Pompeius: A Short Story

A sudden blast of sound hit Pompeius like a pilum. “Mother, is it another tremor?” asked Pompeius, full of curiosity, “By Jupiter, th...th...the mountain my love!” stammered Porcia, his loving mother. “Mother, Vulcan has decided to punish me for befriending a Christian!” cried Pompeius, desperate to escape the situation. “We must depart immediately, I shall have to inform the slaves immediately. Go and grab a scroll and write a message to Plinius.” “Are we still going to depart towards Pater, in Rome?” “Yes my dear, but hurry.” To the surprise of Pompeius, a gargantuan column of dark, deadly smoke suddenly shot out of the volcano like a thunderbolt, quick and deadly. Pompeius’ first instinct, was to run for his life.

Pompeius

“But he is no match to Julius, who is one of the most experienced in Pompeii.” reminded Pompeius, with an evil look in his eyes. “Julius may be experienced, but Marcus is younger and is much more flexible and agile than Julius.” “But Marcus would never be able to even touch Julius as Julius has all the skills a gladiator could ever have.” “We’ll see tomorrow.”

As they prepared to eat the newly served roast chicken, dates, cheese and white bread, another earth tremor disturbed their presence. The table swung like a pendulum, the house didn’t move a single nanometer, and the chairs and trees moved a little. These small but irritating earthquakes happened every once in a while but they didn’t bother anyone.

“When will these useless, pointless, irritating tremors stop?” raged Pompeius “Who knows dear, who knows.” said Porcia, hugging Pompeius tightly. After dinner, Abia decided it was a good time to head back home and go see Pater. The sky was a dark blue with the moon shining like a lonely star in the vast

Vesuvius. “Mother, Vulcan has decided to punish me for befriending a Christian!” cried Pompeius, desperate to escape the situation. “We must depart immediately, I shall have to inform the slaves immediately. Go and grab a scroll and write a message to Plinius.” “Are we still going to depart towards Pater, in Rome?” “Yes my dear, but hurry.” To the surprise of Pompeius, a gargantuan column of dark, deadly smoke suddenly shot out of the volcano like a thunderbolt, quick but deadly. Pompeius’ first instinct, was to run for his life. He bolted up the stairs and into his room. He quickly wrote down a letter of help and handed it to Alexander, who was now talking with a messenger from Rome.

“Don’t worry, it is just another tremor!” cried Abraham “Are you sure Pater?” stammered Abia, now hugging himself in the corner, praying that he would live. “Don’t doubt me Abia.” reassured Abraham.

To their surprise, a loud, powerful, almighty, sound blasted them off of their feet. BOOM! A column of smoke, deadly gas and rock the size of great neptune’s beard had just blasted from the the top of the mountain. Their first instinct was to run for the