They say it's my birthday

[waterproofed]

It's my birthday today. So if I were back home, I would've already been old enough to vote and I'm one year away from legally drinking alcohol. [let's not point out the fact that he's already had some alcohol here. Paradisa goes by different rules]

I wonder if I'd be in college? Would I even get to go to college?

Comments

[waterproofed]

Yep. Geez, I'm an official adult. Scary.

[schrodingersghost]

Totally.

You know, I didn't realize that you were that much older than me.

[waterproofed]

If it helps, I guess I'm technically still sixteen. It's June back home, so I'll be seventeen in two months.

[schrodingersghost]

Huh, if you put it like that I guess I'm still fifteen. I kind of feel like we should be getting double birthdays or something for this.

[waterproofed]

No kidding. We'll just have to make our birthdays doubly awesome.

[schrodingersghost]

I could totally get behind that.

I mean, I missed my sixteenth. I missed getting my drivers license! How lame is that?

[waterproofed]

I know what you mean. I barely got to use my driving privileges.

[schrodingersghost]

Oh man, that sucks. Are you at least getting a cake?

[waterproofed]

Yep! A big blue one.

[schrodingersghost]

[A pause. In Danny's experience blue and green food only did one thing.]

Its not going to come to life and swear revenge against all cake eaters, is it?

[waterproofed]

Dude, sometimes a cake is just cake.

[schrodingersghost]

That's what Dad said just before the frankenfurters broke out of the fridge.

...Actually he said a hot dog is just a hot dog. But you know what I mean.

[waterproofed]

Is there anything in your world that doesn't try to kill you?

[schrodingersghost]

Um, hold on a sec. Let me think.

[He starts counting things off on his fingers and muttering under his breath.]

Boxes, pop music, robots, the space shuttle, circuses, my teacher, my guidance counselor, my parents, plants, dreams, the weather, a garage sale...

[waterproofed]

[on the other side of the journal, Percy is just sitting listening to this. Boxes? A garage sale? Really? Of course Percy never knew when his math teacher would suddenly turn into a Fury, or when a little dog would turn out to be a chimera in disguise, but seriously... He can get through some normal days now and then]

Danny, don't take this the wrong way, but I hope the castle never imitates your world.

[schrodingersghost]

Hah! I remembered. Ive never been attacked by a dog. All the ghost dogs I've met are great.

...Why not?

[waterproofed]

Oh, so my hellhound pet dog wouldn't bother you. Good to know.

[a pause] Your world's pretty insane. Just saying.

[schrodingersghost]

...Hellhound?

Yeah, I've kind of noticed that.

[waterproofed]

Yeah, you know. Those things that attacked us at my demigod camp.

[schrodingersghost]

Oh, right. The dog things.

[He'd completely forgotten about them.]

[waterproofed]

My dog was the big one.

[schrodingersghost]

Awesome! He kind of reminded me of Cujo.

[waterproofed]

She. Her name's Mrs. O'Leary. ... I didn't name her, by the way.