Neptune's Children
Excerpt
    "EVERYONE ON THE ISLANDS. IF YOU CAN HEAR MY VOICE, COME TO THE PALACE."
    Maddie twitched awake and sat up, wild-eyed. "Daddy?"
    Josh put a hand on her shoulder. "No, Maddie. It's not Dad. It's..." He looked up at the Coral Palace. "It's King Neptune."
    All around them, other children were slowly rising from the ground, pulling younger ones up by the hand, looking at each other in bewilderment. Josh looked around. A sea of kids, maybe three or four thousand, stood silently in the Courtyard. None appeared to be much older than he, maybe thirteen or fourteen at most.
    The speakers shrieked again, and everyone jumped.
    About three quarters of the way up the side of the palace, on the balcony from which King Neptune normally addressed the park visitors, a slim, dark-haired boy had appeared. He was fidgeting with the mouthpiece of a headset.
    Finally, he stood still, looking out over the crowd.
    "Hi."
    The King's voice was now that of the boy.
    "I'm Milo. My dad works... used to work in engineering. He was in charge of the sound systems here." Milo stopped, and even at this distance Josh could see him struggle to keep speaking. "I don't know what happened. I guess none of us do. But I think maybe it's time we got organized."
    Josh heard a collective sigh come from the kids around him, then realized that he, too, had slumped in relief. Someone was taking charge. Finally.