A long time ago, way back in ’85 (B.C.E.), on Mount Olympus in the mystical land of Greece, there lived the Greek gods. At the ends and beginnings of the years, humans didn’t do much. Up on Mount Olympus, Hermes, the messenger god, had nothing to do. The humans didn’t need any messages to be sent.
Apollo, the sun god, was also bored. All he did every day was ride slowly in his sun chariot across the sky. Poseidon, the god of the sea, was also bored. The seas were calm, and there were no ships. This was the same story for all of the other gods on Mount Olympus.
Hermes wanted to run or fly as fast as he could. Apollo wanted to fly in his chariot as fast as he could. Every other god or goddess wanted to go to their limits.
“I just want to let loose,” said Apollo.
“Yeah, me to,” said Hermes.
One day, while sitting on her throne, Athena thought of a brilliant idea. She called to the other gods.
“Everyone, come!” she called.
When everyone came into the room, Athena told them her plan. “We’ll have a race,” she stated, and everyone liked the idea.
In the month of November, the gods started warming up. By December, the gods were ready for the race. They lined up at the starting line.
“Three… two… one…go!” shouted Hestia.
The gods took off, high into the air, away from Mount Olympus. Immediately, Apollo took the lead, whizzing past the others, in his chariot of fire. Not far behind came Hermes, his winged sandals flapping like mad. In third, behind Hermes, was Poseidon, on his blue and yellow surfboard.
Battling for fourth place, Ares and Hades were neck and neck. Hades was flying on the back of one of the furies, and Ares flying on a magical spear, like a broomstick. Behind the fighting gods, came Zeus, zipping along on a lightning bolt, his master bolt in hand. In seventh place was Athena, levitating with her brain power. After her came Dionysus, flying on his shaken up bottle of champagne. Tailing Dionysus was Hephaestus, riding in his flying automaton. In tenth place came Aphrodite, flying on a magical mirror.
Catching up to Athena was Demeter, Bouncing along on her rapidly growing mushrooms. In last place was Artemis, in her canoe. Her arms were already tiring out, and she was slowing down.
From the middle of November, until the middle of March, the gods raced many times, however, not every day. When the gods zip through the air, it makes it cold outside. Their racing vehicles cut through the clouds, high up in the sky, cutting them up, and making the little pieces fall to the ground. We call that snow. The edge of Poseidon’s surfboard cuts up the clouds, Apollo’s sharp wheeled chariot cuts them up, Hermes’s pointy wings on his sandals does it, and so on, for all of the gods.
During the first race that they had, Aphrodite and Hephaestus were neck and neck. Then they started fighting. Aphrodite struck the automaton, and some oil leaked out of it. Hephaestus then blasted Aphrodite’s makeup pouch with his blaster.
Meanwhile, down on the ground, someone was outside. He was picking the last of the fruit off his tree. He had taken out a clean barrel, to put the fruit in. Suddenly, the godly oil of Hephaestus, and the tasteful, godly makeup of Aphrodite dropped from the sky. It fell into the barrel, and mixed together. The man stuck his finger into the barrel, and then licked his finger. It tasted great. He lived far out from the nearest village, so it would take a long time to get there. He then went to bring everyone back to his barrel.
As he left, Apollo came around the racetrack in his sun chariot. Unfortunately, he broke down right there. The sun stayed in that position, because Apollo couldn’t move his chariot. By the time the man came back with the villagers, it was boiling hot outside. One person stuck his person stuck his finger in the barrel and tasted it.
“It’s hot, but it’s great,” he said. Hence, they discovered hot chocolate.
They discovered the ingredients to the hot chocolate, and begged the gods for more. So, every year, between the middle of November, and the middle of March, there became the season of winter. Even though it snows from the cut-up clouds, and is cold from the gods zooming around the racetrack, we have hot chocolate to keep us warm.