It was a beautiful spring morning. Of course, back then it was either only spring or summer. The air was warm and the flowers were blooming beside the woodland stream that bubbled as it rolled by. It was here that I was hanging out with my friends. We were picking flower bouquets of the most beautiful flowers: lilies, bluebells, and roses. One of my friends was making daisy chains from the daisies of a nearby field. As she finished each one we each crowned ourselves with it, pretending to be the queens we knew we could never be. But it was a beautiful dream that fit that beautiful day. My life seemed perfect, and it would've been perfect if not for the seed of discontent in my heart as I wished for one thing: love.

Of course, I knew the love of my goddess mother, Demeter, and the love of my friends, and occasionally the love of my impulsive and tempered father, Zeus. And I loved that they loved me, but I wished for the love of someone who would make me his queen, even if it wasn't the literal kind of queen I was then pretending to be.

My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden splash in the bubbling stream. My friends and I scampered over, hoping to see a flying fish that were rumored to swim these waters, for that is what we had thought had caused the splash. We scanned the streambed but we could find nothing. I caught a glimpse of an arrow shaft and fletching as it sank into the mud on the bottom of the bed. Disappointed, we returned to our resting place under the trees.

My friend had almost finished with the last daisy crown when she ran out of the flowers. We all started competing to determine who would go and pick the desired flowers. Unfortunately, I lost. Groaning and mumbling good naturedly, I headed toward the daisy field. I skipped over rocks that jutted out over the river, careful to not get my feet wet. Maybe later I would soak my feet with my friends in the stream, but right now I was on a mission.

I started humming as I picked the flowers. My quiet murmurings were lost to a large rumble. I looked up, curious, but backed up in alarm as a large crevice appeared in the ground in front of me. As it grew bigger darkness seemed to spread throughout the field. I fell to the ground and covered my head so I missed the large creature that bore down upon me until it pulled to a stop in front of me. I could feel it's warm breath on my neck. Tentatively, I looked up.

It was a horse, large, dark, and formidable. Upon his back sat a cloaked figure. He radiated cold and a shadow covered his face. From his dim appearance and his eerie entrance, it could only be one person: my uncle, Hades, Lord of the Underworld.

We stared at each other for several moments before he spurred his horse forward and charged passed me. As he passed me he reached over and grabbed my arm. He pulled me onto the horse in front of him. I screamed as the horse wheeled around and ran at a frightening speed toward the gaping hole in the ground. I could see my friends jerk around toward my scream but they were too late. We had already descended into the crevice. The horse seemed to be running vertically along the side of the hole. I looked up to see the crevice close above us. It became dark – to dark to see. My vision tunneled and everything went out of focus as I blacked out.

When I woke up everything was out of focus for a few minutes. When it did come back into focus, I shivered. The dark, ominous stalagmites around me seemed to cage me in, nothing like the beautiful world I know. A stifled another scream as I saw what could only be ghosts floating around me.

"So, you've awoken." I jerked around toward the deep, brooding voice that came from behind me. It was Hades, hood pulled back and his wavy, black hair falling to just below his ears. I just stared at him, surprised that he looked so.... young. From his shoulder I could see an arrow protruding from his arm. I gasped as I realized what it was. Only Eros had arrows that were silver with pinkish tones to them. It was also the arrow I had seen sink into the streambed earlier.

Hades then began to speak. He spoke of me, of my beauty and charm and how he is drawn to the way I bring life to those around me. I knew my beauty could never rival Aphrodite, but as he declared of and praised my beauty I felt beautiful. I felt like the most beautiful girl in the world, even over Aphrodite. (Of course, I would never tell her that, because trust me, because once you've met her, she is someone you would never want to cross.)

I gasped in betrayal when I heard of my father's agreement to let me wed someone I had never met. But it was lessened by Hade's sympathetic voice and understanding to my predicament.

As he spoke he had walked closer to where I sat upon the cold ground. He finished, and I was speechless. Nobody had said anything so profound, so beautiful, to me before. When he offered me his arm I hesitantly took it. I don't know what made me feel so safe and comforted but I followed him as he began to show me his kingdom.

The next few days I spent frolicking through Hade's domain, playing with Cerberus, and watching the world through Hade's pool of sight. Cerberus's bark is worse than his bite and he can actually be really sweet. In Hade's pool I watched in dismay at my mother's attempts to find me. It broke my heart to watch her run around the world desperately looking for me. I wished to be able to tell her where I was without her making me leave. Because against my judgement I had found that I actually liked the Underworld.

I watched the day that she confronted Helios and demanded an answer. When he told her where I was, she flew into a rage and challenged Zeus. I turned and cried as I saw what had happened to the world that I had loved after Zeus refused her. Snow covered the ground and nothing grew. I watched the flowers wither and leaves turn brown and fall from the trees.

But through this I learned something that nobody had ever realized before. Behind his tough exterior, Hades was sweet and gentle. He treated me like I was the most important thing in his life and like I was more beautiful that anyone or anything in the world. I was dressed in clothing that princesses and queens would envy, jewels so beautiful and rare only the god of wealth could find such.

It was during this time that I realized that I was a queen I was queen of the Underworld, Hade's queen, his love, his joy. I was a queen that I once pretended to be and thought that I could never be. If my friends could only see me now.

The day that Hermes came was perhaps one of the most conflicting days of my life. Several emotions raged through me as the events unfolded.

