On Saturday morning Kathy's mother walked into her bedroom and promptly tripped over a toy

truck filled with fashion dolls. Getting up off her face and rubbing her nose, the injured mommy

looked around the room.

Toys were scattered everywhere. There were solider action figures in the windows. Dress up

dolls laying on the tv. Stuffed animals of every variety and toy cars all over the floor. Around the

computer lay Kathy's super hero toys in various stages of combat with her super villain toys.

(Kathy had eclectic tastes.)

There were all sorts of books, coloring books, and drawings all over. There were craft projects

half finished. From half made jewelry to a replica of the Sears Tower made of toothpicks.

And finally there were clothes. Clothes here. Clothes there. Clothes even hanging from the

ceiling fan. You couldn't tell the dirty from the clean. Nor could you see the floor. In fact there

were a pile in the corner that Kathy's mom could swear was breathing.

"Catherine Colleen Swift!" Kathy's mom yelled, her face nearly as red as her hair. "I thought I

told you to clean up this room!"

Kathy pulled her ten year old self out from underneath her bed where she had been looking at

her collection of glow in the dark stickers. She was a short for her age and finely boned, like one

would imagine a fairy to be. Her dark red hair puffed about her head in riotous curls. All sorts of

things were stuck in it as well. A pen here, a barrett there, anything that the hair could hold was

there. Including a small screwdriver. Blinking her light green eyes, Kathy innocently said, "You

did? I thought you said go to your room."

"That's the problem with you," Mrs. Swift said, kicking aside a muddy shoe. "You only hear

what you want to hear. Look at this place! It's such a mess I wouldn't be surprised to find a

dinosaur skeleton here. Or the lost city of Atlantis! Clean this room - NOW!"

Slamming the door behind her, Mrs. Swift sighed. She didn't like yelling at Kathy, but

sometimes that girl just got on her last nerve.

Inside her room Kathy looked around. "It's not that messy." She said. Still, she began to clean

up. She started by clearing a space for piles. In one pile she put all her clothes, clean or dirty

thinking mom would wash them either way. Under the clothes she found a half of a grilled

cheese sandwich from last Tuesday, her best shooter marble, and a village of tiny people who

thought the world was coming to an end and ran out the window with all their tiny livestock and

even tinier children.

Next she started to pile up all the trash she found under her clothing, including the now

abandoned tiny village. After that she began to pick up her toys. Under these she found a nest of

mice, three spiders, and the world's last living pair of Dodos. "I thought you guys were extinct."

Kathy said.

As both Dodos headed for the window that the tiny village people had escaped from, one turned

to her and said, "That's what we want you humans to think." Then they were gone along with

the mice and spiders.

Now Kathy began to clean up her projects. Under one of the bigger ones she found a stray cat

and her kittens. They apparently were living on the half of sandwiches Kathy left laying around.

Except for the grilled cheese. The momma cat was lactose intolerant.

After moving the cat and the kittens to the kitchen and making sure they had plenty of good food

and water (and that mommy wasn't looking), Kathy returned to cleaning her room. First she got

a big trash bag and threw all her trash away. Then she took out all her laundry. Now it was time

to put things away properly.

Kathy opened the closet door. A huge wave of toys from the last time she cleaned her room fell

out on top of her. When she dug herself out she found the fossilize remains of the missing link.

"And mom thought I'd find a dinosaur." Kathy said, wading through the pile of toys.

She looked into her closet. There was something strange in the very back under yet another pile

of clothing. These ones there so long that Kathy had long since outgrown them. The ten year old

pulled them out of the way.

It looked like a whirlpool, swirling there in the bottom of her closet. Yet there was no water.

Always too curious for her own good, Kathy poked her finger at it's swirling center. Instantly she

felt herself being sucked in. As she was she wondered why she was being sucked in but nothing

in her closet had ever been.

Kathy fell onto a stone paved street. Looking around she thought the place she was in looked a

lot like the drawings in her Greek mythology books, only real. Looking up she could see the

whirlpool above her. Yet she could also see a glass dome and as a whale swam by she realized

that the entire city, though dry, was under water.

There was a weak and wheezy cry. Kathy looked around and saw people, very, very old people,

cheering. Really, they were all so old they looked mummified. They were also dressed like the

Greeks in her school books.

They were talking but Kathy, of course, couldn't understand them. For it was ancient Greek after

all. An old woman wearing a crown made of coral approached and threw a necklace made of ear

like shells around Kathy's neck. They seemed to glow and felt strangely warm.

