Pandora Unleashed

By A. A. Warne

Pandora must be punished.

But is her punishment justice for the crime?

In a time when gods are mischievous, Pandora is the subject of a cruel joke.

Now she must turn the tables and exact her revenge.

Perhaps the punishment was just after all . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: A. A. Warne
• Release date: Feb 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9780645501513

A. A. Warne

A. A. Warne writes elaborate, strange, dark, and twisted stories. In other words, speculative fiction.Located at the bottom of the Blue Mountains in Sydney, Australia, Amanda was born an artist and grew up a painter before deciding to study pottery. But it wasn't until she found the art of the written word that her universe expanded.A graduate of Western Sydney University in Arts, Amanda now spends her time wrestling three kids and writing full time.

Book preview

Pandora Unleashed

Pandora Unleashed

A MYTHOLOGY RETELLING

A. A. WARNE

EDITED BY

AMY ELMORE

PANDORA UNLEASHED:

A Mythology Retelling

First Edition

Copyright © A. A. Warne 2023

Cover: James Churchill

Font: Bruno Gomes

Editor: Amy Elmore

Format: A. A. Warne

ISBN: 978 0 6455015 1 3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners.

This book is sold to the condition that it shall not, by the way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Under no circumstances may any part of this book be photocopied for resale.

This is a work of fiction. Any similarity between characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and coincidental.

The book is dedicated to all those who watch the clouds and imagine the worlds beyond them.

"Time changes everything

except something within us

which is always surprised by change."

~ Thomas Hardy

Pandora Unleashed

The wind ripped violently through Ora’s long, black hair, covering her face and blinding her as she threw out her hands in a frantic search for something to save her. She saw nothing around her except for fluffy clouds against a brilliant blue sky. The white puffs scattered as she continued to fall, racing toward the ground.

Kicking her legs, she twisted around to look back at where she had come from. The wind flung her hair upward, and she battled to brush it away from her eyes. Above her, quickly disappearing into the growing distance, was something she couldn’t quite see. It soon vanished behind the clouds, and she wondered if she had seen anything at all.

She blinked, trying to take everything in. How had she gotten here, and why was this happening? Desperate for salvation, her thoughts remained scrambled, and she only knew that she didn’t remember a damn thing.

The air whistled in her ears, screaming gusts that took away her breath. Moments turned into seconds, and the ground beneath her started to become clearer. Long beaches, rolling waves, tall trees, and scattered rocks. But it was the white sand she headed toward.

She took a deep breath and landed on her back.

Rome reached up, clinging to the sharp edges of the rocky bank as he slowly and silently crawled upward. He kept his head low so the humans wouldn’t see him. It was one thing to be among them when they wanted him around, but it was another when they truly needed him.

He peered over the edge and took in the sight. Rows of pointed huts falling to pieces. Barely-clothed people sprawled out in sleep, all smeared in the filth of desperation. Each and every one of them struggled to see they were full of life because each and every one of them was living a nightmare.

Rome swallowed down his need to help. That wasn’t what he had come here to do.