Milo and the Magic Lake

(A Folktale from Greece)

"Hurry up, Josh! Grandma's waiting," Tamara called to her twin brother who was standing nearby joking with his friends. They had just come off the school bus, and Tamara knew that Grandma would have a good snack waiting for them at home. She pushed her headband back over her short black hair as she watched her brother. Josh had the same black hair and brown eyes as Tamara, but his skin was more deeply tanned, though they were both on soccer teams and played for equally long hours under the sun.

The twins raced to Grandma's house. It was the prettiest house on the block with rows of tulips and daffodils on either side of the front door. A wreath of spring flowers decorated the door that opened just as Josh and Tamara arrived. Grandma stood smiling in the doorway ready to welcome them with hugs.

"Hi, Grandma!" Josh hugged his grandmother and ran inside. "I'm hungry."

"Of course you are." Grandma smiled. She put chocolate-chip cookies and two glasses of milk on the table. "How was school today? Did anything interesting happen?"

"Yeah! Tamara made all the boys laugh today," Josh chortled, ignoring his sister's furious expression.

"What happened, sweetie?" Grandma turned to Tamara, but before she could reply, her twin continued, still laughing.

"Andrew found a spider in the locker and put it on her desk! You should have seen her, Grandma. Tam screamed so loudly that the principal came in."

"Well, I don't think that was a nice thing to do at all. I hope Miss Thompson talked to Andrew," Grandma said sternly. Her tone made Josh stop laughing, and he glanced at his twin. She was still upset, and he suddenly felt badly that he hadn't done anything to help her.

"Sorry, Tam, I should have stopped Andrew, but I just didn't think."

"Well, that's just like you, Josh," Grandma said reprovingly, "but I'm glad you see your error now. Don't think that all girls are helpless, though. Tam may scream at a spider on her desk, but if you were in trouble, she would put up with a hundred of them just to save you."

"I would?" asked Tam, shuddering at the thought of a hundred spiders.

"Of course you would, just like brave Milo."

"Who is Milo?" Josh asked excitedly. He could feel one of Grandma's stories coming on, and he hurriedly drank his milk.

"My goodness, didn't I tell you about Milo? How could I have missed that story? Well, never mind—come on now, onto the couch. You will hear about Milo right now."

Grandma adjusted her glasses and led the way to the couch. The kids settled comfortably on either side of her and listened intently.

* * *

Milo lived with her parents and brothers, Niko and Marko, on a little farm apart from the village. There was a lot of work to be done around the farm, but several months earlier, Milo's parents had become very sick and could not walk more than a few steps at a time or carry out the harder tasks on the farm.

Therefore, it was the children who did all the work. Milo attended to her parents and took care of the house. Her brothers labored all day out in their little field and helped Milo with the goats and chickens. They had very little time to play and to just enjoy being children, but they knew that it wouldn't do any good to complain, and so continued diligently working and caring for their parents.

One day, an old Gypsy woman stopped by the farm hoping to get food and shelter for the night. She had been separated from her tribe after she fell ill and was having a hard time finding a job to pay for food and lodging. The family welcomed her and shared with her their meager dinner. The woman was astonished to see the children doing all of the work around the house and asked the parents why this was so.

Milo's parents sadly told their guest about their plight. It grieved them that their children had to work so hard while they stood by helplessly and watched. The Gypsy woman sympathized with them and offered to stay and lend a hand with the chores for a few days.

The next morning, as soon as she could, the Gypsy took the children aside and told them that she could help them cure their parents. They were astonished and begged her to tell them how. The children listened carefully to the Gypsy as she told them about a mystical lake that lay on the top of a hill guarded by magical beings. She then explained where to find this hill but cautioned that it would not be an easy task to climb it.

"For the creatures that guard the hill and the lake will try their best to prevent you from climbing to the top," she said. "They will call your name and even attack you. They will try their best to make you turn around because anyone who so much as turns around to look at them will be instantly turned to stone. Many a person has never returned from that hill because of those beings!"

The children listened with awe. It all sounded fantastic. Could there really be a magical lake with waters that could cure their parents? It would be an adventure to get that water, they thought, their excitement growing as they contemplated who would go.

Niko, the eldest, decided that he should be the one for the task. After all, he was the strongest and bravest of the three! He left that very morning with a flask to collect the water.

"I'll be back by nightfall," he said confidently as he bade his brother and sister good-bye and set off on his mission.

That day, Milo and Marko raced through their chores so that they would be free to greet Niko when he returned that night. They hadn't told their parents about any of their plans because they wanted to surprise them.

Suppertime came and went. The children waited outside for their brother. They turned anxiously to the Gypsy woman when she joined them under the night sky.

"He should have been back by now," the Gypsy said worriedly. "I'm afraid he might have reacted to one of the beings and been turned to stone."

"Oh no!" cried Milo. She could not imagine what would happen if her brother never returned. This adventure wasn't turning out to be very pleasant.

Marko hugged his sister and in a subdued voice told her that he would leave the next morning to get the water and to find Niko.

Milo was happy that the Gypsy woman was there to help with the chores the next day since she was now alone with all the farmwork to be done. She hoped Marko was safe and would soon return with Niko and the water. She worried that if he didn't return, she would be left completely alone with her parents. Then what would happen to them? Milo didn't like the way this adventure was turning out.

"Oh, please, Marko, come home," she pleaded silently as dusk turned to night. But he did not return that night, and Milo was forced to admit that Marko too had failed.

"Child, you are the only one left who can save this family," the Gypsy woman told her. "Remember, no matter what happens, just keep climbing up the hill. Do not turn around for any reason at all! That is the only way you will get the water and save your brothers."

Milo nodded mutely and...