"Welcome, young one, to Atlantis!" The woman, obviously the queen, or at least a leader of

some sort, said. "I am Alaina. Queen Of Atlantis."

"Um, hi." Kathy said. "I'm Kathy."

"Kathy," Alaina said, as if having a hard time with the simple name. "Well, Kathy, I'm sure you

must be hungry and full of questions. Come, come."

Alaina led a confused Kathy to a big building, like a temple. Inside there were more old people,

these ones bringing food. All the others who had come out had followed, all staring at Kathy as

if she was some sort of hero or something.

"Eat, drink." Alaina said, practically forcing Kathy into a chair. "I'm sure you have lots of

questions. No, don't tell me - let me guess - How did we end up here? Why are we so old?

Where are the young people?" The queen smiled. There was something shark like about that

smile.

Nodding, Kathy looked at the food. Nothing really appealed to her as it was things like fish and

seaweed. So she just pretended to eat and drink. She had gotten very good at it when mom was

on her soybean and soy milk kick.

Meanwhile, Alaina spoke. "Eons ago our city was above the land. However we were greedy and

selfish people. So much so that even our children couldn't stand us. As we grew older and older

we realized we didn't want to die. Nor did we wish to clean up after ourselves. So I put our best

wizards and scientists on the job of finding a way to solve both problems. First we made our kids

clean up after us. Then we found a way to become immortal. This made our children angry. So

they went to Zeus' temple. Zeus cursed us by removing our children then forced us to live under

the sea where no human can find us. However we could bring humans here. Human children that

is. Any child who doesn't clean their room when they're told can be brought to us. The messier

they are the better."

There was a sinking feeling in Kathy's stomach. Not only was the queen now looking at her as if

she was on the menu, but Alaina's monologue was a bit disjointed, like a person going a bit

looney.

"Because we found the secret to immortality." Alaina pulled on a statue like it was a lever. A

wall rolled up. Behind it was a big glass orb filled with children - but children who looked old.

Too old to be alive. Their clothing was from all sorts of time periods. "We need to drain the

youth from messy children. Children who have eaten our food, drunk our drink."

Hands grabbed Kathy's arms, clutching them tightly. Yanking her towards that horrible orb.

However Kathy began to fight the grip. Easily pulling free.

"She hasn't eaten anything!" A woman called out.

"FEED HER!" Alaina shouted. "It's the only way to make her weak enough!"

The people tried to pin her down. Tried to feed her. Kathy was too quick for them. Ducking

under outstretched arms, she grabbed a small statue of the Greek god Eros. Slamming it into the

orb. A crack appeared.

"NO!" All the Atalanians screamed as one.

The crack grew bigger and bigger. The children inside pressing against it. A pinkish vapor began

to seep into the orb. The children breathed this in and before Kathy's eyes seemed to grow

younger. Turning around she could see the Atalanians, melting, turning into this vapor. Paying

for their greed for youth and immortality.

The orb shattered and children tumbled out. Hugging each other. Hugging Kathy. Babbling.

Apparently when not being drained to fuel the Atalanians youth and immortality they had been

used as slaves to clean up after the messiest adults the kids had ever seen. Then placed back in

the orb.

Atlantis shook. The children screamed, thinking that now it would fall down upon their heads

and drown them. Instead they found the roof of the temple being lifted off and a large Greek

man, a very, very large Greek man for he was so tall his head brushed the vortex they had been

sucked into, looking down at them.

"Well, it's about time." He boomed. "I am Zeus, also known as Jupiter, king of the Gods and

Goddesses of Olympus. I've been waiting a long time for someone to finally give old Alaina and

her subjects their just due. Now," smiling at the children, he reached in and picked up the coral

crown, his fingers so big he could use the crown as a pinky ring. Gently he placed this crown on

Kathy's head. "You all have a choice. You can either continue to live in Atlantis with Kathy as

your queen, or I can return you all to your families."

"I don't want to be a queen." Kathy said, thinking how sad her mom would be if she never

returned. "I want my mommy."

"Me too!" Chimed the hundreds of children.

Zeus shrugged. "Probably for the best. Well, goodbye then. And don't forget - CLEAN YOUR

ROOMS!"

There was that feeling of being sucked into the vortex again. Seconds later Kathy tumbled out of

her closet, her coral crown askew. The vortex popped out of existence. After sitting there for a

minute, Kathy decided to finish cleaning her room.

From that day forth, Mrs. Swift never again had to remind Kathy to clean her room. However,

she always did wonder where Kathy got that coral crown....

~~The End~~