[ WP ] `` Zeus ! Stop this madness ! ''

The storm had raged for hours, a tempest unlike any in living memory. As I stepped over the threshold, I was assaulted by sheets of rain, and such was the force of the gale that each droplet was like a needle upon my flesh, a hammer on my bare skull. I took another step, out onto the stones, and, struggling to shield my eyes, I saw him. 
 
 There he stood, as majestic as ever: Zeus, mighty Zeus, who paid no heed to the storm that surrounded him. Noise nor rain seemed to disturb him, even as lightning flashed nearby, illuminating his muscular frame in stark detail. He turned his head, and our eyes locked across the chaos. 
 
 `` Zeus,'' I cried, but thunder swallowed my words. I felt a gust of wind which nearly saw my lose my footing. With one hand still preventing the sky's deluge from blinding me, I cupped another about my mouth and bellowed: `` **Zeus! Stop this madness! **'' 
 
 I saw Zeus' body tense as he heard the plea. But his gaze was steel. I took a step towards him, and my bare foot squelched in the soaked, grassy ground. Zeus turned pointedly to look at one of the large trees beyond the fence; on queue, lightning smote it, and a branch fell to the ground in the great clap of thunder. Zeus turned back to face me, and though he remained silent, his challenge was clear. 
 
 I made to take another step, felt the muddied ground shift below me. As I went to place my other foot alongside the bare one, I began to slip, and faltered. *This is folly*, I thought, *but I must reach him*. 
 
 *Or must I? * 
 
 I realized, then, that I might yet find recourse. Trembling, I thrust a hand in my pocket. There my fingers closed around a coarse, mostly dry object, and I realized with relief what it was. I drew it from my drenched pants, and held it aloft. 
 
 In the dark and the downpour, I knew Zeus likely could not see what I held, but he recognized the gesture. Again, I saw him tense up, but I did not yet know if my ploy would succeed. I called out, in the most commanding voice I could muster: 
 
 `` **Zeus: ** ***COME! ***'' 
 
 At first, his resolve seemed only to double, and as he assumed a low, challenging stance, I thought all might be lost. But then, his will faltered; he straightened, tilting his head, and started towards me. When I backpedaled quickly, onto the stone and over the threshold, he followed. 
 
 Once we were both inside, I quickly shut the door behind him. When Zeus looked up at me, I could see there was still fight left in him. But so long as I held the prize, I had dominion over him, and I knew it. Shivering slightly from wetness, I placed a hand upon Zeus' head. 
 
 `` Give me the sock, Zeus.'' 
 
 I saw his eyes flit between the object I held, and my face, now stern. His hunger overcame his mischief, finally, and his jaw unclenched. I caught the sock with my free hand. With the other, I provided Zeus with the treat I held, the one I must have left in my pocket from some earlier walk. A mild vice of mine, not cleaning out my pockets, but this day I was thankful for it; as was Zeus, who happily gobbled up the treat. 
 
 `` Good boy, Zeus,'' I told him, and, after drying off, we settled down together in the living room to watch a film ( *Clash of the Titans*, one of our favourites ) as the thunder and the rain outside provided ambience.