It started as any normal day in the Underworld. I spent the morning playing with Cerberus. I would throw a rock as far as I could and he would bound off. He would turn around in circles, looking in confusion at all the rocks around him, trying to figure out which one was the one that I had thrown. I giggled at his antics as he finally came to the point where he would pick up a rock with each head and come proudly trotting back to me. So the pile of rocks at my feet grew instead of decreased with each rock I threw.

Cerberus perked and turned his head to some point behind me. I followed his gaze to find Hades trudging toward us. Suddenly, I was lifted into the air and I slid down Cerberus's neck as he pushed his head under me. I laughed at the sudden rush of air and then gasped as I landed on his back. He started loping toward Hades and I looked down in surprise at the dog beneath me. It had never occurred to me that I could ride the three-headed dog that had seemed so scary at first.

With his fast pace, we reached Hades in just a few minutes. He gently took me by the waist and swung me down off of Cerberus's back. I smiled at him and he smiled back as he set me on my feet.

"Tonight, there is going to be a ball in the palace." My smile stretched wider and I threw my arms around him and it was then that I knew that I loved him. His arms came around me and I snuggled close to him. I never wanted to leave, which is ironic because of what happened later that day.

I entered the ball with a dark dress that made my eyes shine. It swirled around my ankles and was small at the waist, enhancing its small size. Hades smiled at me and my heart fluttered. I bowed low before him but he grabbed my hand and pulled my close.

"You don't need to bow before me, Persephone. You are my queen - my equal." My eyes locked on his and I could see the love shining there. Not false love planted by Eros's arrow, but a love that grew from that. I hoped that he could see the same thing reflecting in my eyes. Soon we were swirling around the dance floor, outshining all those who danced around us. Then again, everybody else was just deceased ghosts.

I heard Cerberus bark and the music came to an abrupt halt. A dead butler scampered up to Hades and whispered into his ear. After the butler scurried off, Hades leaned close and whispered in my ear that there was important business he had to attend to, but he would be right back.

Curious as to the business's nature, I quietly followed him as he entered the lobby of the palace. I slipped behind a pillar as soon as I saw who had come to talk to Hades: Hermes. What was he doing there? I listened intently and stifled a cry at what I heard. My mother was ruining the world, killing off plants and crops, until she got me back. I would have to go back – to save the world.

It came as a sudden relief when I heard what Hermes proposed to let me come back to the Underworld. If I was to eat anything before I left, even the littlest pomegranate seed, I would have to come back to the place I had come to love, the Land of the Dead, where the man I loved lived.

As soon as I saw Hermes depart I rushed back to the ballroom. I sat myself on a bench near the door and began to examine the shrubbery beside the seat, thinking about everything I just heard. A hand on my shoulder startled me, even though I knew it was coming.

Hades sat down beside me and I slid close to him, anxious to get a last few precious moments in with him before I would have to leave. I was prepared for it when he offered me the pomegranate, telling me it was the only way to return to him. I quickly swallowed four seeds.

He grabbed my hand and I began to dissolve into the air. I saw the words, "I love you" fall from his lips as I disappeared, but I didn't hear them. Tears trickled down my face, and they were still there when I reappeared on Mount Olympus.

"Persephone!" My mother rushed toward me and threw her arms around me. She sobbed tears of joy and plants began to bloom all around the courtroom. Zeus, standing behind her, cleared his throat.

"Yes, Demeter, she is back. But first we need to address another order of business. Persephone, did, at any time during your....stay in the Underworld, any food or water pass your lips?" I saw Hermes standing a little way past Zeus's throne and he winked at me. I took in a breath, wiped away my tears, and nodded.

"Four pomegranate seeds." I responded to his second, more detail oriented question. My mother gasped in horror and shock.

"Then you must return four months of each year to the Underworld." Secretly I was filled with joy, and wishing that I had eaten more of the pomegranate seeds. I somberly nodded, trying not to show my exaltation.

However, my mom was furious. Seething, she cried, "Four months she will be gone, and for four months nothing will grow. Snow will fall and the trees and flowers will die. These are the consequences of this decision."

"Oh, mother, no!" I fell to my knees at her feet. "Do not punish the world for your sorrow. It is only for four months. Don't take away the beautiful flowers for that time. Please - in memory of me." But my mother held firm to her exclamation. Nothing me, or anyone in the room could say would sway her.

So, for the next six months I hung out with my friends in the beautiful spring and summer of the world. They expressed their sorrow for sending me to get daisies alone and for not being there to save me. I told them it was okay, but what I didn't tell them exceeded more than what I did. Like what happened that day was possibly the best thing that ever happened to me. Or how I was secretly longing for the spring and summer to end so I could return to Hades.

The closer to the time I could leave, the more orange the leaves became and the brisker the wind became. My mother began to get a wild, crazed look in her eyes. But my heart beat faster the closer we got.

Finally, the day arrived that I had been longing for. My friends gaped in amazement when Hades arrived. I smiled smugly at them as they took in his ruggedly handsome looks and the tenderness in his eyes and hands as he lifted me onto his horse.

I turned and smiled at my friends and gave one last wave at my mother as she glared after us. I could see the snow began to fall along the world, but I descended into the Underworld, to the place I had been longing for months.

This is how the seasons came to be. Maybe a little more lovey-dovey than you expected, or maybe a little more detailed, but this is my story.

So like it or not, it's how it happened.