are your friends and honestly because if we don’t help, then we will probably be dead by next week... or worse.”