I spent many days with Anne and Mary.  We sailed everywhere, never without an adventure.  
Every day I thought about all that had happened to me since I had run away.  Sirenetta and her amazing, yet sad story was always in my thoughts.  If it were not for her, I would have been dead.
Mary Anne was in my thoughts, as well.  I wondered if she made it off of the ship and had recovered.   
Anne and Mary succeeded in raising my morale.  I had been feeling stronger and more confident day by day.
I was beginning to think that this was it.  I was to become a fierce, female pirate, but this was not to be.
One day, near the coast of Sicily, an amazing and terrifying event changed my life once again.
We had been sailing for days.  As we approached the coast of Sicily, we passed by a little bay on the shore.
Mary hollered to the crew, “Hey, let’s take a break and have some fun here.”
Anne agreed and so did everybody else.  We all needed a little downtime before we stopped and had to go straight to work trading and selling our stolen goods.
Calico Jack steered the ship toward the bay and most of the crew, including me, readied for a quick swim. 
I was the first one overboard.  The water was warm and salty.  It felt wonderful on my skin.
It could not have been more than a minute or two after I jumped in that strange bubbles began to form on the surface near me. 
The rest of the crew noticed as well and refrained from plunging into the water.
To our amazement something began to surface from the below. 
I was slightly alarmed, but given the past couple of months I was not totally alarmed. 
But then, the “something” emerged fully and my heart felt as if it was sinking to the bottom of the Mediterranean!



Before me rose a beast of sorts.  What appeared to be a beautiful woman was staring me in the face.  Other than her beautiful head, her body was twisted and horrifying. 
There appeared to be dogs attached to her midsection, growling and yapping at the ship.  Calico Jack began to maneuver the ship away from the bay.  Half of the crew took refuge below deck and the other half did what they could to help their captain.
Anne’s and Mary’s attention was on me.  They were both yelling to me to hurry to the ship.  I swam with all of my might.  I was almost to the rope that was hanging over the deck, but just as I was about to reach for it the beast blew the ship away with one big breath of air. 
I was devastated.  The fear inside me increased and I did not know what to do.  The ship was out of sight within minutes and the realization that I was stranded began to sink in.
I began to swim for shore, but the beast had a different idea for me. 
She reached out with her long, thin arms and grabbed me.  She brought me close to her face and I had no choice but to look directly at her. 
As scared as I was, it was a relief to be out of the path of the dogs that circled her waist.
“I eat those who cross my path, “ the beast barked.
“No!  Please, do not eat me!” I begged.
“Tell me your name,” she said to me.
“My name is Calliope.  I didn’t mean to cross your path.  The water was so beautiful and it seemed so inviting.  If I had known this was your place, I never would have entered,” I promised.
“I am rooted to this spot and have been for a very long time,” the beast said.
I noticed a sadness in her voice when she told me this. 
“Who are you?” I was barely able to ask.
“My name is Scylla.  I have not always been here nor have I always looked as I do now,” Scylla told me.
She calmed down and seemed to become smaller.  She placed me on a small rock and her vicious lower half was submerged in the water.
“I was once a beautiful sea nymph, adored by a man named Glaucus.  I rejected his love for me.  He wanted so badly for me to return his love so he visited the enchantress Circe.  She advised him to scorn me and to meet someone who wanted his love.  He did not agree with her advice saying that he would never cease to love me.  His lack of cooperation made Circe angry.  She felt punishment was in order, but she could not punish Glaucus, for she liked him too much.  Instead she took her anger out on me.  She mixed powerful, poisonous plants with charms and beasts and brought this terrible mixture to this spot.  She poured it into the water while muttering magical spells.  I was unaware of any of this.  It was a daily ritual for me to relax and bathe in this beautiful bay.  That day, I walked into the water, up to my waist, and right away something strange began to happen.  I reached down and felt of my waist and to my horror I felt a ring of beasts and I could not move.  I have been here ever since.  My anger has grown with every day that has passed since.  It is my mission to destroy every mariner that passes my way.”
Scylla became silent.  She seemed very sad, not angry. 
“Scylla, I am sorry this has happened to you.  I can understand your anger, but you are punishing the innocent,” I said.
I began to tell Scylla of my past and the adventures I had experienced recently.  I told her of Sirenetta and Mary Anne.  I had many stories about Anne and Mary.  Scylla seemed to enjoy the tales I told. 
As Scylla calmed down something strange began to happen.  A cloud began to form above us and a second later the image of a woman was before us.
“I am Circe, and I have come to alter your curse.  You have finally calmed the anger within and the spell I cast so long ago will no longer do.  You will still be rooted to this spot forever more, but no longer in the form of this horrible beast.  I will turn you into a rock.  Mariners will still be terrified of you.  The rock you will become could tear apart a ship easily.”
Everything happened so quickly, I did not have a chance to speak to Scylla again.  She became a huge rock right next to the little rock where I was perched.  Circe was no where to be seen. 
Was it all real?  Was I just dreaming?  I felt very confused, yet calm.  I dove off of the rock and swam to shore.  I sat on the beach and gathered my thoughts.  I was not sure of my next move, but I was sure of myself, an unfamiliar feeling.






Bibliography: 
Scylla
Website:  MYTHOPOEIA  The Making of Myths
Weblink:  The Immortals  (history)

Author's note:
In this story, Calliope finds herself in the clutches of Scylla, a once beautiful sea nymph turned sea monster.  The story that Scylla tells Calliope follows the original story.  I manipulated the part where Circe turns her into a rock.  In the original she is eventually turned into a rock, but not because her anger is calmed.


Image information:  Scylla